Illegal Players in the GTHL
By: Fiorenzo Arcadi & Mike Ambrozwics
What I hate about some of these corporate guys playing hockey is their desire to win at any cost and at any level, even if it’s F-minus division men’s league. I play goalie for a local recreational men’s team in my neighborhood. It was the semifinals and I noticed a lot of new faces on the other side of the ice. Now, we had played this team 7 times in the season where the beer guts on some of these guys were much larger. As the game wore on I noticed that a lot of these new players had color-matching gear with NCAA logos and Pro European hockey logos. I found it rather odd that I was seeing all these new faces all at once when the league rules state that a player must play a minimum of 10 regular season games to be eligible for playoffs and to be registered with the league.
Between the 2nd and 3rd period I noticed the convener of the league sitting in the stands watching the game. Regardless, after a thorough shellacking I had enough of this nonsense and approached the convener, “These guys are ringers. Go to their dressing room and verify whether or not they’re registered.” Sure enough, the convener approached us after he visited their room and awarded us the win on the basis of forfeit due to ineligibility of the majority of their players.
I talked to a few hockey trainers and instructors to delve deeper into this issue. What I found was rather surprising. One of them stated, “Last season the top team in the minor atom GTHL AAA loop played the first half of the season with a player on their roster that never dressed. It was discovered by other teams that illegal activity was taking place as they always had a short roster. In conclusion, the team lost all their points in the games that the player was on the game sheet, they were also fined $100 per game. And now we come to this season that starts with early bird tournaments and there are 2 minor atom AAA teams playing with illegal players. One team has a few players from Whitby who are playing in the GTHL but have not moved but claimed they have. They use fake addresses and other tactics. Another team has one parent stating he is divorced and his son is living in the city when actually he is really living in Milton. There are a few on both of these teams playing illegally. After last year as top team in the GTHL getting handed heavy suspensions you would think that everyone now would play fairly, however as you can see the price to pay I guess is worth it to put a top team on the ice until they get caught. Doesn't matter if you’re rich or poor, when you don't play by the rules their will be consequences.”
Another hockey instructor indicated, “It really depends how strong a coach is with respect to his authority. If he finds an illegitimate hockey player with enough talent, some of the parents will not become snitches. However if you have a papa bear with a lot of money and he notices his son’s ice time shortening, he becomes the snitch.” For these parents winning is not everything, they want to develop hockey players within the boundaries of the community.
The instructor also stated, “One woman drives her son from Barrie to Toronto so he can play in the GTHL. She has flexible hours and attributes the in-call service as a legitimate address. She drives her son in brutal winter conditions in order for him to show off his skills to potential scouts, and that’s why she works her butt off to give her son the opportunity to play hockey with some of the best players. She believes that there are more scouts attending games in Toronto as opposed to Barrie. Even though her son is an exceptional hockey player, he’s still an ineligible player for the GTHL.”
This really shows how the world has incorporated the social stratification in how the dream is inculcated in the minds of the very wealthy and the ones that are poor. One of my Italian hockey instructor friends who makes frequent trips to train Chinese players said to me, “If you think Canadians have considerable money, think again. The Chinese hockey players I train have more money than God. They offered me money and the coverage of my expenses to train their sons to become the first Chinese players in the NHL. I told these millionaires that the NHL has standards and most of these players are too short to ever make it.”
The problem with illegitimate hockey players is based on money. If it’s based on money then parents will do whatever they have to do for their child to be subscribed to the best trainers, the best leagues, and the best teams. What parents don’t realize is that the NHL wants players that are marketable and have potential in achieving revenue for the league. Whether you’re rich or poor, these players need to be exceptional. However if you’re rich, the ice is tilted in your favor. There are more marketable players that come from rich families that coordinates the NHL’s flavor towards the game rather than the minorities that can grow the game.
