Tomorrows Game News Index
 

D-level teams agree to join junior C

OHA won’t open its books to members     February 23, 2010

By Jeff Hicks, Record staff

CAMBRIDGE — The Ontario Hockey Association has refused to open its books to its own paying members.

All thirty-six provincial junior A hockey clubs have demanded the not-for-profit OHA submit all financial records to be scrutinized by Al Rosen, one of Canada’s leading forensic accountants.

The OHA, which governs all levels of amateur jr. hockey from Kingston to Windsor, has spurned the request.

“We believe all of the books and records of the OHA should be accessible to all members,” said Marc Mercier, the chairperson of the provincial jr. A league. “Any attempt to not be fully transparent should be met with a great deal of suspicion.”

On Feb. 12, OHA president Brent Ladds gave some financial information requested by Mercier.

But Ladds wouldn’t open up the ledgers to Rosen, who has been retained by Mercier’s group.

“The OHA has provided to you all of the information to which you are entitled to under the Corporations Act,” Ladds said in the letter. “You are not entitled to any further information. . . no further information is forthcoming.”

Yesterday, Ladds said the OHA had handed over the Jr. A members’ request to the OHA’s legal department. Ladds said it would be up to OHA lawyers to determine if further information would be given out.

“We want to make sure we do the right thing for our membership,” Ladds said.

Ladds noted the OHA’s audited financial statements are presented for members questions and approval at the organization’s annual general meeting.

“We’ve got nothing to hide,” Ladds said.

The latest sizzling salvo in the war between the Jr. A clubs and the OHA follows a legal battle that cost each side about $50,000 in lawyer’s fees.

The OHA had proposed a new Premier League to start up next season featuring elite players from the current Jr. A and Jr. B levels, which are essentially the same calibre.

All 36 Jr. A teams and 25 Jr. B teams were invited to apply to the league.

Applications were to included a $25,000 fee to the OHA by Feb. 1.

The Jr. A teams successfully appealed the creation of the Premier loop, and accompanying overhaul of the junior system, to the governing Ontario Hockey Federation. The OHF ordered the OHA go back and consult more with its’ members before pushing the Premier loop through.

Essentially, it has been delayed at least one year.

The Jr. A teams, who pay about $7,500 a year to be OHA members, are miffed at having to spend $50,000 to fight the organization that’s supposed to represent them. Mercier says they are fighting for greater accountability, transparency and accessibility with the OHA.

Mercier said the Jr. A clubs are not interested in going outlaw, nor to they want Ladds removed.

“This is not a witch hunt,” said Mercier, who owns the Jr. A Cobourg Cougars.

“This is all about trying to assist our association to try to become the best association it can be.”

Meanwhile, the local Jr. B loop — which includes teams in Cambridge, Kitchener, Waterloo, Elmira, Guelph, Listowel and Stratford — is on the sidelines wondering what all the financial fuss from the Jr. A teams is about.

“Maybe they’re hinting at something I’m missing,” said Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League chair Shawn McKelvie, who represents the Jr. B teams.

“As far as I’m concerned, there has been full disclosure. The ability to ask questions on any of those financials has always been available (at the AGM). I don’t know what it is they’re not already seeing.”

McKelvie says, to his knowledge, no Jr. B teams have questioned OHA finances.

Still, the Waterloo Siskins, who sought to join the Premier loop, see merit in the Jr. A efforts to open the books.

“I agree with the move to have full disclosure of all financial information,” Siskins president Richard Burjoski said. The activities of the OHA continue to become more complicated — deals with Bauer Hockey and Pointstreak — and require more regular scrutiny.”

The OHA has a deal with Bauer to provide hockey products at a discount.

Pointstreak runs on-line league web sites for the OHA.

The Siskins pay $6,300 a season in OHA dues. They also pay $1,300 for insurance and $2,400 to the Greater Ontario loop.

Regardless, the Jr. A and Jr. B clubs have never outgrown their sibling rivalry that sees them fighting over a dwindling number of elite players, since Hockey Canada cut them out of the development path five years ago.

They’ve never been able to see themselves as allies in any endeavour.

Mercier believes the OHA needs to change in order to boost sagging Jr. A fortunes and opening the books to Rosen would be a start.

