Many have pointed out that the undersized skill guys who aren't elite but put up good numbers in the CHL (think Ryan Abraham of the Windsor Spitfires or Antonin Verreault of the Rouyn Noranda Huskies) will now go into the NCAA and really be able to help the depth of almost any team, but especially the mid to lower tier programs who don't get many good recruits usually.
I don't think that a few extra 20YO's on each roster would take away time from elite 16YO's; the guys who would be affected, either through less ice time or having to wait another year to land on a roster, aren't going to be fast-tracked to higher levels anyway. A lot of them would become those 20YO CHLers who could use the extra year of development before moving up. And anything that improves the overall calibre of play might help to encourage a few guys who are considering moving to D1 to stay in CHL.
I hope the CHL Junior ranks gets rid of the overager and just develops 16-19 yr olds
The trickle-down effect is liable to the Vancouver Island Junior B League too. They affiliated with the BCHL so the BCHL will be bringing players up to replace who they’re losing but where does the VIJHL get replacements from?
I think big question everybody forgets is these kids need to play at their age . if your 17 would rather be in bchl playing 19 min first power play or play third line 8 min a night zero pp in chl .lorranger plays first line and first pp for sherwood park which basically put him on the map with that opportunity . sherwood park might look like bchl in the future , most of the team is high end young kids playing and developing . however , your right im sure he is feeling pressure to go home .
3rd line in the CHL is definitely worth more than first line in the BCHL.
It's not that hard to get ice time in QMJHL which is why a lot of these BCHL kids are Quebecois-born players going (back) to their home province. Look around the last couple drafts, it's not a league deep with NHL caliber talent, a high scoring BCHLer college bound 19 year old has a much better shot at getting premium ice time in the Q than an equivalent for the OHL and WHL.
Hard to say because a downstream thing occurring is going to see a fairly equal number of American/Canadian boys at the minor hockey levels. Still a few years away from when that is going to hit the most direct Junior Hockey Feeders and then Junior Hockey Leagues of which there is still a disproportionate number located in Canada.. and what that is going to look like. Interesting the various predictions of the USHL essentially folding or becoming an irrelevant at a time when based on minor hockey numbers, in a few years away at least under the old ways, the USNTDP should really be giving away to an equitable spread of American Hockey Talent and USHL should have been looking to expand/grow with Eastern and Western outposts. But it's tough, the junior hockey culture just isn't ever going to be like in Canada as American amateur sports in all areas has always been so NCAA-centric.
This is also become more pronounced in how many US players have Canadian dads who played in the NHL or NCAA & decided to stay in the States. Dylan Duke, Gavin Brindley, Lane Hutson, Cutter Gauthier, Gabe Perreault, Rutger McGroarty, Sean Behrens, Brendan Brisson, Jake Sanderson, and plenty more have Canadian dads but play for the States internationally and count for the US in the player representation numbers.
Most Quebecers are fluent in both English and French.