Regional Sales Manager at Inpro/Seal LLC
4 年My Son is one of the kids that this scenario works against, He has been offered a spot on a GTHL AAA team, we are from outside this zone. We cannot get all the zones to sign F1 waivers to release him to play for this AAA team, and we are stuck in a AAA zone that is not competitive enough and the coaching of playing as a team and positional play is sub par. They try to rely on 1 or 2 kids to carry the entire team because the level of other players isn't AAA, but they have to make up a team. We are forced to spend extra money to take him to hockey schools in Toronto to get the correct coaching and development, so instead of making it easier for kids to develop with a better coach and team, the system would prefer that his development get stunted and his hockey growth get destroyed by holding him in a zone that he cannot flourish in. This causes a debate of whether we should uproot ourselves from our current home and move into the zone, so in order for his hockey to develop, he must lose all his friends and start again. If the kid is good enough to play and gets noticed by AAA coaches surely the system should support this not destroy a kids hopes and dreams, it seems like the system is set to segregate certain kids based on where they live, I though hockey was inclusive? We lose so many talented kids to this problem, They just don't want the pressure of always having to be the kid to carry the team and they take it harder when they lose every game, Their confidence gets destroyed over time. Its kids hockey let the kids play on teams they deserve to be apart of for the interest of their development.
CEO at Toronto Hockey Store & Goalie Heaven Ltd.
6 年These are the rules that establishes order. When a President steals money from a competitive hockey team, that means he is still the President. Talk about slavery. The purpose of the League is: (a) to promote and govern organized minor hockey for youths within the territory under its jurisdiction; (b) to operate a competitive minor hockey league for youths at the AAA, AA and A categories within the territory under its jurisdiction; (c) to foster the development of hockey skills and knowledge of those players, coaches, managers and officials who participate in the League; (d) to foster the development of good character, citizenship and sportsmanship through participation in minor hockey. 1.2 – Operation as a Non-profit Organization The League shall operate as a non-profit organization for the purposes described in its Mission Statement set forth in Rule 1.1 above. As a non-profit organization, the League will prepare its budgets and run its operations with the intent that its annual revenues not exceed its annual expenses, other than to create and maintain such endowments, reserves and contingency funds as the Board
Technical Director, Operational Technology Architect @ Amtrak
6 年Rubbish... AAA just like CHL are businesses with focus on supply and demand - namely the NHL. I do object to the CHL not recognizing players as employees and paying them a minimum wage or better- talk about the transition from Uber-competitive Hickey to slavery! Yes below AAA hockey should be fun, rewarding and highly funded (as should Olympic development teams)
CEO at Toronto Hockey Store & Goalie Heaven Ltd.
6 年Coaches are talking to me. An assistant coach that I have known for a long time recently told me a horror story about one of the parents on his team. He and the head coach of his AAA team were having lunch at a pub, midway through the meal one of the mothers from the team stormed in and accused the coach of not paying attention to her. As the story goes, her husband payed for the residency of their son at a local prep school so that the boy would be eligible for the team in question. She felt ignored, because her son did not receive a certain amount of ice time, even though she and the coach engaged in extra curricular activities. The assistant coach abruptly put an end to it, and threatened the coach and the married woman with expulsion.?
PMP? Certified Project Management Expert | P6 Professional | 20+ Years in Oil & Gas Construction | Former International Karate Champion
6 年The provincial organizations need to put more bite into their bark on this subject. Talent needs to cultivate success not money. As a realist however I know this is not always the case sadly. The rural leagues here in Alberta can be just as bad for crossing the lines regarding rules. I want my clients to see that hard work pays off and not to assume one can bend/break rules to succeed. As a scout I can say from my experience; I watch tier 1 & 2 looking for the diamonds in the rough, the hidden gems so to speak. I balance out my time between AAA, AA & A/B games so I am well rounded portfolio wise. There is talent all over, not just at the AAA level. I think if more parents understood this the smaller clubs would be better off, have increased support, draw more exp. Coaches and the players would develop more. .....just a thought though, its a tough argument to crack.