Spits stripped of 1st rounders in 13, 14,15 and 2 2nd's

[jammer2]

WOW, what a bombshell. The OHL has investigated the Spits for recruiting wrongdoing and found them guilty as charged in 2 different occasions. A fine of 400,000 was levied and 5 draft picks in total were stripped. The Spits are claiming no wrong doing on their part and say the league did not follow due process in handing down the punishment....they plan to appeal. Write us off for half a decade, a team can't recover from this at the OHL level. I'm pissed beyond belief....the story...

http://blogs.windsorstar.com/2012/08/10/ohl-fines-spitfires-400000-and-strips-club-of-five-draft-picks/

[sarsippius]

Branch, who is also president of the Canadian Hockey League, would not specify what exactly the club did to violate the policies.

“I choose not to name any names in terms of players,” Branch said. “There was more than one player, but I’m not naming names.

“I’m not going to give any details. It’s not about players, it’s about the Windsor Spitfires hockey club"

“The investigation occurred over the last year,” Branch said. “As to when the allegations allegedly occurred, I can only tell you it was after 2009.”

So.....I'm not going to you who, when or exactly what.....but something definitely happened and we're bringing down the hammer. @jammer2 I share your pissoffedness, if for no other reason than here's another limp d*ck with a holier than thou complex (i.e. Bettman, Emmett) riding in to save the integrity of a league....barf

[jammer2]

@sarsippius Ha ha...Branch *always* gets booed when he makes a public appearance....I don't think he's hated as much as Betteman, but it's close. It is ********, what a load of crap!!! Sounds to me like some behind the scenes shady stuff going on here!!

[flyercanuck]

No offence jammer, but i always thought it was highly suspicious the way the Spits always got the U.S. players to sign with them. I always figured there was money involved.

Three firsts is going to kill them for the next few years.

[jammer2]

@flyercanuck To be honest fc, I always had my suspicions also. It certainly appeared like an uneven playing field. But...they have to prove these accusations don't they? Hope the Spits at least get a decent appeal. Just cause it walks like a duck, quacks like a duck...does not always make it a duck....lol.

[flyercanuck]

@jammer2

This is true.

Windsor obviously had the benefit of being a border town. But then so is Niagara, Sarnia, or the Soo Plenty of teams are within a couple of hours of the border, and theres Saginaw, Erie and Plymouth IN the US Then theres the WHL and Q teams. It just seemed odd...especially with Fowler. Then Campbell signs there right after..

If it does turn out to be what a lot of us already suspect, my next question is...when do they nail London?

[jammer2]

@flyercanuck Well, that's the talk of Windsor right now fc, if it *is* going on, why are we the only ones getting nailed....I know the Rangers are being investigated for their pursuit of Jacob Trouba...but there has to more than that....betcha the NCAA pointed them in the right direction. The NCAA has said many times, it's like bringing a gun to a knife fight with one arm tied behind your back...lol.

We also signed the Flames first rounder Patrick Sieloff, and are in the running for the Schmaltz (sp) brothers. We do have one of the nicest rinks in the OHL, and the border thing does help...a lot of these guys we are scooping up were set to go to Michigan, which is a stones throw away.

[hf101]

For what it is worth I see the NCAA growing in the role of developing players for the NHL. NHL teams can keep their drafted players without an entry level contract longer.

Any one see Eklund's blog.....yeah I know it is Eklund.

I didn't know the transfer agreement between the NHL and OHL, WHL, QMJHL ended in July.

With all of the understandable focus on the Sept. 15 expiration of the Collective Bargaining Agreement between the National Hockey League and the NHL Players Association, less attention has been paid to the passage of another significant deadline. The transfer agreement between the NHL and the Canadian Hockey League (OHL, WHL, QMJHL) expired in July.

There are many teams around the NHL that want to see the agreement with the CHL change significantly. The present system was adopted in 1979. That year, in conjunction with the NHL's merger with the WHA, a plan was put in place to admit 18-year-old and 19-year-old prospects into the Draft. Before that, players had to be 20 to enter the NHL Draft and play in the league, whereas the WHA admitted "underagers" to the circuit.

