Minor League Shakeup

As the 2000-2001-hockey season drew to a close so did the long and proud history of the International Hockey League. Once a powerful league primed to take the place of the NHL as the top pro circuit, it began to have problems from which it would never recover.

No longer are there two AAA minor pro hockey leagues from which the NHL can feed. We are left with a single AAA entity called the American Hockey League. This is not to say that the AHL isn’t a quality league: minor league hockey is just not the same in my eyes.

With a handful of AA leagues around, players have little luck when attempting to move up to the next level. With a large percentage of the hockey community happy that there is now just one main league feeding the NHL, one has to feel for some of the AA stragglers and worry about the state of minor pro hockey.

Enough rules are in place to prevent veteran minor leaguers from finding jobs. First of all, there is the nonsense of most leagues only allowing 4 veterans on a team. On top of that, veterans must deal with the rigid salary caps that these teams must adhere to. How can a minor league veteran of 5 to 6 years expect to find a place to work given all of these hurdles? If one can find a team to play for, he must then accept what little money that he will be offered.

With such a small percentage of minor league players making it to the NHL, why must the hard working veterans of the minor circuits be penalized and be forced to flee to Europe to play in leagues far less competitive that what we have to offer right here in North America?

At least the IHL was one more alternative to the AAA level where quality players that weren’t quite cut out for the big time could play some good hockey to finish out their careers and pick up a decent paycheck.

Adding to all the confusion is the influx of European players. There isn’t anything wrong with skilled, hard working Europeans looking for jobs over here, but taking up minor league roster spots is another story. The NHL is a league for the best hockey players in the world. This doesn’t mean that some of these guys from the East should be able to learn the NHL game and prepare themselves for stardom by taking roster spots away from North Americans that may have to flee their countries looking for work.

Please don’t confuse my sentiment. I take nothing away from European hockey players and I know that they bring a lot to the game. I do feel, however, that North American players can sometimes get lost in the shuffle when trying to find work late in their careers.

I’m not old enough to remember, but from what I have read, the IHL was once a league of veteran players as was the AHL. Now the veteran rules are in place all over minor pro hockey and I simply do not see the need for it. Skilled newcomers are always going to find their niche- why are skilled old-timers often treated like second-class citizens?

I’m all for watching tough fearless veterans finish out their careers in a quality league. Fans all over the NHL are getting tired of the escalating salaries that the elite players are demanding. Players are working half as hard as they used to yet they are making 4 to 5 times the money.

The minor leagues are full of talented players and colorful characters. It is also much more affordable to take the family out to a game at the lower levels. With sky-high salaries, inflated egos, and a new generation of “soft” players, what reasons are left for fans to spend their money on big league games?

A new league will eventually emerge, as the minors will slowly build itself back up to where it should be. Work has been underway for sometime to bring about Hockey South; a new league that I believe has a chance. There will be more. This doesn’t mean, however, that the landscape will be returned to where it once was. Another AA league isn’t going to help. Another AAA circuit is a must for minor league hockey to retain its current popularity.

When hockey is marketed right, it is the best game in the world, not to mention the most exciting to watch. Unfortunately, this is not being done right now and has not been done for some time. As long as a select few at the top of the hockey hierarchy try to turn the game into something that they alone think it should be, the game is in a lot of trouble. The NHL is being marketed NBA style and it is not the NBA.

Executives and players alike can learn a lesson or two from the Original Six days when players played their heart out on every shift and their jobs depended upon it.

Why give 100% every shift when your guaranteed 10 million dollars per season? Very few players are going to do that. There aren’t many Joe Sakics in the league any more. There is a reason that Major League Baseball has lost its allure with Americans and the National Hockey League is going to find out what that felt like all over the world.

Hockey is a game of guts and hard work, a game played by proud and fearless men. At the rate it’s going, it will become a game of greed and holdouts. Sorry, but it’s already become a game of greed and holdouts. Remind anyone of minor league baseball. Anyone looking forward to the next strike/lockout in 2004?

Another minor league is needed so the players that don’t quite fall in the elite category can have another option when searching for a good place to play or even just to close out their careers on a positive note. It would also benefit fans that are tired of watching another big time sports league go down the tubes.

Just a little something to ponder as we approach the mid point of what I consider another boring NHL campaign.