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Is Hockey Canada playing politics with American players?

Dec 12, 2017 | 4:00 PM

Earlier this season — in late October and early November — the Battlefords North Stars tried to add two American players to their roster, only to subsequently have those players deemed ineligible to play Junior A hockey in Canada.

This article will some shed light on that decision and the process that occured; why Ryan Gil and Ryan Rosenberg were not approved to play in the SJHL and where the situation currently stands (Gil did play four games for the North Stars this year, but that was an unintentional error, as he was not eligible in the first place).

Reinstatement denied by Hockey Canada

The decision that Gil and Rosenberg would not be allowed to suit up for the North Stars was not made by the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League. Nor was it made by the Canadian Junior Hockey League (the body that oversees the 10 provincial Junior A leagues).

In fact, both organizations, along with the North Stars, have been trying to get them approved.

“[They] just want to play hockey,” SJHL commissioner Bill Chow said in a phone interview at the end of last week. “I don’t know if I want to use the word punished, but they’re just not being allowed to play when some of those things may have not been in their control.”

“We are doing everything we can to let these boys play, within the rules,” North Stars president Shandon Reichert said over the weekend. “There are procedures we have to follow and we can’t deviate from them.”

So why are they not being allowed to play?

It begins with the fact that both Gil and Rosenberg played in a non-sanctioned league this fall, prior to them joining the SJHL (or in Rosenberg’s case, re-joining, as he played here the past two seasons).

Each played in the National Collegiate Development Conference (NCDC) in the States, which is not recognized by USA Hockey. Whenever a player plays in a non-sanctioned league past Sept. 30, that player is not allowed to play in the CJHL for one calendar year. Both Gil and Rosenberg did play past that cut-off date.

However, Hockey Canada recognizes certain situations may warrant further consideration, so players can apply for reinstatement. Hockey Canada’s reinstatement committee will review the case and then determine eligibility.

Both Gil and Rosenberg applied for reinstatement several weeks ago.

Before the committee came to a decision, the CJHL polled their 10 leagues to see if any of them had an issue with two American players coming up from a non-sanctioned league and playing in the CJHL.

“The 10 leagues were unanimous in their position, saying that they had no problem with that,” CJHL president Brent Ladds said, also in a phone interview last week. “So we sent in a request to Hockey Canada, saying here’s the position of the CJHL, rather than going through all of these individual applications and given the fact that we have no issue with these players playing, why can’t you just give us interim relief from the policy? Because we all believe it’s a domestic policy, not an international non-sanctioned policy.”

Although the policy is indeed a domestic one only, Gil and Rosenberg were denied reinstatement by the Hockey Canada committee a few weeks ago. They have since re-applied, but no subsequent decision has been made.

Rosenberg’s father Howard said the punishment for his son, who is in his final year of junior eligibility and hasn’t played a game in over a month, is egregious, as there isn’t even a crime to speak of.

“This is just unbelievable to him and to us, that a place, Canada of all places, the birthplace and home of the game, would do this, intentionally or unintentionally to any amateur, young hockey player,” Howard Rosenberg said. “Simply because he made a choice to play in another league, he’s being penalized and barred from returning to play hockey in Canada for an organization that wants him, for a community that wants him, for a league — meaning the SJHL— that wants him, for the parent-league that wants him. Everyone is on board with him coming but Hockey Canada. It appers because he’s an American, because the two Canadian kids in the same situation were reinstated.”

Similar Cases

There are indeed two Canadian players who also played in the NCDC past the Sept. 30 cut-off this season, just like Gil and Rosenberg, who are currently playing in the CJHL.

One, Alec Beaudin-Tougas, plays for the Hawksbury Hawks of the Central Canadian Hockey League (CCHL), and the other, Pierre-Anthony Martineau, plays for the Brooks Bandits of the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL). Beaudin-Tougas, from St. Bruno, Que., was reinstated when he first applied, while Martineau, from Sherbrooke, Que., was first denied by Hockey Canada, and then reinstated Nov. 30.

Ladds said he’s not sure why that’s the case.

“That’s something you’d have to ask Hockey Canada. We’ve asked,” Ladds said. “We don’t sit on that side of the fence. We don’t see the applications.

“I can say this: I did see the letter that the reinstatement committee sent back to Hockey Alberta and the AJHL and it was very, very short. It just said that “We’ve reviewed the application and he has been approved to play in Brooks.”

BattlefordsNOW reached out to Hockey Canada, who said they would not discuss details of specific cases.

They did say there’s been a misconception about what has happened because people don’t know how the process works.

“I think there’s this misconception here that we’re just trying to keep players out of the game and we could sign off at any moment and allow this participation. But that’s not the case. It’s just not that easy,” Glen McCurdie, Vice President of Membership Services with Hockey Canada said in a phone interview on Friday. “For whatever reason, the committee, in their wisdom, given the information that they had at the time, have determined to let some players go and are approved, and some players are not. It’s based on the merits of those individual situations and I don’t have access, nor do I want to have access, to the information that they may have had to rely upon when they made those decisions.”

Hockey Canada was asked if the decisions made had anything to do with the nationality of the players involved, as two Americans were denied and two Canadians continue to play.

“I think you could have four Canadians and two might meet the criteria and two may not. I can’t answer for the committee,” McCurdie said, who does not sit on the committee himself. “We can all sit back and second guess, without having that information, on why some were approved and some weren’t… If that’s the perception, I would get that, but I don’t know the criteria that we’re relying upon.”

SHA also involved

The Saskatchewan Hockey Association gave input to the reinstatement committee as well.

According to SHA general manager Kelly McClintock, Canadians are indeed reinstated in most cases he’s seen.

“Since it’s Americans, I can see why the committee said no,” McClintock said. “I think because these are American players and they chose to play in unsanctioned leagues in the [United] States, the opportunity to come back to Canada wasn’t provided to them.”

McClintock said the SHA supported Gil’s reinstatement, but not Rosenberg’s.

“From our perspective, [Rosenberg]… had an opportunity to come back and play his third year here, [and] he chose not to. He’s an American. He’s taking a spot, in theory, away from a Canadian kid and a Saskatchewan kid and he chose to go to a non-sanctioned league,” McClintock said. “Ryan Gil, we supported that because there was an error made by USA Hockey and Hockey Canada allowed him to play, not knowing that he had played in a non-sanctioned league. But Hockey Canada chose not to support him as an American coming up here as well.”

Howard Rosenberg believes that Hockey Canada needs to enforce their rule consistently in all provinces, and should be able to go over the head of the SHA to allow the Americans to play.

“Now we’re not talking about whether or not the rule should be enforced or not. Now we’re talking about unequal enforcement.” Rosenberg said, referring to the other players who played in the NCDC being given the green light. “If Hockey Canada, the governing body, for whatever reason, has chosen to reinstatement players in other provinces, it must do so here.”

What now?

Chow was told that once the reinstatement committee comes to a decision, that it’s final and that’s that. But Martineau was first denied by Hockey Canada, and then reinstated after the fact.

With no decision on it’s way following Gil and Rosenberg’s second application, both the SJHL and the CJHL have tried one more thing. According to Chow and Ladds, the subject of the players reinstatement is supposed to be on the agenda at the next CJHL/Hockey Canada partnership meeting in the third week of December.

“The only hope they have is whether, through this partnership agreement discussion, our interim application is recommended for approval,” Ladds said. “There’s also a chance they might say no.”

 

nathan.kanter@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @NathanKanter11