“We are deeply concerned that our association has fallen out of touch with its members,” he said.

“This is one of a number of steps aimed at reforming the OHA.”

jhicks@therecord.com

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20 Feb. 2010
Tomorrow's Game benched

The Brantford Golden Eagles wait and see approach to Tomorrow's Game seems to have been the right move now that the Ontario Hockey Association's initiative has been benched

While the Golden Eagles saw only two of its Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League brothers apply for the initiative's Premier league, the Ontario Hockey Federation has put the OHA idea on hold, for now.

After hearing an appeal on behalf of all 36 Junior A teams, the OHF told OHA president Brent Ladds that the restructuring of junior hockey won't be happening next season.

The OHF decision came after the Ontario Junior Hockey League and Central Junior Hockey League decided to drop the gloves with the OHA's idea of a Premier division, which was set to begin next fall.

One of the GOJHL teams that did apply for the Premier league is the Cambridge Winter Hawks.

"There are some kinks that need to be worked out but I am confident it will happen, even if it takes a year or 24 months to dot the i's and cross the t's," said Cambridge Winter Hawks president Joe Machado. "It's just going to be a matter of discussion and diplomacy. When it happens, we want to be ready. We're working diligently to bring the club to a higher level of hockey which the community would support."

The OHF indicated that they're on board with the OHA in its concept of the proposed Premier league but feel the criteria needs to be more defined.

The Premier league was to have 16 teams next season, with hopes that it would expand the following year. The Junior A teams felt it was in their best interest to protect themselves since many of the 36 teams would either become extinct, or relegated to another league with the Tomorrow's Game intiative.

"I think that our Junior A category has a lot of work to do and talk is cheap," said Tim Clayden, vice-chair of the OJHL. "Although the OHF decision may be seen as a small victory by some, that is exactly what it is and very small at that. We need to stop talking and start implementing some of the unique initiatives that we have all been talking too much about for more than three years now in order to make our league one of the best for high-end NCAA and OHL prospects to want to play in. Most importantly we need to get down to 28 and maybe 24 teams as early as next season in order to practice what we're preaching.

"We also have to find the middle ground to not only work within the OHA, we must start to work together with each OHA category, including the Bs, Cs and Ds," he said.

The OHA could still force the Tomorrow's Game but not without providing more details on how the new loop will work.

"If it is not supported we have to revisit it to make sure we're making progress," Ladds said. "It's clear we share the same bottom line, but a different process for getting there. I think the important thing is to get it right and be patient enough to get where we have to go."

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YORK REGIONAL     John Cudmore    Feb 12, 2010

OHF ruling stalls Tomorrow’s Game plan

Tomorrow’s Game will have to wait until another day.

The Ontario Hockey Association’s plan to restructure junior hockey in its jurisdiction for the 2010-11 season was stalled when the Ontario Hockey Federation announced Thursday its decision to uphold an appeal from the 36 franchises in the former Ontario Junior Hockey League to block the concept.

The 36 teams argued the initiative to create an elite division and two developmental levels among the 130-plus franchises that comprise the OHA breached constitutional issues and could not proceed in its presented form.

The implementation of Tomorrow’s Game would have impacted junior hockey from A to D calibres.

For now, the OHF ruling keeps intact the 36 members of the OJHL that split this season to form the Central Canadian Hockey League and Ontario Junior A Hockey League.

However, those teams offered earlier to reduce the number of teams starting with next season as a response to Tomorrow’s Game.

“I think that our junior A category has a lot of work to do and talk is cheap,” said Tim Clayden, vice-chair of the 15-team OJAHL Thursday afternoon. “Although the OHF decision may be seen as a small victory by some, that is exactly what it is and very small at that. We need to stop talking and start implementing some of the unique initiatives that we have all been talking too much about for more than three years now in order to make our league one of the best for high-end NCAA and OHL prospects to want to play in.

“Most importantly we need to get down to 28 and maybe 24 teams as early as next season in order to practice what we’re preaching.”

The Tomorrow’s Game concept was intended to bring together top franchises from the Junior A ranks, and eventually from the Junior B level, to develop a premier brand of hockey along with stringent and professional operating methods.

