I will be at both games, and as usual, will have my thoughts posted, probably on Sunday.
I hope to see a lot of you there Saturday night.
The first thing caught me completely off guard this morning.
It is a story about how the state of Washington is investigating the WHL teams to gain an understanding of the working conditions for the players. This has gone as far as the attorney general, who is working on a legal opinion.
Second reading is a list of the top 40 NHL draft eligible players according to TSN's Director of Scouting Craig Button .
The usual 3 are listed, Barzal, Gropp, and Bear. Interesting to see Gropp lower then Bear, which is usually not the case.
Third reading is a complete joke.
It is the BMO top 10 rankings. And Seattle gets an honorable mention.
Lastly, if you want to compare WHL teams.
Alan Caldwell has his amazing list of teams and what players they have left in camp.
What the list shows is the average age of each team and their average height and weight.
If you take a look, you might get a little bit scared about Seattle's situation.
Seattle is listed as one of the youngest team, and still have 5 20's.
To get further scared, if you look at the actual spreadsheet he has listed also, you will find that Seattle has the fewest number of games played for forwards. And it is not close.
But there is a big change since the last couple of years. Seattle comes in the middle of the pack for height and weight. In previous years, Seattle was the tallest, and usually near the top of weight.
11 comments :
Any ranking that has Brandon ahead of Kelowna and Portland is not to be taken seriously.
Now admittedly my knowledge of the Brandon Wheat Kings is somewhat limited but are they really legitimately the best looking WHL team entering this season? I'm going to go out on a limb and say they are not. YMMV.
Here's some good reading for you https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/news/mike-johnston-s-coaching-journey-takes-him-from-australian-outback-to-stanley-cup-challenge-in-pittsburgh-182208789-nhl.html?soc_src=mediacontentstory
Not Surprised from the Socialist Republic of Washington.
It's actually pretty nice here in the Socialist Republic of Washington. That said this particular investigation is a waste of taxpayer dollars and a waste of time. They should stop immediately and focus on something much more important.
Was it just me or did most of the quotes and information for that article come from Canada? I think the only relevant part from Canada would be what the commissioner's view is since he represents the league. It would have been nice to see more from American owners and the State of Washington and Michigan? Also why not Oregon? Or are the extra benefits down there bring them up just high enough to not be included?
This should be happening to college athletes, not our guys so much. Although in all reality they are out there risking their health and well being for our entertainment. Does anyone know if they are covered for death and disability or insurance in the dub? That is where the money should go in my mind.
This has nothing to do with Washington. Washington is being used as a tool to try and entice kids to join the CHL union that Unifor is trying to start.
I think they are trying to push too hard on the stipend piece. In all reality these kids are basically exchange students that play a sport. Do the teams benefit? Absolutely but so do the kids by getting top notch training, gear, medical, dental and a great educational package if they choose to use it that they may not get if they went a different route (college scholarships are few and not guaranteed for a full 4 years).
If Washington screws this up though then there will be HUGE problems not only in the CHL but for many amateur sports
I think that there are some benefits that need to be adjusted, especially if it is true that the stipend has been the same since the late 80s.
The players need some advocacy group to make sure that they do have the best medical and educational benefits possible (and applied in a uniform manner)
I don't know that a union would be the best tool for that but it might be what it take to scare the CHL into giving in on this.
Like the NCAA student-ATHLETES, its a complex issue, just in a much smaller scale.
Kodi, you should be careful when talking about top notch this and that. Many teams ( small or large markets ) do not like to to open their wallets for top notch medical and the education plan is very debatable at best. Yes the college scholarships are year to year but unless you really screw up you will have no problem keeping it. Teams are making hundreds of thousands and in some cases millions so spreading the wealth to your employees should be a good thing
I tend to agree with anon 12:40.
I think the medical care for players is at best uneven between teams and not so top notch in most cases.
Post a Comment