If you want to go the CHL Route and not drafted look at the bright side, you can go wherever you want. If you are good enough and want to play in the CHL and not drafted, you get to choose the Team with tradition, best coaching, and who is best suited to your type of play. There is nothing better than gaining control of where you are going to play. Unfortunately the players drafted don’t have choices in the CHL (you go where you are drafted). So to you undrafted players who want to play in the CHL, either get a lot better or search out other opportunities, but most of all look at where you can improve. This is not a race- it is a journey! A wise honest hockey scout told me once that he is more wrong than right and if all the scouts were really honest they tell you the same thing.
Hockey players are like all the people in the universe (they grow and mature at their own pace). Hockey scouts evaluate what they see now and what they forecast a player might be like in a few years. Take hockey out of equation, wouldn’t it be hard to forecast what a person going to be like in two or three years. Well hockey isn’t any different, it's really hard to forecast. Some players never make it past training camp and some undrafted kids make the NHL. Go figure! Some players try to take short cuts and try to speed up their development- let me be the first and not the last to tell you-There is no short cuts in hockey!
Roy Henderson
President
Global Sports Scouting Services Inc.
Thursday, April 29, 2010
Thursday, April 22, 2010
Hockey Parents Attitude Test- By Vic Lemire
Vic Lemire is one of the top goaltending coaches around, here is a test that he created to judge whether you need professional help or whether your outstanding example of great parenthood.
Hockey Parents Attitude Test- By Vic Lemire
Select the BOX which best applies to YOUR display of Emotional Response when presented with the following scenarios …
You will be awarded REWARD POINTS that you total up using the score sheet at the end of this article.
1) Your child has just scored a Goal … What is your response?
a) You jump to your feet and scream out very loud. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa!
b) You aren’t even in the rink.
c) You are somewhere else in the rink standing Alone and you just maintain a quite smile and look to signal your child!
d) You begin to start a chant that the other Team’s Goalie is a “sieve”!
e) You stay in your seat and clap your hands!
f) You are sooooo excited that you messed your pants and are “bolting” to the rest room!
g) You immediately look over at the parents of the kid who made that great pass to your child for him to score and you salute them with a great big compliment …. Nice Pass!!!
2) Your Team has just been scored on … What was your reaction?
a) You give out a Big “moan” and look over at your friends with a
disgusted look!
b) You lean over and tell your fellow Parents that your Team’s Goalie
shouldn’t be playing on this Team!
c) You stare down at the Coaches for putting out the weakest Players at
a time like this!
d) You get up out of your seat and walk out into the lobby or outside
for a smoke!
e) You give out a large cheer to the bench “Let’s get it back, boys”!
f) You are standing away from all the LOUD Parents and you drop your head and look away!
g) You get on your cell phone and are looking for another Team for your child to play for! Hey … Maybe we can send him 3,000 miles away to play for that select Team!
3) Your child is Flying down the ice with the puck and “Timmy” the MOOSE Johnson comes skating across the ice and absolutely “levels” your child with the hardest HIT of the century … What is Your reaction ?
a) You jump up out of your seat and start screaming at the Ref for a Major penalty!
b) You jump out of your seat and fly down to the boards to check on your childs’ health.
c) On the way back up to your seat .. You are screaming at the opposition Parents to “Watch OUT” Things are going to get tough now!
d) You see your child get up slowly and head to the bench and go down there to talk with him.
e) Your standing in the corner of the rink and You yell over the boards …”Get UP”!
f) You are beginning to prepare exactly what to say to your child after the game. Wow was that a great hit! He caught you hard and I’m so thankful you are OK, but I’m so impressed with you that you got back up and wanted to continue playing even though you were still hurting. That shows courage and you came out the next shift going even harder! That was Great!
g) On the ride home you tell him “Son .. ya gotta keep your head up especially when that MOOSE Johnson is on the ice.”
4) A Player on the other Team makes a “move “ on one of your Defencemen and goes around him to score a goal … What do you do?
a) You know that this kid is a weak Defenseman so you go over to the
Parents and suggest that together your Son and theirs get some
Individual Instruction over the season!
b) You WAIT ‘till the next practice to do what it says in “a” above!
c) You wait for the coach in the hallway after the game to tell him he made a HUGE mistake putting that Defenseman out there with the other Teams’ best Player on the ice!
d) You keep your mouth shut all the way home because it was Your Son who got beat badly One on One!
e) You find Three positive things to tell your Son on the way home in the car! Later that day or the next you review those great plays and introduce what he needs to improve on so that he doesn’t get beat like that again!
f) You are running the score clock and you dropped your coffee all over yourself and you missed the whole play!
g) You are the Team Manager and you meet with the Coach after the game and discuss how and when and if we can bring in a Defenseman Coach for a few practices minimum to work with our defensemen!
