it was covid year so there really was no consensus. im from the alliance area, cowan was known as one of the best in the age group without a question. bonk im not sure, but i cant see someone with that pedigree and name not being a 1st, but that one is more of a wildcard.
I see what you're saying...and the assumption is that kids are being exploited. While it's not called a salary..these kids do not play for nothing. Everything is covered financially for them...right up to a monthly stipend. Add onto that the post-secondary education these kids receive. Play just one game in a season, earn a year's tuition to a Canadian university....1st round picks get a full education ride right off the bat. I think it's a decent trade-off for the experience and visibility these kids get....but I could see it moving in the direction of being paid in the future. All that would then have to trickle down to the lower tier Junior levels where it's a pay-to-play scenario.
OHL players are playing in an elite league where cost are covered and as mentioned education also. Not sure how many frachises would disappear if players were paid salaries. Top players would demand higher contracts similar to what we see in the NHL. Some franchises getting 2-3 thousand fans would never cover the cost and disappear. Others would lose fans because of the cost of tickets. Family of 4 probably pay well over 100 bucks a game now. This without paying a buck a swallow for beer and 5 bucks a slice for pizza. We had season tickets for over 20 years before giving up our seats at the start of covid.. We certainly could never afford pay double the price or more for a seat to attend every game. Just my opinion.
i think it would be a loser for alot of players to be paid vs what the teams give out. it would depend on how you work on things like housing, food, etc. lots of kids walk away with 100,000k in education money, thats a ton of tax free money. be careful what they wish for.
The difference is those kids get to choose which school and situation they want to go to. They aren't drafted and told where they have to go. Those prep and boarding schools are also a clearly more professional educational environment than living in someone's basement who happens to be a fan of the team and going to whatever high school is nearby. Put another way - if you had the chance to be a multi year second/third liner in the OHL or have a scholarship to SAC, I think you'd be much better off taking the latter.
If you think everyone that accepts a scholarship in the NCAA has a "choice" then you are not familiar with the process. The perception of many is that the player gets their pick of the crop - but in reality they often don't - once again like the first round ohl guys - only a very small group actually get multiple choices - and not every NCAA program is created equal. Many are in even smaller towns than what the ohl runs out of. They don't have massive booster groups or alumni that donate millions to the program. Rinks and work out rooms are sometimes 20-25 year past their prime and the coaching staff aren't prime candidates for anything other than another NCAA Div 2 or 3 school.
I don't think we disagree. No one is forcing kids to play in the OHL and many are starting to explore different routes (just like young basketball players in the states are now sometimes skipping the NCAA experience altogether). My point is just that we also shouldn't demonize kids who choose to try to make the system work for them.
Your right. I don't blame the players for wanting options. It's their life and no one else's.
just too add, i dont think alot of kids, parents or agents are actuallly the ones driving any type of change. its third parties who are trying to get invovled for financial gain (ie chlpa/WAIPU guys who want a piece of the revenue and the lawyers who want 30/40 percent of the payout) or viture seekers who dont really have a clue what is offered but want to stand on a soap box and yell.
www.usahockeyntdp.com
There’s a rule where if a family member (usually Dad) played in the league at one point, they can request that player be eligible for that league’s draft, even if they would technically qualify for a different CHL leagues draft based on geographical location. The Sim brothers are recent examples of it… Dad played in the OHL but they played their minor hockey in Eastern Canada and would have been Q property.
biggest font I have seen on hfboards
Copied guys name from a website so I didn’t screw up writing and wasn’t sure how to make it smaller LOL
I've heard posters called worse than a font.biggest font I have seen on hfboards
Well, he is a FONTenacs fan. I'll see myself out.
Here we go with the Font envy! Now we will all have to buy sports cars to get over it.
Belchetz, Nyman, Valentini, Wassilyn could go any order in the Top 4 and I wouldn't be surprised.
