Wednesday, February 11, 2009

OHL Tampering?

Could there be tampering rule in the OHL? According to the post on the Noof citing London Knights governor Trevor Wiffen, the OHL is ready take action.

I did not see this posted in here anywhere, and it caught me by surprised. As per Trevor Wiffen on Friday evening, the OHL Board of Governors that if a team is found tampering, i.e., say you are going to NCAA route and picked up later, the penalty will be as follows....

$250,000 fine, and two first round draft picks

I don't know what the league is trying to do here? Are they trying to stop teams giving a "better educational pack" to certain players?

A better explanation could be explained here as someone cites his nephew practicing with the London Knights as an draft eligible player.

Ironic that this policy was announced by Trevor Whiffen, when not two weeks ago one of London's scouts told my brother-in-law (my nephew is ranked AA by Central Scouting) that he could play for the Knights by doing that very thing, i.e., tell other teams he is going to the NCAA and the Knights would draft him in a later round.

Incidentally, the OHL also strictly forbids its teams from inviting draft-eligible players to be on the ice with current OHL players in an activity organized by the team. But this same Knights scout has invited my nephew to skate at one of the team's Monday practices, which are apparently more directed at skills development.
Ironic that this policy was announced by Trevor Whiffen, when not two weeks ago one of London's scouts told my brother-in-law (my nephew is ranked AA by Central Scouting) that he could play for the Knights by doing that very thing, i.e., tell other teams he is going to the NCAA and the Knights would draft him in a later round.

Incidentally, the OHL also strictly forbids its teams from inviting draft-eligible players to be on the ice with current OHL players in an activity organized by the team. But this same Knights scout has invited my nephew to skate at one of the team's Monday practices, which are apparently more directed at skills development.

For me it would be extremely difficult in finding out who's tampering. The only thing in recent years that you could consider tampering is Owen Sound signing Trevor Lewis.

Lewis, the 17th overall pick in the National Hockey League draft, has been the subject of intense discussions among the board of governors of the Canadian Hockey League over the past few weeks. The CHL is made up of representatives of Canada's three major junior leagues: the Western Hockey League; the Ontario Hockey League; and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League. WHL commissioner Ron Robison said on Tuesday that the matter was resolved Monday via in-person meetings of the CHL Board of Governors in Ottawa: Lewis will play for the Attack and the OHL will be sanctioned.

I hope kids aren't forced to sign a letter of intent to enter the draft basically forcing them to play in the league. If teams don't take the risk to draft a player because they are worried that they may not report, that's a chance they are willing to take.

Why punish London, Kitchener, Windsor, and Plymouth for taking the high end talent. If the OHL could stop the "back door deals" that would be the best route to take.

That's My Take

(Nathan also is a writer for Maineiacs Post to Post and the Maine Hockey Journal. He can be reached at fourniern@students.nescom.edu)

1 comment:

Brock Otten said...

I agree Nathan. I really don't see how the OHL can stop this from happening, other than forcing potential draftees to sign a letter of intent. But even then, who's to say that players can't and won't just back out of that intent should a team draft them that they don't want to play for.

And really, are these draft arrangements really so bad for the entertainment that the league provides? Without some of these arrangements happening, the OHL would be missing out on a hand full of talented players. The same talented players who fill seats and who make the league exciting to cover and watch.