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Post by Fletcher on Feb 4, 2024 21:38:49 GMT
I don't know much about the operations of Hockey Canada and the Provincial junior leagues, but in NCAA-ish news, I was really shocked to see 5 teams from the AJHL suddenly defect midseason to the BCHL. Those are the two big NCAA-feeder leagues from north of the border, and where a lot of D-1 prospects go to earn a scholarship and/or prep for college hockey. Do any of our Canadian friends understand this? It's just so bizarre to see a bunch of teams leave one league, and join another, right in the middle of the season. The AJHL website was updated this week to conspicuously not list, or acknowledge, 5 of their teams. The BCHL website has not added the new teams yet, so it kinda looks like they disappeared. How the hell will the standings and scheduling work in either league? Story here
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 4, 2024 22:40:11 GMT
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 5, 2024 16:36:53 GMT
Beanopt tonight.
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Post by Fletcher on Feb 5, 2024 16:42:47 GMT
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 5, 2024 18:04:40 GMT
They have been playing well.
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 5, 2024 21:19:59 GMT
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Post by bookboy007 on Feb 5, 2024 22:45:58 GMT
I don't know much about the operations of Hockey Canada and the Provincial junior leagues, but in NCAA-ish news, I was really shocked to see 5 teams from the AJHL suddenly defect midseason to the BCHL. Those are the two big NCAA-feeder leagues from north of the border, and where a lot of D-1 prospects go to earn a scholarship and/or prep for college hockey. Do any of our Canadian friends understand this? It's just so bizarre to see a bunch of teams leave one league, and join another, right in the middle of the season. The AJHL website was updated this week to conspicuously not list, or acknowledge, 5 of their teams. The BCHL website has not added the new teams yet, so it kinda looks like they disappeared. How the hell will the standings and scheduling work in either league? Story hereYeah, I had heard about this but can't say I've thought it through much. The main story to me is that they left Hockey Canada. That's now 22 teams that have left Hockey Canada at that level (BCHL plus these 5 that have joined). In typical western Canada fashion, someone has told them that the regulations protecting their drafting zones is hurting them financially so they went all Libertarian about it. Or LIV golf. That's my guess. It remains to be seen if this works the way they seem to want it to work, and it probably takes some time. These are junior B teams, and as Sandog's post suggests, if the NCAA decides that Major Junior players who get stipends are still eligible as amateurs, their best players will go to major junior and play a year or two while their schools postpone their start dates. Could work out well for late bloomers who aren't just going to play one year as a 19 yr old then make the jump. And the Jr. B teams will have to find ways to compete...which might then get the NCAA's back up and say "not those guys - they're compensated." I'm also thinking about the Alberta teams who might not have thought it through. It's not terrible to drive from Okatoks to the interior of BC but it's not nothing. Lots of travel for kids who still have school and homework so it may not be more attractive for their recruiting. And while the BCHL might think it's great for their teams to poach Albertan juniors to play in nice places or near the ocean, the Alberta teams are still in close proximity to Edmonton. No new sales pitch for them.
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Post by Fletcher on Feb 5, 2024 23:39:22 GMT
I don't know much about the operations of Hockey Canada and the Provincial junior leagues, but in NCAA-ish news, I was really shocked to see 5 teams from the AJHL suddenly defect midseason to the BCHL. Those are the two big NCAA-feeder leagues from north of the border, and where a lot of D-1 prospects go to earn a scholarship and/or prep for college hockey. Do any of our Canadian friends understand this? It's just so bizarre to see a bunch of teams leave one league, and join another, right in the middle of the season. The AJHL website was updated this week to conspicuously not list, or acknowledge, 5 of their teams. The BCHL website has not added the new teams yet, so it kinda looks like they disappeared. How the hell will the standings and scheduling work in either league? Story hereYeah, I had heard about this but can't say I've thought it through much. The main story to me is that they left Hockey Canada. That's now 22 teams that have left Hockey Canada at that level (BCHL plus these 5 that have joined). In typical western Canada fashion, someone has told them that the regulations protecting their drafting zones is hurting them financially so they went all Libertarian about it. Or LIV golf. That's my guess. It remains to be seen if this works the way they seem to want it to work, and it probably takes some time. These are junior B teams, and as Sandog's post suggests, if the NCAA decides that Major Junior players who get stipends are still eligible as amateurs, their best players will go to major junior and play a year or two while their schools postpone their start dates. Could work out well for late bloomers who aren't just going to play one year as a 19 yr old then make the jump. And the Jr. B teams will have to find ways to compete...which might then get the NCAA's back up and say "not those guys - they're compensated." I'm also thinking about the Alberta teams who might not have thought it through. It's not terrible to drive from Okatoks to the interior of BC but it's not nothing. Lots of travel for kids who still have school and homework so it may not be more attractive for their recruiting. And while the BCHL might think it's great for their teams to poach Albertan juniors to play in nice places or near the ocean, the Alberta teams are still in close proximity to Edmonton. No new sales pitch for them. ^That's kinda what I was thinking. I always figured that those Provinces had their own junior leagues (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL) partly because they're so fucking big, and remote. I'm certainly no expert on the geography of western Canada, but it seemed to me that the BCHL was very much clustered around Vancouver, while the AJHL was clustered around the Calgary-Edmonton belt. Bottom line -- away games are reasonably drivable for both leagues. I'm guessing that now when Sherwood Park has to play Nanaimo, it's gonna be a pretty expensive travel scenario. The BCHL in particular has become a huge NCAA-feeder, where committed college kids go out to hone their skill for a year or two before being welcomed to campus. Lots of New England kids actually head out there. I imagine a change in the Major Junior rules would really shift the dynamic. In a way, I hope that the rules don't make it too easy for players to jump between NCAA and junior hockey, just because disgruntled 4th liners in both leagues will ditch their teams midseason for a (possibly) better offer. My guess is that some BCHL teams (Junior B or not) would currently be pretty darn competitive with WHL/QMJHL teams, as they are more and more loaded with Division 1 NCAA prospects, who could play major junior but are trading a stipend for a scholarship.
