41 skaters invited to Canada's Summer WJC (including Klimchuk and Bennett)

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by RM14

If he was smart he would of kept his mouth shut and come out in the first 2 months of the CHL season and played his guts out. His play should speak for itself.

Pretty clear that his ego won't let him. At this point you would think the kid would look in the mirror and ask if he needs to adjust his attitude in some manner. But he doesn't. He just yaps yaps yaps yaps.

[ExiledFlamesFan]

Ho Sang is a clown and deserves to be in the Islander organization. The self proclaimed best GM in the league combined with the self proclaimed best prospect.

[SHOGUN]

Originally Posted by Meers

Um no. That would be Connor McDavid . . . who propped up Ho Sang throughout midget (even though he was a year younger).

You don't "get a shot" just because you have a big mouth.

If Ho Sang's top 6 in the CHL in points by December, or suddenly develops a 200 foot game, then he has an argument.

But he certainly hasn't made that argument to date.

I watched both players extensively, and Ho-Sang is more impressive in terms of pure skill. Connor McDavid is the much more talented player though.

[Tinordi]

You know it's August when we have three pages talking about the bad attitude of a prospect who isn't even on the Flames or a Flames rival after he wasn't invited to a development camp.

[sureLoss]

Another Ho-Sang article about Hockey Canada leaving him off the invite list:

http://www.montrealgazette.com/sport...089/story.html

Apart from that last bit, Joshua Ho-Sang’s story is P.K. Subban all over again. Brash young star rubs hockey people the wrong way despite his talent.

In another time, Maurice Richard was treated pretty much the same way. You would think hockey people would learn, that the examples of Subban and Evander Kane would teach them something — but in this gossipy little universe, learning anything new is a challenge.

In most cases, I don’t believe it’s a matter of bigotry or outright prejudice. As much as anything, it’s a matter of exposure. Hockey coaches and GMs don’t deal with the annual influx of African-American players you get in the NBA and the NFL, with their general disdain for the old-school rules. (Remember when the NCAA made the dunk illegal because old white men didn’t like the way young black players were flying high?)

Face it: No league that has endured Terrell Owens and Randy Moss is going to have a problem with Subban or Ho-Sang, who are both bright, articulate young men. Any student of obnoxious jerkitude has to be wondering how Johnny Manziel gets away with it, when a player like Subban can’t raise an eyebrow without creating a firestorm.

The answer is simple: Manziel is white and he plays in the NFL, not the hidebound NHL, where change comes at glacial speed. (See fighting, for instance, and the decades-long effort to do away with it.)

Speak up for yourself, as Ho-Sang did, and the sizable Cro-Magnon segment of the hockey media (the ones who haven’t liked anything since Clarence Campbell was king) will try to crush you. Show a little flash and dash, as Subban did during his rookie season, and cretins from Mike Richards to Don Cherry are lining up to slap you down.

[Street Pharmacist]

That had to be the most inflammatory piece of toilet paper I've read. What an asshat. Yes. Josh Ho-Sang is treated different because of race. But by the media defending him.

[StrykerSteve]

That article was awful.

[Ashasx]

Why do people think JHS is more offensively talented than Bennett, Reinhart, Dal Colle, etc?

It's not like he tore up the OHL in scoring. He actually had very humbling offensive numbers considering his lack of defensive game. He may be a great stick handler, but more goes into being a good offensive player than just good hands.

He thinks he's better than he is (and apparently he's making others believe it) plus his head just isn't on right. There are many better offensive players for Canada to choose who can also play in their own end of the ice.

[Poe969]

I think the only reason for there being crap like this out there is because right now there isn't much else to write about. JHS is a good young prospect and there's no denying it, he isn't a great young prospect though and that's what team Canada wants. This is just getting people talking about hockey and the "journalists" who keep making it about race are doing so just to get their names out there.

[JiriHrdina]

What a hack job.
The comparisons to Subban aren't relevant. Team Canada was happy to have PK at the world juniors.

