The British Columbia Hockey League has submitted 35-page report to Hockey Canada asking them to make changes to the structure of junior hockey in Canada. The report was titled “Modernizing Junior Hockey in Canada — Supporting Two Junior Development Paths for Canadian Athletes”.
BCHL publishes report suggesting improvements Hockey Canada could make for Junior A https://t.co/NZISFld338
— The Province (@theprovince) September 27, 2022
One of their main complaints is that 16- and 17-year-old players are not allowed to leave their home province to play Jr. A. This restricts Jr. A hockey from being a true competitor of Major Junior leagues. The BCHL is the leading Jr. A league in Canada for getting players scholarships to play hockey but this restriction it is diluting the talent.
The BCHL has an issue with Hockey Canada’s development model that was put in place in 2006. The model states that the BCHL’s main purpose is to develop players before they advance to Major Junior.
The problem with that is college hockey is a more common route for players now. BCHL commissioner Chris Hebb had this to say, “What we’d like is a review of the Canadian Development Model. Does it still hold water today? It was written at a time before college hockey wasn’t as prevalent as it now. Major junior is a great system. We’re just saying that it’s not the only system.”
The BCHL has been asking for changes from Hockey Canada for over a year now, but nothing has been done. This is just another example of how Hockey Canada is failing both its players, and everyone involved.
While this is nowhere near as terrible as the issues they have with sexual assault and leaders covering it up, it is still a problem that needs to be addressed. For a country that prides itself as a hockey nation, the inability of Hockey Canada to manage scandal and create a fair system is a complete embarrassment.