Showdown in Quebec City

Something I heard about a little while back but haven't gotten around to mentioning until now....

Pre-season will have a little more meaning next weekend in Quebec City, as two teams from the QMJHL (Quebec and Rimouski) will engage in a pre-season tournament with two teams from the USHL (Indiana and Omaha). The USHL (for those who may be fuzzy on such things) is a USA-based Jr. A league which is one of the primary suppliers of talent to the NCAA. As such, it is frequently the opposition for CHL clubs who are pursuing players who have not made up their minds between major junior and college.

Of course this is preseason and the question remains as to what kind of rosters each team will be putting out there - mostly vets, or mostly rookies? But you can be sure there will be many interested observers who wish to see how the USHL stacks up against Canadian major junior. Since most of us probably feel that the CHL is by far the stronger league, a win (or at least a very, very strong showing) by the USHL teams would certainly have the potential to earn the USHL a lot more respect than it currently gets in most Canadian hockey circles.

Which begs the question: what's in this for the QMJHL? If they trounce the USHL teams, so what? It was expected. If they lose, does their credibility take a hit when they're trying to lure prospects to the Q instead of to college?

In the end, no matter what happens, nothing will change for the CHL in a positive direction. Bottom line is that kids cannot play in the CHL and still pursue an NCAA scholarship, whereas the reverse direction is allowed. Regardless of how strong or weak the CHL appears, a player still has to have made up his mind that he's not interested in the NCAA before he'll come to the CHL. So, why is the "Q" doing this? They and the CHL have nothing to gain. So CHL fans will just have to hope that Quebec and Rimouski don't get embarrassed in this thing.