People who live in places with Major Junior have seen Taylor Hall, Corey Perry, Nathan MacKinnon and others. They think the CIS players are "failures" because they aren't in the NHL. As stated above, people are sucked in by Jumbotrons, mascots, T-shirt cannons and all the hoopla that is part of the entertainment factor in CHL hockey.
Major Junior players are only known while they play for the team. After they leave, the fans find another "hero" to idolize. A prime example is Jody Shelly, who "walked on water" with the Halifax Mooseheads. When he finished his 5 years no one knew where he went. He went down the street to Dalhousie. Same thing with Billy Manley, Brandon Bennedict and many other ex-Mooseheads.
CIS hockey is very good amateur hockey. I would guess that several CIS teams could beat most CHL teams. I'm not going to list them, but you know what I'm saying.