PHhockey fan said:
see post from yesterday at 9:58
You said these guys played most of the year for PH, and have significant, high level, experience. I looked them up.
Callahan, Junior A tier 2, Division 3 college for three years, SPHL/FHL
Pietrasiak, four years div 3, SPHL and FHL
Tatrn, Four years OHL (where he scored a total of 34 points and was -56 in 172 games), plus a year of US juniors, FHL/SPHL and one game in the ECHL, but he only played 6 games in PH
McWinney, 2 years Junior A, a couple years in the CHL/UHL, mostly as a backup. FHL/SPHL the last six years, only played 10 games for PH
Skinner, 2 years US junior A, 10 games div 3, FHL/SPHL for the last 6 years
Harris, 9 games Major junior, 2 seasons Junior A, FHL/SPHL for 3 years, 8 games with PH
Alonzo - played 4 years of div 3 hockey, bounces back and forth between FHL and SPHL
Vanwynsberger - No junior or college listed - has played for multiple teams in the FHL and SPHL each of the last 3 seasons.
all have had SPHL experience
- the SPHL isn't a higher league than the FHL. Higher paid maybe. I wouldn't consider a few games in the SPHL as higher level experience.
4 players have an OHL history and others have major junior experience while a couple have NAHL play.
The OHL/Major junior histories are dubious at best. Most of the NAHL is tier 3. Major junior means OHL, WHL, QMJHL. Also big difference between a guy who spend four years playing alongside Crosby and a guy who played ten games total with minimal ice time.
Look for yourself. Four players were called up to the SPHL this season. Is their a Gretzky or Yzerman on this list -no, but they do play hard and have respectable hockey experience.
I don't doubt they play hard, but that isn't "respectable hockey experience", at least compared to pro players in higher leagues. I wouldn't consider playing in the SPHL a "call-up". More of a lateral move.
Your list of guys who played "most of the season" didn't list these guys who played at least 30 games for Port Huron
Nichols - four years of level 3 US juniors and 10 games of Div 3 hockey FHL/SPHL
Mahfouz - three partial seasons of CJHL (low level junior) FHL/SPHL
Tagoona - Junior A FHL/SPHL
Witmyer - US Tier 3 junior A, 5 games of Div 3 college, then 3 years of no pro or college hockey before joining PH. (I assume he finished his degree, but didn't play any more after those five games.) FHL/SPHL
Fuller - Played parts of two seasons in the OHL (was he hurt, or was he a healthy scratch?), then 10 games for U of Windsor (Canadian University Hockey - I assume he dropped out?) FHL/SPHL
Soskin - 17 games at two different Div 3 colleges, no junior hockey listed. FHL/SPHL
Fraser - Canadian Junior A for part of one season FHL/SPHL
Pelletier - Canadian Junior A - five years FHL/SPHL
Devine - US Junior A, div 3 for two years - FHL and SPHL
Pace - 13 years between the UHL, SPHL, FHL, AAHL (new)IHL, SPHL, CHL, and AAHA. Wow, this guy is committed to the low minor life. I have to assume he has a job selling real estate or trading stocks online or something where he sets his own schedule and can move around a lot. Either that or someone else is paying his bills.
DiCristofaro - one season of ACHA college hockey (mostly club teams)
So that is the guys who played more than half the season, and most of them played low level juniors or a few games of Div 3 college. If I looked at the guys who only played a few games, I could probably find fill in guys with even less experience.
I'm not busting on the FHL. Someone asked what kind of players they have. From what I can gather, the top players are mostly Junior A, Canadian University, or Division 3 US college players. Players with that type of background haven't been making ECHL rosters for at least a few years now. It used to be that top end Canadian Univ or Div 3 players could make an ECHL team, but with the consolidation of leagues they have been pretty much squeezed out. There also have at least some guys playing in the FHL who played only a few games of Div 3 or club hockey at small colleges, or only played minimally in juniors, or not at all. Those type of players would typically be playing in the local house league at a rec rink. With limited budgets it isn't surprising. I would assume most teams sign a few players with some real experience who they expect to have most of the year, and they fill out the rest of the roster with extra guys that have full time jobs doing something else and they either don't pay them, or give them a couple bucks per game. That is how it works in Canada with the LNAH and other "senior leagues". Most guys have another job, the top line is getting paid regularly, the bottom line guys show up when they can, and play for the fun of it and maybe some free equipment.
Some people like to claim the FHL is taking advantage of these guys. That may or may not be true. A local guy who works a job with flexible hours who is paying to play now, who gets the chance to play for free, in front a few hundred cheering fans, who knows full well this isn't going to lead to a hockey career, isn't being taken advantage of. He knows what he is getting into. If he has to chip in for gas money and do some of the driving to go to a road game, it is still better that what he would be doing that weekend if he wasn't playing for the local FHL team.
As with any league there is a mixture of players. A few top end guys in the ECHL are going to end up having a decent NHL career, and there are guys who will play half a season, get healthy scratched a lot, and retire after one year. Same thing with the FHL, except the top end guys might jump around between the FHL and SPHL for a few years, and maybe get a tryout or a few fill in games with an ECHL team, and the bottom end guys are just rec league guys living the dream for a weekend or two. Nothing wrong with that, and if it is the difference between your town having a team and not having a team, I would go and support it too.