The Matthew Peca saga

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
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http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/hockey/lhjmq/archives/2011/08/20110817-223640.html

For those who don't know about it, at the beggining of the week, we learned that Tampa Bay Lighting 2011 7th round pick Matthew Peca was present at the Quebec Remparts camp while his rights presumably belonged to Kitchener. We thought Kitchener didn't want to release him so he could play in Quebec but the story is more complicated than that. Here's a summary:


- Windsor who drafted Peca in 2009 gives Quebec the right to talk to him.

- But Ottawa wants to acquire him so Quebec makes a deal with Ottawa and Windsor. Quebec accepts to go play pre-season games in Ottawa (this season) and Windsor (next season) and Ottawa forgets about Peca.

- Windsor trades Peca to Kingston. Peca still doesn't want to play in the OHL so they put him on waivers.

- Kitchener claims him. Peca says no to Kitchener as well so they put him on waivers.

- Niagara wants to claim him 5 minutes before the deadline but Quebec convinces Niagara not to do it.

- Roy was informed after the deadline that 'a team' had claimed Peca but the OHL didn't tell which team.

That's why Peca was in Quebec ready to take part in the camp. They all thought he was now a free agent. Roy doesn't say it clearly but he seems to think Branch has blocked Peca from becoming a free agent so he wouldn't play in another CHL league other than the OHL.

Now the CHL has lost Peca and he'll join Quinnipiac College this Friday and won't go back on his decision.

Roy is questionning if Branch can do both jobs (OHL and CHL) and still work in the best interest of both leagues.

He's very fired up...

He's being too emotional about it but it still is an interesting debate. Is it possible to do both jobs without being forced to choose between the best interests of the OHL or the CHL from time to time?
 

AidanPhalen13*

Guest
Roy will not rest until all is right. First, Roy will send his kid to take care of Branch. With Branch out of the way, Roy is free to take over the Quebec League, and possibly all of Eastern Canada. With the Atlantic region under his reign, he will then deploy an army of Newfoundland foot soldiers to take over Ottawa. With Harper taken hostage, the Canadian Military under his control, and the Americans torn in Civil War, Roy will have the power to take over all of North America. Once he becomes World Dictator, Matthew Peca will be forced to come and play for the Remparts.

Roy always gets his way, I guess is the point of that garb i just typed out and will not go back and read to see if it sounds good.
 

Brock

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Feb 27, 2002
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I have no problem what so ever with OHL teams trying to block this.

While in theory, it's nice to allow these kids the opportunity to play where they believe they'll find success, the OHL is also a business.

What Roy and Peca are trying to do, is complete manipulation of the territorial system that is in place. While there is no guarantee that Peca will be a terrific CHL player, he is the reigning RBC Cup MVP and should at least become a pretty valuable offensive player in whatever league he plays in. If we allow the QMJHL to "poach" OHL players who decide they don't want to play in our league, who's to say that this doesn't become a common occurrence? What would then stop the Windsor Spitfires from talking to Nathan MacKinnon about playing in the OHL? Or the London Knights from talking to Seth Jones about playing in the OHL.

For the sake of the entire CHL's integrity (and territorial rights), this attempt needed to be squashed. The waiver rules were put in place to provide opportunity for kids that weren't getting a fair shot in their respective territories (ala Claude Giroux). Not for manipulation.
 

Dave Karp

Registered User
Jul 11, 2007
3,129
240
Nova Scotia
Peca's motivation is that he wants to study in french at Laval University.

I don't buy that. 0% chance that's his only reason for wanting to go to the Q. If he wanted to study French he could do so in a bilingual city like Ottawa.

Brock is totally right. We see enough draft manipulation going on with the Priority Draft and the CHL import draft, let's not start the bus on territorial manipulation. If Peca doesn't want to go and play in the OHL, then go NCAA. It's too bad for Peca that he wasn't from a different area but that's how the cookie crumbles and he can play in the OHL (as teams want him) if he chooses to do so.
 

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
7,151
I don't buy that. 0% chance that's his only reason for wanting to go to the Q. If he wanted to study French he could do so in a bilingual city like Ottawa.

Brock is totally right. We see enough draft manipulation going on with the Priority Draft and the CHL import draft, let's not start the bus on territorial manipulation. If Peca doesn't want to go and play in the OHL, then go NCAA. It's too bad for Peca that he wasn't from a different area but that's how the cookie crumbles and he can play in the OHL (as teams want him) if he chooses to do so.

Just last year the same thing was done, a player going from the Q to the OHL and nobody was against it... Every team in the Q was asked not to claim him.

The CHL leagues should work with each other instead of blocking each other.

