Wednesday notes

Just a couple quick things this morning....

First, a few more players confirmed to have signed WHL contracts recently....I've updated that list of committed prospects and added it to the team-by-team links list on the right side there. Additions/corrections (ideally with some sort of proof?) are always welcome....

Second, a very good issue raised the other day when the IIHF (who really shouldn't be stating opinions on these matters, but that's another topic) suggested that import players do not benefit from playing in the CHL (link borrowed from Gregg Drinnan).

Now, I could write an essay about how flawed the IIHF's comments are, but fortunately I will not have to, because Brock Otten of the website School Your Pool already did it for me. If you look at the actual numbers, you'll see that there's not that significant of a different between the NHL success rate of Europeans who stay in Europe versus those who come to the CHL. Of course the players who stay in Europe have a slightly better success rate in the NHL - but that's likely because many of the top European prospects do not come to the CHL! They are the players most likely to have NHL success regardless of where they develop. The Backstroms and Ovechkins aren't lining up to play in the CHL; they stay in Europe because they are getting good opportunities there, get drafted from Europe, and that skews the homegrown numbers upward a few ticks. I bet if you looked at the success rate of European players drafted in the 3rd round or later of the NHL draft, and compared where they played, you wouldn't see much difference at all. It's those 2nd-tier prospects who are most likely to come to the CHL because they feel they're not getting the best opportunities to develop at home.

The IIHF seized upon the notion that Europeans in the CHL aren't having very much success in the NHL and drew the conclusion that playing in the CHL hurts them. Maybe they should have checked how the players who stay in Europe do first....oops.

And lastly....I see ESPN is giving up an hour of their prime-time schedule tomorrow night so NBA star Lebron James can announce which team he will sign with as a free agent. He'll have to talk real slow to make that announcement last an hour. Such excitement! May I suggest, though, that the ratings from that show will be nothing compared to the ratings ESPN will get when they give the Kootenay Ice an hour of prime-time to announce their new coach.....