Wednesday, April 22, 2020

Commissioner Hebb Fears BCHL Could Lose Teams Without Financial Assist:

This was in the Vancouver Province newspaper:

Steve Ewen: Commissioner Hebb fears BCHL could lose teams without financial assist

Published: April 15, 2020

Steve Ewen

“We’ve never taken a dime of government support in the history of this league. Here we are, in 18 communities now. In many cases, we are the Vancouver Canucks of those communities, and we could lose teams out of this." — Çhris Hebb, BCHL commissioner

Chris Hebb, the commissioner of the B.C. Hockey League, says the novel coronavirus pandemic has already hurt so many teams financially in his Junior A league that he will seek government assistance.

The circuit’s 18 teams approached the mayors of their respective communities to draft letters, explaining what the franchises mean to the local economies. Hebb plans to use those letters of support in his pitch to government officials.

“We’ve never taken a dime of government support in the history of this league,” Hebb said of the league founded in 1961.

“Here we are, in 18 communities now. In many cases, we are the Vancouver Canucks of those communities, and we could lose teams out of this (COVID-19 crisis).

“We understand that so many people are hurting out there. We don’t want to come off like bleeding hearts. But socially and culturally, it’s inarguable what these teams mean to those communities. And the financial impact of our league rarely gets told. You’re talking about hotel nights, restaurant meals and the people who work at the game.

“The letters from the mayors are all amazing.”

Various teams have histories of 40 or more years in the BCHL, including the Vernon Vipers, Penticton Vees, Surrey Eagles, Chilliwack Chiefs and Nanaimo Clippers. Teams rely heavily on charging participants for their spring hockey camps. Those camps have been cancelled because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

According to their website, the Eagles were scheduled to hold a camp April 10-12 at South Surrey Arena for players born from 2000-2005. They were planning on having eight teams of 17 players and charging each one $315, including taxes. That’s $42,840.

The Vees ($350), Vipers ($250 for skaters, $295 for goalies), Victoria Grizzlies ($250)  and Salmon Arm Silverbacks ($295 for skaters, $325 for goalies) were all charging similar per player fees according to team websites.

Hebb says many teams were also hurt by their loss of post-season revenue. The loop had its season shut down after the first playoff round.

The league doesn’t publish complete attendance statistics. The Vees are one of the bigger draws at home, and their three playoff games at the South Okanagan Events Centre this spring had an announced attendance average of 2,858.

The Eagles’ announced attendance average for their three home playoff games at South Surrey was 864, and the Coquitlam Express announced an average of 705 for their two post-season games at the Poirier Sports and Leisure Complex.

The Eagles, according to their website, were charging adults $20 a game for playoff tickets. The Eagles are asking adults $174 for a season ticket renewal for the 2020-21 campaign, which works out to $6 a game for the 29 contests. New adult season ticket holders are being asked to pay $249.

“Teams lost playoff revenue. Spring camps have had to go away. You can’t really sell season tickets now. It put us in a tough position in some of our markets,” Hebb said, without naming the markets.

Feeding talent to NCAA

The BCHL has become one of the main feeder systems to the NCAA circuit. The Cornell Big Red were the top-ranked team in the NCAA when the season was cancelled last month. They featured nine former BCHL players.

The North Dakota Fighting Hawks were the second-ranked team, and they also had nine former BCHL players, including former Chiefs forward Jordan Kawaguchi, who on the weekend was named runner-up for the Hobey Baker Award as the NCAA’s top player.

The BCHL attracts players from outside the province and it also has players who only play one season before going off to school. Kawaguchi fits neither of those categories. He’s an Abbotsford athlete who played four full seasons with the Chiefs, posting 120 goals and 242 points in 213 regular-season games with the team.

As a junior this season, Kawaguchi finished second in NCAA scoring by compiling 45 points, including 15 goals, in 33 games.

Minnesota-Duluth Bulldogs junior defenceman Scott Perunovich, 21, won the Hobey Baker. He had 40 points in 34 games, including six goals. The Hibbing, Minn., native recently signed with the St. Louis Blues, the team that picked him in the second round of the 2018 NHL Entry Draft.