5) The score is TIED in the championship game of the State Tournament and the other Team scores a winning Goal in overtime that was clearly offside … What is your reaction?
a) You race down to the boards and shout at the linesman for missing
that offside call.
b) You stand up and join the scream that the Goal was offsides!
c) You form a line of angry parents who are just waiting for the refs to leave the ice!
d) You Stand up and give BOTH Teams a great big applause!
e) You take all the kids out for a big meal and drinks at Chuckie Cheese after the game
f) You missed the whole thing because there was a football game on TV!
g) You go down to the bench and give great big hugs to all the Players on your Team congratulating them for another GREAT season!
Here’s how you SCORE your answers:
The HIGHER You score ..the more in control of your emotions you are AND THE MORE YOUR Child will enjoy playing !
Good Luck!
Question
#1 a-10, b-0, c-10, d-0, e-10, f-8, g-15
#2 a-0, b-0, c-0, d-5, e-10, f-8, g-0
#3 a-0, b-10, c-0, d-8, e-0, f-10, g-0
#4 a-7, b-10, c-0, d-0, e-10, f-10, g-10
#5 a-0, b-5, c-0, d-10, e-15, f-0, g-15
Score 0 to 20 - GET PROFESSIONAL HELP IMMEDIATELY
Score 21 to 30 - BRING DUCT TAPE TO THE GAME TO COVER YOUR MOUTH
Score 31 to 40 - YOU’RE GIVING YOUR CHILD REASON TO QUIT PLAYING
Score 41 to 50 - YOU ARE WELL UNDER CONTROL – KEEP ENJOYING THE GAME
Score 51 or above - OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF GREAT PARENTHOOD
Hockey Parents Attitude Test- By Vic Lemire
Select the BOX which best applies to YOUR display of Emotional Response when presented with the following scenarios …
You will be awarded REWARD POINTS that you total up using the score sheet at the end of this article.
1) Your child has just scored a Goal … What is your response?
a) You jump to your feet and scream out very loud. Yeaaaaaaaaaaaa!
b) You aren’t even in the rink.
c) You are somewhere else in the rink standing Alone and you just maintain a quite smile and look to signal your child!
d) You begin to start a chant that the other Team’s Goalie is a “sieve”!
e) You stay in your seat and clap your hands!
f) You are sooooo excited that you messed your pants and are “bolting” to the rest room!
g) You immediately look over at the parents of the kid who made that great pass to your child for him to score and you salute them with a great big compliment …. Nice Pass!!!
2) Your Team has just been scored on … What was your reaction?
a) You give out a Big “moan” and look over at your friends with a
disgusted look!
b) You lean over and tell your fellow Parents that your Team’s Goalie
shouldn’t be playing on this Team!
c) You stare down at the Coaches for putting out the weakest Players at
a time like this!
d) You get up out of your seat and walk out into the lobby or outside
for a smoke!
e) You give out a large cheer to the bench “Let’s get it back, boys”!
f) You are standing away from all the LOUD Parents and you drop your head and look away!
g) You get on your cell phone and are looking for another Team for your child to play for! Hey … Maybe we can send him 3,000 miles away to play for that select Team!
3) Your child is Flying down the ice with the puck and “Timmy” the MOOSE Johnson comes skating across the ice and absolutely “levels” your child with the hardest HIT of the century … What is Your reaction ?
a) You jump up out of your seat and start screaming at the Ref for a Major penalty!
b) You jump out of your seat and fly down to the boards to check on your childs’ health.
c) On the way back up to your seat .. You are screaming at the opposition Parents to “Watch OUT” Things are going to get tough now!
d) You see your child get up slowly and head to the bench and go down there to talk with him.
e) Your standing in the corner of the rink and You yell over the boards …”Get UP”!
f) You are beginning to prepare exactly what to say to your child after the game. Wow was that a great hit! He caught you hard and I’m so thankful you are OK, but I’m so impressed with you that you got back up and wanted to continue playing even though you were still hurting. That shows courage and you came out the next shift going even harder! That was Great!
g) On the ride home you tell him “Son .. ya gotta keep your head up especially when that MOOSE Johnson is on the ice.”
