2009 Born for the 2025 OHL DRAFT

[OHL4Life]

with regards to the 'kids quit', sure, but kids drafted quit too? a few years ago our 7th round pick told us moths after the draft he was giving up competitive hockey to play lacrosse and got a full ride d1 scolly

if they are that good at the other sport, the quitting hockey will happen regardless the moment they have to make that call, which for most is entering grade 11.

 

[Oh Canada]

i did explain it to my kid when he went undrafted and he explained it when my grandson was undrafted. they both kept playing and were decent jr b players but that's about it. and thats probably why they went undrafted, not some imaginary conspiracy. absolutely not good enough

here's what i said, i didnt cry about it on a website, i told him he was 50/50 going in to the draft, so he needed to ensure that he left no doubt. he didnt get drafted, so obviously he didnt do enough to 'leave no doubt'.i promise you, its ok to tell your son that they were not good enough and to prove them wrong, youll light a fire under them IF they have that in them. if you wine and cry and give them a reason to think they are screwed, guess what, they very well may quit. being the hellicoptor my kid is perfect parent wont help him today. let him learn about disappointment and to come back twice as driven and angry. not sad and complacent and not able to look internally and force himself to improve.

kids drafted in the 13/14th rounds are still legit draft pics in most instances, and if someone gets passed over, they are at the bottom of the draft for a reason regardless of 'favours'. as @HockeyPops said initially, if a kid quits over that, then hockey probably isn't in it for them long term as even drafted players will run into being cut, being released, being disappointed and have to push through and have to deal with that. its part of the process of making it.

im not hurt, ive been doing this job for decades, ive seen it all, ive seen undrafted kids come back with fire and try to prove scouts wrong and ive seen dads cry and stomp their feet and kids do the same. the dads and kids who complain generally didn't really accomplish much, just to be fair.

i hope you give your son that 'prove them wrong' fire and give him a chance to come out and do just do that, telling him how great he is and how he was screwed will probably not amount to anything other then settling in into thinking that hes already amazing and just being screwed over (how many stories do we head about 'i could have mae it but i was screwed). if he was that good, teams woudlnt have waited unitl the last few rounds, im sorry they would not.

I couldn’t agree with you more. Posts on these forums are often misunderstood. But again, like you’ve done in many other posts, you reply as if you know me and assume you know my situation (even though I’ve told you differently). Don’t worry about my grown son - he’s doing just fine and neither of us is crying about any drafts! Lol. Just because people post on here doesn’t mean they are:

1) a scout; or 2) a disgruntled parent

Some of us love hockey and pay attention to multiple age groups.

I agree with your post and I wish more parents prepared their kids more thoroughly for the draft. However, none of what you said or what I said removes the fact that numerous undeserving kids are drafted every year, for whatever reason.

I believe I’ve said all I need to on this. Love hockey. Carry on everyone…

 

[OHL4Life]

I couldn’t agree with you more. Posts on these forums are often misunderstood. But again, like you’ve done in many other posts, you reply as if you know me and assume you know my situation (even though I’ve told you differently). Don’t worry about my grown son - he’s doing just fine and neither of us is crying about any drafts! Lol. Just because people post on here doesn’t mean they are:

1) a scout; or 2) a disgruntled parent

Some of us love hockey and pay attention to multiple age groups.

I agree with your post and I wish more parents prepared their kids more thoroughly for the draft. However, none of what you said or what I said removes the fact that numerous undeserving kids are drafted every year, for whatever reason.

I believe I’ve said all I need to on this. Love hockey. Carry on everyone…

sure, they do. ive never said the opposite. i think generally the last 10 percent of the draft could be interchanged with 100 names and no one bats an eye.

but again, only so many can be drafted, and if its the 13th round and you name isnt called yet, regardless if its enters 'favour' time, you still left it up for grabs and still left doubt in scouts mind. some kids didnt deserve to be drafted, but that does not take the onous off of the ones who did not for not doing enough to be drafted.

both are true

 

[OMG67]

its funny, i remember running into a dad at in leamington years back when his kid was 17. he started to chat me up about how great he was and how he was screwed, coach this, politics that. he asked me where he thought he should have went. i told him i have no clue as i didnt even remember him, so he coudlnt have been that good.

he looked at me like i was some terrorist.

parents have no clue about how hard it is to be drafted, let alone how hard it is to make it and when the ego takes a hit after years of pumping their kids tires, its easier to blame the conspiricy vs saying 'ya, he wasnt good enough'.

and for reference. any kid that plays aaa hockey is in the top 1 percent of their age group. thats amazing. but thats why its even harder and harder to get drafted and make the ohl.

