Now that the inaugral WHA drafts are done with

[Bicycle Repairman]

That still leaves plenty of hockey players who are technically Unrestricted Free Agents whose WHA rights belong to no one. I take it it's now Open Season on those who were not chosen?

Both weekend drafts were hardly exaustive with claiming every last bit of talent available.

If I were a drafted guy and a peer I knew was free to choose what team he wanted to sign with, I know I'd be pretty steamed.

Just an observation.

Click to read more...

 

[Hart_House_Ca]

Bobby Hull said he's going to ice a league full of pros and that people will pay to see these pros?

My question is where does he plan to get these pros?

If you're asking where I got this pro comment. I got it from the horses mouth on tv, where he said.. if you dont' think people will pay affordable prices to watch pro hockey players, you're just plain negative..

 

[Bicycle Repairman]

Bobby Hull said he's going to ice a league full of pros and that people will pay to see these pros?

My question is where does he plan to get these pros?

If you're asking where I got this pro comment. I got it from the horses mouth on tv, where he said.. if you dont' think people will pay affordable prices to watch pro hockey players, you're just plain negative..

If they get paid, I guess you can call 'em "pros."

I guess you could ask Scotty Bowman or Mike Keenan or a bunch of other NHL talent evaluators what their impresions were of the recent try-outs for "Making The Cut" were like. Raw talent isn't in short supply.

This WHA is a different (as it's proposed) and is a whole different beast than the original WHA. Seems they're catering to the smaller, swifty player (and not the goons). It's not a development league per se (like the AHL and to a lesser extent the ECHL), but maybe more of a showcase league.

But you can bet, despite all the nay-saying, the higher-ups in the NHL are viewing this new league with interest. It might ultimately fail, but it's formula of having one or two stars, a handful of twilighting veterans, a passel of pluggers and a healthy smidgeon of talented youngsters is not a bad gameplan. Of course it all depends on how deep the pockets of the WHA owners are. It's tough slogging ahead, no doubt.

 

[Hart_House_Ca]

OHL players get paid. Most of the junior players in Canada get paid or get some sort of allowance.

 

[Draft Guru]

OHL players get paid. Most of the junior players in Canada get paid or get some sort of allowance.

$100 Canadian every two weeks is not comparable to $100,000 from the WHA.