The kid has said no to OHL teams two years in a row. Instead of losing him to the NCAA, why don't you forget your ego and let him play where he wants in the CHL instead of losing him to the NCAA?
 

backdoorpass

Guest
also there is a different mind set from being near the quebec border, you see little guys (like him) with giroux and byron going over and having crazy sucess, why wouldnt you want to do that, for him i can even say that it would be better for him in the q then the o, i dont understand why teams are trying to make it tough for hiim, also i believe when giroux and byron went to q there wasnt a waiver clearence like there is now, basiclly as long as you didnt get drafted after two years you can go/didnt make team for 2 year
 

Blind Gardien

nexus of the crisis
Apr 2, 2004
20,537
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Is it possible to do both jobs without being forced to choose between the best interests of the OHL or the CHL from time to time?
As Brock described, it sounds like Branch is maybe working the best interests of the CHL overall here. It doesn't actually help the OHL any, since Peca isn't going to play in the OHL either way. What it does is try to stop the manipulation of the system further. What if Nathan Beaulieu wanted to come and play for his dad's team in the OHL? Etc, etc. There's already so much manipulation of the system just within the leagues, it's better to not allow it to creep across the league borders too. So in the long run, Branch would be acting in the interest of the CHL here, not the OHL.

That said, I'm not sure he should be able to get away with just breaking the rules or making up a bogus story about a waiver claim or whatnot. He's the commissioner. He should be able to say, look, we don't want this kind of gamesmanship going on, and I'm squashing it. Openly. Maybe he'd even have to let the Peca case go through and then institute legislation afterwards to prevent it from ever happening again. If there was another team that made a claim, fine, let us know who. If there wasn't... well, saying there was isn't really an acceptable way of dealing with the problem.
 

Jabba11

Hockey Lobby
Nov 28, 2009
6,650
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This is frustrating from the OHL commissioner. Patrick Roy will get what he wants and the OHL management will pay for it. Their story doesn't even make any sense...secret OHL reclaiming Peca within the last minutes wow. Now they just have to talk with a OHL team to "make" it reality. Anyhow, with or without Peca, Quebec is a contender for the President's Cup and possibly Memorial Cup: Grigorenko, Erne, Duclair, Sorensen + Tam, Roy and Domingue in net.
 

Ward Cornell

Registered User
Dec 22, 2007
6,378
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This is frustrating from the OHL commissioner. Patrick Roy will get what he wants and the OHL management will pay for it. Their story doesn't even make any sense...secret OHL reclaiming Peca within the last minutes wow. Now they just have to talk with a OHL team to "make" it reality. Anyhow, with or without Peca, Quebec is a contender for the President's Cup and possibly Memorial Cup: Grigorenko, Erne, Duclair, Sorensen + Tam, Roy and Domingue in net.

Except that Grigorenko has asked to be put on waivers since he wants to play for Kitchener and study Russian at the University of Waterloo!

^ makes me wonder what Roy would say about that scenerio??

Also Peca didn't clear waivers in the OHL then he would have to clear waivers in the Q till he got QC.
Seems like Roy really doesn't know how the system is suppose to work.
 

Raisy

Registered User
Oct 27, 2003
522
16
http://fr.canoe.ca/sports/nouvelles/hockey/lhjmq/archives/2011/08/20110817-223640.html

For those who don't know about it, at the beggining of the week, we learned that Tampa Bay Lighting 2011 7th round pick Matthew Peca was present at the Quebec Remparts camp while his rights presumably belonged to Kitchener. We thought Kitchener didn't want to release him so he could play in Quebec but the story is more complicated than that. Here's a summary:


- Windsor who drafted Peca in 2009 gives Quebec the right to talk to him.

- But Ottawa wants to acquire him so Quebec makes a deal with Ottawa and Windsor. Quebec accepts to go play pre-season games in Ottawa (this season) and Windsor (next season) and Ottawa forgets about Peca.

- Windsor trades Peca to Kingston. Peca still doesn't want to play in the OHL so they put him on waivers.

- Kitchener claims him. Peca says no to Kitchener as well so they put him on waivers.

- Niagara wants to claim him 5 minutes before the deadline but Quebec convinces Niagara not to do it.

- Roy was informed after the deadline that 'a team' had claimed Peca but the OHL didn't tell which team.

That's why Peca was in Quebec ready to take part in the camp. They all thought he was now a free agent. Roy doesn't say it clearly but he seems to think Branch has blocked Peca from becoming a free agent so he wouldn't play in another CHL league other than the OHL.

Now the CHL has lost Peca and he'll join Quinnipiac College this Friday and won't go back on his decision.

Roy is questionning if Branch can do both jobs (OHL and CHL) and still work in the best interest of both leagues.

He's very fired up...

He's being too emotional about it but it still is an interesting debate. Is it possible to do both jobs without being forced to choose between the best interests of the OHL or the CHL from time to time?

Your summary doesn't exactly make sense. Why would Windsor hold his rights for 2 years, if a deal was worked out with Quebec? Also if a deal was worked out with Quebec, why would they trade his rights?? Why would Quebec work out any kind of deal with Ottawa, who did not have his rights??
 