4) A Player on the other Team makes a “move “ on one of your Defencemen and goes around him to score a goal … What do you do?
a) You know that this kid is a weak Defenseman so you go over to the
Parents and suggest that together your Son and theirs get some
Individual Instruction over the season!
b) You WAIT ‘till the next practice to do what it says in “a” above!
c) You wait for the coach in the hallway after the game to tell him he made a HUGE mistake putting that Defenseman out there with the other Teams’ best Player on the ice!
d) You keep your mouth shut all the way home because it was Your Son who got beat badly One on One!
e) You find Three positive things to tell your Son on the way home in the car! Later that day or the next you review those great plays and introduce what he needs to improve on so that he doesn’t get beat like that again!
f) You are running the score clock and you dropped your coffee all over yourself and you missed the whole play!
g) You are the Team Manager and you meet with the Coach after the game and discuss how and when and if we can bring in a Defenseman Coach for a few practices minimum to work with our defensemen!
5) The score is TIED in the championship game of the State Tournament and the other Team scores a winning Goal in overtime that was clearly offside … What is your reaction?
a) You race down to the boards and shout at the linesman for missing
that offside call.
b) You stand up and join the scream that the Goal was offsides!
c) You form a line of angry parents who are just waiting for the refs to leave the ice!
d) You Stand up and give BOTH Teams a great big applause!
e) You take all the kids out for a big meal and drinks at Chuckie Cheese after the game
f) You missed the whole thing because there was a football game on TV!
g) You go down to the bench and give great big hugs to all the Players on your Team congratulating them for another GREAT season!
Here’s how you SCORE your answers:
The HIGHER You score ..the more in control of your emotions you are AND THE MORE YOUR Child will enjoy playing !
Good Luck!
Question
#1 a-10, b-0, c-10, d-0, e-10, f-8, g-15
#2 a-0, b-0, c-0, d-5, e-10, f-8, g-0
#3 a-0, b-10, c-0, d-8, e-0, f-10, g-0
#4 a-7, b-10, c-0, d-0, e-10, f-10, g-10
#5 a-0, b-5, c-0, d-10, e-15, f-0, g-15
Score 0 to 20 - GET PROFESSIONAL HELP IMMEDIATELY
Score 21 to 30 - BRING DUCT TAPE TO THE GAME TO COVER YOUR MOUTH
Score 31 to 40 - YOU’RE GIVING YOUR CHILD REASON TO QUIT PLAYING
Score 41 to 50 - YOU ARE WELL UNDER CONTROL – KEEP ENJOYING THE GAME
Score 51 or above - OUTSTANDING EXAMPLE OF GREAT PARENTHOOD
Wednesday, April 14, 2010
Former Global Prospect/Alumni Ethan Cox Honored for Charity Work with Hockey Humanitarian Award
Global Would like to congratulate former Global Prospect/Alumni for being awarded the 15th annual BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award.
DETROIT (April 9) — Colgate forward Ethan Cox won the 15th annual BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented at center ice of Ford Field’s ephemeral rink on Friday. Established to acknowledge extraordinarily conscientious NCAA hockey players, the award considers all divisions and genders.
The senior co-captain was honored for his outstanding charity work in the greater Hamilton, N.Y., area, where he saw a need … and a calling. Raised in a socially conscious atmosphere, Cox knows the value of helping those less fortunate.
“I believe that this award is more a reflection of the parents than of the [recipient] ,” he said in his acceptance speech. “My parents were both teachers and they instilled in me the notion of giving back ever since my brother and I were children. They told me to always be thankful and the best way to express that is to give back to those less fortunate than I am,” he said in the lead-up to the presentation.
Colgate's Ethan Cox accepts the Hockey Humanitarian Award from Chuck Long at the Frozen Four in Detroit (photo: Jim Rosvold).
The product of Richmond, B.C., orchestrated not only an annual holiday food drive — the 2009 edition of which brought in over a half ton of non-perishable food items — but also Colgate’s “Facing Off Against Cancer,” a sponsorship fundraiser that raised $25,000 for the American Cancer Society (ACS) in 2008 alone.
But that’s not all. Cox successfully encouraged the football team, as well as the campus as a whole, to get tested for possible bone-marrow donation. He helped the women’s soccer team raise money for the cancer treatment of one of its players as well as the ACS. He organized holiday toy drives every year of his collegiate career. He has generated over $14,000 in cash and donated items for various local and national charities, above and beyond those already mentioned.
“There is such a need,” Cox said. “The number of families under the poverty line in Madison County [N.Y.] is very high. It’s an amazing feeling to see such a big response. Without our fans, these events wouldn’t be possible.
