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Originally Posted by Lubicon
Will be interesting to see how that aspect shakes out. My understanding from what I have seen/heard in the BCHL is the officials that work that league cannot work any Hockey Canada sanctioned events. Tough choice for some of them to make.
I would also be curious to see how it will work with players and where they are coming from. Could look at the BCHL now I suppose and get a feel. Current AJHL players are drawn from Hockey Alberta teams and their affiliate players all play U18 AAA for the most part. They will no longer be able to draw from this pool of players (for affiliates) and not sure how a AAA kid can try out for a team and return to AAA if they are cut (answer, I don't think they can). So that's the end of tryouts from AAA kids? Are sports schools governed under Hockey Canada? Maybe that's where the pool of players will come from. Maybe that's moot if most AJHL players have graduated from minor hockey?
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I don't think these guys are worried about feeder leagues, they already have ~40 club/high school teams outside of Hockey Canada in Alberta/BC in leagues they operate.
This has been a slow moving 10+ year project to take over developmental hockey in Western Canada, and seemingly abandon recreational hockey, and I kind of doubt the BCHLs departure and AJHLs implosion will be the last steps.
I don't have a strong opinion on the impact of this but at a glance I would guess it's some combination of more expensive, better development for the guys who do move onto the next level, and a less balanced approach for the guys who don't end up moving on.