really interesting article from the Sherbrooke area where 13 agents answered questions anonymously about what they think of QMJHL teams.
forgot to mention this is a multi part, here's from
part 2:
Q: What is Commissioner Mario Cecchini’s satisfaction rating on a scale of 1 to 5?
generally they appreciate his dedication but are dissatisfied with his understanding of hockey development. his intentions are good but his hockey knowledge isn't as robust and he hasn't surrounded himself with people who can help fill in those spots. his communication with agents, players, and parents is minimal and everything happens behind closed doors- though when agents push for escalation, issues often are resolved quickly. tough to gauge his work when they can't see a lot, and it is known that many attempted changes have been blocked by certain organizations in and outside of the league. the fighting ban is brought up again and the issue with the officiating means the league's reputation vs OHL/WHL is continuing to lower.
for clarification- Mario Cecchini was hired from the CFL's Montreal Alouettes, so he has business and sports acumen but not hockey itself.
tl;dr: involvement and dedication and operational are 4/5, overall ability to innovate and handle player development is a 2
Q: On a scale of 1 to 5, how would you rate the support provided to players for their academic and athletic development?
spoiler- barely a passing grade. the schedule takes a lot of flack here, and the coaches job security. a 3-year deal is a big deal, no one gets a 5-year deal. coaches are evaluated on their wins and not how they develop the players (reportedly this begins in U18 AAA in Quebec at least). one area they are behind on compared to the other CHL leagues are specialized coaching- in particular skating coaches. one agent had a pretty good score for the organizations putting the structure out, but thinks the players' own discipline is what really differentiates success.
this quote stood out:
In the QMJHL, they don’t develop talent; they consume it.
Q: Are there too many teams in the QMJHL?
very divided answers- some say too many and point to the amount of Ontario free agents teams need to find to fill out a roster. some think there aren't too many but some should relocate to the US.
Q: Should the QMJHL re-establish one or more franchises in the United States?
this is a big focus of Cecchini- USA Hockey is being prickly about it, but he's determined. The political situation and needing Americans to relocate to Canada makes it apppealling. One agent thinks 4 less teams in Quebec, two should relocate to US- Manchester and Portland. two teams would be ideal because of the cost- going to the US for only 1 team is expensive, but two would make sense. and one of them brings up territorial rights, another hot button issue Cecchini is fighting on.
the elephant in the room with regards to the territorial rights- the QMJHL has New England and only New England, and not even all of it. The OHL has dibs on New York, Pennsylvania, and New Jersey. Pennsylvania I get with Erie being an OHL franchise, and New York is a target for OHL expansion. OHL will not be happy about it but the QMJHL desperately needs an extension of their territorial rights.
in terms of reactions to part 1, we have remparts pbp guy calling agents weak for the anonymity and asking the Q to have GMs anonymously sound off on agents, which is a great display of why the agents requested anonymity.