“We also have to find the middle ground to not only work within the OHA, we must start to work together with each OHA category, including the B’s, C’s and D’s.”

OHA president Brent Ladds said the ruling is not the end of attempting to restructure junior hockey.

“If it is not supported we have to re-visit it to make sure we’re making progress,” he said. “It’s clear we share the same bottom line, but a different process for getting there. I think the important thing is to get it right and be patient enough to get where we have to go.”

Most of the 36 teams voted in December to withhold applications to apply for Tomorrow’s Game and in doing so paralysed the Tomorrow’s Game concept.

The OHA board is scheduled to meet Feb. 17 to discuss and analyse the decision of the OHF, according to Ladds.
 

Amateur junior hockey overhaul on hold

By Jeff Hicks                                 Feb 12, 2010

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CAMBRIDGE — The Ontario Hockey Association’s massive overhaul of amateur junior hockey in the province appears to be on ice.

“There’s strong reason to be believe this puts it on hold,” OHA president Brent Ladds said Thursday, after an Ontario Hockey Federation ruling had revolting Jr. A teams claiming victory in their legal battle against the formation of a new Premier league to start next fall.

The governing OHF, after hearing an appeal from all 36 Jr. A clubs last Thursday, told Ladds to go back to the clubs for more consultation.

The OHA could still force the “Tomorrow’s Game” plan down the gagging throats of wary member clubs, but not without providing more details on how the Premier league will work.

“There’s no chance of this proceeding this coming season,” said Cobourg Jr. A Cougars owner Marc Mercier, who sits on the executive boards of both Jr. A leagues. “It’s clear that the OHA operated in a fashion that’s fast and loose and disregarded its members rights.”

The Jr. A teams say the OHA didn’t follow proper procedures in constructing the “Premier” concept.

In December, the OHA invited every Jr. A team and 25 Jr. B teams to apply by Feb. 1 — and pay a $25,000 fee — for membership to the Premier loop.

Only two teams planned to ante up, the Jr. B Cambridge Winter Hawks and Waterloo Siskins.

Hawks president Joe Machado declined comment.

The Siskins plan to remain a Jr. B entity for a 76th year.

“They’re basically going to have to go back to the drawing board,” said Siskins president Richard Burjoski, who figures the Premier league will still materialize with the planned 16 or more teams in 2011.

“I think the year after, it’ll happen.”

The Premier concept and the creation of two other development levels was the OHA’s scheme to make amateur junior hockey relevant again.

Top players would be funneled onto “Premier” teams, who would operate with budgets in the $300,000 range or higher.

It’s also a way of trimming the ridiculous number of Jr. A and Jr. B teams, which are essentially the same calibre.

Of course, the OHA was responsible for creating the glut of franchises in the first place. As well, the Premier concept does nothing to address the dearth of elite talent at the jr. A and B levels, where once-ubiquitous NHL, OHL and college scouts have become as scarce as Vancouver snow.

Five years ago, Hockey Canada took amateur junior hockey out of the developmental loop with legislation that diverts elite players to the professional junior ranks of the Canadian Hockey League. That matter has not been addressed.

For now, the Premier loop scheme is in limbo. The OHA board, which meets next Wednesday, must regroup.

The OHA and the Jr. A clubs could still appeal the OHF ruling to Hockey Canada.

Eventually, change must come to junior hockey in Ontario or its reputation as the path to pickup will be solidified.

“We’re looking forward to working with the OHA,” Mercier said.

“It would be in the best interest of the OHA to spend a little time getting to understand its members.”

The “Tomorrow’s Game” concept has been two years in the making and was discussed by OHA members last June.

No matter how much consultation there is, any move to eliminate franchises will be controversial.

“The goal of all of this is to shrink it,” Burjoski said. “Any time you do that, you’re going to break some hearts.”

Proposed Premier hockey league on thin ice

February 02, 2010

By Jeff Hicks, Record staff

Flat-lining before the first faceoff.

Such is the state of the proposed Premier loop and the Ontario Hockey Association’s master plan to re-make the face of amateur junior hockey in the province.

In December, the OHA invited all 36 junior A clubs and all 25 Jr. B outfits to apply by Feb. 1 to become a member of the new elite “Premier” circuit next fall.

