Junior Ontario Hockey

I have been looking to see if any of the Vipers ( Turner, Souligny, Sharpe, Noel, etc, etc,, ) have recieved any commitments for NCAA schools and I have not seen anything.Now I know Bodo has recieved a commitment but apparently his school wants him to go to the BCHL to develop, is this not a slap in the face of our league ?. And what about the afore-mentioned Viper players, sure Bodo is a decent player but if anybody deservered to get a scholarship I would think Turner and Sharpe would head the list.Will there continue to be an exodus of our leagues top players to other leagues in order to get seen by NCAA schools ?.Why is it that top players in our league go unnoticed untill they go out west ? ( Matt Garbowski, Alex Szczechura, Matt Paltridge, Ryan Viselli, just to name a few).What should the executive of our league do to make our league better so as our top players don't have to leave in order to get exposed to the NCAA scouts.Does anyone have any ideas on how to fix this before it becomes a glorified Jr.C league ?.

Repeatedly changing the name of the league and adding more crossover games with the other conferences should do the trick!

ive said it before and ill say it again, you need to cut the fat, the less teams there are, the better the competition, lambton shores needs to go, half the golden horseshoe needs to go, the horseshoe IS right now glorified junior C, the GOJHL has fallen off the radar in just TWO years. the ncaa has never really been high on the league, since mostly the better younger players are going to the OHL right away, however, as a league its your duty to allow players to weigh both options to make the right decision, and to move on as many players as possible. tier 2's endless number of teams is creating many issues as well, also the fact that the league is still considered junior B, if you want to establish credibility with scouts, you need to compete with not only the best in your region, but the best in ALL ontario. it also doesnt help that you have good veteran players going to play junior c to get an extra year, facts are the gojhl remains a solid league, but if these issues arent resolved, the GOJHL will only get worse over time

The problem of players going to J C to gain an extra year of junior eligibility is ridiculous .If these guys want to play more hockey then join the beer leagues in all the municipalities have them .The spread between 16 year olds and 20 year olds is too much ,too many young players getting hurt ,Concusions ,seperated shoulders ,etc.
sam

I don't think it is fair to say that the NCAA isn't coming out. Many of those players mentioned....Bodo, Garbowski, Szechura, Sones (cambridge) received scholies while playing in the GOJHL, the problem is that the BCHL is a better league right now and the NCAA teams are offering scholarships for 2 years down the road and sending players out there for a year. Ya it sucks that those teams then take the credit for players getting scholarship when everyone, the teams, the schools, the players know when the scholarship was offered and what team they were playing for at the time.

The tier 2 teams are telling players the grass is greener, the ice is faster and the scholarships are a plenty in their league however if you ask players that go.....it isn't the case. Many aren't even receiving the things promised to them by teams such as skates, sticks or even gas money. They don't take buses anywhere but the kids still buy into what they're hearing. Unless the number of teams between the Tier 2 and the GOJHL is reduced significantly and made into 1 league with the top teams this is going to continue to happen. It is just the way it is. You don't hear NCAA schools offering kids scholarships from our league and then sending them to the Toronto Tier 2 leagues...that smoke that is being blown is only coming from those teams in Toronto...hmmm is that why the call Toronto the Big Smoke? Teams can't guarantee scholarships yet the Toronto teams try to then when the player doesn't get one they say, "oh you just didn't play well enough". Get your heads out of your asses. The schools are sending players out west because it is a better league. So lets swallow our pride toronto teams and GOJHL teams that can't play at that level - in both the Toronto Tier 2 and the GOJHL and make 1 league that will compete with the BC league. Then players will stick around........however, be careful what you wish for.......

Let me ask you this....rather then lose Bodo to the BCHL how would the Strathroy fans feel if Strathroy played at a lower level and the NCAA team that offered him a scholarship told him to play a year with the Nationals because they played in a league that contained 16 of the best teams in Ontario, a true tier 2 league? I'm just using London as an example. But the same could be said for players in Stratford going to Cambridge or Stoney Creek players going to Thorold for example. Would you be as upset?

In general, what makes the BCHL a better league is the ablility of the owners to spend money. Most teams are privately owned and can afford to bring in top talent from across the country. Can you imagine teams in the GOJHL being able to afford the costs of releases, branch transfers, billets etc. to bring in players like they do?

Don't forget the OHA just tried to form a premier league like you suggest, but it quickly blew up into law suits and court cases.
The $25,000 entry fee is only the start of costs to operate in this league.
one positve was the contraction of 4-5 teams and the promise of re organization of all OHA teams soon.

