Don't know how you can say that it's the best league. It's good for some people, better for others. The same can be said for the NCAA.
I've said for years now that I'd stake my reputation on this board in the fact that I think a NCAA team would steamroll a CHL team if put in a head to head game.
And that would be because the players are older, and not necessarily better.
JP, I won't argue that an NCAA team
could steamroll an CHL team in a head-to-head game. Some junior teams that I've seen would have soundly beaten a good U.S. college team. It would depend on the teams you picked, but an NCAA team is older than a CHL team. In this age bracket -- 16-22 -- a couple of years of physical maturity makes a big difference. That's why the IIHF has separate age categories for under-20, under-18 and under-17. Once you hit 20, it starts to even out.
A U.S. college team has players aged 18-22 (with the odd 17-year-old). A CHL team has players aged 16-20, with a limit (three) on the number of 20-year-olds.
So, to be fair matchup, a college team would have to have no seniors and only three juniors and the CHL team would have no 16-year-olds or 17-year-olds.
Lest anybody misunderstand what I'm saying here, I am not dismissing U.S. college hockey or being a champion of the CHL. Both are excellent brands of hockey and are good for developing players. And it's not a U.S.-Canada issue, either. Many Canadian kids choose U.S. college and more and more American kids are picking the CHL.
As for Turris, he could play for Vancouver and he'd do well. But would it really help his draft stock? I don't think so. He's already highly rated. It's his life, if he wants to go to Wisconsin, that's fine with me. He's a pretty skinny kid and needs to bulk up. One thing you've got to remember though. He's put off playing major junior for two years (16 and 17 year old seasons), but when he gets to Wisconsin next season, he'll be playing against some guys that are bigger and stronger than anybody he would have faced in major junior because there are lots more 20 to 22-year-old players.
He's a talented kid and he'll probably do better by practising and training more to bulk up than he will playing 20 extra games and taking a lot of long bus rides.
What I hope I don't hear, though, is people bashing him if he leaves college early or if he changes his mind and decides to play major junior after all, say as a 20-year-old.