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Post by bookboy007 on Feb 6, 2024 13:18:06 GMT
Yeah, I had heard about this but can't say I've thought it through much. The main story to me is that they left Hockey Canada. That's now 22 teams that have left Hockey Canada at that level (BCHL plus these 5 that have joined). In typical western Canada fashion, someone has told them that the regulations protecting their drafting zones is hurting them financially so they went all Libertarian about it. Or LIV golf. That's my guess. It remains to be seen if this works the way they seem to want it to work, and it probably takes some time. These are junior B teams, and as Sandog's post suggests, if the NCAA decides that Major Junior players who get stipends are still eligible as amateurs, their best players will go to major junior and play a year or two while their schools postpone their start dates. Could work out well for late bloomers who aren't just going to play one year as a 19 yr old then make the jump. And the Jr. B teams will have to find ways to compete...which might then get the NCAA's back up and say "not those guys - they're compensated." I'm also thinking about the Alberta teams who might not have thought it through. It's not terrible to drive from Okatoks to the interior of BC but it's not nothing. Lots of travel for kids who still have school and homework so it may not be more attractive for their recruiting. And while the BCHL might think it's great for their teams to poach Albertan juniors to play in nice places or near the ocean, the Alberta teams are still in close proximity to Edmonton. No new sales pitch for them. ^That's kinda what I was thinking. I always figured that those Provinces had their own junior leagues (BCHL, AJHL, SJHL) partly because they're so fucking big, and remote. I'm certainly no expert on the geography of western Canada, but it seemed to me that the BCHL was very much clustered around Vancouver, while the AJHL was clustered around the Calgary-Edmonton belt. Bottom line -- away games are reasonably drivable for both leagues. I'm guessing that now when Sherwood Park has to play Nanaimo, it's gonna be a pretty expensive travel scenario. The BCHL in particular has become a huge NCAA-feeder, where committed college kids go out to hone their skill for a year or two before being welcomed to campus. Lots of New England kids actually head out there. I imagine a change in the Major Junior rules would really shift the dynamic. In a way, I hope that the rules don't make it too easy for players to jump between NCAA and junior hockey, just because disgruntled 4th liners in both leagues will ditch their teams midseason for a (possibly) better offer. My guess is that some BCHL teams (Junior B or not) would currently be pretty darn competitive with WHL/QMJHL teams, as they are more and more loaded with Division 1 NCAA prospects, who could play major junior but are trading a stipend for a scholarship.On the competitive question, yeah, absolutely, though the impact is a little muted by the fact that the better players who go that route don't seem to stay beyond highschool. Usually, it's guys playing up to their draft year then heading to college, with rare exceptions for guys who have birthdays that fall into some kind of gray zone. That means you don't see quite as many great players in those leagues for very long - which is true of major junior, too, for the elite prospects who make the jump. Recent examples are guys like Alex Newhook, but for at least 3 or 4 years prior, there were no recognizable players at the top of the league the way guys like Turris dominated before he made the jump. Cooper Zech led the league in assists one of those years. [side note - usually hockeydb will let you sort their draft page by where the player was drafted from so you could see how many kids were taken from the BCHL or wherever, but it's being a dick this morning.] On the trade - they don't actually have to make that deal with the devil. One of my brothers played 4 years of WHL and that paid for his tuition and books. Not quite a full ride, I guess, but it takes some of the sting out of heading to school after you hit 21. And more than a few guys go from junior to playing for their University teams. That's not as big a deal here, and I think we're still at something like 2-3 players in the history of the NHL who made the NHL after playing Canadian InterUniversity Sport, but if they get some financial support to play and top off the education support from the WHL, that makes it even less of a tradeoff. I think the real trade is going to University 3-4 years after your peers, so you miss out on a lot of the experience. On the other hand, you probably get a better education because you're more responsible? Maybe? Or you have an addiction to pain killers. It's one of the two.
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 12, 2024 23:09:16 GMT
Ha Ha get it ?...all the beans ?
