The Real Stories of the GTHL

By: Fiorenzo Arcadi & Michael Ambrozewicz

     I call him cool-hand Luke. He’s a hockey instructor, he’s attended training camps for affiliates of the Pittsburgh Penguins & Los Angeles Kings and of course, his hockey school is among the most sought-after programs in North America. What I like about him is that he’s always smiling, he’s got a firm handshake, and when we make deals they’re often solidified with only a handshake.

We recently sat down for lunch and I asked him how it’s possible that there are so many teams in the GTHL nowadays. I mentioned how there must be a drop in talent and that a growing number of kids in the GTHL look like they belong in house league and select hockey. Cool-hand Luke nodded his head and agreed, “When I was a boy playing GTHL in the early 90’s there were 8 teams in AAA, back then only 3 of the teams could compete, while the rest were just tag-alongs where parents simply had the self-fulfilling prophecy of telling the world that their two-bit son is playing AAA.”

Now in 2018, we have 12 teams in the AAA loop, why is that? Of course, it’s all about the dollar signs whereby parents are being conned by the GTHL to finance their organization with the flooding of substandard players. Even in the AA and A loop, there are up to 17 teams and only half of these teams can compete, providing you can count to 4. As I mentioned, most of these kids belong in select or house league.

It’s obvious that the GTHL has prioritized taking money from parents rather than constructing the world’s best minor hockey league and putting the best product on the ice to compete internationally. The AAA tier would be significantly more competitive with 8 teams and the top players would easily reap greater benefits. This shift towards increasing registrations in the GTHL rather than development is destroying kids’ self-esteem that play on teams that lose by 8+ goals continually.

“GTHL tryouts represent an even bigger joke. Teams are thinking of the next season already on November 1 with parents worrying about where their son will play and coaches already looking for players next season.” Cool-hand Luke pontificated. “If a father has a few bucks in his pocket with the knowledge that his son is a mediocre player, the father subconsciously begins to think about the next team. However, the father not only thinks of the next team, he’s also eyeing the best player on the team to bring him over to another team as part of a package deal to make his son look good among the scouts and to elevate the standings. It’s obvious that the better player with more financial dependency will take the bait. The bait is based on the fact that the poorer kid will look better than the mediocre player consistently and therefore receives a free ride.”

Cool-hand Luke said it best, “Paid coaches should have playing credentials of OHL or higher, not Tier 2. Nowadays everyone walks around as if he or she are professionals when he or she has never played the game. The same goes for hockey and goalie instructors as well. If the instructor hasn’t played OHL, University, or Pro, then they should not be teaching kids for monetary compensation.” God forbid if you go against a father to not only pay for his son’s registration but the whole team’s. In that case, you can be sure that your coaching days are numbered. The parents of the team will always flock towards the individual on the team with the most money assuming that the father has the highest capability in determining the team’s fortunes.

“What surprises me is how many times coaches are down to the final 2 players competing for a final roster spot and take the kid with the most money. Talk about equal opportunity. There is no opportunity Fiorenzo. Opportunity is now based on one thing: money, and more money. Sometimes they believe they can find a diamond in the rough and sometimes that does happen with families that have little financial means but are powered by a drive to not only succeed but to determine their own destiny as great hockey players. When you determine a great hockey player, it is the fact that you have one goal, one love, and no distractions that distorts a person’s ability. The real scouts find the diamonds in the rough not only through identifying hard work but through true grit that determines the game. The real chess game in hockey is the ability to think and to correspond your energy with the team itself as partners collaboratively working towards winning games, not because of fathers that have money, but through the progression of kids turning into men. Once they become men they fully know the responsibility of the game and working towards a united front.”

In the National Hockey League, all men playing were created equal. It is a team and a team effort, not parents’ self-fulfilling prophecy of their kid making the NHL. Cool-hand Luke lowered his head, he whispered, "The worst decision is to pick a rich kid who has no ability to play the game and turning a blind eye to someone who deserves the opportunity. We all make mistakes in life, I wish I can be true to myself."