The reason why Subban was taken where he was in the draft is because there were so many questions about his play in his own end and if his offense would translate. There were also, if I recall, questions about his willingness to play physical - not in terms of dishing it out - but if he would take a hit to get the puck out.

And then there's this:
"For a public entity such as Hockey Canada to refuse to invite Ho-Sang to camp is another matter. What’s the harm in taking a look at the kid who led the Windsor Spitfires with 85 points last season in the Hockey Canada camp environment? In making your own decisions, rather than relying on gossip and innuendo?"

Cripes. Does he really think that HC is relying on gossip to make their decisions. They watch these players ALL YEAR. They have 'taken a look'.

[lanny9]

Islanders would be best served by getting this kid in front of a shrink, let him talk it out with a professional who can work with him on his problems. Yes, a lot of this will sort itself out with maturity but by then he could find himself out of hockey all together.

[BACKCHECK!!!]

I am very slow to come to the defence of Hockey Canada's WJC management group.

I don't watch enough Junior hockey to be able to second guess their individual decisions, but I watch enough World Juniors to know that organizationally they have been doing a pretty poor job with the tools they have available.

[robaur]

Originally Posted by BACKCHECK!!!

I am very slow to come to the defence of Hockey Canada's WJC management group.

I don't watch enough Junior hockey to be able to second guess their individual decisions, but I watch enough World Juniors to know that organizationally they have been doing a pretty poor job with the tools they have available.

This.

The selectors and scouts over at Hockey Canada and/or management have little to no credibility left reflecting on performances at the World Juniors over the past 5 years. Despite having the deepest prospect pool to pick from, the results on the ice are embarrassing to say the least.

When it comes to Josh Ho-Sang, the only thing that I can really relate to it is that the culture in Canada is very different from the US. When a prospect speaks our here, he becomes a constant whipping boy from the general public as witnessed by the comments and general consensus based on the replies in this thread. That's just Canada and the way the culture is here. You're supposed to be hush hush and if you feel slighted then you should work harder and then even then if you feel like you were cheated out of something...just turn the other cheek and remain "politically correct". I do a lot of travelling and I don't see this much passiveness anywhere else in the world.

My opinion..which I am rightfully entitled to...is that the player was the leading scorer for his team in his draft year in the OHL....a legitimate league with legitimate competition. AT THE LEAST....he deserves a tryout at a simple summer camp. That's not really much to ask for. The real comparison would be to look at the camp invite list and see how many worse performing players than Josh Ho Sang were invited to the camp.

Also ...anyone saying that race here isn't an issue either lives under a rock or is simply in denial. I'll go as far to say that if the kid was white then he would have been invited. Race is still a prevalent stereotype in hockey culture. I don't expect anyone but visible minorities to understand this. having been born and raised in Canada but being still being a visible minority, you tend to see different things throughout life.

[JiriHrdina]

Originally Posted by robaur

This.

The selectors and scouts over at Hockey Canada and/or management have little to no credibility left reflecting on performances at the World Juniors over the past 5 years. Despite having the deepest prospect pool to pick from, the results on the ice are embarrassing to say the least.

When it comes to Josh Ho-Sang, the only thing that I can really relate to it is that the culture in Canada is very different from the US. When a prospect speaks our here, he becomes a constant whipping boy from the general public as witnessed by the comments and general consensus based on the replies in this thread. That's just Canada and the way the culture is here. You're supposed to be hush hush and if you feel slighted then you should work harder and then even then if you feel like you were cheated out of something...just turn the other cheek and remain "politically correct". I do a lot of travelling and I don't see this much passiveness anywhere else in the world.

My opinion..which I am rightfully entitled to...is that the player was the leading scorer for his team in his draft year in the OHL....a legitimate league with legitimate competition. AT THE LEAST....he deserves a tryout at a simple summer camp. That's not really much to ask for. The real comparison would be to look at the camp invite list and see how many worse performing players than Josh Ho Sang were invited to the camp.
.

Worse performing by what criteria? Points? A poor basis for assessment.

