Last week, on one of the talk shows on Bayshore Broadcasting, Ontario Hockey League Commissioner Dave Branch was the guest.
I have a lot of respect for Dave Branch and what he’s done over essentially 30 years in the position, but truthfully, I was staggered by many of the answers and responses.
Regarding Priority Selection manipulation, Dave Branch didn’t view it as a major issue, saying the onus is on the individual clubs to select an elite player and then sell that player on the merits of the program, ala Joey Hishon and Steven Shipley in Owen Sound, to use his examples.
Speaking of selling, Dave Branch shot down the notion that a handful of teams don’t rebuild, or re-load, or re-tool, but rather they re-finance; that is, they use cash flow to entice, persuade and recruit the best players
Not the case.
Regarding the OHL evolving into a tiered league with Windsor, Kitchener & London perpetually in the upper echelon, Dave Branch says while that may be factual today, it wasn’t long ago that other clubs were up top, and he believes in short order there will be other centres in the mix.
And regarding the scenario whereby an agent essentially places his client with a favoured team, be it through the draft or through a post NCAA experience, Dave Branch sees nothing alarming with advisors looking out for the interests of teenage hockey players.
I like Commissioner Dave Branch, but I was stunned by those, and other, evaluations of the OHL as it exists today.
I’m Fred Wallace