Maybe Cleveland, Toledo need to ponder future

In his weekly high school sports opinion column, Chris Lillstrung argues, since the two Cleveland hockey leagues seem unlikely to reunite, pooling resources with Toledo may be worth considering.

In 2007, Toledo St. John’s topped University in a frozen four semifinal at Nationwide Arena.

The Titans’ coach tried to opine in the postgame news conference about the Northwest

Hockey Conference vs. the Greater Cleveland

High School Hockey League’s Red North.

Broadly, he was arguing the merits of the NHC being in a better place then than the Red North.

Unfortunately, it was interpreted in some circles as arguing the Red North was dying.

He never said that specifically.

More than a decade later, if he had uttered those words, he ultimately wouldn’t have been out of line.

Because the Red North, as we had known it, was dying, giving way to the Great Lakes Hockey League, with longtime independent Gilmour joining the traditional Red North teams and the GLHL launching for the 2013-14 season.

Around a year ago, I opined two leagues, the GLHL and the GCHSHL, was probably not the best path forward anymore for Cleveland.

That belief still prevails. It’s just that the fundamental issue is more bleak.

It’s not to say there isn’t good hockey in the GLHL — it’s the best varsity high school hockey in town. The Cleveland Cup is still a strong tournament and will continue to be.

It’s not to say there aren’t well-meaning people who want to make Greater Cleveland hockey thrive, the GLHL included.

But let’s take a step back and look at this reasonably.

Lake Catholic is dormant, leaving the GLHL with seven teams: Gilmour, Holy Name, Padua, Shaker Heights, St. Edward, University and Walsh Jesuit.

The GLHL originally was all private-school programs, with an eye toward a united vision for strong hockey as an independent entity with schedule flexibility.

Then, when St. Ignatius departed to initiate its vision as a prep hockey program, the need arose to invite Shaker, which came to fruition last season.

There has been chatter — however accurate it may or may not be — St. Edward may want to follow a similar path as St. Ignatius. If that were true at any point in the future, the Eagles would have to exit the GLHL, too.

Padua, with all due and deserved respect to the great program Doug Hauser built, one that won a state title as recently as 2006, is struggling. The Bruins are 3-24-1 this winter, have won 31 games in the last five seasons and haven’t reached 20 wins since the 2010-11 season.

Holy Name and Walsh Jesuit, with newer programs established in the 2000s, have commendably been to district finals. Unfortunately, number of frozen four appearances: Zero.

The point is not to belittle programs that are doing the very best they can with their current realities.

But it’s difficult to not look at the GLHL, with its exits, team struggles and need for expansion, and not by certain vital variables see deterioration — even though, again, it still can produce a good brand of hockey.

The GCHSHL has its own issues. A seven-team Red is making the most of a challenging situation. But the reality is there aren’t overly viable longterm options to graduate from the White North — whether it’s because of roster numbers, feeder systems, etc. — should there be a need.

So haves and have nots in the GLHL and the GCHSHL Red are going to be more likely than true parity.

It’s not just Cleveland, though.

The Toledo District in the state tournament is down to 11 teams.

The NHC runs a seventeam Red Division, including recently returned Bowling Green after dormancy. They have a unique format: If teams play twice, a win is worth two points. If teams play once, a win is worth four points. There were six league games with the latter.

There’s an NHC White Division, but three of the seven teams are club.

And by the way, I know some people get agitated about “club” to describe a high school hockey program, preferring “varsity.” That’s understandable, especially if USA Hockey affords “varsity” status. But in the traditional sense in Ohio, there has to be a differentiation between entities playing under OHSAA auspices and those that are not.

Three of those seven teams in the NHC White do not. Neither do the teams in the CSHL’s high school division here in Cleveland.

Columbus is coming up fast. With the Blue Jackets’ influence and the rinks and programs down there, Columbus is firmly entrenched as a power broker in Ohio. The time we see a southern Ohio state champion is coming sooner rather than later.

If the GLHL and

GCHSHL are unable to find common ground, perhaps Cleveland and Toledo can.

I have written in this space, admittedly ad nauseam, about numbers lacking for high school hockey in Northeast Ohio. The boom period was the early 2000s. We’re never getting it back.

So maybe the teams in Toledo and Cleveland who are still making a go of it at a state-caliber level and who are not implementing or considering graduating to prep hockey need to do something rumored almost 20 years ago.

Maybe it’s time for a “freeway conference.”

Take the NHC Red, the GLHL — perhaps even Mentor and Rocky River as the class of the GCHSHL Red — and form a combined league.

Cut down on travel with weekend series. Pool resources to keep hockey where it is viable still thriving in Northern Ohio.

No one has any trouble traveling all over the region for holiday tournaments.

If we’re truly facing a crossroads — and the factors sure seem to imply that — why can’t we travel, within reason, for league play as well?

Something needs to give, and this could be the outside-the-box way to get there.

It took a while. But the interpretation of that Toledo St. John’s coach ultimately wasn’t wrong in 2007, no matter how angry it made some people.

The last thing we need is an obituary in 2020, only this time for leagues that can’t survive longterm with their current — and arguably stubborn — vision for what’s to come.