The problem is that “being drafted” is only better than “not being drafted.” It isn’t a ticket to something better. 30% of draft picks end up regular players. Tons of kids get free agent invites to training camps. U-18s can be drafted the following year. It is not like opportunities stop at the draft table.

So, in the end, this whole “Johnny should have been drafted over Billy” conversation is worthless. Neither Johnny nor Billy drafted in the 12th round will be given a true “opportunity” anyway. They’ll get a training camp invite as a 16 year old and probably as a 17 year old. They’ll get dropped off of a protected list to make room for other 16 year olds when they are 18. Who cares?

 

[Oh Canada]

The problem is that “being drafted” is only better than “not being drafted.” It isn’t a ticket to something better. 30% of draft picks end up regular players. Tons of kids get free agent invites to training camps. U-18s can be drafted the following year. It is not like opportunities stop at the draft table.

So, in the end, this whole “Johnny should have been drafted over Billy” conversation is worthless. Neither Johnny nor Billy drafted in the 12th round will be given a true “opportunity” anyway. They’ll get a training camp invite as a 16 year old and probably as a 17 year old. They’ll get dropped off of a protected list to make room for other 16 year olds when they are 18. Who cares?

Who cares? Billy and Jonny. They care deeply

 

[OHL4Life]

The problem is that “being drafted” is only better than “not being drafted.” It isn’t a ticket to something better. 30% of draft picks end up regular players. Tons of kids get free agent invites to training camps. U-18s can be drafted the following year. It is not like opportunities stop at the draft table.

So, in the end, this whole “Johnny should have been drafted over Billy” conversation is worthless. Neither Johnny nor Billy drafted in the 12th round will be given a true “opportunity” anyway. They’ll get a training camp invite as a 16 year old and probably as a 17 year old. They’ll get dropped off of a protected list to make room for other 16 year olds when they are 18. Who cares?

that’s what I’m saying.

The bottom of the draft is a legit lottery and a 100 kids could be interchangeable.

I have a struggle with anyone outside of those who have an emotional connection caring. Otherwise they would just look at it and say ‘meh’, none of them are making it anyways, which pretty much everyone is saying

 

[Oh Canada]

You guys act as if a 16 year old kid thinks perfectly calmly, coolly, and rationally and that they will have no emotions around the absolute biggest moment of their lives up to that point. It’s kinda comical

 

[Oh Canada]

Shoot - I said I didn’t have any more to say on this. Broke my own rule!

 

[OHL4Life]

You guys act as if a 16 year old kid thinks perfectly calmly, coolly, and rationally and that they will have no emotions around the absolute biggest moment of their lives up to that point. It’s kinda comical

I think it’s the parents job to set expectations early and manage their sons mental health to get them prepared for any and all results.

I think that’s the case with any type of situation with potentially extreme highs and lows.

The struggle is most parents in my experience are doing the opposite, they are just as hyped and loud and emotional about the draft year.

The culture of parenting is also now different, there is no failing and leaning, we don’t keep track of scores in kids sports because we don’t want hurt feelings. That parenting culture and not exposing kids to failure early leads to a lack of ability to deal with disappointment later on.

With my son and a bit with my grandson the idea was fail and get up and get going and learn. Now we don’t let kids fail ever do even the do fail later on it’s devastating and un fathomable because they never let him fail in the past.

That’s not the drafts fault.

Even if you take the ‘favour’ pics away your above argument and points don’t change. Better is subjective. I remember parents in Windsor telling me how unfair it was that thier kid wasn’t drafted, he was better than Zack Kassian. The kid didn’t even make jr b. Same with rychel in Sun county. Their kid was better. I can go on.

If your not preparing your kid for the potential disappointment then that’s not the OHL or the drafts fault I’m sorry.

Should we just draft everyone to avoid the hurt feelings?

