So I decided to jump back into this thread as my son just made the local JPHL team here in BC. I heard good things from another family who played JPHL last season in BC. Their son left BWC Academy (CSSHL) to join Langley and they said it was the best decision they ever made.
Hockey at an elite level (academy, zone, JPHL) is going to cost money no matter which option you choose. It's all about different degrees of money. One of JPHL's main selling points is the price you pay is what every player in the JPHL (Alberta, BC or Sask) pays. There are no other fees. The appeal for me was not only the program the team offered (skill development, nutritionist, dryland, etc), but how the whole league is vertically integrated. Silent Ice not only owns the league, but provides their own refs for games (from their own referee academy). They own the bus transportation for showcases, as well as the media company that handles professionally run game broadcasts online. They also look after each player's portfolio for scouts which include video highlights, EP page, etc. So you're not only buying into the "hockey" portion of it, your buying into the whole package that comes with playing hockey. What also appeals to me is the pathway that JPHL offers into BCHL teams. My son's team Coquitlam HC is affiliated with the Coquitlam Express, and many of the U18 Coquitlam HC players practiced and played some games for the Express last season, and a few of the signed with the Express recently straight out of JPHL.
Having said that, I know of several families that played with the North Shore Warriors out of CSSHL last year and are leaving because the money they are paying, they feel that they weren't getting enough value. They paid around 30k a year (school and hockey), and the team was charging them $79.95 for a backpack a few months into the season. Seriously?