Happy Monday kids. After last weeks bunch of stupid human tricks in the GMHL, I didn’t think I would have anything to write about in the great white north for a while. But I would now like to thank the Greater Toronto Hockey League for fixing all of that.
Yep, the GTHL is one of the best Midget AAA leagues in North America. No question about it. But they have only maintained that status because in recent years they have allowed European and American players in the league to help some of the weaker teams become competitive.
Yeah, I am saying it. The GTHL would not be one of the top AAA leagues any more without those import players. Who by the way live and go to school in Ontario. So, whats the problem?
The problem is some parents are bitching that their kids aren’t getting the opportunity to play in the GTHL. Ummmmm yeah, well about that. Guess what mommy and daddy, your kids aren’t good enough to play AAA and that’s why some teams sucked over the last few years because players were on rosters that shouldn’t be.
Anyone notice how successful that Major Junior has been since eliminating the European goaltenders? Hmmmmm yeah, well it hasn’t made a difference.
Its time for short sighted people to wake the hell up and realize that the rest of the world has either caught up to, or is catching up to Canada when it comes to player development. Read that again for all of you siting in disbelief.
So I got a suggestion for all you brain surgeons up in Canada……..
How about every Midget, Junior A, Junior B, Junior C and Major Junior Team stop signing any Europeans or Americans?! How about you go to only Canadian players at every level? Any Major Junior Teams in the US can only use Americans to.
How’s that sound?
Imagine the BCHL, OHL and every other league with no import players…….
How would your hockey be then? The answer is that it would resemble the proverbial turd in a punch bowl.
While we are at it, how about the US passes a rule that does the same thing. Keep all American kids at home. You would see an explosion of Tier II hockey in America and a collapse of Junior A in Canada if that happened.
Better yet, how about every NCAA program that receives public funding be mandated by law to only have American players? Now how would that sound to all the Canadian kids who want to play NCAA hockey?
Bottom line here you idiots is that isolationism didn’t work for the former Soviet Union. It hasn’t worked for Cuba. And it sure as hell hasn’t worked for any other country that has tried it throughout history. So, just keep up with your tactics there boys, and you will once again repeat history.
Lets make it so that no country can have import players at any level while we’re at it.
No cultural exchanges unless its at international competition. No growth as people who learn from other people with different traditions and history. No sharing of innovative training techniques. No real value to measure who the best players are at any level because they wont play against each other enough.
Sounds like utopia doesn’t it?
Nope, not really. Sounds a lot like Stalinism in hockey. Unreal that I can even write about this in 2016. The Ontario Hockey Federation, and the GTHL need to get a clue. You don’t own the game, and the rest of the world will play and get better while you continue to live in the past. If don’t embrace change, and adapt to the changing environment, you are doomed to be left for dead on the side of the road.
Since when does any person not have a right to chose where they go to school, and where they get to play? When did it become wrong for any person to live in another country legally?
A message to Don Cherry….I saw your Coaches Corner the other night. You have no clue what you’re talking about when it comes to minor hockey in the GTHL. “Canadian Hockey is for Canadians”? Is that what you said? How about hockey is for everyone?
Be careful what you wish for people. If you start a movement here of nationalistic pride that borders on the ridiculous, it could spread. And if it spreads, you may destroy yourself in the process.
Seriously. Imagine is the US stopped all foreign hockey scholarships to NCAA hockey? Think it cant be done? It can, and it has been discussed at the State level in a few States that fund scholarships with tax dollars. Imagine that argument? You know, the one where people got to vote on whether or not tax dollars got to go to foreign born athletes who don’t pay into the system?
But hey, on the bright side, you guys do make better beer. At least you will have that.
*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.
