GMHL speaks out on Fan590 radio

With all the bad blood circulating this year between the Greater Metro Junior A Hockey League and Hockey Canada, the GMHL finally had a chance for a National audience of their own, being guests on the Prime Time Sports Show, featuring Bob McCown and Stephen Brunt, via the Fan590 radio March 25.
It gave the outlaw league, as Hockey Canada describes GMHL, the chance to give their side of their existence to the hockey world.

The GMHL founder and president Bob Russell and director of communications Marshall Uretsky both thought it would be a good idea to rebut the comments made by the president and chief executive officer of Hockey Canada Bob Nicholson March 17, regarding outlaw hockey leagues instituted in Canada. In his interview, Nicholson made reference to an unnamed Junior A league. In August Hockey Canada established a rule where players who play more than 10 games in an outlaw league, not sanctioned by Hockey Canada, couldn?t come back into that structure for up to 12 months.

?Bottom line is they (those players) are outside of the Hockey Canada structure and if they made that decision they couldn?t come back to (our) structure for that year,? said Nicholson during his interview.
Russell and Uretsky wanted the chance to state the reasons the GMHL, in its third year, was brought in to existance and argue Nicholson?s statements.

?What happens with radio shows where someone controls the pace, sometimes things can?t be said,? said Russell, who personally owns the Bradford Rattlers, Elliot Lake Bobcats and Innisfil Lakers. ?I thought it was exciting though, and I hope the negatives from our league will be straightened out in the future.

?We have nothing against Hockey Canada,? explained Russell, who was the captain of the Ontario Hockey League?s Sudbury Wolves in the mid-1970s. ?I think that?s the best hockey institution in the world, but on the other hand, I do think they make mistakes and there should be healthy competition. I think parents should have choices and that?s what we provide. I have no complaints about Hockey Canada and I?m proud to be an ex-member.?

There are 24 GMHL players to date to advance to a higher level of hockey, whether pro of NCAA Div. I or Div. III levels. Russell, speaking only for Innisfil, said they potentially nine players which could move on to a higher level of play next season. Forward Brian Davidson already committed to the Elmira College Soaring Eagles, a Div. III school.

At the end of the show, McCown seemed baffled at the idea that the GMHL charges excessive amounts of money to play hockey. ?Is it somehow different from eight-year-olds (playing minor hockey)?,? he asked his colleague, Brunt.

Russell and Uretsky explained the league mandate, in which GMHL is primarily a developmental association and the money charged, which could be from $1,500 to $5,000, is to advance players? skill sets, who maybe could not make a Junior A squad in the sanctioned Ontario Junior A Hockey League. Next season, a league rule will mandate a minimum of four practices a week for each of its teams and will try to monitor this.

?Some people may think we?re making piles of money and that?s not true,? said Russell. ?Speaking on behalf my teams, we lost money ? nobody is cash grabbing. We charge players for the hope to break even at the end of the season.?

It costs a lot of money to run hockey franchises, but Russell?s other businesses do well, such as running various hockey school programs at the World Hockey Centre in Shelburne. Russell previously owned the Thornhill Rattlers, of the OJHL, which didn?t achieve his goal of player development with only two to three practices per week based on the lack of funds available.

The GMHL debate then ventured feedback from the public. Ozzie Logozzo, a father of Toronto Canada Moose defenceman Adam Logozzo, spoke to McCown about the issues and concerns facing the GMHL last Thursday (March 26). McCown and Brunt seemed to sympathize with.

 ?I?m hoping people realize that here?s someone who?s critical of a specific team, a specific coach, but still wants (his son) in the GMHL because like I mentioned in my interview, my concern is not with the GMHL at all ? it?s with a specific owner who unfortunately put things on the table differently, than he?s willing to honour at the present time,? stated Ozzie Logozzo, of his experience with his son?s team, in an interview four days after appearing on Prime Times Sports. ?Though, my complaints had nothing to do with my son ? he had plenty of ice time, or the money issues, because I paid upfront, where others paid monthly. It had everything to do with the social personable development that I thought my son was going to receive and didn?t.?

