It could be that one of the most contentious issues around major junior hockey is about to get blown up.
Don Campbell has an interesting story in the Ottawa Citizen dealing with the possibility of the OHL opting out of the CHL’s annual import draft. Should that happen, it really wouldn’t be a surprise.
There are a lot of people in major junior hockey who feel that agents are allowed to orchestrate this draft and that doesn’t sit at all well with many people. In case you haven’t noticed, league and team officials rarely have a kind word to say about player agents, and having to climb in bed with them in order to land European players – many of whom have never been seen on skates by team officials – doesn’t sit well with virtually all of them.
Major junior officials also are tired of having to jump through so many hoops in order to get players over here and many of those officials are wondering if it often isn’t more work than it’s worth.
At the same time, you have to wonder if the talent pool isn’t about to dry up, what with the advent of the Continental Hockey League. With that league and many others offering up a decent wage and more, how many European players are going to want to come over here to play major junior in the immediate future?
Should the OHL opt out, you know that Don Cherry will be the first to stand up and applaud. He has long let everyone know that he believes Canadian junior leagues should be for Canadian players.
On the other side are those who feel that major junior operators are in the entertainment business and owe it to their fans to put the best possible product on the ice.
Anyway . . . if you want to give Cambell’s story a read it’s right here.