“Community service is about more than financial concerns. It’s about connecting with a community, and becoming a part of the community. … It’s about leaving it better than it was when you found it.”
DETROIT (April 9) — Colgate forward Ethan Cox won the 15th annual BNY Mellon Wealth Management Hockey Humanitarian Award, presented at center ice of Ford Field’s ephemeral rink on Friday. Established to acknowledge extraordinarily conscientious NCAA hockey players, the award considers all divisions and genders.
The senior co-captain was honored for his outstanding charity work in the greater Hamilton, N.Y., area, where he saw a need … and a calling. Raised in a socially conscious atmosphere, Cox knows the value of helping those less fortunate.
“I believe that this award is more a reflection of the parents than of the [recipient] ,” he said in his acceptance speech. “My parents were both teachers and they instilled in me the notion of giving back ever since my brother and I were children. They told me to always be thankful and the best way to express that is to give back to those less fortunate than I am,” he said in the lead-up to the presentation.
Colgate's Ethan Cox accepts the Hockey Humanitarian Award from Chuck Long at the Frozen Four in Detroit (photo: Jim Rosvold).
The product of Richmond, B.C., orchestrated not only an annual holiday food drive — the 2009 edition of which brought in over a half ton of non-perishable food items — but also Colgate’s “Facing Off Against Cancer,” a sponsorship fundraiser that raised $25,000 for the American Cancer Society (ACS) in 2008 alone.
But that’s not all. Cox successfully encouraged the football team, as well as the campus as a whole, to get tested for possible bone-marrow donation. He helped the women’s soccer team raise money for the cancer treatment of one of its players as well as the ACS. He organized holiday toy drives every year of his collegiate career. He has generated over $14,000 in cash and donated items for various local and national charities, above and beyond those already mentioned.
“There is such a need,” Cox said. “The number of families under the poverty line in Madison County [N.Y.] is very high. It’s an amazing feeling to see such a big response. Without our fans, these events wouldn’t be possible.
“Community service is about more than financial concerns. It’s about connecting with a community, and becoming a part of the community. … It’s about leaving it better than it was when you found it.”
Saturday, April 3, 2010
I’ve got some roots in the college game now
A very interesting article Bob McKenzie (TSN commentator) wrote about his son and his family's experiences playing NCAA Hockey.
by Bob McKenzie/Special to CHN
Bob McKenzie is a long-time well-renowned hockey writer, author and commentator for TSN in Canada. His son, Mike, just finished a four-year college hockey playing career at St. Lawrence. (In 2009, he wrote the book "Hockey Dad: True Confessions of a (Crazy) Hockey Parent") In that time, Bob could be regularly seen at most of Mike's games. With his son's college career over, Bob McKenzie shared his thoughts on the ride (printed with permission).
I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone in the U.S. college game I’ve come in contact with over the last four years and express how much I have enjoyed my four years as the parent of a student-athlete at St. Lawrence University. For as involved as I am in hockey, the truth is until my son Mike went to SLU, my exposure to the college game was extremely limited. Who’s kidding who, it was almost non-existent.
It has been a wonderful four-year ride for him and our family and I am going to miss it very much.
I had heard all sorts of things about the college game before I got there — how the stickwork was terrible because the players wears full facial protection, or how there was no respect because the players couldn’t fight, or how there was no hitting or whatever.
But after four years of not missing too many of my son’s games, home or away, I discovered the hockey was terrific. I didn’t see the stickwork I was warned about; and on the lack of respect issue, I think we’ve seen that it exists in all levels of hockey, even where fighting is permitted. The hockey I saw over the four years, for the most part, was fast and exciting and physical. I loved that there were very few scrums after the whistles and the action went up and down the ice with breathtaking speed; and games were usually complete in a just a shade over two hours.
I generally don’t get too engaged in the whole college vs. major junior debate because they are, for me, apples and oranges for the most part. Both have their inherent strengths and weakness. The vast majority of high-end kids now end up in major junior and that's fine. The CHL is a terrific league with a lot of high-end talent, but it’s a league for 16- to 20-year olds. College hockey is a league for 18- to 25-year olds. And it's still a great development league as well. It was an easy decision for my son. He probably wasn’t physically mature enough even at age 18 to play major junior, though he did have the opportunity and offer to do so. So he rolled the dice on getting a scholarship and was fortunate enough to get one solitary scholarship offer to attend SLU. (Thank you [SLU assistant coaches] Chris Wells and Bob Prier.)
