Hey kids, hope you all had a great weekend. I know I did. Whew, its been a busy couple of weeks here in The Death Pool. The body count in Tier III junior hockey just keeps rising. So, lets do a little review, and preview shall we? Ha Ha Ha
So, at the start of the year we had roughly 27 Tier III or pay to play expansion teams. 14 of them in Canada under AAU. One of the dumbest moves in pay to play history for teams in the United States was allowing Canadian leagues into AAU according to most accounts. But more on that later.
So we had the 6 team CIJHL. BOOM! That one blew up in amazing fashion eh kids! Honestly I still get a laugh out of the whole pipe dream that was the CIJHL concept. Ummmmmm yeah, to do what the CIJHL wanted to do they would have needed at least a Million and a half dollars. There was no way that thing was gonna work. But hey, at least it blew up before kids got to town and blew even more money on the “idea”. The CIJHL is the over all winner in pay to play failures by far.
The CIHL on the other hand, an 8 team new league under AAU in Canada looks to be chugging right along. I wonder why that is? Oh snap, could it be because they went out and hired qualified coaches? Nahhhh no one cares about that right? Ha Ha Ha
But hey, now all those kids from Canada that are willing to pay to play can stay at home instead of coming to the United States teams. I wonder if that has anything to do with the US teams having low numbers and dropping like fly’s?
Moving on to the NPHL, formerly NorPac, they went from 5 teams last year to announcing 8 this year. Boom, one blows up, and two others are playing with half full rosters! Awesome work boys. Maybe you should have only gone to 6 teams and had 6 full rosters? Nahhhh that would make too much sense wouldn’t it.
Moving west, the WSHL added some teams too. Bang, one expansion and one existing team are gone. Ummmmm yeah, complaints against people in control of ice rentals are probably not a good idea when you need to buy ice eh boys? Couple of teams on life support out west still, keeping my suitcase packed.
Heading out to the MNJHL, they added one team, and they aren’t very good, but they have a full roster. Boom, they kill off three other teams in the process. And a few of the survivors still have very thin rosters. Keeping the hearse on standby for them as well. Ohhhhhh snap, don’t let me forget the Minnesota Owls. The train wreck just keeps trucking along.
The MWJHL, added two teams, one of those is done. Alpena is under new management and doing a bang up job signing close to 11 players leading up to training camp that starts today. Another powerhouse there boys.
Heading east we got the NSHL. Announcing two expansion teams, one was done before the end of June, and a relocated team was done just last week. Too bad because the NSHL is gaining a great reputation among scouts. But hey you cant fix an idiot who buys a team and doesn’t pay the bills right? Oh wait a minute, you can, its called getting the transfer fee at the time of the sale closing! Crazy that all real estate closing work that way isn’t it? Ha Ha Ha
Before I go, we do have a few more teams on life support from coast to coast and everywhere in between. Look for some special reports this week kids, trying to get some rest this weekend, cause it may be another busy week.
Anyway, the total body count so far is 27 expansion teams starting the season, and 15 expansion or existing teams folding. A net gain of 12 teams, and 8 of them belong to one new Canadian league. That leaves 4 net gained in the US. With more than 4 teams still in the critical care unit, this should remain interesting for at least another week.
Anyone else think expansion was just the dumbest thing anyone could do? Nahhhhhhhh its all about the players right? OMG that felt like vomit in my mouth when I said it out loud. Yep, we’re just doing it out of the goodness of our sweet little hearts! LMAO
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I salute You
*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
