http://www.theliberal.com/News/Sports/article/81079
Level playing field holds key to Central success
September 11, 2008 09:14 PM
By: John Cudmore
At long last, the realization hit home that to continue with a business-as-usual mentality was to merely spin wheels for members of the Ontario Provincial Jr. A Hockey League.
That pretty much nutshells the desire of eight franchise owners and the governing Ontario Hockey Association to shake things up in the junior hockey community and cause all that off-season kerfuffle in the Ontario Provincial Jr. A Hockey League.
That shake-up is the introduction of a pilot project — to be known for now as the Central Division — involving eight teams, including the Newmarket Hurricanes, Markham Waxers and Stouffville Spirit.
Designed to be progressive, innovative and, ultimately, to put into play many of the issues only talked about over the past several years, it will be a must-see this season.
For starters, there is a plan of action and a will to act on the part of the Central teams.
Hopefully, the end result — a pilot project aimed at setting a new course for junior hockey from A to C in Ontario — will be one that has enough impact to actually alter the landscape for the sport.
That would make this test a good kerfuffle, as kerfuffles go.
The concept arrives none too soon. For far too long, the league has been a mess. Too many teams that have no business, or idea, how to operate at what ought to be an elite level have been allowed to hang around.
If the concept is, as advertised, an attempt to forge a new path for junior hockey in Ontario, other owners will warm to it.
The stubborn few detractors may still curse the methods by which they contend the project came about — a lot of misinformation, legal threats and whining persists — but the reality is, had not the OHA and participating teams got themselves in front of this project, it is almost a certainty nothing would have changed in a tired, stale and outdated junior hockey community.
The simple fact is, eight teams working in a single interest have achieved lots already, ranging from marketing its players to scouts across North America via video streaming for most games, to a common travel arrangement and educational experts contracted to put players on the trail to the next level.
On the other hand, the so-called core group of 29 other teams countered with their own proposal for a new approach, including several identical notions at one point this summer. To date, none have been implemented.
There is more to come from the Central Division, all of it designed to improve and promote players.
The project is not a breakaway league, although it may set the tone for such in future seasons. It is not a rich boys club, yet many of the ownerships possess some serious enough coin. Nor is it a collection of teams planning to collect all the top talent they can find in an effort to take a run at the Royal Bank Cup.
Rather, the plan is to become one day a viable place to be for players seeking to advance hockey careers.
‘It’s about giving kids a better experience so that they want to be here. There’s a lot of things we can do because we could never get 36 teams to agree.’
The key is to establish a level playing field. That is, outfit everyone with the same rules, budgets, philosophies, equipment and opportunity and see how it shakes out.
Each of the eight teams are required to make available funds within their budget to help cover league initiatives. Although $300,000 has been floated as a buy-in figure, that’s not exactly precise. Fact is, budgets are a floating figure subject to fluctuation depending on several factors, including potential revenue streams.
“A level playing field is important but it is also about spending money on proper services and equipment for the kids as well as about marketing on the players and league,” said Newmarket Hurricanes’ majority owner Anthony Pietramala.
“If you’re spending $80,000 to $100,000 on a season, you’re not providing the proper services or equipment for your players. If you want to be part of the standards we’re putting forward, it costs money.
“It could be more or it could be less, we’ll see. But we’re also working at revenue generation to offset costs.”
The money required to operate properly alone ought to eliminate from the Jr. A ranks several teams down the road who have no business, or inkling, about how to operate at this level.
Look at it this way, if one were to trim the 37-team roster in the OP down to say, 12 or 16 teams, and add in a half-dozen or so of the top Junior B teams in the province, you’d have an interesting package for the fans, scouts and potential advertisers.
It’s this simple: If no one is willing to try, nothing changes.
“It’s about giving kids a better experience so that they want to be here,” Pietramala said. “There’s a lot of things we can do because we could never get 36 teams to agree.
“League generated funds are non-existent in the OPJHL as teams can’t get on the same page to do things together to generate significant funds through synergies. These funds are substantial both in cost savings as well as revenue generations.”
There is no reason to think the members of the Central Division will be any better or worse than their peers in the league’s other three divisions or their own past performances, although the Central does possess some of the traditional heavy hitters in the Wellington Dukes, Markham Waxers and St. Michael’s Buzzers. In fact, in some cases it could well be that the Central teams will undergo growing pains before their true potential is realized, given the chance the project is extended beyond one year.
Cobourg Cougars, Hamilton Red Wings and Toronto Jr. Canadiens round out the field.
Within itself, chances are there will be more parity than ever before on the scoreboard. It could happen otherwise, of course, but it seems fans will be subjected to fewer nights in which outright mismatches outnumber quality match-ups.
“I think we’ll be more skilled and, overall as a league, all we can do is put our best foot forward,” said Pietramala.
But this much is true — the pilot group has shown an ability to not only talk the talk but walk the walk. It may not seem like a lot just yet, but scouts are paying attention judging by the numbers in attendance at pre-season games.
Consider this: could any of this have happened had the unwieldy league remained as it was with 37 teams apparently unable to agree whether it is day or night?
Not a chance
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