My son was a 20-year-old freshman and I know sometimes that's a debated issue, and I’m obviously biased. But I don’t think college hockey would be any better off if it were limited to true freshmen right out of high school. Not everyone is ready at 18, for the college experience in general and college hockey in particular. I’m not afraid to say my son couldn’t have competed at this level any sooner than age 20, but he still went on to have a pretty good college career both individually — at least they tell me 49 goals and 100-plus career points is a worthy achievement — and team wise (one regular season championship and an NCAA tournament appearance as a freshman, three trips to Albany in the ECAC tournament) too. As I said, I’m baised, but I believe the 20-year old freshman can offer a lot to the college game.
The truth was, when my son first started, I wasn’t even sure he could play at this level. I remember walking out of Schneider Arena at PC in his first ever road game, after he was directly responsible for giving up the winning goal, and thinking he may never get back into the lineup. But that first year ended up being something special. My son’s large freshmen class performed well and had the honor of playing with three great and special senior Saints – Drew Bagnall, Kyle Rank and Max Taylor – who epitomized what class and character and leadership and being great student-athletes were all about.
There were all sorts of highlights too numerous to mention that year, but the win over Boston University in the Dartmouth tournament – my son scored the GWG on a penalty shot in OT on John Curry and I was back at TSN watching it on TV because of WJC commitments, one of only two games I missed in his freshman year – and the come-from-behind win over Dartmouth in the ECAC consolation game in Albany – he scored two third-period goals, including the GWG – in a victory that put SLU in the NCAAs, were probably as good as it gets. My fears of him not being able to play at this level were gone, but the great thing about his college career was that every game was a challenge. There were never any easy nights. The ECAC is nothing if not competitive.
I could go on and on about so many specific instances – good and bad (and pretty much everything in my kid’s sophomore year was bad, can you say jinx?) – but when it’s all said and done it will, for me anyway, be about the people and places I got to see.
Trust me when I tell you the only way I was getting to an Ivy League school was to watch my son play there. I love so many of the rinks and venues in the ECAC. There’s nothing quite like Lynah Rink for the whole college experience and Cornell is always a force to be reckoned with there. I absolutely love the unique architecture of the Whale at Yale and Hobey Baker Rink at Princeton. It was always a special night going into Bright Arena, where SLU supporters inevitably outnumbered Harvard fans. Thompson Arena in Hanover is warm and inviting and as good a place to watch a game as anywhere, and Dartmouth is a beautiful campus. To be able to walk around the campuses of Colgate or Princeton or Yale was special. I was able to see a Big Red Freakout for myself at RPI, and I loved going into the hostile environment of [Clarkson's] Cheel Arena and nothing quite matches up to the animosity or intensity of Clarkson-SLU. I have come to love Providence, a hidden gem of a city, and my geographical knowledge of New England and the northeastern U.S. has never been better. But thank God for GPS, especially in Boston, where you learn the hard lesson that the Tobin Bridge is not on I-95 but I-93.
I was like a little kid for those special out-of-conference games in buildings I grew up hearing about – Yost Arena in Michigan and Munn Arena at Michigan State – and I had my other favorites too. The Whittemore Center at New Hampshire (although I liked how some of the kids called it Lake Whittemore because it’s so huge an ice surface), the Gut in Burlington, Vt., a great old style barn, and Agganis at BU, the nicest new-style college rink I was in.
I came in contact with so many great people, far too numerous to mention. But to make the friends we did in Canton, especially the Phalons, and to spend as much time roaming the road with other SLU parents, especially my running mate Jeremiah Cunningham, well, it doesn’t get any better than that. The SLU fans are a special breed themselves, supportive and passionate and it was a pleasure to get to know [them].
Ditto for the fellas, as they like to call themselves, Mike’s roomies in the suite (Flanny, Patty, Weaves, Jeremiah, Teese and D Kells) and all the good kids, past and present, who put on the scarlet and brown in the cozy confines of Appleton Arena and everyone involved with the SLU hockey program, from Joe [Marsh] and all the coaches to the behind the scenes staff to the Friends of St. Lawrence boosters who do such a wonderful job of looking after our kids like they’re their own.
I got to meet so many other great parents of opposing players – Mario-Valery Trabucco’s dad, Sean McMonagle’s dad and grandfather, Mike Backman (father of Sean), Bill Gillam (father of Josh), amongst many others – and my college text buddies, Don McIntyre, whose son David starred at Colgate; Dan Whitney, whose son Sean is at Cornell; and Tom Giffin, whose son Charlie also played at SLU. And the many media guys, Dan and Max at the WDT, Ken Schott in Schenectady, Brian Sullivan, Gladdy, Adam [Wodon] and so many others. And thanks to USCHO, INCH and CHN for providing tremendous coverage for the college game.
