The USA Hockey Annual summer meetings are taking place in Colorado this week, and there are several hot topics.
On the table today for the Tier III Caucus will be a discussion surrounding trading of players from the NAHL and USHL to Tier III and the trading of players up from Tier III to the NAHL or USHL.
It is expected that Tier III teams will continue to object to any restriction on trades. That objection however may not be enough to keep the rule from passing.
Parents and players have been objecting to these types of trades for years. The basic premise for the objection is that they should have the freedom to choose which Tier III they play for and pay for if the higher level team no longer needs their services. Why report to a team that may cost $10,000 for the season when one close to home may only charge $6,000?
It should be the players and parents choice. Its their money. Trades between free to play teams are simply out of a players control, its just part of the game.
Also on the table is the “Tier III Call Up” rule.
The idea would allow for any player to be called up to Tier II from Tier III. The problem is that the Tier III team could be decimated by call ups. If you have a strong Tier III recruiter, a good team could potentially see three or four players called up. While that’s good for the player and good for the team long term in development circles, it could be financially devastating.
If 10 to 15 percent of your income was gone over night and there was nothing you could do, would you be able to live the way you do today? What if you made up for that loss a few weeks later only to have it happen again?
While no Tier III team should be able to keep players from being called up, they should also not be destroyed because they are successful. The only way to help minimize that possibility is to increase import player limits at the Tier III level, and allow Tier III teams to have affiliate players they are able to call up when players are called to Tier II.
Other rule changes are also on the docket, but these two will likely be the hot topics. TJHN will update this story as information develops.