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Post by 50belowzero on Feb 13, 2024 1:07:38 GMT
Oops, can't fan on the pass in that situation, 1-0 BU.
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 13, 2024 3:03:22 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!!
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Post by Fletcher on Feb 13, 2024 15:34:12 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! That was a fantastic game, by the way. I thought BU was a little better overall, but that's the magic of the tourney -- it can be stolen by the opportunistic.
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Post by bookboy007 on Feb 13, 2024 16:30:11 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! That was a fantastic game, by the way. I thought BU was a little better overall, but that's the magic of the tourney -- it can be stolen by the opportunistic. 5 of the last 6? Wow. Breakup up Northeastern! Goalie's an Ottawa kid, so it got a lot of play here.
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Post by bookboy007 on Feb 13, 2024 16:34:23 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! To paraphrase the line from Hannibal, let's give the name the weight it deserves. Gunnarwolfe Fontaine owns the Beanpot.
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Post by bookboy007 on Feb 13, 2024 16:43:31 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! That was a fantastic game, by the way. I thought BU was a little better overall, but that's the magic of the tourney -- it can be stolen by the opportunistic. I don't pay a ton of attention to NCAA hockey. Even my time to dedicate to juniors has dropped to near nothing (watch Jack Quinn in Buffalo, though - I thought he was better than Rossi). So I was surprised to dig into this a bit and find that a) Northeastern is well below .500 this season and b) that they lost a number of key players who either aged out or transferred including the other Jack Hughes and Sam Colangelo. They were a top 3 team last year. Despite this, they kept the Beanpot run alive. Good for them! Odds that Sweeney signs either or both of Williams and Hryckowian at the end of their eligibility?
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 13, 2024 17:48:38 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! To paraphrase the line from Hannibal, let's give the name the weight it deserves. Gunnarwolfe Fontaine owns the Beanpot. That name is given to every one of the 17th century Vampire hunters in every horror movie.
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 13, 2024 17:49:30 GMT
Fontaine owns the Beanpot!!! That was a fantastic game, by the way. I thought BU was a little better overall, but that's the magic of the tourney -- it can be stolen by the opportunistic. BU was much better. And that's what's great about one game your out tournaments.
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Post by Fletcher on Feb 13, 2024 18:08:21 GMT
That was a fantastic game, by the way. I thought BU was a little better overall, but that's the magic of the tourney -- it can be stolen by the opportunistic. I don't pay a ton of attention to NCAA hockey. Even my time to dedicate to juniors has dropped to near nothing (watch Jack Quinn in Buffalo, though - I thought he was better than Rossi). So I was surprised to dig into this a bit and find that a) Northeastern is well below .500 this season and b) that they lost a number of key players who either aged out or transferred including the other Jack Hughes and Sam Colangelo. They were a top 3 team last year. Despite this, they kept the Beanpot run alive. Good for them! Odds that Sweeney signs either or both of Williams and Hryckowian at the end of their eligibility? Yeah, I follow a few college teams pretty closely -- Dartmouth, Miami-Ohio, Denver, Northeastern -- and the Beanpot win will kinda make their season, as they are very unlikely to make the NCAA tourney. I believe Colangelo was a senior last year, so he transferred to play that 5th year elsewhere (and is having a great season). Hughes was a bit of a punk, and transferring to the bitter crosstown rival as a junior is a ballsy move. But Northeastern always seems to recruit pretty well these days too, and they brought in a pretty good freshmen class, along with some key transfers of their own (Walton and Campbell most notably). Whitehead is outstanding as a freshmen in net. I won't be surprised if he gets called upon by Vegas before his four years at NU. I think the Beanpot means a lot to this team as they have 11 players from Massachusetts (14 from NE), and they have a bit of a chip on their shoulder from always having Celebrinis, Hutsons, Gauthiers, Smiths, Leonards, etc. playing a mile away, but rarely choosing NU. And yes, Hryckowian and Williams have got to be shooting up to the top of the NCAA-free agents list. For my money they are the two best skaters on the team. Both a little more productive than teammate Cam Lund for example, who is a #34 overall draft pick (San Jose).
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 17, 2024 1:57:04 GMT
Ha Ha stupid Terrier still in the doghouse!!!
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 17, 2024 15:43:01 GMT
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Post by Fletcher on Feb 17, 2024 15:58:29 GMT
Ha Ha stupid Terrier still in the doghouse!!! I can not figure out what's going on with him. Last year, as a sophomore, he was a top pairing d-man on this team with 21 points and +21, and appeared to be a legit NHL prospect. This year, he's repeatedly been a healthy scratch or 7th dman. What the hell happened...?
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 17, 2024 16:05:50 GMT
Think he will hit the transfer portal. Gotta be something internal is my guess. Partying around town too much, thought he could tune Pandolofo out or dogging it at practice ? I don't know.
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Post by sandogbrewin on Feb 28, 2024 12:54:36 GMT
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Post by sandogbrewin on Mar 12, 2024 15:20:38 GMT
Lots of blocked shots for the Irish.
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