It was always fun to scoreboard watch and see how my son’s former St. Mike’s Buzzer junior teammates – Brayden Irwin in Vermont, Brendan Smith in Wisconsin, Kevin Schmidt in Bowling Green, Andrew Cogliano in Michigan, John Scrymgeour and Freddie Cassiani at Lake Superior State, Michael Forgione and Andrew Rygiel at Geneseo, amongst others – or how the local Whitby kids (Scott Freeman and Louke Oakley at Clarkson, Dan Nicholls at Cornell) were making out in their college careers.
There were so many good times. Some tough ones, too, because hockey and life at this level isn’t always easy or fun, but on balance it was just such a wonderful experience.
I was disappointed that SLU lost three times in the ECAC semifinal and never won an ECAC title, but on the bright side, Mike’s college career did not come to an end losing to Clarkson at Appleton in the first round of the playoffs and that was less than two minutes away from being reality. That GWG goal puck, Mike’s last at Appleton, will be a valued memento.
I don't think there's any question my son is a better player now than when he started at SLU and he's most certainly a better, more mature young man. And in a short time, he's going to have a degree and perhaps an opportunity to keep the playing the game for a bit yet, at what level or where, we will see in due course. I am not sure it gets any better than that as a parent.
I hope none of this comes across as self serving. I’m feeling a little sentimental about the end of a phase in our family’s life and when I get like that, I tend to write about it … occupational hazard, I guess. And I really did want to thank everyone. It’s been a terrific ride and just a wonderful four years. So thanks to everyone. I’ve got some roots in the college game now, and while I won’t have the direct involvement of being a parent of a player, I won’t be going cold turkey, that’s for sure.
So all the best to everyone, enjoy the games and thanks
Bob McKenzie
by Bob McKenzie/Special to CHN
Bob McKenzie is a long-time well-renowned hockey writer, author and commentator for TSN in Canada. His son, Mike, just finished a four-year college hockey playing career at St. Lawrence. (In 2009, he wrote the book "Hockey Dad: True Confessions of a (Crazy) Hockey Parent") In that time, Bob could be regularly seen at most of Mike's games. With his son's college career over, Bob McKenzie shared his thoughts on the ride (printed with permission).
I would just like to take a moment to thank everyone in the U.S. college game I’ve come in contact with over the last four years and express how much I have enjoyed my four years as the parent of a student-athlete at St. Lawrence University. For as involved as I am in hockey, the truth is until my son Mike went to SLU, my exposure to the college game was extremely limited. Who’s kidding who, it was almost non-existent.
It has been a wonderful four-year ride for him and our family and I am going to miss it very much.
I had heard all sorts of things about the college game before I got there — how the stickwork was terrible because the players wears full facial protection, or how there was no respect because the players couldn’t fight, or how there was no hitting or whatever.
But after four years of not missing too many of my son’s games, home or away, I discovered the hockey was terrific. I didn’t see the stickwork I was warned about; and on the lack of respect issue, I think we’ve seen that it exists in all levels of hockey, even where fighting is permitted. The hockey I saw over the four years, for the most part, was fast and exciting and physical. I loved that there were very few scrums after the whistles and the action went up and down the ice with breathtaking speed; and games were usually complete in a just a shade over two hours.
I generally don’t get too engaged in the whole college vs. major junior debate because they are, for me, apples and oranges for the most part. Both have their inherent strengths and weakness. The vast majority of high-end kids now end up in major junior and that's fine. The CHL is a terrific league with a lot of high-end talent, but it’s a league for 16- to 20-year olds. College hockey is a league for 18- to 25-year olds. And it's still a great development league as well. It was an easy decision for my son. He probably wasn’t physically mature enough even at age 18 to play major junior, though he did have the opportunity and offer to do so. So he rolled the dice on getting a scholarship and was fortunate enough to get one solitary scholarship offer to attend SLU. (Thank you [SLU assistant coaches] Chris Wells and Bob Prier.)
My son was a 20-year-old freshman and I know sometimes that's a debated issue, and I’m obviously biased. But I don’t think college hockey would be any better off if it were limited to true freshmen right out of high school. Not everyone is ready at 18, for the college experience in general and college hockey in particular. I’m not afraid to say my son couldn’t have competed at this level any sooner than age 20, but he still went on to have a pretty good college career both individually — at least they tell me 49 goals and 100-plus career points is a worthy achievement — and team wise (one regular season championship and an NCAA tournament appearance as a freshman, three trips to Albany in the ECAC tournament) too. As I said, I’m baised, but I believe the 20-year old freshman can offer a lot to the college game.
