World Junior A Challenge

Events Nova Scotia ‏@eventsns

The countdown is on to welcoming the world! Two weeks until the kickoff to the World Jr A Hockey Challenge in #Yarmouth @hockeycanada
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I know. There has been discussion among local regional Junior A fans here about the small number of Maritime players being invited to even tryout for the team. Ontario, with the most leagues, most players, seem to get the benefit of the doubt in terms of who gets invites. I'm not saying the Ontario players aren't deserving of their invites, it's just that more Maritime (and players from other Eastern areas outside of Ontario) deserve more of an legitimate opportunity to showcase what they can do, not just get token invites to a handful of non-Ontario players. One of the Assistant Coaches for Canada East is Laurie Barron, the head coach and General Manager of the Yarmouth JR A Mariners, so maybe he can put a word in for the MHL players invited if they show that they deserve to be on the Canada East roster. The composition of the teams likely depends on who the coaching staff consists of; which players Hockey Canada are familiar with; they will likely pick players they are more familiar with more so than with players they aren't. It's not really fair, but what can you do. It also depends on what kind of team a coaching staff wants (either a team of all stars, or players that will play a certain role, like a league regular season team would) that determines who gets invited to camp/make the final roster and who doesn't.

One of the Canada East camp invitees is Mooseheads prospect Brandon Pye, who plays for the Truro Bearcats of the Maritime Hockey League. Anderson Snair a goalie for the Metro Shipbuilders of the MHL, is or was ranked in the NHL Central Scouting rankings. He's a good goalie, I've seen him play. The NHL scouts (who will be in Yarmouth for the World Junior A Challenge), will want to take a look at him if he makes the team. Justin MacDonald, a defenceman for the Dieppe Commandos, is a pretty good player. Saw him play recently. Colin Campbell (Saint John Sea Dogs property, has played a handful of games for them in 2010-2011 and 2011-2012), who plays for Barron's Mariners, had a good chance to make the Canada East roster last year. I think he would have the best chance among the Maritime players to make the Canada East roster. Having his regular coach on the staff won't hurt! Anyway, best of luck to all of the MHLers invited.

I think that there are, but with the coaching staff (except for one, Laurie Barron of the Yarmouth Mariners) and Hockey Canada from Ontario/out West; the odds were stacked against them. There was some debated as to which Maritime Hockey League players got invites to the training camp; some felt others deserved a chance more than the ones who did.

Colin Campbell of Barron's Mariners had the best chance of the 4 MHLers who got invites, but he's 19 and they could only take 5 19 year olds (why I don't know). There has been much discussion today by fans on the fact that no Maritimers are on the Canada East roster, the vast majority of it being ranging from upset to pissed off. There was no one selected from the Junior A league in Quebec (Ligue de Hockey Junior AAA du Quebec); there were 2 leagues in Ontario that didn't have anyone selected either (the Northern Ontario Hockey League and the Superior International Hockey League) as the East squad consists of players from the Central Canadian Hockey League and the Ontario Junior Hockey League. This is people trying to protect their own turf.

The Canada West teams consists of 15 players from the British Columbia Hockey League, 3 from the Alberta Junior Hockey League and 2 each from the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League and the Manitoba Hockey League.

Basically, the 2 Canadian teams are Team Ontario and Team British Columbia. My view is if those were the best players, then you go with it. But some of the other leagues are not given an equal opportunity to showcase themselves on a national level for whatever reasons. Coaches and organizations lean towards players they know and are familiar with; right or wrong; mostly wrong. The MHLers aren't on the national radar for the most part. Some of this is because of the lack of leadership by the people who run the Maritime Hockey League by not fighting for their league on a national/regional basis. The league office, in general, is badly run. The individual teams (for the most part as some teams are better run than others as it is in any league) are run in some cases, much better than the league office itself. I can't speak for the other eastern leagues because I don't follow those.

Not 1 kid from the maritimes teams on Canada east