 

[Oh Canada]

I think it’s the parents job to set expectations early and manage their sons mental health to get them prepared for any and all results.

I think that’s the case with any type of situation with potentially extreme highs and lows.

The struggle is most parents in my experience are doing the opposite, they are just as hyped and loud and emotional about the draft year.

The culture of parenting is also now different, there is no failing and leaning, we don’t keep track of scores in kids sports because we don’t want hurt feelings. That parenting culture and not exposing kids to failure early leads to a lack of ability to deal with disappointment later on.

With my son and a bit with my grandson the idea was fail and get up and get going and learn. Now we don’t let kids fail ever do even the do fail later on it’s devastating and un fathomable because they never let him fail in the past.

That’s not the drafts fault.

Even if you take the ‘favour’ pics away your above argument and points don’t change. Better is subjective. I remember parents in Windsor telling me how unfair it was that thier kid wasn’t drafted, he was better than Zack Kassian. The kid didn’t even make jr b. Same with rychel in Sun county. Their kid was better. I can go on.

If your not preparing your kid for the potential disappointment then that’s not the OHL or the drafts fault I’m sorry.

Should we just draft everyone to avoid the hurt feelings?

I appreciate and respect your experience and your perspective. I also suspect we’re of a similar vintage. But I think we’re arguing different points. You’re saying no kids are being missed = the good players all make it and there are no significant players out there that are unaccounted for. That’s likely true, I guess, for the most part.

I’m saying, kids are obviously missed. Some take a different path, some quit altogether, some decide they’ve had enough of the bs. I agree those bottom 100 players may not turn into nhl pros. But maybe some would have.

We are using a different definition of “missed”. But you get to say “where’s the star kid we missed in the last few years?” When there’s no good answer, you’ve fulfilled your own prophecy of being correct. I’m saying “who knows, because there are all the kids who get skipped every year for BS reasons”. And you admitted yourself there are lots who don’t deserve it.

In the end, this argument is meaningless and you will always have your data to prove your point. It seems anyone with a different thought is simply a whiny parent who didn’t do a good job with their kid. As I said, not everyone who posts is a disgruntled parent

 

[OMG67]

Who cares? Billy and Jonny. They care deeply

Billy and Johnny don’t matter. That’s the issue. They are irrelevant. This is why this whole conversation is silly. It is a reward that doesn’t mean anything. It is a step above a participation trophy.

 

[OMG67]

You guys act as if a 16 year old kid thinks perfectly calmly, coolly, and rationally and that they will have no emotions around the absolute biggest moment of their lives up to that point. It’s kinda comical

No one is here to placate 16 year olds and their feelings. Life isn’t fair. Grow up. Why anyone needs to justify anything to a 16 year old is beyond me.

We have 10 year olds getting cut from teams as the last roster spot in favour of a coaches kid or a money bags kid. Fairness in hockey, especially competitive hockey at the “roster limits” was out the window well before the OHL draft. Why this is now somehow an issue seems silly.

OHL teams have more considerations than making 16 year olds feel good. They use picks strategically for more reasons than picking the best available player because they know it is meaningless from the perspective of fueling their franchises with productive players.

 

[OHL4Life]

I appreciate and respect your experience and your perspective. I also suspect we’re of a similar vintage. But I think we’re arguing different points. You’re saying no kids are being missed = the good players all make it and there are no significant players out there that are unaccounted for. That’s likely true, I guess, for the most part.

I’m saying, kids are obviously missed. Some take a different path, some quit altogether, some decide they’ve had enough of the bs. I agree those bottom 100 players may not turn into nhl pros. But maybe some would have.

We are using a different definition of “missed”. But you get to say “where’s the star kid we missed in the last few years?” When there’s no good answer, you’ve fulfilled your own prophecy of being correct. I’m saying “who knows, because there are all the kids who get skipped every year for BS reasons”. And you admitted yourself there are lots who don’t deserve it.

In the end, this argument is meaningless and you will always have your data to prove your point

age the reply is there where, before scouting inproved , lots of examples of missed players. With technology and data that’s now getting harder and harder to miss players. I can watch a kid from Thunder Bay play 5 games tonight if I wanted.

and there are kids who make it that are missed, about 2.5 per year statistically. Not high high end but good to average OHL players. So how is it they make it if being undrafted if it’s a death sentence? They probably were taught from a young age to push Bach and prove everyone wrong not to cry and complain.

