It's the ECHL. QMJHL stars are usually good ECHLer. Perfect opportunity to grab as many as we can to avoid missing the next Myers or Marchessault. There's gonna be enough spots for ECHL vets and some UDFA from WHL/OHL too.
Trois-Rivières Lions 2021-22 Lions de Trois-Rivières
- Thread starter Adam Michaels
- Start date
It's the ECHL. QMJHL stars are usually good ECHLer. Perfect opportunity to grab as many as we can to avoid missing the next Myers or Marchessault. There's gonna be enough spots for ECHL vets and some UDFA from WHL/OHL too.
But why the Q and not the ohl, whl, ncaa, euro leagues. Why favour Q players over any others?
Euros won't sign ECHL deals (and the majority won't sign AHL deals either).
99% of ECHLer won't make the NHL. The good UDFA will play in the AHL.
Having lots of Q players in TR:
Makes the team more relatable to the city (less chance of it failing)
Provides potential Q players for Laval (again good for PR)
Shuts up the purists.
Allows us to scout our backyard more so we miss less there.
As I also said, there's too much roster space to fill only with Q stars, so you will get O/W/NCAA guys too.
So your answer is giving spots to Quebecois over more deserving players because of PR. Got it. Nothing else to talk about.
Probably shouldn't have a team if the market viability depends more on playing Quebecois players than the quality of the play.
ECHL needs to be viable to exist. Having a ECHL in TR is a big advantage for our AHL team due to proximity. Promoting homegrown talent is great.
This is the f***ing ECHL not AHL/NHL. It's basically a feeder for the AHL to counteract injuries/call-up. The top UDFA are not gonna sign to play in the ECHL. Having the Laval/TR combo makes us a lot more attractive to the QC minor leaguers that could sign elsewhere and we should take advantage of it.
Americans and Canadians west of Gatineau are not looking toward playing in Trois-Rivières.
I have no idea why you are so against promoting local talent for an ECHL team...
DAChampion
Registered User
- May 28, 2011
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You don't understand why I prefer filling slots with whichever player deserves it over whichever player is Quebecois? Like I said, not much to debate here.
Not at the expense of wins - which is what gets sacrificed if you limit your talent pool while other teams and fanbase don't seem to care nearly as much.
I see why you would prefer it, I just don't see it as a viable option. An ECHL team full of non-QC will fold in Trois-Rivieres. Do you want a team with homegrown/other nobody close to the AHL/NHL team or do you want a team of nobody far from the AHL/NHL team? At the ECHL level, you can have a team that is both homegrown heavy and competitive.
You will still get some of the top O/W/NCAA we can attract to the ECHL. It's just a billion time easier getting homegrown guys to fill the roster when you have teams in QC.
I'd agree with you if we were talking about the AHL, but this is the ECHL. You're gonna get the guys that were not able to get an AHL deal elsewhere. 99% of them are not gonna make the NHL. Most of them won't even make it to the AHL for a significant amount of time.
JC Superstar
Registered User
- Aug 7, 2013
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Be real: talent is a dime a dozen in the ECHL, what does it matter if it comes mainly from the Q?
Anardil
Registered User
Vermont is a state, not a city. Burlington is barely bigger than Trois-Rivieres and the 4k place arena is already used by the NCAA men and women teams. Not sure it would be viable to compete vs NCAA.
Sorry but Trois-Rivières is more than twice the size of Burlington. Make that 10 times.
Burlington is hugging Oakville which is hugging Mississauga, which is hugging Etobicoke, which is hugging Toronto, which is hugging......well, we get the picture lol
I dunno, if the Leafs had a local ECHL team here, don’t think anyone would care if 80% of their roster are made up of guys from the York and Peel regions, Mississauga and so on. Ultimately, these are still independent businesses and have to make money.
Before we poo poo on the idea of more local talent on a Quebec ECHL team, have you looked at the Brampton Beast roster? Most of them are from Ontario. There’s one Quebecer, a couple Americans and the rest Ontarians.
Top prospects from the Q, OHL, WHL and United States aren’t playing in the ECHL anyways, so it’s not like we (Habs) are missing out too much. I’d be fine stocking with locals.
If I recall....Newfoundland had 10 or 11 under contract last year. Several ECHL teams have a half dozen or so.
