This was in the BC Hockey Now Newspaper:
BCHL’S New Rules Receive Mixed Reactions From Around League: Vipers Coach Weighs-In
Friday, May 21, 2011
By Mark Janzen
To say the BCHL’s new rule changes pertaining to rosters have ruffled a few feathers amongst the coaching ranks would be like saying that Vancouver Canucks fans have just a mild distaste for the Chicago Blackhawks.
When Vernon Vipers coach Mark Ferner learned that the maximum roster size for next year would be reduced from 23 to 21, a number the league used to operate under, and each team would be forced to carry at least one 16-year-old and one 17-year-old at all times, he was perturbed to say the least.
“I think it’s ridiculous,” Ferner said just days after leading the Vipers to the RBC Cup final. “If you want to have a 16-year-old, have a 16-year-old. If you want to have a 17-year-old, have a 17-year-old. If you want to have a 21-man roster because you think you can save money, we’re not telling you that you can’t. Go further, have an 18-man roster. I don’t care. But at least give us the opportunity to put the best team on the ice.
“It’s tough to make money in Junior hockey. I understand that. But if you want people to come out and you want to make money, you put a good product on the ice and they’ll keep coming. People don’t care how old the kids are. They want to see good hockey. And they’re not going to get the best product right now. I really, truly believe that.”
While the thinking for the 21-man roster is to save owners money, estimated at between $10,000 and $20,000 per player per year, the 16- and 17-year-old rule is an effort to make the league more developmental. But again, Ferner had serious qualms.
“These players [16-year-olds] have already been identified because the WHL drafts them at 15-years-old,” Ferner said. “So what happens when November rolls around and they get pulled up by a WHL team? Then we don’t have our 16-year-old, anymore.”
John Grisdale, the commissioner of the BCHL, argued the changes are in fact a step in the right direction both on and off the ice.
“We’re saying to teams we want to be a younger, development league,” Grisdale said. “The governors reduced the rosters to 21, which means there won’t be as many players sitting in the stands. The league wants to get young players into the league and develop them.
“It’s a business decision in that there won’t be as many players in the program and it’s a player development decision, allowing the players to play on teams [Junior B or Major Midget] where they can get ice time.
“We’re not forcing anyone to do anything. There are enough good 16-year-olds [17 played in the BCHL last year] that want to play in our league.”
Upset as Ferner may be, he will have to live with the BCHL’s board of governors decisions this year, but he believes the roster size changes will revert back within a year.
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