Junior Hockey was the focus of discussion this at the Molson Canadian World Hockey Summit in Toronto and the Canadian Hockey League was well represented.
Kelly McCrimmon, Governor, General Manager, and Head Coach of the WHL's Brandon Wheat Kings served as a panelist in the Junior Development in the World session at the Air Canada Centre.
“I've lived in Brandon for the last 22 years, so I've been fortunate to experience player development for a long time,” McCrimmon said during his presentation. “The CHL provides the NHL with more than 50 per cent of the NHL's drafted players, and we also feel part of Hockey Canada and the success of that national organization.”
McCrimmon continued discussions before more than 400 delegates in attendance offering a CHL perspective highlighting several key strengths of the program.
“We have a competitive edge over any other league. Our game is very similar to the NHL, so players know they are getting as close an experience as possible to what they want. We have travel, the same rules, same size rink. And for me, the biggest improvement in the CHL in the last several years has been the improvement of the coaching, training facilities, life skills. Most of these players won't make the NHL, so we are very proud and realize we have to prepare these players for life, not just hockey. We offer a scholarship program for players to attend a Canadian university after they finish junior if they don't go on to turn pro.”
The session was moderated by CBC's Jim Hughson and featured presentations from Murray Costello and Slavomir Lener who discussed some of the challenges that European countries face on the International Stage. Different perspectives were also raised by panelists Tommy Boustedt from Sweden and Jan Filc of Slovakia, USA Hockey's Jim Johansson and Tom Anastos.
The panel also included Darcy Regier, General Manager of the Buffalo Sabres, who offered an NHL outlook on the junior programs, since that is the goal through development. “I don't have an answer to the problems with European players. We don't want to kill the geese who lay the golden eggs. But there are some reasons why we at the NHL level want players to come over and play in the CHL. If they are in the CHL or AHL, we can really watch the players carefully and determine when they can play with us. The problem is that players now have choices, and they can say that at 18, they have rights to go where they want and play where they want. If we are going to make changes to the rules, it has to be beneficial to the league.”