Post by Score on Jun 2, 2007 9:53:37 GMT -3
Commissioner plans league clean-up
Courteau to look 'very seriously' at Q draft process
MATTHEW WUEST
The Daily News
Commissioner Gilles Courteau wants to clean up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft.
Courteau spoke at length yesterday at Centre Culturel in Drummondville, Que., about the crossroads the league faces with prospects who use the NCAA as a bargaining chip to get lucrative education packages.
Courteau spent the bulk of a 30-minute news conference discussing the heavily-debated issue.
His main priority is to come up with a standardized education package for players who want to attend university.
The league offers players $3,500 per year for three years, while teams offer additional money on a case-by-case basis. The Halifax Mooseheads, for example, offer a base package of $2,500 per year for four years.
But as teams give in to top prospects' demands, the price tag has skyrocketed recently.
"If we (can agree upon the right package) and teams follow it in the proper way, they can say to players, 'Here's the deal. Do you want to come? If you don't want to come, that's it,'" Courteau explained.
Each year, more players threaten to go NCAA, only to play in the QMJHL after getting a good deal.
It might be happening again this year. At yesterday's introductory showcase, five of QMJHL Central Scouting's top nine prospects for today's draft stayed home, all having threatened to play in the NCAA.
The issue has become a top priority, not just in the Q, but across the entire Canadian Hockey League.
"It's important," said Courteau, who voluntarily brought the issue up in his opening statements.
"That's the reason we're talking about it and that's the word I'm getting from owners and managers."
He said the Q needs to look "very seriously" at whether it offers enough education money, and that it must consider housing costs among other factors.
For a quality hockey player who excels in the classroom, U.S. colleges have offered in the range of US$40,000 annually in a scholarship package.
Courteau cautioned that the Q needs to keep finances in mind in coming up with a uniform system.
"We always talk about how important it is (to offer the players the right things), but it's important for teams to operate in a proper way," Courteau said. "We don't want to increase things so that teams will say, 'No, we're not able to follow the league's rules anymore so we have to disappear.' We're not willing to do that."
Courteau said the timetable for coming up with a system that works is a "couple of months."
Courteau added that an "opt-in" policy for the draft is something he has never agreed with and that there could be legal ramifications to such a move. But he said he is "willing to look at it very seriously."
Courteau to look 'very seriously' at Q draft process
MATTHEW WUEST
The Daily News
Commissioner Gilles Courteau wants to clean up the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League draft.
Courteau spoke at length yesterday at Centre Culturel in Drummondville, Que., about the crossroads the league faces with prospects who use the NCAA as a bargaining chip to get lucrative education packages.
Courteau spent the bulk of a 30-minute news conference discussing the heavily-debated issue.
His main priority is to come up with a standardized education package for players who want to attend university.
The league offers players $3,500 per year for three years, while teams offer additional money on a case-by-case basis. The Halifax Mooseheads, for example, offer a base package of $2,500 per year for four years.
But as teams give in to top prospects' demands, the price tag has skyrocketed recently.
"If we (can agree upon the right package) and teams follow it in the proper way, they can say to players, 'Here's the deal. Do you want to come? If you don't want to come, that's it,'" Courteau explained.
Each year, more players threaten to go NCAA, only to play in the QMJHL after getting a good deal.
It might be happening again this year. At yesterday's introductory showcase, five of QMJHL Central Scouting's top nine prospects for today's draft stayed home, all having threatened to play in the NCAA.
The issue has become a top priority, not just in the Q, but across the entire Canadian Hockey League.
"It's important," said Courteau, who voluntarily brought the issue up in his opening statements.
"That's the reason we're talking about it and that's the word I'm getting from owners and managers."
He said the Q needs to look "very seriously" at whether it offers enough education money, and that it must consider housing costs among other factors.
For a quality hockey player who excels in the classroom, U.S. colleges have offered in the range of US$40,000 annually in a scholarship package.
Courteau cautioned that the Q needs to keep finances in mind in coming up with a uniform system.
"We always talk about how important it is (to offer the players the right things), but it's important for teams to operate in a proper way," Courteau said. "We don't want to increase things so that teams will say, 'No, we're not able to follow the league's rules anymore so we have to disappear.' We're not willing to do that."
Courteau said the timetable for coming up with a system that works is a "couple of months."
Courteau added that an "opt-in" policy for the draft is something he has never agreed with and that there could be legal ramifications to such a move. But he said he is "willing to look at it very seriously."