Oh yeah kids, its the last week of July, and you all know what that means! That’s right boys and girls, the Intensive Care Unit is full of Tier III teams on life support.
Ahhhh yes, its the best time of year here in The Death Pool. The water is warm, the dirt is thawed, and there is no shortage of dummy’s still holding out hope that they will be able to get enough players to put a team on the ice.
My count, and this is a league average, is four teams per league are on the brink of disaster. How many leagues are there? Sanctioned and unsanctioned, there look to be ten Tier III leagues.
We have 17 patients in the Intensive Care Unit right now, and that’s just our count. There are probably another 8 to 10 we don’t know about. From coast to cost, North and South, owners and leagues have once again made a mess of Tier III.
Now some leagues are just fine, and have their rosters almost all completely full. Other leagues on the other hand could be facing a pretty big crisis in the coming weeks.
How many of you players have been hearing that your team is waiting for the NAHL to finish making their cuts? Ummmmmm yeah, well about that……There are only four NAHL camps left and yeah, there aren’t enough players to fill all your rosters.
So all you teams out there with ten or so players signed, your days are numbered. The only question is how many of you dummy’s are going to try to play with ten players and three goalies?! Probably a bunch of you.
The great thing about USA Hockey is those initial protected lists are coming out in just about five weeks. So it wont take long to figure out who these teams are. Unfortunately AAU doesn’t publish that info, but hey, not to worry, there are plenty of guys who want to see some of their own fall by the way side that will keep us informed.
So, if you’re one of those players who still hasn’t signed with a team, make sure to ask anyone offering a contract, how many other players they have signed. If they aren’t at a minimum of 15 skaters and 2 goalies, yeah, its time to hang up the phone. If they wont tell you, its time to hang up the phone. If they wont put it in writing that you can be released if the roster isn’t at 18 players at the start of the season you are free to leave with a full refund, its time to hang up the phone!
See that’s the thing kids, good teams, good operators, don’t have trouble filling their rosters. Its the teams who talk about honor and respect to players, that will be folding up shop that don’t honor and respect the game.
Its time to purchase those burial plots kids. Remember, we have multiple team discounts available till the end of the week. After that, we are anticipating a high demand, so yeah, every team that could have folded on their own before the mad rush will be the lucky recipient of their own special report.
*The Death Pool is a mix of comedy, and satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
