Unsanctioned Leagues

There are players in BC and one right here in Fernie who are being recruited by an outlaw league in the USA.

Some of the outlaw teams are notorious for folding mid season and many players have had bad experiences playing on those unsanctioned teams.

If you go and your team folds or you get cut you can’t come back to Canada and play, that is the point of the Hockey Canada Memo below or the one here.

The fans here in Fernie would like the local player to play here in town. But if you ask me, if you don’t play in Fernie, playing for another KIJHL team would be 1000 times better than playing in an unsanctioned league.


Hockey Canada, its member Branches, Major Junior and registered Junior Hockey Leagues in Canada are concerned with the proliferation of leagues that operate outside the auspices of Hockey Canada.

Hockey Canada offers the best development programs worldwide. It has invested significant resources in the development of officials, coaches, administrators and players countrywide. We have a committed strategy toward a cohesive long term athlete development model.
These non-member organizations do not support the development of these programs. Further, they operate in a vacuum, with no consideration to the impact of their programs on minor, junior, senior, adult recreational hockey, female hockey, officiating development, coaching development or administrator development in Canada. These non-member leagues instead choose to utilize the resources already developed by Hockey Canada and its member Branches. The teams who make up these "leagues" operate in this fashion because they do not agree with the existing overall vision of Hockey Canada. They profess to have a better program yet often operate without a constitution, by- laws, create their own rule book and may not provide adequate insurance for their participants. Further, they offer the lure of "Rep" or "Junior" level competition when this is clearly not the case.

Hockey Canada, its member Branches, Major Junior Leagues as well as registered Junior Hockey Leagues wish to be exceedingly clear with our response to these programs.

Definition:
Hockey Canada and its member Branches view all leagues that operate outside the auspices/sanctioning of Hockey Canada programs to be classified as non-member leagues. This currently does not include summer hockey leagues/teams, adult recreational hockey leagues/teams, high school hockey, and/or hockey schools.
Sanctions

1. 1)  Any individual who participates (knowingly or otherwise) in non-member programs after September 30 of the season in question ("the Cut-Off Date") will lose all membership privileges with Hockey Canada for the remainder of that season, and may only reapply for membership with Hockey Canada after the end of that season. "Participation" in an non-member program will be considered to have occurred if the individual takes part in one game (including an exhibition, tournament, league or playoff game) after the Cut-Off Date.
   If a participant makes the choice to participate in these non-member programs, they must understand the ramifications of that choice and that the sanctions described in this paragraph will remain in effect even if the league or team folds, or the individual is released, suspended or fired.
2. 2)  Hockey Canada and its member Branches across the country will make every effort to ensure that local minor hockey and female hockey associations in areas where non-member leagues exist are not supporting these leagues in any manner whatsoever. For greater certainty, "supporting" includes, but is not limited to, assisting an non-member league directly or indirectly through

advertisement, promotion, ticket sales, volunteer activities, assigning Officials, sharing resources or enabling such a league to participate in Hockey Canada sanctioned activities. We will withhold tournament sanctions and will preclude such associations from benefitting from any Hockey Canada/Branch/CHL sanctioned event by whatever means necessary, including the withdrawal of any such event from any community within the geographic boundaries of that association if need be to stress this point.
This policy is aimed at those leagues that choose to operate outside the hockey structure established by Hockey Canada, its member Branches and the Canadian Hockey League.

Rider signs-trade-horsemen of the apocalypse commitments-pom poms snipers and shoot my foot

Here is what we know about the Ghostriders, and it’s not much as you will understand by the end of this column.

The Riders say they have signed a few players and traded  twenty year old goaltender Justin Faiella to Castlegar for a PDF and future player rights. Code for money and maybe  another player later on... or some more money. They have potentially too many 20’s so had to give up a guy who can play.

They also signed two AAA midgets from... where else, Calgary. Forward Seamus Keith and defensemen Aaron Hladiuk. Guys who played AAA midget can almost always compete in this league and lots of them turn into elite KIJHL players. So those signings could be pretty good for the team and the fans. 

They also signed Brody Bauder from Ft Saskatchewan who is now 18. They tried to sneak him past the three horsemen of the apocalypse Hockey Canada, BC Hockey and Hockey Alberta last September but got caught. Albertan’s have to be 18 to play in BC, unless they have a family member living in BC. GM’s beat this rule all the time... but sometimes they don’t.  

The import rule for out of Province players went away a few years ago and now a Canadian is a Canadian... someday this 18 year old discriminatory rule will go too.

The Riders also “committed” to Derek Unterberger, Andrew Bonham, Eric Backhouse and Brennen Wingenbach, he played with the Fernie Academy last season. 

Both Kyle Ford and Sawan Gill have signed with the La Ronge Ice Wolves of the Jr A SJHL. I hope they make the team. No word on Niki Sombrowski yet but he was a BCHL Salmon Arm AP last season.

To all new players, no matter what anyone tells you, you are not owned by any team, coach or GM unless you actually sign a player card, also they can’t trade you unless you sign. Until you sign a card you are free to go anywhere you want

In other news KIJHL players will have little GS stickers on their helmets this season in honour of 47year old Grant Sheridan. Grant was the General Manager and owner of the Kelowna Chiefs, somehow he tragically contacted bacterial meningitis during the playoffs last season and passed away on July 28th. RIP Mr Sheridan, you brought several elite  players into the league.

And finally, and not a moment too soon. 

The KIJHL and the Ghostriders  let it be known they don’t want writers like me or anyone else writing about them. They only want cheerleaders who wave the pom pom’s. 

So with that in mind the KIJHL sent out a note to all the teams warning them not to tell a popular Twitter account @kijhls better known as the KIJHL Sniper anything about their respective teams. In other words don’t you dare use any free advertising unless it’s KIJHL approved, you can only talk to your local media, commissioner Larry Martel or their new communications guy Emanual Sequeira . 

The KIJHL is still taking applications for a new Commissioner, my god if you are interested in this job please apply and help the KIJHL recover from the continual bullet holes they keep putting into their own feet. CLICK HERE FOR THE AD