Even if you totally eliminate favours this will still be a crutch because it’s less about favours and more about an excuse or pivot from the reality that maybe they were the 405tu best player vs the 288ty best player. I don’t hear ‘my kid wasn’t good enough’ anymore’ I hear ‘he got screwed’. You take away the 30 or do favours and you’ll still hear the ‘he got screwed’. I’ve seen it from kids they had no business being drafted but think they were going to be a top 90 pick because dad pumped the tires for years .

I failed all the time growing up and it made me a better person.a kid failed today and some (thankfully not all) kids emotionally fold hard. How err you going to make it of your that emotionally soft that you can’t do what others can do?

 

[OHL4Life]

No one is here to placate 16 year olds and their feelings. Life isn’t fair. Grow up. Why anyone needs to justify anything to a 16 year old is beyond me.

We have 10 year olds getting cut from teams as the last roster spot in favour of a coaches kid or a money bags kid. Fairness in hockey, especially competitive hockey at the “roster limits” was out the window well before the OHL draft. Why this is now somehow an issue seems silly.

OHL teams have more considerations than making 16 year olds feel good. They use picks strategically for more reasons than picking the best available player because they know it is meaningless from the perspective of fueling their franchises with productive players.

we both know why, we can’t tell a kid he’s not good enough anymore. It’s forgeon to all of them and when it happens, I guess they Run and quit?

 

[OHL4Life]

Billy and Johnny don’t matter. That’s the issue. They are irrelevant. This is why this whole conversation is silly. It is a reward that doesn’t mean anything. It is a step above a participation trophy.

Parents love participation trophy’s now.

 

[Oh Canada]

Parents love participation trophy’s now.

Well this went downhill fast didn’t it

 

[OHL4Life]

Well this went downhill fast didn’t it

It goes downhill when we worry about the feelings of marginal replacement level players. it’s not the ohls job to worry about thier feelings.

 

[frontsfan67]

Who cares? Billy and Jonny. They care deeply

Every kid should be invited to the OHL camps then!! Let’s have about 300 kids per camp.

You get an invite

You get an invite

EVERYBODY GETS AN INVITE!!

Even little Johnny who had 1 pt in 47 games and was a -62 should get a spot- I hear he is a great kid and has a hot mom!

 

[OHL4Life]

Th rs a lot of players who eventually make it that said being passed over was the best thing that ever happened to them from a wake up a call and motivation perspective.

But why have that mindset when you can’t just complain?

 

[Oh Canada]

Every kid should be invited to the OHL camps then!! Let’s have about 300 kids per camp.

You get an invite

You get an invite

EVERYBODY GETS AN INVITE!!

Even little Johnny who had 1 pt in 47 games and was a -62 should get a spot- I hear he is a great kid and has a hot mom!

Not the point, intent, or context of the situation that was being talked about. But I like the humour. Lol.

The point was that some kids, who are good and are actually better than undeserving kids who routinely get drafted, and who the grand poo-bahs on here actually agreed are better than maybe the bottom 100 kids, will simply quit. Call them quitters or babies or whiners or whatever makes you feel like a big tough man. My point wasn’t that everyone should get an invite. It was simply that some won’t AND they’re better than the undeserving bunch of “favours kids”.

I get it - it’s a business and admittedly I’m thinking like a fan who has watched for many many years, but not thinking like an OHL exec.

This was fun. Cheers,

 

[frontsfan67]

Call them quitters or babies or whiners or whatever makes you feel like a big tough man. My point wasn’t that everyone should get an invite. It was simply that some won’t AND they’re better than the undeserving bunch of “favours kids”.

If they quit that easily or early when facing a little bit of adversity who’s to say that they wouldn’t have quit the team they’d be on anyways? When the going gets tough they just run away? If they work hard and have results then they should be invited back or get another invite around the league

Lots of guys get free agent invites every year- if they’re good enough they shouldn’t have to worry about not getting an invite.

