"The WHL had a waiver draft in which Musil’s rights were retained by Kootenay and later traded to Vancouver."
I guess the WHL believes that one sentence, all 19 words of it, is all WHL fans need to know about how the WHL conducts such business.
To be perfectly clear, I am not suggesting that anything untoward took place. Not at all, nor is anyone else I have seen commenting on the topic. I'm quite certain that the entire affair was a fair and unbiased process agreed to by many, if not all, of the people in charge.
The point is though, when they do this stuff in such secrecy, it at least creates the illusion that something hinky is going on, even when it isn't. Why was the holding of the lottery not announced to the public before it was held? Why were the results not released prior to the trade of Musil's rights? Why was the trade not acknowledged by the league until three and a half days after Jeff Hollick broke the story? If Hollick had not blogged about something he heard, would the league have told anyone yet? Why does this league actively pursue bad P.R.? The whole thing just smells bad for everyone, if only because of the way it has been handled.
48 hours after finally acknowledging something out of the ordinary happened, the league still has not seen fit to try to address any questions any of their valued fans might have. Questions like...
- What are the rules that determine which players are eligible for such a lottery and which ones can simply be listed by any club?
- Have any other players had their rights lotteried off in this fashion? For all we fans know, it happens every week and nobody tells us because the players are not big names.
- What did Vancouver give up to get Musil's rights? Jeff Hollick said a 2010 5th and a 2011 1st. Can the league or one of the clubs confirm this?
- Was Musil willing to play anywhere other than the Giants? Were all parties instructed to make sure a trade to Vancouver happened before the lottery even took place? Because it would be nice to know whether the Giants had to bid against anyone to get his rights from the Ice.
I could go on and on with the questions, but the point is that this could have been a great P.R. day for the league but instead they're making fans finding out anything a task worthy of Mission: Impossible.
Is a release explaining what happened just too much for fans to ask for? So that maybe we'll know what to expect next time and this doesn't need to be repeated?
8 comments:
Maybe its a better question to ask the CHL.
I honestly do not know what the big deal is Alan. Do the teams or the league for that matter generate statements on any of their newly listed players and more importantly do you comment of these in your blog... The way I see it the kid moved back to Canada and the league tried to come up with a fair way to introduce him to the league. A team won the lottery and traded him. Not as sexy as a conspiracy theory but likely what happened.
I agree. Is this the Dub or the "Q"? Does the WHL want to be seen as the type of league that manipulates player movement to beef up certain teams every year? Your last question is the one I'm most concerned about. Did the kid say he'd play in Vancouver or not all? Because if that was the situation the league should have said thanks but no thanks, you'll play where you're drafted or go somewhere else. Certain markets (Vancouver, Everett, Calgary to name a few) already have built in advantages over other markets. I'd like to think as a loyal season ticket holder my team has the same opportunity to be successful as every other team. Great Blog Alan, keep up the good work, and I love the stats stuff.
OK Anonymous, I'll bite.
How does the league "manipulate player movement to beef up certain teams every year"?
Lets hear some specifics.
Teams are free to make trades as they see fit. A first and a fifth is a steep price to pay, did your team offer that?
The question is regarding league's availability with info, not whether a team is being beefed up. I say hogwash.
Just to clarify for the Anonymous 2nd commenter....I do not believe there is any conspiracy theory. I thought I was quite clear about that. And I believe the league did what it thought was the best and fairest way to get Musil into the league. I do not believe there was any hanky-panky going on at all.
I just want to know what happened. That is all. And so far the league has not been forthcoming with any details.
And no, teams do not announce their new listings, of course. But we know the rules there so we know how these kids come to be the property of such and such a team. We do not know the rules surrounding why Musil was lotteried off instead of just being allowed to be listed by anyone and then awarded to the lowest-ranked team to list him. That's how it would be done for most players but it wasn't done in this case.
So it's a different situation there and I just want the league to tell us why he was treated differently and how they determined how to handle the situation. That's all.
to the 1st anonymous poster - If Musil lives in western North America, there are established rules to list him just like anyone else... if he's a Euro there is a draft...
You say a team won a lottery - the WHL says there was a waiver draft - The Ice had 12 teams finish lower than them last season - do you think all 12 would pass on Musil?
Wouldn't a Waiver 'draft' indicate that there is more than one player involved?
I am a big fan of Metamusil. Use it ever night right before bed. Keeps things moving!!
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