Kawaguchi, 22, who is not drafted, received some NHL free-agent interest but is returning for his senior year with North Dakota next season.

The next marquee player for the BCHL might be Port Moody product Kent Johnson, the Trail Smoke Eaters’ forward who won the league scoring crown this past season by a 30-point margin. He had 41 goals and 101 points in 52 regular-season games. Surrey forward Cristophe Tellier, who had 71 points in 58 games, was next in line.

Johnson, 17, is a Michigan Wolverines commit for next season. He’s already attracting attention as a possible early selection in the 2021 NHL draft. Grizzlies centre Alex Newhook was a first-round draft pick in the 2019 NHL draft, going No. 16 to the Colorado Avalanche.

The league had three first rounders in 2016, with Vees centre Tyson Jost chosen No. 10 by the Avalanche, Vees defenceman Dante Fabbro picked No. 17 by the Nashville Predators and Chiefs defenceman Dennis Cholowski selected No. 20 by the Detroit Red Wings.

Johnson’s teammates in Trail this past season included Philippe Lapointe, the son of longtime NHLer Martin Lapointe. The BCHL office listed 20 players in the league this season who had NHL bloodlines.

4 comments:

vipersdiehardfan said...

Here is a comment that was posted at the bottom of this article on the Province.com


Marcus Gronkus

When I played way back in the day this league didn’t look anywhere near what it is today... no fancy sets of jerseys, equipment, etc. It takes big $$$ to be in the big leagues, so what goes up must come down... maybe scaling it down will save it.
Also, this league has become a launch pad of scholarships to American universities, for many import players from the states... a very convenient arrangement for these players who are taking BCHL spots away from deserving Canadian players.
Maybe this league needs to go back to its roots and stay local.

Anonymous said...

A very interesting comment... “...this league has become a launch pad of scholarships to American universities, for many import players from the states... a very convenient arrangement for these players who are taking BCHL spots away from deserving Canadian players”.

We all love watching good hockey so do not complain but this is a valid comment. Each year every team has new players who have already committed to a university but the university is not ready to include the player on their roster. They chose instead to let them play an additional year of Junior A until a spot opens up. This is fine for our hockey enjoyment but usually the player is for a one year term and then they are gone off to university. The fact is that US universities have very deep pockets. If they are not ready to roster “their players” and wish the BCHL to “develop them” for an additional year would it not be reasonable for them to pay the BCHL team for that spot for their player? I believe Major Junior League teams get a development fee from NHL teams who draft their players. Although very successful the BCHL is very fragile financially. It would only be fair!!!

Now to be even more controversial... I think it still should be allowed for Canadian players (under CHL guidelines) with scholarships to change teams or BCHL players earning a scolly to continue playing until they leave for school. My issue is with US players with existing scholarships should not get a “free” year to play in the BCHL. This does not support the BCHL philosophy of “playing to earn” scholarships. As the above poster stated... this is in essence taking valuable spots away “from deserving Canadian players”. Are these valid points?

Bob McInnes said...

First of all, there can only be a maximum of 6 American players on BCHL team rosters. The other 17 spots are reserved for "deserving Canadian players". And scholarships are given out on the basis of being able to play at the next level AND being academically capable. We've seen scholarships withdrawn when players fail to develop their hockey skills or are unable to cut it academically. An NCAA coach tries to recruit players who can do both. His job depends on it.

Yes, the NHL gives development money to Major Junior teams. The NCAA is totally prevented from doing this with Junior A teams by the NCAA rules on amateurism. Because Major Junior players can negotiate their deal with their teams, they would be in obvious violation of NCAA rules. A lot of the NCAA rules are rooted in their rules for football and basketball.

In short, we have up to 6 Americans on our Junior A teams. NCAA schools give out about the same, or more, scholarships to Canadian players. Not a big deal.

Unknown said...

Reduce the number to 2 or 3, costs big bucks to fly them here send them home @christmass. Rarely the team gets to see the kid play before we bring him here, a lot is already invested, so we end up keeping him longer that hey should.