Rolf Neilson Suspended by OHL

[Otto]

I am sure the league will be more diligent next time they sell a franchise. If a son or grandson is a highly skilled player all teams will have access to him if they don't respect the code of silence. You know. Don't draft my kid. We are taking him in round four. Kerby Rychel was drafted by Barrie I believe. Kid had talent and should be in the league. If they are just spoiled rich kids that are not at OHL level no they should not be allowed to play. It effects the whole team when a player is given free range over the whole team and will lead to another Flint fiasco. Sudbury was only different because coaches quit and others were brought in that would do the owner's bidding. Even if you buy a team for your kid you can't make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

There's also the other side of things. Sometimes the kid isn't really as bad as people make him out to be. Dylan Hunter in London is a prime example, he ended up doing pretty good for himself. I can't recall what the opinion was of Hakan Kilsen from Flint fans prior to the fiasco.

 

[TcNorth]

Not a big fan. Probably would not have made any of the other 19 rosters. With the loss of defenseman, another Flint fan pointed out that he may be needed.

 

[Firebrd828]

...I can't recall what the opinion was of Hakan Nilsen from Flint fans prior to the fiasco.

He was injured in a pre-season game against Sarnia and was not available to play in the first +/-10 games of the season. He wasn't back for very long at all when the first "event" went down.

 

[Otto]

He was injured in a pre-season game against Sarnia and was not available to play in the first +/-10 games of the season. He wasn't back for very long at all when the first "event" went down.

So really, not a lot of chance to have him fit in.. then the crap went down, that had to play on his nerves quite a bit. Did anyone see the kid play at Little Caesars?

 

[Otto]

Agreed. What's the point of this? I don't care about the JVB situation. All I said was the the league stepped in and pushed him out. They have a say in who a team owner can be, and they seem to care if they feel a situation may have embarrassed the league

Right, and as well in this case. Not sure what your point is. No one said the league didn't have a say.

The situation was bad in Sudbury, and hurt the franchise. The situation was worse in Flint, and might devastate the franchise. Are you suggesting the league turn a blind eye to the situation and hope the next time it happens, it won't kill a franchise?

I don't have a solution, but there this is become a problem that I would hope the league is discussing to prevent from it getting worse.

At the end of the day, I am a believer that if you feel you need to buy / coach a team just for your kid to be on it, your kid isn't good enough to be on the team. So why not put a rule in to prevent it? This is Major Jr A, not PeeWee

I don't necessarily disagree with you, but I have pointed out the reasons why I feel the league won't do it.

Your stance seems to be that an owner was needed regardless of who he was or what his motivation was, so he was getting the team. I think the league should strive to do better.

Somewhat yes, but I also agree with you in that the best candidate should be chosen. But again, if there is no arena and no owner what happens?

I don't know every detail of the situation, so I'm not going to offer an answer without having the details.

That's your prerogative, personally I prefer to look for solutions/reasons when a problem is presented. And what impact those solutions would have, then play devils advocate to determine what would prevent those solutions from happening. So I apologize for being persistent, it's in my nature

Didn't Doug Gilmore have both his sons on Kingston? Traded one, who got little playing time with the new team, so he re-acquired him?

Not sure, I just went through the Kingston roster for the last 10 years. Only saw Jake Gilmour who played 3 games for Niagara in 13/14 and 43 games for Kingston in 14/15

I wondered if you would bring this up. Do you really think he would have had 5 seasons in the OHL (playing more games than anyone else in team history), playing 1st line minutes, while being named captain, if if his last name was something different?

Maybe, how knows. We see kids of former NHL players get drafted all the time.

What about Logan or Steadman?

What about them? I was pointing out success stories, Kirby Rychel is another. This is the reason why the league would never ban kids from playing for a team owned by family. The governors would not want to take the chance of a good player playing for the competition.

Can I ask what Dylan's coaching experience was prior to landing behind an OHL bench?

None, how is it relevant to the discussion?

I'd like to know where he was rated prior to the draft, and if someone raised an eyebrow when he went in the 7th round.

I would be curious as well.

 

[cub]

Agreed. What's the point of this? I don't care about the JVB situation. All I said was the the league stepped in and pushed him out. They have a say in who a team owner can be, and they seem to care if they feel a situation may have embarrassed the league



The fans in Sudbury say differently. Same with the scouts who quit.