The truth was, when my son first started, I wasn’t even sure he could play at this level. I remember walking out of Schneider Arena at PC in his first ever road game, after he was directly responsible for giving up the winning goal, and thinking he may never get back into the lineup. But that first year ended up being something special. My son’s large freshmen class performed well and had the honor of playing with three great and special senior Saints – Drew Bagnall, Kyle Rank and Max Taylor – who epitomized what class and character and leadership and being great student-athletes were all about.
There were all sorts of highlights too numerous to mention that year, but the win over Boston University in the Dartmouth tournament – my son scored the GWG on a penalty shot in OT on John Curry and I was back at TSN watching it on TV because of WJC commitments, one of only two games I missed in his freshman year – and the come-from-behind win over Dartmouth in the ECAC consolation game in Albany – he scored two third-period goals, including the GWG – in a victory that put SLU in the NCAAs, were probably as good as it gets. My fears of him not being able to play at this level were gone, but the great thing about his college career was that every game was a challenge. There were never any easy nights. The ECAC is nothing if not competitive.
I could go on and on about so many specific instances – good and bad (and pretty much everything in my kid’s sophomore year was bad, can you say jinx?) – but when it’s all said and done it will, for me anyway, be about the people and places I got to see.
Trust me when I tell you the only way I was getting to an Ivy League school was to watch my son play there. I love so many of the rinks and venues in the ECAC. There’s nothing quite like Lynah Rink for the whole college experience and Cornell is always a force to be reckoned with there. I absolutely love the unique architecture of the Whale at Yale and Hobey Baker Rink at Princeton. It was always a special night going into Bright Arena, where SLU supporters inevitably outnumbered Harvard fans. Thompson Arena in Hanover is warm and inviting and as good a place to watch a game as anywhere, and Dartmouth is a beautiful campus. To be able to walk around the campuses of Colgate or Princeton or Yale was special. I was able to see a Big Red Freakout for myself at RPI, and I loved going into the hostile environment of [Clarkson's] Cheel Arena and nothing quite matches up to the animosity or intensity of Clarkson-SLU. I have come to love Providence, a hidden gem of a city, and my geographical knowledge of New England and the northeastern U.S. has never been better. But thank God for GPS, especially in Boston, where you learn the hard lesson that the Tobin Bridge is not on I-95 but I-93.
I was like a little kid for those special out-of-conference games in buildings I grew up hearing about – Yost Arena in Michigan and Munn Arena at Michigan State – and I had my other favorites too. The Whittemore Center at New Hampshire (although I liked how some of the kids called it Lake Whittemore because it’s so huge an ice surface), the Gut in Burlington, Vt., a great old style barn, and Agganis at BU, the nicest new-style college rink I was in.
I came in contact with so many great people, far too numerous to mention. But to make the friends we did in Canton, especially the Phalons, and to spend as much time roaming the road with other SLU parents, especially my running mate Jeremiah Cunningham, well, it doesn’t get any better than that. The SLU fans are a special breed themselves, supportive and passionate and it was a pleasure to get to know [them].
Ditto for the fellas, as they like to call themselves, Mike’s roomies in the suite (Flanny, Patty, Weaves, Jeremiah, Teese and D Kells) and all the good kids, past and present, who put on the scarlet and brown in the cozy confines of Appleton Arena and everyone involved with the SLU hockey program, from Joe [Marsh] and all the coaches to the behind the scenes staff to the Friends of St. Lawrence boosters who do such a wonderful job of looking after our kids like they’re their own.
I got to meet so many other great parents of opposing players – Mario-Valery Trabucco’s dad, Sean McMonagle’s dad and grandfather, Mike Backman (father of Sean), Bill Gillam (father of Josh), amongst many others – and my college text buddies, Don McIntyre, whose son David starred at Colgate; Dan Whitney, whose son Sean is at Cornell; and Tom Giffin, whose son Charlie also played at SLU. And the many media guys, Dan and Max at the WDT, Ken Schott in Schenectady, Brian Sullivan, Gladdy, Adam [Wodon] and so many others. And thanks to USCHO, INCH and CHN for providing tremendous coverage for the college game.