Under the terms of the NHL-CHL agreement, if a drafted player under the age of 20 does not earn a spot on an NHL roster, he must be returned to his junior team and cannot be assigned to the NHL club's American Hockey League affiliate until the conclusion of his junior season. There is a misnomer that the AHL is the one with the "Age 20 Rule". Not so. For example, collegiate players who turn pro before age 20 can play in the AHL right away.

Now that the NHL-CHL agreement has expired, there are many NHL general managers and owners privately (in Steve Yzerman's case, publicly) lobbying for the League to restructure a new agreement with the CHL. The most common proposal is to allow drafted players with three seasons of OHL/WHL/QMJHL experience -- in some cases, 18-year-old players but usually 19-year-olds -- to be eligible for AHL assignment at the behest of the NHL club.

The present arrangement has held for 33 years largely because the NHL recognizes that the stronger and healthier its primary feeder system for prospects, the more the teams in the NHL ultimately benefit. Major junior hockey in Canada is a pretty big business in its own right.

The argument against changing the NHL-CHL arrangement holds that shortening the time period in which CHL teams can hold onto some of its top players would have bad consequences in the long term. It would negatively affect the bottom line of the CHL teams. Some opponents to change say it may also hinder Hockey Canada from having access to certain AHL-bound players for the World Junior Championships.

On the flip side, there are many players who are ready for the AHL -- but not the NHL -- before they reach age 20, and have little to gain with a fourth year in junior hockey. Proponents of changing the arrangement also say that NHL clubs would be unlikely to stand in the way of teenage AHL players taking leave from the farm team for WJC training camp and tournament competition. Most everyone recognizes that participation in the WJC is beneficial to a young player's development.

[jammer2]

@hf101 WOW....I had no idea this was going on. While I agree *some* 19 year olds are better served in the AHL, on the whole, it would be very damaging to the kids. Most 19 year olds are not ready to compete with men, they are not physically ready....but yeah, there are some exceptions. It will also create an unstable atmosphere in the CHL, some teams bottom lines depend on the kids coming back after the NHL draft to fill the seats. It would be detrimental to the league that has developed more than half our stars. So, the NHL is saying, it's ok to develop them there, but when they are ripe for the picking, we will pluck them up....that is wrong.

The financial health of the CHL teams is (especially the weaker ones) very important to the development system as a whole. For example, the only thing that kept Sarnia going a few years ago was one more year of Stamkos. It allowed them to beat the Spits in the first round, enter the second round and gain a slim profit margin for the entire year. This is a team that developed Steven, a fan base that loyally attended the games when Stamkos was younger and developing.....how is this fair to Sarnia's fan base, to not be able to see him as a star after being drafted into the NHL? This seems like one giant rape and pillaging.

[yave1964]

This is one step short of the death penalty, more details will leak sooner than later, (they always do) and I gotta think this is not a penalty caused by a one time infraction. If it is, wow is it harsh.....

[hf101]

WOW....I had no idea this was going on.

Me neither...............Eklund writes a decent blog now and then..........

I agree with allowing 19 yr olds in the AHL would likely be detrimental to the Canadien junior leagues. But then drafted players in the NHL probably would be better served having the choice of the AHL, NCAA or Juniors.

[jammer2]

@yave1964 It's supposedly for two separate infractions. I'm real interested to see the "proof" the OHL has here. It had better be legit. Regardless of the OHL's stance that it's not about the players, it's about the Spits, the accusers will have to step forward eventually...this is not a rape trial...lol.

[flyercanuck]

@jammer2

Everybody and their grandmother heard about Fowler getting 500 grand from the Spits to not attend Notre Dame. I'll assume Campbells lips loosened after getting traded and let whatever cat out of the bag he was paid.

I have no doubt Domi was paid by London. And Kane. Among others..