Team Canada is held to an impossible standard but the program still wins most of the critical tournaments. The world juniors is one of the toughest tournaments as it is for the most part best on best - and when you start to isolate to that small a player group from each country - you have a lot of nations that can offer up similar talent levels. It is very competitive.

[Textcritic]

Originally Posted by robaur

...When it comes to Josh Ho-Sang, the only thing that I can really relate to it is that the culture in Canada is very different from the US. When a prospect speaks our here, he becomes a constant whipping boy from the general public as witnessed by the comments and general consensus based on the replies in this thread. That's just Canada and the way the culture is here. You're supposed to be hush hush and if you feel slighted then you should work harder and then even then if you feel like you were cheated out of something...just turn the other cheek and remain "politically correct".

Except that is not what I see people reacting to. It is not just that Ho Sang is "speaking out." It is much more that he seems to have developed a persecution complex. If anything, I would say that this is what people are reacting to—as they should.

Originally Posted by robaur

...I do a lot of travelling and I don't see this much passiveness anywhere else in the world.

As a frequent traveller myself, I can confirm this. However, perhaps where you and I differ is in your insinuation that this is some sort of character flaw. If you ask me, this world could do with a lot more Canadian "passivity." It would likely go a long, long way to making it a better place.

Originally Posted by robaur

My opinion..which I am rightfully entitled to...

Strange that you seem to feel the need to make a public declaration about that "entitlement." I suspect that no one is attempting to keep you from forming and holding opinions, but just because you have one and wear it proudly does not by fiat sanction it as a good one.

Originally Posted by robaur

...is that the player was the leading scorer for his team in his draft year in the OHL....a legitimate league with legitimate competition. AT THE LEAST....he deserves a tryout at a simple summer camp. That's not really much to ask for. The real comparison would be to look at the camp invite list and see how many worse performing players than Josh Ho Sang were invited to the camp.

Considering that the summer camp is only a very small part of the selection process, from my perspective Ho Sang and his supporters are making a mistake and appearing ridiculous by drawing so much attention to his omission. If he wants to play for Team Canada, then let his play make it impossible for TC to keep him off the team. If he is as good as he keeps telling the world, then this should really be a simple feat for him, and in the end not at all worth all the noise that is being made over it.

Originally Posted by robaur

Also ...anyone saying that race here isn't an issue either lives under a rock or is simply in denial. I'll go as far to say that if the kid was white then he would have been invited. Race is still a prevalent stereotype in hockey culture. I don't expect anyone but visible minorities to understand this. having been born and raised in Canada but being still being a visible minority, you tend to see different things throughout life.

Well, I won't go so far as to assert without any sort of evidence that race was not an issue, but I will point out that there is sure not a lot of evidence to make the emphatic assertion that Ho Sang was left off the invitees list because of his skin colour. That's pretty ridiculous considering that Hockey Canada has a history of accommodating all sorts of players from various ethnocultural backgrounds. If this was really about not being white, then why single out Ho Sang and no one else? It's not like HC hasn't had past opportunities to do so.

[d_phaneuf]

Originally Posted by JiriHrdina

Worse performing by what criteria? Points? A poor basis for assessment.

Team Canada is held to an impossible standard but the program still wins most of the critical tournaments. The world juniors is one of the toughest tournaments as it is for the most part best on best - and when you start to isolate to that small a player group from each country - you have a lot of nations that can offer up similar talent levels. It is very competitive.

There also aren't any other countries who have to play the tournament without 4 or 5 of their best players because they are in the NHL

[CliffFletcher]

I don't think there's any doubt hockey - especially hockey in Canada - has the most conservative and conformist culture in major team sports. Attitudes and comments that are commonplace and beneath notice in other sports are shocking breaches of etiquette in Canadian hockey culture.

Part of me likes to think that this humble public attitude reflects traditional Canadian values. Small town deference, sportsmanship, and all that stuff. But another part of me realizes that arrogance and entitlement are no less common in hockey than in other sports, it's only their public expression that's a taboo in this country. Hypocrisy thrives alongside the conformity, and the real crime is saying what you feel.