No teams have applied. No $25,000 entry fees have been collected.

Sure, the deadline is extended thanks to Ontario Hockey Federation order.

An appeal challenging the legality of the OHA’s “Tomorrow’s Game” concept — which includes the Premier league — is to be heard by the governing OHF in Toronto on Thursday.

But even OHA president Brent Ladds doesn’t expect a flood of Premier applications should an OHF panel rule in his favour late this week or next.

“You can always perceive when there’s a stampede at the door,” Ladds said Tuesday.

“I checked this morning and that field looked kind of empty.”

The “Tomorrow’s Game” concept, which would also merge Jr. C and D hockey, has been in development for two years and discussed at OHA general meetings.

Still, all 36 junior A clubs are fighting the Premier proposal, claiming the OHA has no right to create a new top-level of junior hockey, especiallly against the wishes of its member teams.

Only two Jr. B clubs, the Waterloo Siskins and Cambridge Winter Hawks, proclaimed they planned to join the Premier rank, ante up the $25,000 and submit a business plan in excess of $300,000.

But, as of Tuesday, even the Siskins and Hawks waffled.

Siskins president Richard Burjoski wanted to know how the OHA expected him to invest $25,000 into such a “mess”.

“Would you invest in a business that is in conflict with their top — in their minds — 36 franchises?” Burjoski said in an email.

“They don’t seem to have a plan, at least one that gives comfort to investors.”

Jr. A is considered a higher level of hockey in OHA eyes, although the calibre of play in Jr. B is essentially the same.

The Premier league concept was the OHA’s response to the declining quality and status of Jr. A and Jr. B hockey.

Elite players from both loops were supposed to be funnelled into a new 16-team circuit featuring the OHA’s best.

But two teams do not a Premier league make.

Winter Hawks co-owner Joe Machado said, via email, his club’s application is being withheld until the OHF rules.

The Siskins, once eagerly pro-premier, are now wary.

“We do want to see what happens,” Burjoski said. “But we have to decide if we want to be part of a small league that is hastily thrown together.”

The Siskins board plans to meet after the OHF rules.

Burjoski believes it likely that an outlaw league will spring up in Greater Toronto for next season.

The Jr. A teams aren’t ready to call the Premier plan a corpse just yet.

“I can’t say that it’s dead dead,” said Cobourg Jr. A Cougars owner Marc Mercier, who sits on the executive boards of both provincial Jr. A leagues.

“But when you have zero applicants to an initiative of this magnitude — that is offered by the OHA without the support of its members — you are left to wonder what’s going to happen here.”

Mercier plans to attend Thursday’s OHF hearing, which was pushed back from last week.

jhicks@therecord.com

  4 Jan. 10
Delhi not crazy about 'Tomorrow's Game'

By JACOB ROBINSON SIMCOE REFORMER

If the Delhi Travellers are going to win their first SOJHL title, this is the year to do it.

With the proposed "Tomorrow's Game" a realignment of the entire OHA, the junior development league appears to be on its last legs, and it's something the team isn't happy about.

The OHA's plan includes wiping the slate clean in terms of the current junior hockey system and starting fresh with levels of premier, division 1 and division 2.

Teams can apply for whichever level fits them best. For those in the SOJHL, it means competing with current Junior C and possibly even some Junior B teams.

"Personally, why fix something that's not broke? Everybody seems to be happy with where they are -- we are. Why are they making big changes? My personal feeling is, I can't believe anyone would want to do it," said Travellers general manager Ron Lazou.

"It's hard enough to win the Junior D title, now you're going into a league where you don't have a chance?"

Lazou said that whatever the Junior C Simcoe Storm and Norwich Merchants decide to do would have a direct result on the franchise. In theory, all three teams could be playing in the same league along with the Port Dover Sailors, but Lazou doesn't see that scenario playing out.

"For us it's Simcoe and Norwich on either side of us -- what they do matters to us. I can't see either one of them staying D2, why would they," he said.

"Our whole league is going to apply for D2 and see where it goes from there."

Ontario Hockey Association Junior C chair John Kastner confirmed over the weekend that the entire SOJHL loop has filed to join Junior C as a standalone league next year.

