DIRTIEST DEEDS OF JUNIOR HOCKEY OWNERS When the mouth overpowers the wallet, this is what we end up with.

How many times have we heard about big money guys getting into junior hockey for the love of the game, only to discover that their mouths were much bigger than the wallet?

Or worse, the Corvette turns into a Chevette once the owner's kid moves onto college hockey.  Three semesters later that same owner often buys the kid a low level minor professional team that will also suffer the same fate as the junior team.

The problem has grown to epidemic proportions within the structure of North America’s junior system.  Let’s face it, the real big money guys don’t go around bragging about it.

Here's a sample of what we have seen over the years, and even a few doozies from this season.

The team owner buys a retired Greyhound bus from the 80’s and complains when it breaks down in the middle of a long road trip. That might have been funny in the warmer months of September and October but things start to get dangerous in the colder winter months. Hey players, the distinct aroma of exhaust and diesel fuel are a very dangerous combination. Stop that bus and get off.

The team owner promises high end amenities like hot water in the shower, stick tape, and even a real skate sharpener then delivers cold water, no tape, and a broken self-service skate sharpener. Chill boys.

The team owner’s gorgeous five-bedroom billet home turns out to have two bunk beds in each room, a single bathroom, wood floors, wood stove, and a six-gallon hot water heater. Whatever you do, don’t eat the yellow snow around this house.

The team owner says “yea, yea, we provide sticks, skates, and all the equipment”, turns out to be twigs from the dark ages of hockey along with used worn out skates and equipment from the charity bin. The team owner also has the only hockey shop in town and has been known to finance equipment with ridiculous terms.

The owner tosses jars of peanut butter and jelly, along with four loaves of bread, onto the bus and calls it the post-game meal.

The team owner gets the line chart for the weekend from his two kids on the team before demanding that the coach stick with that plan...or else.

The same team set a new league record for the most coaches in a single season, before Christmas, due to the team owner thinking he is junior hockey's version of Jerry Jones.

The same owner often utilizes vans (with team staff driving) to transport the team to away games instead of motor coaches with professional drivers.

The team's "coach" is also the primary owner's business partner because he does not have the right visa to work in the United States. 

The owner "sells" the team to an unknowing local investor after numerous allegations of player abuses are uncovered, leaving piles of debt in his wake. Same owner shows up months later in a different market with a new team in the same league. 

The bald team owner/head coach of a seventh-place team brings in a pair of thugs to wreck havoc and injure players from their division rivals competing for a championship.   

The pay-to-play owner is also the coach of a "Tier I" team and uses the lure of his job as a means to recruit unknowing prospects to the pay-to-play team. Just how many players have ever been elevated from Tier III to Tier I coach?

The team owner hires an advisor as the new General Manager, not realizing how difficult it's going to be to get any players from any other advisory companies. 

What does all this really mean? 

With a new crop of families stepping into the junior talent pool every year, it's always going to be inevitable that most will not know where all the stink bombs are hiding. Over the last twenty-years or so, the personal mission has been to steer prospects away from brown side of junior hockey.  I'm ALWAYS interested in helping players with great character navigate their way through junior hockey. If that's your son (or you), lets have a conversation.