Antonio Stranges ('20 hockey commit) signs with London
Antonio Stranges - one of the top commits in our excellent-at-the-moment 2020 class - has decided to sign with London per MIHockey
Antonio Stranges has confirmed to MiHockey that he has already signed with the London Knights, the team that selected him in the second round of last weekend’s OHL Priority Selection.
Per Brian's post last week, Mel has assembled an excellent 2020 class but we were expecting to lose 1 or 2 guys in all likelihood (Perfetti, Mitchell Smith). Unfortunately, Stranges was the 1 of the top guys we were hoping to hold on to. Stranges would be the college hockey equivalent of a 5* most likely.
Still a really good class, but still a major bummer to lose Stranges
April 12th, 2018 at 12:43 PM ^
What percentage of the the top players go to the OHL or Jr hockey vs college?
Also to add on, there is a difference rule wise between the CHL and other Junior Hockey leagues. You LOSE college eligibility playing in the CHL (OHL, WHL, QMJHL). You can still play college if you play juniors in the NAHL, USHL, EJHL, or pretty much any other league outside of the CHL so there is a high percentage of players that do both.
If a CHL player doesn't play minor league hockey or make it to the NHL they can certainly attend university in Canada (excellent schools exist in the hinterland, btw and the last number of national champions in Canada pretty much loaded up with former CHL players). CHL has a scholarship program for this purpose (but also usable for community college, trade school, firefighting schoo/EMS etc.).
You can play junior hockey in the NAHL, USHL or EJHL but these are not close to the level of major junior CHL in Canada (and a bit of the north US).
Pretty interesting Gare Joyce article on changes in CHL culture over time (Joyce not known to be a CHL slappy, btw).
https://www.sportsnet.ca/hockey/juniors/chl-better-ever-players/
April 12th, 2018 at 12:44 PM ^
I follow London Knights hockey and they are an excellent organization with a lot of resources. They also play in a great arena that feels like a mini 9000 seat NHL rink and is professionally run. They pretty much sell out every game and have been regulars, largely, in the OHL playoffs for years and certainly over-represented in the Memorial Cup. If the young man is academically inclined there is an excellent university in London as well.
It is what it is; the Hunter family in London has made the Knights into a problem for any team whose player they draft.
April 12th, 2018 at 12:57 PM ^
Damn Canadians and thier love affair with hockey! It's Canada's fault!!
We need to form a full assault! It's Canada's fault!
Sweet Caroline... lon don SUCKS
April 12th, 2018 at 12:46 PM ^
It's a Stranges thing, mystifying, why these kids commit to a college then jump to the OHL.
Ever since Seth's spring practice post the other day I now have a hard-wired association between Mgoblog and Jesus Christ Superstar in my head.
April 12th, 2018 at 12:48 PM ^
Damnit
April 12th, 2018 at 12:49 PM ^
Won't bother the non-puckheads with details but Quinn Hughes staying is our biggest roster concern. Quinn's brother Jack maybe joining him as a one and done, and now another possibility is Oliver Wahlstrom. The latter two are on the top line of the USA u18 National team and have unparalled ability and upside as NHL superstars.
Anyway Wahlstrom gained national recognition as a 9 year old scoring an insane penalty shot. Here it is...
April 12th, 2018 at 12:59 PM ^
WTF was that? I missed it the first time I watched - just like the goalie. Fortunately for me, I get to watch replays - that goalie was fucked...
Holy hell!!!
so I don't think it is bad showboating. I do feel bad for the poor goalkeeper who 8 years later still has no idea where the puck is. His expression is priceless. Anyone who has played sports long enough has had that look when some freak talent posterized you. (that would be a good topic).
If he did it during a real game, especially a blow out, then yeah he would be dealt with - otherwise I say bravo and look forward to seeing you in the NHL.
I believe, in a real game, that would have been disqualifed because he carried the puck backwards. If I understand the rules correctly, the puck must be moving forward - once it goes backwards, the play is over. I'm not totally clear on the rule, though, but there is something about 'moving forward', either for the player or the puck, that would invalidate that penalty shot.
Nonetheless, it was a sick move that reminded me of Mike Legg's 2004 playoff goal...
EDIT: Well, the rule doesn't say the puck can't move backwards, so nevermind. Legal goal!!! (I just watched the top 10 shootout goal higlight video - lots of backwards moving pucks. I should have known better than that, anyway...
Awww, man... '96... '04... They're both divisible by 4 - does that count?
The shooter must continue to move forward, puck can go anywhere as long as the player moves forward.
If this hockey thing doesn't work out, the kid's got a future in lacrosse....
April 12th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
April 12th, 2018 at 12:50 PM ^
It's tough to compete with junior hockey. There are several teams that offer an equal, or better, environment to develop than the top college programs. But this is why our classes are really big right now. It's almost like we're oversigning. But you have to in hockey.
Losing Stranges wasn't totally unexpected after getting drafted by London - especially as a 2nd rounder, that really looks like his intention all along was to go the OHL route and he was using the NTDP/Michigan as leverage to get there with his team of choice.
Perfetti is all but guaranteed to sign with Saginaw. Power won't go to Flint, but there's a good chance (>60% I'd say) his rights get traded to one of the more premier teams and he ends up in the OHL. Smith I think is safe, but he could get desperate for the higher competition after getting passed up in the NTDP selections. Truscott is pretty safe, he's not the caliber of player that would be an instant-impact OHL guy like Stranges, so sticking locally with the NTDP seems like his best path.
The Saginaw Spirit drafted Michigan commit Cole Perfetti 5th overall. He isn’t going to Saginaw. Many think he isn’t going to UM either. The player definitely has his preferred destinations. There are two OHL teams to watch here - Oshawa and Windsor.
— Tom Hunter (@PuckDontLie) April 7, 2018
Yeah I tried to edit my comment to note that Oshawa is actually the likely destination once Saginaw can trade him. I'd put the chances at Oshawa being the destination over Windsor at probably 90/10, based on what I've read on the situation.
They can and usually will sign any player that they want. We have lost 15th round picks to London so if a guy is taken in the 2nd he's signing.
Generally, guys in the CHL can sign NHL contracts but continue to play in juniors; However, once they're returned to the junior team, the only way they can play legitimate NHL time is once their team's regular season is over and they've been eliminated from the playoffs. Emergency call-ups are allowed under certain circumstances, but that's really only a goalie-specific thing.
Players are allowed to play up to (I think) 9 games in the NHL and then return to their junior teams, and you'll see this happen a lot for the first ~9 games of a season. Guys who are on the cusp of being productive NHL players (so not the Crosby/McDavid type players) will do this fairly regularly as teams decide whether the player is worth burning a year of RFA time for.
The biggest difference is, NHL teams that call up CHL guys before they've used up junior eligibility (ignoring the overage rule, so basically once they're 20 or have played 4 seasons) must play them at the NHL level. College guys can get placed in the AHL/ECHL even if they're first round picks leaving after their freshman year (see Pacioretty, who split 50/50 between Montreal and Hamilton, their AHL affiliate, for his first professional season).
The restriction that you're thinking of is that 18/19 year old players aren't allowed to play in the AHL if they were drafted out of the CHL. There are no restrictions on playing in the NHL.