Problems in B.C. major midget league

The B.C. Major Midget Hockey League’s Okanagan Rockets are looking for a home; the Kamloops-based Thompson Blazers may not be far behind.
The Kelowna Daily Courier revealed Friday that the Kelowna Minor Hockey Association has eliminated the Rockets’ ice time.
Stan Burton, president of the Kamloops Minor Hockey Association, told The Daily News on Friday that his association “isn’t going to do anything this year, but we have some issues.”
The BCMMHL is preparing for its fourth season. It is operated by B.C. Hockey, which asks minor associations to find ice time, something Burton said can run to as much as 170 hours per season.
Kelowna Minor, faced with an increase in registrations, has chosen to withdraw as the Rockets’ host association. Registration in Kelowna has gone from 1,100 players in 2004 to an anticipated 1,300 in 2007-08.
“Basically, we don’t have enough ice time,” Kelowna Minor president Luis Diaz told The Daily Courier. “It comes down to decisions of whether you put 50 or 60 or 70 kids on the ice, or you put (on) a team of 20 players, of which only eight to 10 are from Kelowna.
“With those 100-plus hours, we can put another four or five teams on the ice, with rosters between 14 and 17 players. We told (B.C. Hockey) because of the lack of ice, we weren’t prepared to see more kids suffer.
“Our mandate is to promote the game of hockey within Kelowna, within our community. We’re here first and foremost for kids who play in (Kelowna Minor).”
Diaz has denied that the decision to cut loose the Rockets had anything to do with the BCMMHL’s decision last season to prohibit the Rockets from playing in a Kelowna tournament.
Ken Andrusiak, the Rockets’ head coach for three seasons, spoke out against the ruling. He has since been replaced as the head coach.
“We don’t make decisions out of rancour or emotions; we make decisions on what’s best for Kelowna minor hockey,” Diaz said. “And the best interest, in my mind, is having as (many) kids play hockey as possible.”
Burton, who said he is in regular contact with Diaz, said Kamloops Minor “can say those same things.”
Burton added that Kamloops Minor also is concerned about the impact the addition of the major midget team is having on the midget AAA North Kamloops Lions. He pointed out that the Lions have lost to Penticton and Vernon, with much smaller registration numbers, in first-round playoff series the last two seasons.
“I don’t know how long it’s going to last but we have to look after our midget AAA program,” Burton said. “Our board will really look at it. We’re getting pretty frustrated.”
A lot of the frustration, Burton said, is borne from the fact that the minor associations don’t have input into such things as staff selection for the major midget teams.
“(The league) is run by a small board in a very autocratic style,” Burton said. “We provide (th
“I don’t know how long it’s going to last but we have to look after our midget AAA program,” Burton said. “Our board will really look at it. We’re getting pretty frustrated.”
A lot of the frustration, Burton said, is borne from the fact that the minor associations don’t have input into such things as staff selection for the major midget teams.
“(The league) is run by a small board in a very autocratic style,” Burton said. “We provide (the Blazers) with ice. We book the ice. We consult with the City. We do all of that. But there is no consultation about a coaching staff.”
Burton pointed out that the league recently made a coaching change on the Blazers, with Bob Dever replacing Chris Hans. Burton said the switch was made without Hans being interviewed.
“We want to have some kind of say in the whole process,” Burton said. “We don’t get any co-operation . . . it’s frustrating.”
Burton said he was quite vocal about all of this at B.C. Hockey’s annual general meeting in Whistler last week. In the end, he said, he made two recommendations, suggesting that the league “should have a commissioner . . . an independent commissioner” and that “there should be a board with representation from minor associations so that minor hockey has some say in the process.”
All Burton can do now is wait and see if his pleas were heard, or if they fell on deaf ears.
In Kelowna, however, they have decided not to wait.