http://www.trentonian.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1522624
The Trenton Golden Hawks had no desire to play in a glorified Greater Toronto Area AAA league and thats why theyve opted to stay in the Ontario Junior Hockey Leagues Classic Conference for the 2009/2010 season, says Director of Hockey Operations and General Manager Tim Clayden.
OJHL governors finalized a split of the 36-team league into two distinct conferences at a special meeting last Wednesday, allowing a festering philosophical division to go its separate ways.
For several years now league members have struggled to find common ground between the development of young players and competing for the Royal Bank Cup national championship.
With the Central Division pilot project now complete, the largest junior A hockey league in Canada has decided there is room for both philosophies. The 15-team Classic Conference will continue with the status quo rules under Canadian Hockey guidelines, while the 21-team Central Conference will be controlled by much stricter internal conference guidelines in regards to age enforcement.
"It was clear that we were not going to resolve a couple of key philosophical issues," OJHL Chairman Lloyd Stockley said in a press release. "What we did agree on was that we could find enough common ground to push forward and allow all teams to get on with the task of preparing for next season.
Joining the Golden Hawks in the Classic Conference will be the Kingston Voyageurs, Aurora Tigers, Collingwood Blues, Couchiching Terriers, Huntsville Otters, Villanova Knights, Vaughan Vipers, Brampton Capitals, Buffalo Jr. Sabres, Georgetown Raiders, Milton Icehawks, Mississauga Chargers, Oakville Blades and Bramalea Blues.
They will play with a limit of nine 20-year-olds, as per Hockey Canada's rules. Player ages will be determined by individual team philosophies under Hockey Canada's junior A guidelines.
The Central Conference will dress 19 players per night, as opposed to the 20 allowed by Hockey Canada, and will be allowed to carry five 20-year-olds and eight 19-year-olds
on their rosters. Conference age limits are determined by internal conference guidelines.
Among the Central teams will be the Wellington Dukes, Burlington Cougars, Hamilton Red Wings, Orangeville Crushers, Streetsville Derbys, Dixie Beehives, North York Rangers, Newmarket Hurricanes, Toronto Jr. Canadiens, St. Michael's Buzzers, Bowmanville Eagles, Cobourg Cougars, Lindsay Muskies, Markham Waxers, Pickering Panthers, Stouffville Spirit, Whitby Fury, Upper Canada, Seguin Bruins, Ajax Attack and Peterborough Liftlock Stars.
Each Conference will now meet begin preparations for the 2009-2010 season, to determine divisions and other rules that will apply to their individual conferences.
At season's end, the two conference champions will meet in a best-of-seven series to compete for a berth in the Dudley Hewitt Cup, the Central Canadian championship.
While the Trenton team had already lost old rivalries with Wellington and Cobourg when the Dukes and Cougars joined the Central Division for this past season, the new conference re-alignments also wipe out rivalries with Peterborough, Lindsay and Bowmanville.
We didnt have a choice, we want to play where the best teams play, and not in a glorified city AAA league that eventually will have very limited busing and plans to charge players to annually play junior A hockey, similar to the outlawed (Greater Metro Hockey League), Clayden said.
Wellington GM and head coach Marty Abrams is one of the fathers of the Central Division model. Hes felt for a long time that the league was broken because unfettered spending by privately owned teams makes it increasingly difficult for community-owned teams such as the Dukes to compete for talent.
Abrams has argued for several years that the OJHL has strayed from providing high quality hockey entertainment while developing junior aged players to move onto NCAA, Canadian university and major junior hockey careers.
In a recent article in the Wellington Times, Abrams used this years OJHL finalists, Kingston and Oakville as an example of privately owned teams that spend big bucks to attract talent, while teams like the Dukes must work day and night just to tread water.
Clayden, on the other hand, cant understand why Abrams and the Dukes would want to end the rivalry between Wellington and Trenton.
I have no idea what Marty is thinking about playing in the
glorified Central city AAA Conference, Clayden said. Marty is one of the smartest and best at this level of play across Canada, so having him give up the opportunity to play his neighbours every three weeks and fill his own rink while having his team continue to be one of the better teams in the league, in what obviously is going be the better conference that competes every night under the current Hockey Canada guidelines, is mind boggling.
We made a hockey decision, others are making their decision based on the perceived savings in travel and eventual revenue generations by charging players to play, Clayden said.
That is not junior A hockey.
Meanwhile, the Trenton squad will hold the Inaugural Golden Hawks Junior A Spring Training Camp May 29-31 at the RCAF Flyers Arena.
The camp costs $95 per player on a first come, first serve basis. Mail your payment to Trenton Golden Hawks Jr. A Hockey Club, 19 Tamblyn Road, Orono, Ontario, LOB 1MO.
