What the THR grade is
Every program on THR receives a single letter grade — A+ through C- — that reflects the program's overall quality. The grade combines three kinds of evidence:
- Alumni outcomes — where a program's former players end up.
- Team performance — on-ice results across recent seasons.
- Verified reviews — submitted by parents, players, coaches, and staff. Each reviewer's connection to the program is checked on an ongoing basis to ensure every review on the site is legitimate.
The letter grade scale
Each grade comes with a plain-language description so families know what it actually means.
Exceptional
Outstanding across nearly every category.
Strong
Consistently high marks throughout.
Very good
High-quality program with minor areas to watch.
Solid
Above average in most areas.
Above average
A well-rounded program worth a closer look.
Middle of the pack
A few categories lag the field — worth comparing to peers.
Mixed
Some areas to consider carefully before deciding.
Below average
Notable weaknesses across multiple areas. Take a careful look.
Significant concerns
Multiple categories show meaningful gaps. Worth a thorough evaluation before committing.
What goes into the grade
The overall grade is a weighted blend of seven categories. Two of them — Player Advancement and Team Performance — come from objective data we collect directly. The other five come from verified reviews.
Before reviews come in
When a program is new to the platform
With a full set of reviews
Once a program has accumulated reviews
Player Advancement carries the most weight throughout because alumni outcomes are the strongest single signal of where a program develops players to. As reviews accumulate, the perspective from parents, players, coaches, and staff progressively comes into focus.
Two rules keep the grade fair when data is thin:
- Missing categories don't count against a program. If a category has no data yet — for example, no one has rated Housing — it's left out and the remaining weights are scaled up in the same proportions, so they still add to 100%.
- Reviews phase in gradually. A program's grade starts from alumni outcomes and team results alone. Each review shifts a fifth of the grade toward the full review-based formula, so by five reviews it counts entirely.
A worked example
Here is how the grade came together for the Park City Outliers (NCDC) in September 2026. Category scores are on a 1–5 scale. The team had two reviews, and it had just moved from West Valley City to Heber City, so Facilities and Housing weren't rated yet.
Step 1 — The full review-based formula
Facilities (3%) and Housing (12%) are left out, so the other categories' weights are scaled up to fill the missing 15%:
| Category | Weight | Score | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player Advancement | 35.3% | 3.32 | 1.17 |
| On-Ice Development | 29.4% | 2.13 | 0.63 |
| Off-Ice Development | 17.6% | 4.38 | 0.77 |
| Environment / Culture | 11.8% | 2.50 | 0.29 |
| Team Performance | 5.9% | 4.71 | 0.28 |
| Full formula | 3.14 |
Step 2 — The starting score (alumni and results only)
| Category | Weight | Score | Points |
|---|---|---|---|
| Player Advancement | 70% | 3.32 | 2.32 |
| Team Performance | 30% | 4.71 | 1.41 |
| Starting score | 3.74 |
Step 3 — Blend by number of reviews
With two reviews, the full formula counts for two-fifths (40%) and the starting score for the rest (60%):
The score is rounded before the letter is assigned, so two programs showing the same score always show the same letter. As more reviews come in, the reviews take over — which is why a program's early grade leans on its alumni and results.
How each category is measured
Player Advancement — Based on the leagues a program's alumni currently play in, with stronger leagues counting more. Programs are also compared against their peers, so a strong alumni resumé in any tier of hockey is recognized.
Team Performance — Based on win percentage across recent seasons, compared to the league average. A team performing in line with its league lands in B-range; clearly outperforming or underperforming moves the grade up or down accordingly.
On-Ice Development — Coaching quality and the substance of on-ice training, drawn from review ratings.
Off-Ice Development — Strength, conditioning, and skill work done away from the rink, drawn from review ratings.
Housing — For programs that provide housing, the quality of billets, dorms, or team housing arrangements. Programs that don't provide housing have this category excluded from their overall grade.
Environment / Culture — Team culture, locker room dynamics, and game-day atmosphere.
Facilities — Quality of the rink, gym, locker rooms, and other physical resources.
When a program receives a grade
A program is graded once we have enough data to be meaningful. Specifically, a grade is issued when either of the following is true:
- The program has been around long enough for its alumni to be tracked.
- At least one verified review has been submitted.
Until then, the program shows as "N/A" rather than a forced grade — we'd rather show no grade than an unreliable one.
Why no D or F
Hockey programs aren't classroom subjects. Using a school-style scale (A through F) creates a false sense of safety in the middle — a "C" student still passed, but a C-grade hockey program means something different to a family deciding where to send a player for a season.
Where the data comes from
Every category in the THR grade pulls from a specific, traceable source.
Alumni outcomes
Source: EliteProspects.com
For each program we collect the active alumni roster — both skaters and goalies — and track the leagues those players currently compete in. This is a snapshot of where alumni are playing right now, not a career-long total: our ranking pages that count placements — such as players in NCAA Division I — count the players on that roster today, and each page carries the date its alumni data was last refreshed.
Feeds: Player Advancement
Season records
Source: program standings, MyHockeyRankings, and league sites
We track each program's record across recent seasons (wins, losses, ties / OTLs) and compare against league averages to provide context.
Feeds: Team Performance
Verified reviews
Source: parents, players, coaches, and staff
Reviewers submit ratings on a 1–5 scale across each review category. Reviews are published right away to keep the platform current, and THR staff continuously verify each reviewer's connection to the program — primarily through Elite Prospects, with hands-on research when an Elite Prospects link isn't available. Reviews that can't be verified are removed.
Feeds: On-Ice, Off-Ice, Facilities, Environment / Culture, Housing
Relocations, rebrands, and new ownership
Junior hockey programs move, rename, and change hands. When they do, we keep their history — nothing is deleted — but we adjust what counts toward the grade so it describes the program as it is today.
A new name, same city
The grade doesn't change. The team page shows “Formerly the …” during the season of the change, and the note stays in the season record history afterwards.
The program moves to a new city
Coaching, development and culture reviews, season records and alumni carry over, since it's the same program. Facilities and Housing start over: reviews of the old rink and billets no longer count, and both show “Not yet rated at new location” until reviews from the new home come in.
The team is sold, or its hockey staff is replaced
Coaching, development and culture reviews from before the change count at 60%, because new owners and staff are exactly what those categories describe. Facilities and Housing keep full weight if the team stays in the same rink.
A new program takes over in a new place
The new team gets its own page and starts fresh. The old team's page stays up with its full history and final grade, and links to the team that replaced it.
When grades update
A program's THR grade is automatically recalculated when:
- A new verified review is submitted.
- The program's alumni roster is refreshed.
- The program's season records are updated.
- A relocation, rebrand, or change of ownership is recorded.
Because each program's grade depends in part on how it compares to its league peers, updating one team's data may also adjust the relative position of others in the same league.