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
7,151
As Brock described, it sounds like Branch is maybe working the best interests of the CHL overall here. It doesn't actually help the OHL any, since Peca isn't going to play in the OHL either way. What it does is try to stop the manipulation of the system further. What if Nathan Beaulieu wanted to come and play for his dad's team in the OHL? Etc, etc. There's already so much manipulation of the system just within the leagues, it's better to not allow it to creep across the league borders too. So in the long run, Branch would be acting in the interest of the CHL here, not the OHL.

That said, I'm not sure he should be able to get away with just breaking the rules or making up a bogus story about a waiver claim or whatnot. He's the commissioner. He should be able to say, look, we don't want this kind of gamesmanship going on, and I'm squashing it. Openly. Maybe he'd even have to let the Peca case go through and then institute legislation afterwards to prevent it from ever happening again. If there was another team that made a claim, fine, let us know who. If there wasn't... well, saying there was isn't really an acceptable way of dealing with the problem.

That's not the point. If the OHL teams accepted to let him go, does Branch has the authority to block him from becoming a free agent?

Like I said, the same thing happened with Audette last year and it was ok then...
 

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
7,151
Except that Grigorenko has asked to be put on waivers since he wants to play for Kitchener and study Russian at the University of Waterloo!

^ makes me wonder what Roy would say about that scenerio??

Also Peca didn't clear waivers in the OHL then he would have to clear waivers in the Q till he got QC.
Seems like Roy really doesn't know how the system is suppose to work.

He wouldn't have to clear waivers in the Q. He would be a free agent.
 

VanNistelrooy

Registered User
Jun 15, 2005
2,610
4
Habs Land
Anyhow, with or without Peca, Quebec is a contender for the President's Cup and possibly Memorial Cup: Grigorenko, Erne, Duclair, Sorensen + Tam, Roy and Domingue in net.

Yeah... no.

While I agree that they have lots of talent, this team is far from a contender. You don't win championships with rookies. At best they will be average in the league.
 

Dave Karp

Registered User
Jul 11, 2007
3,129
240
Nova Scotia
Just last year the same thing was done, a player going from the Q to the OHL and nobody was against it... Every team in the Q was asked not to claim him.

Yes and they have been players to go from the O to the Q, too. This is slightly different, though.

The kid has said no to OHL teams two years in a row. Instead of losing him to the NCAA, why don't you forget your ego and let him play where he wants in the CHL instead of losing him to the NCAA?

Because it could open a whole different and much bigger issue. The landscape of the CHL has changed a lot since some of these rules were drawn up. These are big businesses now and money talks. Draft manipulation is running rampant and as much as the respective leagues do to try to hinder it, it's not an easy thing to do. In this case, Branch tried to nip future problems in the bud. I understand wanting to keep players in the CHL no matter what, but if he really wants to play in the CHL he can, just with an OHL team. I could careless if he went to the NCAA or to the O or to the Q. It's all about trying to put a stop to future problems, IMO, and this is why Branch did the right thing.


What's so funny? It's impossible to study French at OttawaU?
 

Raisy

Registered User
Oct 27, 2003
522
16
Raisy: Because Ottawa wanted to acquire Peca and give Windsor a pick for him?

I understand this, but any team could have acquired him and Kingston did acquire him, did Quebec work out a deal for Kingston as well? What incentive was there for Kingston to put him on waivers?
 

Dave Karp

Registered User
Jul 11, 2007
3,129
240
Nova Scotia
I understand this, but any team could have acquired him and Kingston did acquire him, did Quebec work out a deal for Kingston as well? What incentive was there for Kingston to put him on waivers?

Kingston attempted to convince him to come play. He didn't want to so they placed him on waivers. There was no 'incentive' for Kingston to do so.

"bilingual city"

Do they not speak French and English in Ottawa? Last I checked they did.
 

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
7,151
Yes and they have been players to go from the O to the Q, too. This is slightly different, though.



Because it could open a whole different and much bigger issue. The landscape of the CHL has changed a lot since some of these rules were drawn up. These are big businesses now and money talks. Draft manipulation is running rampant and as much as the respective leagues do to try to hinder it, it's not an easy thing to do. In this case, Branch tried to nip future problems in the bud. I understand wanting to keep players in the CHL no matter what, but if he really wants to play in the CHL he can, just with an OHL team. I could careless if he went to the NCAA or to the O or to the Q. It's all about trying to put a stop to future problems, IMO, and this is why Branch did the right thing.



What's so funny? It's impossible to study French at OttawaU?

Explain it to me. How is it different from the Mikael Audette's case?
 

SergeConstantin74

Always right.
Jul 7, 2007
12,306
7,151
Kingston attempted to convince him to come play. He didn't want to so they placed him on waivers. There was no 'incentive' for Kingston to do so.



Do they not speak French and English in Ottawa? Last I checked they did.

I think it was more about studying in a selected university than studying in french anywhere.
 

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