The email box at TJHN has been over flowing since the USA Hockey Junior Council meeting in Plymouth Michigan last month. This meeting is where, the USPHL was denied Tier II status under the USA Hockey umbrella.
Many people have accused TJHN and myself of having something to gain with the USPHL free to play entry. The hate mail has been rather humorous to read on occasion, while other times it has shown how many do not understand what took place.
Yes, TJHN and myself are without question in favor of the USPHL adding free to play hockey. We would be in favor of ANY league looking to add free to play hockey. Please read that again. We are in favor of ANY and ALL free to play hockey.
We also support the USHL and NAHL. Again, we are in favor of ANY free to play opportunity that is made available to players. Regardless of the set of initials the league carries.
What we are NOT in favor of is politics that deny families those free to play opportunities. We are also not in favor of closed minded people not acting in the best interest of those hockey families that are actually paying to play.
While from a business standpoint, I certainly understand why the USPHL was denied the Tier II status under USA Hockey. That why is founded in the other free to play leagues seeking to protect their owners investments in their franchises. That is what was at the core of the denial.
There was a compromise available to keep the USPHL in the USA Hockey family. It could have easily been done. Give the USPHL a seat on the Junior Council, allow them to play the first season with 11 teams, and allow them to play under sixty games in the first season. The USPHL would have had to get to 12 teams and sixty games with a seat on the Junior Council in year two.
Those simple terms probably would have gotten the compromise done. While there were some other issues on the table, those were the most important.
These events are nothing but the results of business decisions being made. They are not a statement on level of play, or which league may be better than another. It is the equivalent of a City Council not providing a variance in a building code for a new building to be constructed.
The problem with these business decisions is that they impact people who were given no say in the decision. They impact the paying hockey family. They impact you and you had no voice.
So why have we covered this story so closely? Why have we been so adamant in our stance?
We have covered it closely because its news worthy and it effects you. It also effects my clients who are looking for free to play opportunity. When those opportunities are taken away, it hurts players and forces people to pay for a product they otherwise wouldn’t have to.
We have been hard line adamant in our position because if you stand for nothing you will fall for anything.
I respect Mark Frankenfeld and Bob Fallen for taking the positions they did on behalf of their owners. That is their job, to protect their owners interests among other things. It doesn’t mean I don’t like them, that I don’t like their leagues, or that we do not want to see them succeed. That would go against our core belief that free to play hockey should expand when possible.
If this were to have taken place involving any league, we would take the same position. Every league has its own set of initials flying on their brand. This could have been the XYZ hockey league, and we would take the same position.
The USPHL will now have the National Collegiate Development Conference outside of USA Hockey. We will not see a playoff between them and the NAHL. Again, the fans and players miss out on that opportunity.
There will be no opportunity for cross over play or joint showcases. Again fans and players miss out. I for one would have paid top dollar for joint showcases in Blaine and Boston.
Could the USPHL have merged with the NAHL? Yes. It was, based on several peoples comments, at least an offer made by the NAHL. But why would the USPHL give up their business model? Why would they pay to join someone else’s league when they have their own? That was their business decision.
And now you have the complete picture.
TJHN will continue to cover all three leagues. We will continue to go to their showcases. We will continue to send our clients to every league that best suits their ability and personal goals.
Knowing a compromise was available is what is so frustrating for so many. Knowing it was a business decision and not a people decision compounds the frustration. Again, the only side we chose in this discussion was the side of the player that is impacted. That is our official position.
Joseph Kolodziej – Publisher