It was always fun to scoreboard watch and see how my son’s former St. Mike’s Buzzer junior teammates – Brayden Irwin in Vermont, Brendan Smith in Wisconsin, Kevin Schmidt in Bowling Green, Andrew Cogliano in Michigan, John Scrymgeour and Freddie Cassiani at Lake Superior State, Michael Forgione and Andrew Rygiel at Geneseo, amongst others – or how the local Whitby kids (Scott Freeman and Louke Oakley at Clarkson, Dan Nicholls at Cornell) were making out in their college careers.
There were so many good times. Some tough ones, too, because hockey and life at this level isn’t always easy or fun, but on balance it was just such a wonderful experience.
I was disappointed that SLU lost three times in the ECAC semifinal and never won an ECAC title, but on the bright side, Mike’s college career did not come to an end losing to Clarkson at Appleton in the first round of the playoffs and that was less than two minutes away from being reality. That GWG goal puck, Mike’s last at Appleton, will be a valued memento.
I don't think there's any question my son is a better player now than when he started at SLU and he's most certainly a better, more mature young man. And in a short time, he's going to have a degree and perhaps an opportunity to keep the playing the game for a bit yet, at what level or where, we will see in due course. I am not sure it gets any better than that as a parent.
I hope none of this comes across as self serving. I’m feeling a little sentimental about the end of a phase in our family’s life and when I get like that, I tend to write about it … occupational hazard, I guess. And I really did want to thank everyone. It’s been a terrific ride and just a wonderful four years. So thanks to everyone. I’ve got some roots in the college game now, and while I won’t have the direct involvement of being a parent of a player, I won’t be going cold turkey, that’s for sure.
So all the best to everyone, enjoy the games and thanks
Bob McKenzie
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Two NCAA rules that every hockey player should know
Parents and athletes should know these rules. Ross Beebe is Global’s NCAA advisor. If you are unsure about any of the NCAA rules, please ask.
This year we have also noticed that student athletes may not always be taking the correct courses in High school. Ask Ross for the 16 core courses required for NCAA. Don’t be caught being ineligible because of lack of the necessary courses.
Ross can be contacted by email at rosco.2000@shaw.ca
Rule # 1
NCAA RULE – 12.3 – USE OF AGENTS
An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.
12.3.1.1 – Representation for Future Negotiations. An individual shall be ineligible as per above if he or she enters into a verbal or written agreement with an agent for representation in future professional sports negotiations that are to take place after the individual has completed his or her eligibility in that sport.
Rule #2
CHL (professional) RULE - 12.2.1
A student athlete remains eligible in a sport even though prior to enrollment in a collegiate institution, the student may have tried out with a CHL team or received not more than one expense paid visit from the team provided such a visit did not exceed 48 hours and any payment or compensation in connection with the visit was not in excel of actual and necessary expenses. A self-financed tryout may be for any length of time. An individual who enters into an agreement (oral or written) to participate in professional athletics shall not be permitted to compete in intercollegiate athletics.
Athletes that compete at the major junior level (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) are no longer considered amateur athletes but rather "professional" athletes. Any degree of competition at the major junior level will make you ineligible for NCAA Hockey.
This year we have also noticed that student athletes may not always be taking the correct courses in High school. Ask Ross for the 16 core courses required for NCAA. Don’t be caught being ineligible because of lack of the necessary courses.
Ross can be contacted by email at rosco.2000@shaw.ca
Rule # 1
NCAA RULE – 12.3 – USE OF AGENTS
An individual shall be ineligible for participation in an intercollegiate sport if he or she ever has agreed (orally or in writing) to be represented by an agent for the purpose of marketing his or her athletics ability or reputation in that sport. Further, an agency contract not specifically limited in writing to a sport or particular sports shall be deemed applicable to all sports, and the individual shall be ineligible to participate in any sport.
12.3.1.1 – Representation for Future Negotiations. An individual shall be ineligible as per above if he or she enters into a verbal or written agreement with an agent for representation in future professional sports negotiations that are to take place after the individual has completed his or her eligibility in that sport.
Rule #2
CHL (professional) RULE - 12.2.1
A student athlete remains eligible in a sport even though prior to enrollment in a collegiate institution, the student may have tried out with a CHL team or received not more than one expense paid visit from the team provided such a visit did not exceed 48 hours and any payment or compensation in connection with the visit was not in excel of actual and necessary expenses. A self-financed tryout may be for any length of time. An individual who enters into an agreement (oral or written) to participate in professional athletics shall not be permitted to compete in intercollegiate athletics.
Athletes that compete at the major junior level (WHL, OHL, QMJHL) are no longer considered amateur athletes but rather "professional" athletes. Any degree of competition at the major junior level will make you ineligible for NCAA Hockey.
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