After having recently watched the Canadian Major Jr. (Memorial Cup) championships on NHL Network; plus the USHL and NAHL championships on FastHockey, etc. and the IIHF World Jr. Championships I got to thinking again about the competitiveness between these leagues. I remember back in the late 70's, early 80's when "Hockey Night in Boston" was real big promoting Massachusetts High School hockey and the fabled Darby Yeager and Lance Lofaro would put together special tournaments. One was the Mass-Minn challenge which was very successful in terms of publicity. Another was a Series between the QMJHL All-Stars and a select group of high school seniors and college Division 1 freshmen. It was a series of games filled with fights, sticks and brutal hockey where the QMJHL destroyed the US contingent (I could be wrong but that's how I remember it). Steve Kasper (later of the Boston Bruins) I believe was on the QMJHL team.
So what I'm getting at is - what do you think the outcomes would be between games involving OHL, QMJHL and WHL teams with their US counterparts such as the USHL, NAHL or USPHL? We've all seen from an international standpoint (i.e. world championships) that most any country can put together 20 high quality skaters...but what about the totality of players in each league? Remember back when hockey East started and there was the interlocking schedule between HE and the WCHA? That was great hockey.
Just wondering as the summer begins...
So what I'm getting at is - what do you think the outcomes would be between games involving OHL, QMJHL and WHL teams with their US counterparts such as the USHL, NAHL or USPHL? We've all seen from an international standpoint (i.e. world championships) that most any country can put together 20 high quality skaters...but what about the totality of players in each league? Remember back when hockey East started and there was the interlocking schedule between HE and the WCHA? That was great hockey.
Just wondering as the summer begins...
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