Some issues Ozzie Logozzo was concerned with his son?s time in a Canada Moose uniform was that certain promises and conduct surrounding weren?t being made, such as an academic advisor wasn?t reliably provided, there wasn?t a fulfilled promise of actively improving the community and his son?s rights weren?t properly explained. Also Logozzo felt it was unprofessional that team owner and coach, Uretsky, refereed a game during the late stages of the season. Adam Logozzo played adequately on the blue-line for the Canada Moose, registering 18 points (five goals, 13 assists) in 39 regular season games.

?For everything he said, only one was a half truth and everything else was an outright lie,? said Russell, in an interview with the Sentinel (Scope) Friday afternoon, after Logozzo spoke out to the Fan590. ?It was originally promised that an academic advisor would be available two hours a week (for the Moose), he had been unavailable, so he came for four hours every second Wednesday instead (during the season).?

Russell said the lack of community involvement was a blatant lie, stating the Canada Moose had tried to get involved with area hospitals and have volunteered with the Sunshine Foundation.

Other teams such as the Wild and Lakers have also been involved in the community. The Wild have had players talk to St. Mary Catholic School and Nobleton Public School about bullying, staying in school and the importance of reading and gave away free passes to a game. The Lakers have also been involved with the Lakeside Retirement in Innisfil and have had CFB Borden and their troops attend a playoff game for free. Also a wealthy member of the community donated $1 million to the Innisfil Recreational Complex, where the Lakers play their home games. At the teams first home game 800 people were given the chance to see the team play for free.

Regarding Uretsky refereeing a game during the season, Russell said GMHL rules state anybody with the league staff, if a ref can?t make a game or of any other calamity, could step in to replace. In the situation George Harrison (GMHL referee-in-chief) had his refs at a school tournament and were unable to work the game. Also, for the issue concerning GMHL player rights, they are the same as the OJHL, where players can skate for another team, but they are owned until they are traded or released by the team.

King Wild president and general manager Naz Marchese said there?s a lot of things people don?t know about the grief which GMHL has been put to.

?The Wild program was to help out NobleKing Knights players with hockey exercises, but Hockey Canada and the OMHA (Ontario Minor Hockey Association) put pressure on NobleKing, which meant that was a way we couldn?t provide services to the community,? said Marchese, a former NobleKing president (between 2000-06). ?Also, for a time they stopped (Wild head coach) Paul Hampton from mentoring on ice programs, he did before the August (Hockey Canada) rule was put into place.?

Marchese also said that before the rule, the Wild had nine OHL draft picks ready to gain experience with his team. As an example, over-aged Wild forward Tom Coukos is a former fifth round choice of the Mississauga Ice Dogs.

?(Before the rule) it was getting so popular,? said Marchese. ?The OJHL should like us, because we were developing players for them. The complaints came from minor hockey, where they lose their midgets kids. Once the rule went into effect our whole recruiting process went out the window.?

Defenceman Kyle Manduck (Orangeville Crushers), of Brampton, played for the Moose, while forward Kurt Zdrilich (Couchinching Terriers), of Bradford, was a former member of the Wild organization. The Wild also have had a pair of forwards obtain NCAA Div. I scholarships, which included Marc Zanette with Niagara University and Jordan Gidaro at Western Michigan.

Marchese wanted a GMHL team in the Nobleton area because for him there wasn?t any level of hockey in between provincial Junior C and A. He has tried to get an Ontario Hockey Association team on two occasions (four in total), but was blocked by Junior C squad ? the Schomberg Cougars ? due to the rule where a new possible team in a 50-kilometre radius, can be prevented to join sanctioned hockey if the team already permitted, vetoes it.

?Our league is not perfect, we have a lot of things to correct,? Marchese said. ?But, they (Hockey Canada) aren?t squeaky clean either.?
Jon Yaneff is a sports reporter for the King Township Sentinel/Innisfil Scope