As Badger pointed out, there seems to have been a tread lately that should be registering with the people who run the league. I guess they have been sleeping



The situation was bad in Sudbury, and hurt the franchise. The situation was worse in Flint, and might devastate the franchise. Are you suggesting the league turn a blind eye to the situation and hope the next time it happens, it won't kill a franchise?

I don't have a solution, but there this is become a problem that I would hope the league is discussing to prevent from it getting worse.

At the end of the day, I am a believer that if you feel you need to buy / coach a team just for your kid to be on it, your kid isn't good enough to be on the team. So why not put a rule in to prevent it? This is Major Jr A, not PeeWee



Your stance seems to be that an owner was needed regardless of who he was or what his motivation was, so he was getting the team. I think the league should strive to do better.

I don't know every detail of the situation, so I'm not going to offer an answer without having the details.



Didn't Doug Gilmore have both his sons on Kingston? Traded one, who got little playing time with the new team, so he re-acquired him?



I wondered if you would bring this up. Do you really think he would have had 5 seasons in the OHL (playing more games than anyone else in team history), playing 1st line minutes, while being named captain, if if his last name was something different? What about Logan or Steadman?

Can I ask what Dylan's coaching experience was prior to landing behind an OHL bench?



I'd like to know where he was rated prior to the draft, and if someone raised an eyebrow when he went in the 7th round.

Great post It definately hurt Sudbury, they are still recovering from it. Obviously, Branch doesn't care about nepotism, his son Barclay Branch drafted Joe Bowen son David Bowen. David Branch better get on this because OHL looks bush league.

 

[Otto]

I would guess the same thing when a company looks for a new employee, and doesn't get a candidate they like; just keep looking.

Not that the NHL is a prime example, but what happened with the Coyotes when they had ownership issues? And this is a league that wanted to keep the team where it was, and had no interest in a new owner moving it like with the Whalers

Far different situation than just hiring a new employee. As previously stated it's not like there is a big selection of people with $10 million plus an arena to choose from. And unlike the Coyotes situation, they couldn't just stand pat, the Whalers had nowhere to go and were being kicked out of their arena.

My nature is to know all the facts surrounding a situation before coming to a conclusion. You won't catch me embarrassing myself by saying something like "hands up, don't shoot".

Part of why I keep asking is to hear more about the situation, and hear what others say. At least we are talking about it, I doubt Branch is

But you have stated that you don't have the facts, yet you have come to the conclusion that this is Branch's fault.

Drafted is one thing. Getting called up for a game or 2 is another. Spending 5 seasons on a team and having your dad name you captain is absurd.

In London the players vote on the Captain. Dylan was very well liked in the dressing room and at the time was one of the most well spoken OHL players I have ever met. Here's a link to that team, not sure who else should have been chosen as captain.

You pointed out that you thought Dylan was a success story, but neglected to mention 2 others that weren't. Rychel, the Foligino's seem to be an exception with this current trend, as all have seen time in the NHL. The rest not so much. And considering Kirby was a high draft pick by a team that wasn't his father's, was traded to another team that wanted him prior to being traded to his father's team, then was acquired by the top team in the league his final season for a small fortune, I don't think you can compare Kirby to Dylan Hunter

I didn't neglect to mention anything.. why would I mention players who were not successes when I was discussing players who were? If the subject were "vegetables that I like" I wouldn't mention mushrooms.. because I don't like them. The non-successes have been discussed at great length, I was merely pointing out that there are successes as well. I also am not comparing Rychel to Hunter, but what I am saying is that both can be considered successes. Kind of like Bill Gates and Andrew Tepperman, one is in a different class than the other, but both men can be considered successes.

I thought we were discussing nepotism and the examples of father's owning teams and giving their kids positions on it they didn't earn

it was more a discussion on players, but I see your point. That being said it's no different than a son being groomed to take over the family business, but the regular Joe working in the warehouse would have an issue with it.

 

[keepingscore]

it was more a discussion on players, but I see your point. That being said it's no different than a son being groomed to take over the family business, but the regular Joe working in the warehouse would have an issue with it.[/QUOTE]


This is as far from a family business as you can get. Family businesses don't participate in a draft that promises 15 year olds a shot at a game they dream about playing their whole lives, and which parents pay tens of thousands of dollars to support.

Without the draft, picking and playing your own kid would be perfectly acceptable - but it's not and shouldn't be.

The teams owned wholly or in part by former NHL players are by far the worst offenders. They ALL have well documented histories of nepotism and giving OHL benefits to friends.

