Growing up, we always played more than we practiced, and it was like that in junior too. They play 72 games in Major Junior. In college they play less then half that many games, and practice twice as much. It was definitely an adjustment to go from sixty plus games to about thirty. Major Junior hockey is a business.
Teams are out to make money, which means that the coaches are paid to win.
They're under a lot of pressure to succeed and so at times they'll tell players what they want to hear to get them to come play for them. It's a lot like the NHL that way. You can also be traded or cut at any time. The business-like environment is the most challenging aspect of the junior game. It's a totally different attitude in college.