Sask. junior hockey league trying to retain homegrown talent
All of the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League (SJHL) coaches recently met in Nipawin to discuss a major topic – keeping players in Saskatchewan.
“It’s a pretty important topic for our members’ teams. Obviously, we want to keep Sask. kids in the province,” said Estevan Bruins head coach Jason Tatarnic, who was in Nipawin.
Players can get drawn to the other leagues which record a higher total NCAA Division 1 scholarship count, like the British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL). Jimmy Lambert who played for the Saskatoon Contacts U18 AAA program is one of them.
“I’m forever thankful to the Vernon Vipers and the BCHL for the opportunity they’ve given to me to come down to the University of Michigan," Lambert said.
Lambert is currently entering his senior year with the Wolverines. He opted for the BCHL after his final year of U18 AAA hockey in Saskatchewan.
“We got to see a couple rinks and it’s just a beautiful place,” Lambert said. “You look at the (NCAA scholarship) numbers, I think the year I graduated from the BCHL there were like 150 players that ended up moving on to college.”
The SJHL is doing what it can do to retain players like Lambert in Saskatchewan. President of the SJHL Bill Chow said not every player’s experience ends up like his when they head to other leagues.
“The majority of players that leave Saskatchewan and go to other provinces to play, at some point in time they end up returning back to the SJHL,” Chow said. “Which is good but at the end of the day there is a lot of cost to the players and the parents as well as the individual teams when they require those rights.”
By comparison for the 2020-21 season, the SJHL committed 45 players to the collegiate ranks. The BCHL boasting a total of 107, according to the league’s website.
“I think parents have to do their research of where the scholarships come from,” Chow said.
Before accepting his position with the Estevan Bruins, Jason Tatranic coached the BCHL’s Chilliwack Chiefs. He said he agrees with Chow that although the BCHL has more scholarship players, there’s more than what meets the eye.
“Players are walking into that league with scholarships in hand. Probably 50 per cent of the time.”
A step Tatarnic is taking with his Bruins is signing younger players in 17-year-old Caelan Fitzpatric, 17-year-old Keagna Little and 16-year-old Owen Simmons.
“We believe if we can have some young guys each year we believe we will be able to keep our Sask. guys in the province for our organization.”
Over the years Tatarnic’s was able to send several of his Chilliwack Chiefs players to NCAA powerhouses like the University of North Dakota, University of Denver, Providence College, and St.Cloud State University.
He feels players suiting up in the SJHL have those same opportunities.
“There’s some very high-end players that go to the Western Hockey League from Saskatchewan and all it takes is a couple of them to decide 'I want to go the college route,'" Tatarnic said. “North Dakota arguably one of the best programs in the country, they always pop their head in here and take a look.”
North Dakota entered the 2021 NCAA tournament as the number one ranked team. Former Melfort Mustangs forward Carson Albrecht was on their roster. North Dakota was in the same region as Jimmy Lambert’s Michigan Wolverines, but COVID-19 tournament protocols had Michigan forfeit a game that could have pinned the two teams against each other.
Lambert said he feels if you’re good enough, they will come find you.
“You gotta go to a place that's best for you and it’s all about opportunity,” Lambert said. “When you’re sitting down with the coaches, you got get a good grasp of what your opportunity is like with those individual programs.”
The SJHL regular season is set to begin on September 24th.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'They needed people inside Air Canada:' Police announce arrests in Pearson gold heist
Police say one former and one current employee of Air Canada are among the nine suspects that are facing charges in connection with the gold heist at Pearson International Airport last year.
House admonishes ArriveCan contractor in rare parliamentary show of power
MPs enacted an extraordinary, rarely used parliamentary power on Wednesday, summonsing an ArriveCan contractor to appear before the House of Commons where he was admonished publicly and forced to provide answers to the questions MPs said he'd previously evaded.
Leafs star Auston Matthews finishes season with 69 goals
Auston Matthews won't be joining the NHL's 70-goal club this season.
Trump lawyers say Stormy Daniels refused subpoena outside a Brooklyn bar, papers left 'at her feet'
Donald Trump's legal team says it tried serving Stormy Daniels a subpoena as she arrived for an event at a bar in Brooklyn last month, but the porn actor, who is expected to be a witness at the former president's criminal trial, refused to take it and walked away.
Why drivers in Eastern Canada could see big gas price spikes, and other Canadians won't
Drivers in Eastern Canada face a big increase in gas prices because of various factors, especially the higher cost of the summer blend, industry analysts say.
Doug Ford calls on Ontario Speaker to reverse Queen's Park keffiyeh ban
Ontario Premier Doug Ford is calling on Speaker Ted Arnott to reverse a ban on keffiyehs at Queen's Park, describing the move as “needlessly” divisive.
'A living nightmare': Winnipeg woman sentenced following campaign of harassment against man after online date
A Winnipeg woman was sentenced to house arrest after a single date with a man she met online culminated in her harassing him for years, and spurred false allegations which resulted in the innocent man being arrested three times.
Woman who pressured boyfriend to kill his ex in 2000s granted absences from prison
A woman who pressured her boyfriend into killing his teenage ex more than a decade ago will be allowed to leave prison for weeks at a time.
Customers disappointed after email listing $60K Tim Hortons prize sent in error
Several Tim Horton’s customers are feeling great disappointment after being told by the company that an email stating they won a boat worth nearly $60,000 was sent in error.