Dynasties doomed?
Cap on 20- year- olds, ex- OHLers so far has brought more parity to junior B league
People who continue insisting the Greater Ontario Junior Hockey League’s Golden Horseshoe Conference is a two- team horse race are focused on the history books, not on the latest standings.
Only five points separate the top four teams in the nine- team division a third of the way into the 50game regular season.
There are the usual suspects setting the pace in the driver’s seat, of course. The four- time defending conference champions Caledonia Corvairs are showing no signs of slipping in the standings, and right behind, as has been the case for four years and running, are the St. Catharines Falcons.
The Corvairs and the Falcons have been 1- 2 since the former Brantford Golden Eagles moved to Caledonia, and from the Midwestern Conference, at the start of the 2013- 14 season.
This year they have company at the top of the standings. Thanks to rule changes that encourage parity by limiting the number of 20- yearolds and former Ontario Hockey League players on junior B rosters, the Ancaster Avalanche and Niagara Falls Canucks are strong contenders in a tight race that could go down to the wire come playoff time.
Niagara Falls and St. Catharines are tied for second heading into tonight’s action. They trail Caledonia by three points with the Canucks second in the standings based on wins, 13 to 12, but the Falcons have a game in hand.
Only five points back, with two games in hand on Caledonia, four on Niagara Falls and three on St. Catharines, is Ancaster. In terms of winning percentage, the Avalanche’s .800 is second to the Corvairs, .853, in the conference.
No one would be happier than Frank Pietrangelo if the regularseason ends with a nine- team tie for first place. The Canucks head coach- owner said everyone wins when there is parity.
“This is ideal for the coaches, players, scouts and fans. What good is it to see score lines of 20- 0?” he asked. “Who wins in those situations?
“The hockey is terrible, there is zero development, and the people will stop coming to watch those types of games.”
Pietrangelo won’t shed a tear bidding farewell to dynasties that put development on the backburner, if they ever worried about it at all.
“Personally, I think this is a great thing, and I see nothing but positives with a league where you need to be at your best to win every night.”
Falcons head coach Dan Fitzgerald also is firmly in parity’s corner.
“I think the parity we’ve seen so far in our league is good for everyone,” he said. “It creates excitement for the fans and a test every night for the players.”
While all teams have received the memo this is not your older silbling’s junior B, some have stumbled adjusting to the new reality. Witness the Falcons losing to the sub-. 500 Pelham Panthers twice in three starts this season.
“Unfortunately, old habits die hard,” Fitzgerald said. “Sometimes, we think we are playing a team’s reputation rather than their actual team.”
Corvairs general manager Brian Rizzetto said looking past an opponent has never been a problem with his team.
“In Caledonia you get up for every game, because other teams bring their best against us.”
Rizzetto, whose team was loaded with 20- year- olds when it won three Sutherland Cup championships in a row, thinks the changes are here to stay.
“What you’re seeing now is a sign of things to come,” he said. “We believe this is a good thing.”
Parity likewise is topping the three- star selection of Welland Jr. Canadians head coach Keith Osborne.
“Yes, it’s great to see parity,” he said. “Unfortunately, we are at the bottom of the standings, but we are a good team and need to learn how to win.”
He said getting motivated for an opponent isn’t difficult, given teams in the Golden Horseshoe play two and, on rare occasions, three games a week.
“When you’re in eighth place, you better get motivated for every game,” said Osborne, whose team is entering the weekend with a 5- 111- 1 record.
Mark Barrick, head coach of the 7- 11 Pelham Panthers, isn’t ready to say whether the race for playoff seeding will remain tight for the rest of the season.
“Not sure,” he said. “That may be answered at the end of the season.”
Barrick likes rules changes that level the playing field a little more.
“I think it’s good for the league that, for the most part, on any given night, anybody can beat anybody,” he said.
Under Barrick, the Panthers don’t look at an opponent’s record when they prepare to return to the ice.
“We prepare the same for all opponents,” he said. “We will never take a team for granted.”
As far as Fort Erie Meteors head coach Todd Clayton is concerned, parity has more to do with timing at this stage.
“It’s early in the season I believe that has to do with the parity,” he said. “Most teams are still ‘ up’ for games.”
Clayton believes the trade deadline will still be the day when contenders begin taking off leaving pretenders in their wake.
“The teams that will entice elite players to come to their organization will most likely make a separation in the standings.”
That said, Clayton is all for restricting the number of 20- yearolds on teams in a league in which the focus should be on development.
“Parity is definitely a good thing for our league,” he said. “It keeps players, fans and the whole organization interested.”
Thorold Blackhawks owner- head coach Scott Barnes, whose team is one game below .500 at 8- 9- 1- 0, said the conference is better, from top to bottom, thanks to parity.
“I’m not surprised with the parity at all,” he said. “I knew Buffalo would be better this season and they definitely are.
“There is a bit of a divide between top four and bottom five but as we have seen early this season anyone can beat anyone.”
A message left with Ancaster Avalanche head coach Ken Peroff was not returned at press time.