I know a couple players picked up by the NCAA from our JB team only to be told they would have to move up to a better league the following year ,which was teer 2 Toronto were they were totaly shafted . One player wanted to quit and come back at Christmas but was told by the coach there that he would put a block in to stop him from making it to school the next year .Boy did he hate that place .He was our best player and had a future but they ruined him .he is not even playing now,
sam

the new premier league may have "blown up" but that was because of the manner in which the OHA attempted to set it up. You're right the tier 2 is doing the right thing by reducing teams. However, to say that the BC is better because they have private ownership and can throw the money around? There is nothing stopping owners here. There is private ownership in Toronto and look at the mess it is in.

[quote="Just A Fan"]I don't think it is fair to say that the NCAA isn't coming out. Many of those players mentioned....Bodo, Garbowski, Szechura, Sones (cambridge) received scholies while playing in the GOJHL,


Bodo yes, but I don't think the others got any offers until they went to the BCHL. If they did than their respective teams and the whole GOJHL did a very poor job of promoting their accomplishments, what better marketing tool to lure other top talent to your team and your league than to promote the players that recieved scholarships. That is why I don't believe they did.

Anyways a couple of years ago the GOJHL started to go in the right direction by having a showcase weekend with all the teams playing a couple of interlocking games against the other conference's and it seemed to work as there were many scouts in attendence, last year they scaled back by having the teams only play one game each and the scouts stayed away, why would they drive in some case's hundreds of miles to only get to see a player that they might be interested in play one game.

Another thought that I don't understand is the Western conference at its annual banquet picks a first, second and a rookie allstar team and yet they don't participate in the allstar games that the mid-west and golden horseshoe conferences play in,,,, why not. They should take another weekend ( it could actually be done in one day ) and gather the 3 allstar teams that were selected by each conference and make it a true showcase weekend with the top talent from all 3 leagues being represented and they could play a round robin format ( 2 games each ) and I'm sure the scouts will turn out in droves

Ramrod, you hit the nail on the head, and I'm glad to finally hear someone who is thinking along the same lines as I am. The showcase weekend wasnt just good for scouts but players too, it gave ALL teams a chance to see what they were up against down the road which may have raised the level of play, not to mention the scouts that were in attendance. The All-Star game idea is a no brainer to me, all conferences and all age groups (it kills me to see just the young kids getting promoted when the majority of better players have spent years to develop and are now the real stars in the league). Also, instead of during, make the All-Star game after the season so that its a hard hitting, fast-paced game and there is worry for injury. Scouts want to see the best players playing against each other at their best. If i had to grade the GOJHL on promoting players, I'd give it a D

good thought on the all star game but what is the incentive? Scouts would come out I agree but the players in a 1 game ordeal would play as individuals trying to impress the scouts. Do you make it a true all star team with the best players or do you make it a top prospect game of the top players that have NCAA eligibility?

Sones - Cambridge and the 2 brantford players obtained their schollies in GOJHL, again you were bang on when you said the teams and the league didn't do a good job of promoting it.

I agree. The prospect game is a great tool to promot the younger players ( many of whom that have been drafted to the "O" but not yet signed ) so it brings out both the OHL scouts and it also brings out the NCAA scouts to see the players ( some that have been drafted and perhaps sway their mind to play NCAA instead of OHL ) but you'r right, the league does nothing to promote the older players like the Turners , Soulignys, Sharps, etc, etc, etc that for one reason or another never played in the "O" and yet developed into top notch players that would also be top notch players in any other league "ie" Garbowski, Scezhura.

This league seems to be a good feeder for The "O" as we see with the legionairres sending several players to the Sting, and Blake Thomas of the St.Thomas Stars also signing with the Sting, but like I said there are many players that were drafted into the "O" like Turner who was drafted to Bellville and never signed for whatever reason,(perhaps wanting an education instead) but who now would probably be concidered a top player, but because he would be an overager and would not likely be signed by them his days are probably over for the "O" and yet would be a great prospect for the NCAA program. These are the players that our league needs to promote.




The incentive could be home ice advantage for the Sutherland cup finals.

Yes you make it a true all star game with the players that were picked by the league representing each conference regardless of NCAA elidgebility or not,( "ie" Seth Griffith of the Lincolns who played with the Knights ). That way the scouts get to see these players play in a game against the top notch players in our league.