There’s 15 rounds which is far more than the 7 rounds in the NHL draft or the 2 rounds in the NBA draft. Chances are if they didn’t get picked that’s on them. What they do after that is the most important. If they pick themselves up and work harder maybe they have a shot next year.

I’m not a front office guy by any means just a fan but reading everything you’ve put it seems as if this is personal for you perhaps it was you or someone you know- I’m sorry man.

Every year and this is the gods honest truth we get brand new people on here complaining about the same thing every year it makes it pretty obvious.

 

[OHL4Life]

Every kid should be invited to the OHL camps then!! Let’s have about 300 kids per camp.

You get an invite

You get an invite

EVERYBODY GETS AN INVITE!!

Even little Johnny who had 1 pt in 47 games and was a -62 should get a spot- I hear he is a great kid and has a hot mom!

I once talked to a dad whose kid was about 5’6 and had about 10 ponits in 40 games, bad bad skater, dumb. zero ohl upside. he legit said that the only reason his son was not drafted was because of politics. i iasked what politics, he said ice time. i said that i remember he took a regular shift. he said yes but be didnt get enough pp1 time.

its always an excuse.

Not the point, intent, or context of the situation that was being talked about. But I like the humour. Lol.

The point was that some kids, who are good and are actually better than undeserving kids who routinely get drafted, and who the grand poo-bahs on here actually agreed are better than maybe the bottom 100 kids, will simply quit. Call them quitters or babies or whiners or whatever makes you feel like a big tough man. My point wasn’t that everyone should get an invite. It was simply that some won’t AND they’re better than the undeserving bunch of “favours kids”.

I get it - it’s a business and admittedly I’m thinking like a fan who has watched for many many years, but not thinking like an OHL exec.

This was fun. Cheers,

its generally 30 kids my lord. its the end of the draft, at some point the kid themselves has to take a TINY bit of blame and say why did I let it get that long into the draft to be drafted. its the 14/15th round. leaving your opportunity that late in that game IS ALSO ON THE PLAYER. at some point its has to be ok to say that.

why is it so bad to say that the kids play and ability was the major factor it took so long for him to be in consideration???

 

[frontsfan67]

I once talked to a dad whose kid was about 5’6 and had about 10 ponits in 40 games, bad bad skater, dumb. zero ohl upside. he legit said that the only reason his son was not drafted was because of politics. i iasked what politics, he said ice time. i said that i remember he took a regular shift. he said yes but be didnt get enough pp1 time.

holy clueless

 

[Oh Canada]

I once talked to a dad whose kid was about 5’6 and had about 10 ponits in 40 games, bad bad skater, dumb. zero ohl upside. he legit said that the only reason his son was not drafted was because of politics. i iasked what politics, he said ice time. i said that i remember he took a regular shift. he said yes but be didnt get enough pp1 time.

its always an excuse.



its generally 30 kids my lord. its the end of the draft, at some point the kid themselves has to take a TINY bit of blame and say why did I let it get that long into the draft to be drafted. its the 14/15th round. leaiving your opportunity that late in that game IS ALSO NO THE PLAYER. at some point its has to be ok to say that.

Of course it’s ok to say that. I’ve never suggested that it wasn’t. You guys are good at guessing and speculating and assuming but this has gone off the rails. Good talk

 

[OHL4Life]

holy clueless

i try not to generalize and i try to keep an open mind. and to be fair

-its not just hockey parents, my grand daughter is in competitive dance and its way worse then any hockey parent youll see.
-there are very, very good parents who do say 'you need to be better' to their kids and dont allow them to take the coop out. weather or not they make it in hockey its a life lession that will make them better people down the road when they are once again faced with a situation that they need to push through. but little johhny only got drafted beause hes related to the gm, well, sure but there were 299 other kids taken too, so you should have been 299th on the list, not 300th.

Of course it’s ok to say that. I’ve never suggested that it wasn’t. You guys are good at guessing and speculating and assuming but this has gone off the rails. Good talk

i have no idea who you are, but thats the first time youve even hinted at it. and its not like im the only one, theres a crowd gathering here and they are all saying the same thing to you. if your a parent or a grandparent or a fan whatever, the messaging from those joining the convo is the same. at some point the kid needs to take blame too. thats why everyone is pushing back on you so far.