JuniorHockey.io Partners With Austin Bruins and Rochester Grizzlies New partnership brings two Minnesota junior hockey organizations together with JuniorHockey.io

AUSTIN, Minn. – JuniorHockey.io is pleased to announce a new partnership with the North American Hockey League's Austin Bruins and their NA3HL affiliate, the Rochester Grizzlies.

The partnership brings JuniorHockey.io into the organizations' ongoing efforts to develop players, tell their stories and provide greater exposure to the people who make junior hockey work in Minnesota.

The Austin Bruins and Rochester Grizzlies are not simply two organizations that happen to share a player-development relationship. The two clubs have been collectively owned and operated for years, giving them a unique connection between the NAHL and NA3HL levels.

That structure creates an opportunity to follow a player's development through multiple stages of junior hockey while remaining within an organization that knows the player, understands his development and can help determine when he is ready for his next opportunity.

For JuniorHockey.io, that makes Austin and Rochester an especially interesting organization to work with.

Junior hockey development is not always linear. Some players arrive ready to contribute immediately at the NAHL level. Others need additional time to develop physically, improve their game, gain confidence or take on greater responsibility before making that jump.

A connected NA3HL and NAHL operation can provide another option.

Rather than viewing a player who isn't immediately ready for the NAHL as a failed prospect, the development model allows that player to continue working toward his goals while competing at a level where he can receive meaningful ice time and responsibility.

Austin Bruins Head Coach Steve Howard understands that process and has been involved with the organization's player-development philosophy for years.

The partnership with JuniorHockey.io will provide coverage of both organizations throughout the season, including player features, team stories, behind-the-scenes content, development pieces and other coverage designed to give fans and families a closer look at the Bruins, Grizzlies and the people behind both clubs.

For JuniorHockey.io, that means going beyond the scoresheet.

Junior hockey is filled with stories that never show up in a box score. There are players trying to earn another opportunity, families navigating difficult decisions, coaches helping young athletes mature and organizations working to create pathways that can eventually lead to college hockey and beyond.

Those are the stories JuniorHockey.io wants to tell.

The Austin-Rochester relationship also provides an opportunity to examine what a connected junior hockey operation can look like when two teams at different levels are working under the same ownership and organizational structure.

The objective isn't to promise that every Rochester player will eventually become an Austin Bruin.

It is to provide players with an environment where development can happen and where opportunities can be earned.

That distinction is important.

Junior hockey is not supposed to guarantee a destination. It should provide a legitimate pathway toward the next opportunity.

The Bruins and Grizzlies have been building that pathway together for years.

Now JuniorHockey.io will be along to help tell the story.

JuniorHockey.io is an independent junior hockey news and information platform covering the people, organizations and issues shaping junior hockey throughout North America. The publication combines news, analysis, player advocacy, investigative reporting and original features designed to give players, families and hockey fans a deeper understanding of the junior hockey experience.