 |
Discuss: |
A 15 year old kid with zero junior experience and a whopping 155 lbs as a D player, which is exactly what's wrong with juniors. That kid is too young and small to play against 20 year old, 220 lb players who have no other playing options but juniors. I think a 15 year old is simply too young to be playing at this level, regardless of "skill.". This needs to change or 19 and 20 year old guys will have nowhere to play.
Lori,
The major juniors having been drafting bantams for ever...why the outcry now?
Personally it's because I have a 20 year old who is considered a senior citizen against a 15 year old. I think juniors should be for kids who can no longer play midgets. A 15 year old has options to play all over, a 20 year old has very few. Just my opinion
The hard reality is that a 20 year-old, that has not been drafted by an NHL team, or committed to a school, is really better off getting himself into a school based on his career ambitions. If that school has a hockey team, that's just a bonus. It should not matter if the school is NCAA Div III or even ACHA Div II, at that point it should be all about the education.
Major juniors draft bantams for their developmental potential. It is a gamble with hopes that the same player finds himself at the NHL entry draft podium just three very short years later.
Don't fool yourself Lori, most of the leagues limit the number of 20 year-olds allowed on the roster and that is exactly the reason so many of these kids end up in the Canadian Junior Hockey League and a few even trickle down to the NAHL. They are suppose to be able to go the Canadian universities, a year of major junior for a year of college tuition. The success rate of that program has come under a lot of fire.
The real ending is what happens on the NHL draft day. That is the day where bantam dreams often end. Imagine yourself the parent of one of these 15 year-olds and are forced to make a decision about your child's future. Do you roll the dice and go for the glory of the NHL or just say no thanks and maintain NCAA eligibility?
Yeah I know of several Anerican kids who are playing in the WHL as 16 year olds and who have not broken out, yet they've chucked it all away for the chance. Had they been forced to be done with school and/or hit 17 years then taking a chance to "make it" seems a bit more reasonable. There are a lot of 19 and 20 year old kids who've been misled by the system but are full of talent, and they're overlooked because of their age. The system needs revamping.
Hockey is not the only one...for every 20 year-old hockey player trying to keep the dream alive there are 200 baseball players and maybe 500 basketball players at the same age fighting for their own opportunity.
By the pure numbers, the hockey player has a much better chance.
The system needs revamping, or kids need to make better decisions? The information is out there. Many choose not to seek input or they simply fail to heed the advice of others.
Log in to post a comment
| 
