Rookie scoring

One of the things that irks me about the WHL is their broad definition of a rookie when it comes to rookie awards. They go rather literally - if it's your first year in the league, you're a rookie. To me, I think it's ridiculous that 16 year olds have to compete for these awards with 18, 19, even 20 year olds who benefit from being so much older and more experienced.

I mean, think about it: even an 18 year old rookie has some combination of 3 years of either midget or junior A/B experience prior to coming to the WHL. In the case of Europeans, they usually come with high-level junior experience from their homelands and may even have played a few games in a mens pro league. Compare that to the lowly 16 year old, who has at most one year of midget and probably a couple fewer years of shaving under his belt. It's not a level playing field, but the WHL makes them compete. Look at the WHL site's "rookie" scoring leaders: Benn, Galiardi, Calvert, O'Brien, Lazo, and Pierro-Zabotel are four of the top five, and all in the top 12. All of those guys are 18 or older this year. That makes the accomplishments of Brayden Schenn - in 3rd with 58 points - all the more remarkable.

If it were up to me, I would restrict the WHL's "rookie" classification to only 16 and 17 year old players. The vast majority of players in the league come into the league at one of those two ages anyway.

So, to give credit to the younger guys who are overlooked in the rookie race, here's the the top
point-getters for 16 and 17 year old rookies:

16's:
Brayden Schenn (BRN): 58
Scott Glennie (BRN): 44
Tyson Barrie (KEL): 37
Evander Kane (VAN): 34
Stefan Elliott (SAS): 33
Adam Hughesman (TRI): 32
Jimmy Bubnick (KAM): 25
Landon Ferraro (RDR): 23
Brandon Herrod (PA): 18
Cam Braes (LTH): 17
Linden Vey (MH): 16
Justin Maylan (PG): 16
Curtis Hamilton (SAS): 16
Jared Cowen (SPO): 15
Cody Carlson (MH): 14
James Henry (VAN): 14
Ryan Howse (CHI): 13
Cody Eakin (SC): 13
Garrett Mitchell (REG): 11
Brayden McNabb (KTN): 10

17's:
Brandon Kozun (CGY): 44
Kyle St. Denis (KEL): 35
Tomas Vincour (EDM): 35
Luca Sbisa (LTH): 29
Tyler Johnson (SPO): 29
Steele Boomer (KTN): 26
Wacey Hamilton (MH): 26
Brent Raedeke (EDM): 25
Ian Schultz (CGY): 25
Jyri Niemi (SAS): 25