[News] CHL bans import goalies

[valo403]

Originally Posted by Cleveland Steam Whistle

I actually dissagree with your bottom assesment. I see the comparison you are making with the short term and long term goals, but the problem with the solution being proposed is it increases the potential long term performance by essentially attempting to lower the quality standards industry wide, versus actually trying to vault the quality standards internally to best in class.

Essentially what they are doing is trying to increase the quality of Canadian goaltending by given them more experience, but also lower the quality of foreign goaltending by not affording them development opportunities in the CHL. In theory, the Canadian goaltending gets better, but not as good as the Euro goaltending is now, and the Euro goaltending gets worse. Overall, the quality of goaltending goes down though, as the Euro's who were coming in as the best option and getting the experience in the CHL aren't as good as they could have been.

Not the right way to manage the industry. Hockey Canada needs to figure out why our guys aren't entering the CHL as prepared as the Euro's are and address that, find a way to get them to win more spots, versus lowering the standard and giving them spots. The thought being circulated about CHL teams taking on older Euro's does have some weight, so rules need to be put in place to focus on the development of younger goalies then (Canadian or Euro) for the teams, versus a ban of Euro goalies. Or, Hockey Canada needs to focus on their development programs prior to the CHL so that older Canadian goalies are just as ready to make the jump to the CHL at the older age.

Either of those are the better way to solve this problem versus what they are doing.

Plus, it needs to be noted that there is an opportunity cost from not allowing the best goalies into the league. Facing top notch competition is really good for the Canadian skaters in the CHL, and lowering the quality of goaltending they face in the league will start to impact their development as well. Just another reason to solve this issue in a different fashion.

I think that's a great idea

[moon]

Originally Posted by WilderPegasus

Rask is it.

Is Rask anymore impressive than Price or Crawford? I would below Price and slightly above Price.

Who are the Canadian equivalents of Markstrom and Lehner as future top goalies?

Not sure either of those guys look like future top goalies but if that is the standard then I would say Subban, Holtby, Reimer.

That's a little different because very few Russians come over any more and the Czechs and Slovaks don't produce much NHL talent these day.

I may be missing the stud goalies in the KHL but I am sure if they came over they aren't going to do much.

[GrrlGoalie33]

Originally Posted by valo403

I think that's a great idea

That's what many top-level Canadian goalie coaches are trying to push for right now. A goalie coaching program in Canada that provides a consistent framework for goalie coaches, similar to what Hockey Canada has for developing skaters.

[Itse]

Other Finns can correct me if I'm wrong, but from what I've gathered there's a nice tradition of coaching in Finland in general. The size of the country does help in the way that from what I understand that a lot of them pretty much train in one place and there's a lot of collaboration to study and develop the best coaching methods.

Finland is actually a somewhat notable exporter of hockey coaches. For example two Finnish coaches facing each other in the KHL playoffs is not really news.

In goalie coaching specifically I believe a lot of credit goes to Urpo Ylönen, a former national team goalie from the seventies who started his own goalie "academy" in Turku in 1992. (It's actually a program under one team, TPS.) Kipper is the product of that academy for example. From what I understand his methods have spread widely in Finland.

As to Finland not producing top goalies before, I think that's false. Finland generally didn't produce many NHL players until the nineties, but overall goal has still been one of the steadily strong positions.

As to Finland not having goalie prospect, I think it's a question of optics, since there seems to be a trend that European goalies don't necessarily go to North America for their prospect years. The paychecks in Europe since the KHL came along have gotten so big that for a lot of Europeans it's more worthwhile to play and train in Europe than to fight for spots in the North America. This is propably partly the NHL teams doing. Goalies are notoriusly difficult to project. If a lot of teams just don't draft that many goalies, a lot of good goalies will stay out of the system, train in Europe and hopefully be snatched up "for free" once their more developed. Which gives NHL teams less motivation to draft goalies...

It's yet to be seen whether guys like Rämö and Raanta (and Berra and others) follow the path of Fasth (and Thomas), but if there's a couple of successess, I think you can expect even more similar cases where goalies develop in Europe to a later age than we're used to.

[Resolute 14]

Nothing improves local talent like xenophobic, protectionist policies.

It was funny watching Darren Millard white knighting for Branch on Twitter