If the Flint owner was a retired NHL player no kid would have dared walk off the ice in protest of the coach being fired (for any reason) for fear of being black-balled. That is the simple truth. The players would have sucked it up.

 

[Otto]

This is as far from a family business as you can get. Family businesses don't participate in a draft that promises 15 year olds a shot at a game they dream about playing their whole lives, and which parents pay tens of thousands of dollars to support.

Without the draft, picking and playing your own kid would be perfectly acceptable - but it's not and shouldn't be.

The teams owned wholly or in part by former NHL players are by far the worst offenders. They ALL have well documented histories of nepotism and giving OHL benefits to friends.

If the Flint owner was a retired NHL player no kid would have dared walk off the ice in protest of the coach being fired (for any reason) for fear of being black-balled. That is the simple truth. The players would have sucked it up.

The family business comment was in response to Dylan Hunter being hired as an assistant coach, not in response to players.

 

[cujoflutie]

it was more a discussion on players, but I see your point. That being said it's no different than a son being groomed to take over the family business, but the regular Joe working in the warehouse would have an issue with it.

This is as far from a family business as you can get. Family businesses don't participate in a draft that promises 15 year olds a shot at a game they dream about playing their whole lives, and which parents pay tens of thousands of dollars to support.

Without the draft, picking and playing your own kid would be perfectly acceptable - but it's not and shouldn't be.

The teams owned wholly or in part by former NHL players are by far the worst offenders. They ALL have well documented histories of nepotism and giving OHL benefits to friends.

If the Flint owner was a retired NHL player no kid would have dared walk off the ice in protest of the coach being fired (for any reason) for fear of being black-balled. That is the simple truth. The players would have sucked it up.[/QUOTE]


Part of the protesting going in Flint is due to non-hockey people interfering with hockey decisions (as a leaf fan I can say this line of thinking was what started the decade of futility in comparison to the competitive teams Pat Quinn ran). So I can’t see this scenario playing out with a former player. I’m anything but a fan of Dale Hunter but it’s not comparable. Maybe the hunter boys got slightly more opportunities than they otherwise would have but it’s not as if they made them all first round picks and top line players right away. Logan Hunter got traded so it’s obvious they are not there solely for their kids. Dylans coaching opportunity only arose when they lost their Head coach to the NHL and those who saw him as a player commended his leadership abilities so it’s not as though he was out of his element the way many feel young Neilson is.

 

[View from section 9]

And of course there's Ben Hawerchuk, son of Dale, in Barrie with the Colts. As of today, he has played more OHL games than any other 2014 6th round draft pick. Is he a better player than Burgess was in Sudbury or Nilsen in Flint? Absolutely. Would he have made any other OHL roster coming out of training camp as a 6th round pick in 2014? If his name was Ben Smith?

His 1st season last year I was sure "favouritism" was the reason Ben was in the league. However, this season he has been a valuable bottom 6 for the Colts, the way their roster looks to be shaping up for next year he'll be a top 6 leader on that team. He is in no way comparable to Connor Burgess.

It is very possible the reason he made the team as a 16 yr old was his name but he's earned everything this year on his own accord imo.

 

[keepingscore]

His 1st season last year I was sure "favouritism" was the reason Ben was in the league. However, this season he has been a valuable bottom 6 for the Colts, the way their roster looks to be shaping up for next year he'll be a top 6 leader on that team. He is in no way comparable to Connor Burgess.

It is very possible the reason he made the team as a 16 yr old was his name but he's earned everything this year on his own accord imo.

He has been handed every opportunity to succeed because of who he is. His father made sure he was given every opportunity to succeed. It is not a level playing field.

 

[Otto]

He has been handed every opportunity to succeed because of who he is. His father made sure he was given every opportunity to succeed. It is not a level playing field.

The world isn't a level playing field.

 

[knowescape]

The world isn't a level playing field.

Very true, I have seen talented players benched due to a conflict with a coach, yet later when they are traded they blossom again. Similarly, "lesser" players have improved due to the inordinate amount of misplaced ice time they have received even though they aren't related to anyone.

 

[Otto]

Neither are the rules in the OHL

Such as?

 

[Beast Mowed]

Neither are the rules in the OHL

Don't you mean the interpretation & enforcement of the rules in the OHL?

 

[Otto]

Don't you mean the interpretation & enforcement of the rules in the OHL?

It's the same in every league