"The SOJHL has given notice to the OHA that it would like to play in the junior C category next year as a unit," Kastner told QMI Agency.

"If the application is accepted, they'd move to C next fall. Somewhere down the road, perhaps in a year or two, we'd start looking at things such as realignment. But for the first year, they'd prefer to stay together."

Not all teams were against the move though. St. George Dukes general manager told QMI Agency that his organization is excited to make the move up a level.

"I think it's great," Strauch said. "We are affiliated with a Junior B team and by us being a C team, it will help us out. Players get sent down and some don't want to come here because we're a Junior D team. This is a good thing."

When the league last met with the OHA to discuss the plan, Lazou said teams were told there would only be a limited amount of teams allowed in the premier division, which would leave more than 100 clubs between the other two divisions.

"If you split that in half, it comes out to about 55 teams in each division. That's a lot of teams to have a playoff ," Lazou said.

"You could be playing hockey in June."

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2 Jan. 10

D-level teams agree to join junior C

JUNIOR HOCKEY

By DARRYL G. SMART - Brantford Expositor

Junior D hockey is one step closer to becoming extinct.

"The SOJHL (Southern Ontario Junior Hockey League) has given notice to the OHA that it would like to play in the junior C category next year as a unit," Ontario Hockey Association junior C chair John Kastner said.

"If the application is accepted, they'd move to C next fall. Somewhere down the road, perhaps in a year or two, we'd start looking at things such as realignment. But for the first year, they'd prefer to stay together."

The realignment is part of the OHA's project entitled, Tomorrow's Game, which could result in an overhaul of the province's junior hockey leagues and affect teams such as the Brantford Golden Eagles, which currently play in the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League for junior B teams.

St. George Dukes general manager Tom Strauch said he was told the league will stay together but we'll be junior C teams next year.

Strauch said he, along with the other teams in the SOJHL loop are excited for the move.

"I think it's great," Strauch said. "We are affiliated with a junior B team and by us being a C team, it will help us out. Players get sent down and some don't want to come here because we're a junior D team. This is a good thing."

Strauch said another positive from the move is that his team won't lose as many players to other teams.

"One of the things about junior D is you'll always lose players to junior C teams," Strauch said. "That won't happen as much anymore."

He admitted that a majority of the teams in the SOJHL currently can compete with a majority of junior C teams, so a move in classification isn't going to hurt teams. Proof of this is the Mitchell Hawks, who bolted from the SOJHL to junior C this season.

"There will always be the powerhouses like Norwich (Merchants) and Simcoe (Storm) that throw money at players," Strauch said.

"I think with what we have in St. George, we will compete. We have a really good program here where we provide kids a place to play. When we get to junior C we aren't going to throw money at kids like some teams do. We're going to do what we're doing now -give kids a place to play competitive hockey, give them a chance to win and supply them with some equipment."

In Burford, Bulldogs general manager Bill Wallace said a move to junior C was inevitable and as a result, that went into the planning for this season's team.

"When we came to Burford this season, there was a movement to make the team younger, to develop the kids for the future," Wallace said.

"Knowing they'll be playing in junior C next year, we wanted to recruit kids that would be able to develop and immediately be able to compete at that level when it all happens."

Wallace said, although the Bulldogs (6-12-1) don't currently have a winning record, the team is on the right track.

"I think we'll be solid," Wallace said. "We potentially may just lose two players and we're competing already. We'll be a year more experienced and that will help us next year."

If this plan comes to fruition, the one problem Wallace said there may be is recruiting boundaries.

In Brant alone, the Bulldogs will compete with the Dukes and Paris Mounties, not to mention their Norfolk neighbours in Simcoe, Delhi and Port Dover, as well as their Oxford neighbours in Woodstock and Norwich.

Should the SOJHL find itself under the junior C umbrella next year, and no other movement takes place in other categories, there will be 61 teams at the C level.

"I sense there is a lot of support to (merge) for next year, all things being equal," Kastner told Sun Media in April.

"There are some issues but there is a will to get those resolved."

In April, the OHA sent a five question survey to its junior C and D teams, mostly gauging their support of a merger and its potential effects. Although the reaction from teams in both leagues was mainly negative, there have been other realignment options passed around. 

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