Confirmed with Link: Jets recall Jamie Phillips

[Johnnucleo]

Thanks for doing this, when I posted about the interview, I thought I should probably give some highlights, but was too lazy, lol. The other story that was interesting I thought was being told the day of the AHL road trip to Chicago, Rockford, etc that he was being sent to the Coast. He did acknowledge that the Org was usually very good about communicating with him, but this one instance they forgot until he showed up the day of the trip, and that he cried the whole taxi ride to the airport. I would not say he was a crybaby as others have said, but he did come across as a bit mentally soft. He referred to himself as a Peasant a few times, I know tongue in cheek, but he definitely wasn't someone who is brimming with confidence. All that to say, I'm sure life bouncing around the Coast, and AHL is probably pretty miserable.

This is the interview





Halfway through, here are some highlights:

On Buff:

Said he was sitting with Buff (who was sick with a cold) during a flight to Minny during the playoffs and was nervous. The flight got stuck for several hours due to a snow storm. Buff's phone died so Buff asked for his phone to watch some fishing videos and ate up all his data.

Said that Buff is a good guy.

On Winnipeg:

Lots of positive things to say about the employees at the Winnipeg Airport, said they were really nice to him esp when he was bouncing back and forth between AHL and ECHL. Said they made the process easier.

On Laine:

Said on a playoff trip when he was a Black Ace, he was on the bus, Laine was there he dropped a Louis Vutton dufflebag in front of Phillips and said "10k... don't touch", said that it made him feel really shitty and said he was thinking "what do you think I am gonna take your bag? I am on your team man, we're on a bus". Says that he bought a knock off version of that bag and uses it as motivation whenever he feels school is too hard to motivate himself.

On the Jets:

Said that getting drafted by the Jets was probably the worst thing that happened to him, said that he was a top-5 goalie in the NCAA in his final season but no one paid attention to him assuming he'd be signed by the Jets. Talked about how he was far behind other goalies in the org. Said that the situation was not unique to him and it happens to other guys across the league, mentioned some prospect from San Jose as an example.

He wasn't bashing the Jets or the org, just saying that if you are an NCAA bound player, being drafted is not all that and you might almost be better off being undrafted and signing as a UFA, he did mention the development and other positives of getting drafted.

Said that in his final exit meeting with the Jets, he wanted to be qualified, the GM told him "Jamie you did everything right, you earned an opportunity and we didn't give it to you". Said that he was so hard on himself during those years, thinking he was doing something wrong and wished someone had told him that earlier that he's doing everything right and that could have made all the difference for him mentally and going forward.

--------------------------------

Highly recommend watching the interview. Jamie comes across as a really good guy and highlights some of the rougher parts of being an NHL prospect.



He does not. It was a pretty good and fair interview if you listen to it

 

[howkie]

We should not bash player for telling their experience, everyone has a uniqe journy. Im happy he has a 4 year collage degree, so he has an exit plan if he does not make it. Im more worried about CHL players not making it, getting stucked in AHL/ECHL, no real education and not making enough to retire.

 

[TS Quint]

We should not bash player for telling their experience, everyone has a uniqe journy. Im happy he has a 4 year collage degree, so he has an exit plan if he does not make it. Im more worried about CHL players not making it, getting stucked in AHL/ECHL, no real education and not making enough to retire.

Doesnt the CHL have an education fund?

 

[Holden Caulfield]

Doesnt the CHL have an education fund?

Maybe it's changed, but it used to be when you graduated out of the CHL you could go pro OR take advantage of the scholarship program. Not both.

You could go pro for just a few months before you'd be forced to choose. Why in December you'd see a bunch of ex-CHL players leave ECHL, sometimes even AHL teams to go to university. These would obviously not be guys on NHL deals assigned there, but rather players signed directly to those teams.

 

[TS Quint]

Maybe it's changed, but it used to be when you graduated out of the CHL you could go pro OR take advantage of the scholarship program. Not both.

You could go pro for just a few months before you'd be forced to choose. Why in December you'd see a bunch of ex-CHL players leave ECHL, sometimes even AHL teams to go to university. These would obviously not be guys on NHL deals assigned there, but rather players signed directly to those teams.

The best I can find is a Rick Westhead article from 2015.

NHL player agents call for changes to CHL's "dirty little secret" - TSN.ca

Several of hockey's most prominent player agents — whose companies collectively represent about one-third of active NHLers — say the Canadian Hockey League needs to relax its policy of voiding educational scholarships 18 months after a player's over-age season in major-junior hockey. TSN senior...

www.tsn.ca

As things now stand, a player who finishes CHL hockey at age 19 and plays in the ECHL, the AHL, or for a professional team in Europe for three years would be ineligible — at age 22 — to take advantage of his scholarship.

Branch sounds like a complete douchebag. I call BS on this statement blaming parents for the limited time:

Those parents, Branch said, support the limiting of scholarships for players so that they are pressured to enter post-secondary school when they are "age appropriate."

Edit: I think this is more up to date and it hasn’t changed:

Western Hockey League

Headquartered in Calgary, Albert, the Western Hockey League (WHL) consists of 22 Member Clubs located throughout Western Canada and the U.S. Pacific Northwest.

whl.ca

The WHL Scholarship is guaranteed to the player through him and his parent or guardian signing a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement, provided he does not sign a professional hockey contract in the NHL. Players are allowed to play minor professional hockey (AHL, ECHL, etc.) before he must activate his scholarship, within 18 months of his junior eligibility ending.