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  WHICH ROUTE TO TAKE?

  In my position as a representative for many talented players from around the world, I have seen firsthand the whole range of leagues and programs players come through. I’ve seen players who went undrafted shine when they got their shot in the NHL, and all too often I have seen blue-chip prospects wash out before they made it to the big league. But there are two main routes to the NHL: Major Junior in Canada and the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) in the United States. Just about every player in the league has come through one of those systems. And it’s not about nationality. More and more, we see American and European players coming to Canada to learn the Canadian game and get Major Junior exposure. And we see all kinds of highly ranked Canadians playing for American universities. The current captain of the Los Angeles Kings is an American who played junior in Canada. The captain of the Chicago Blackhawks is a Canadian who played NCAA hockey in the United States. I am often asked which system is better. And, of course, there is no simple answer.

  For one thing, the two are very similar in an important way: they are both big business. There are careers at stake, and money to be made and lost. If a player can help a coach or a program get ahead, he will have people on his side. If he can’t, he likely won’t. And that is as true of Major Junior as it is of college hockey. Minor hockey exists for the kids. But at the next level, it’s for the fans.

  Several years ago, Rick Curran, my partner at Orr Hockey, was attending the annual meeting of NCAA hockey coaches in Naples, Florida. One of the head coaches from a high-powered NCAA team accused Rick of approaching players who he thought were still too young to be considered by a player agency. Rick had been having conversations with the parents of a fifteen-year-old player, and the coach wanted him to know he thought that was far too young for us to represent.

  Rick pointed out that we do not “represent” players at that age. We provide advice when asked, as is permitted by the NCAA. It is all within the very carefully defined rules. Rick then asked a question of his own: “If it is so wrong for agencies to talk to fifteen-year-old players, how can schools commit a scholarship to someone that age?” The reality is, talent always draws a crowd, and if you are not proactive then you will not get the best talent available. I guess you could compare it to my days as a twelve-year-old, because one organization, the Bruins, did a great job of laying a foundation of trust while other teams showed little or no interest. That is the way the business works, so you have to be prepared for that.

  If I were deciding where to play my amateur hockey as a means of preparing for a potential career in the sport—which not all players are—there are several things I would take into account. Initially, a player needs to consider how he feels about pursuing academic studies. It’s a waste of time for all concerned if a young player decides to go the university route while the whole time he knows in his gut that school is not his cup of tea.

  It’s a matter of motivation, not intelligence. I was never particularly fond of school and couldn’t imagine having to sit through four years of university to get a degree. So the first question you need to ask yourself, and you need to answer this honestly, is whether school is a viable option. I definitely think players should go to school—you need to get some kind of education as a backup should things in hockey not go your way—but that’s an argument for education as something you need in itself, not just as a means of getting onto a hockey team.

  Next, players need to consider their developmental timeline. By that I mean, if you develop very early in terms of talent and potential, say at fourteen or fifteen, then you may not want to wait until you are eighteen to go off to school. You probably want to be challenged right away. As an example, if you were the parents of Connor McDavid, who first played Major Junior hockey at the age of fifteen, what would you do? “Too good too young” sometimes has to be a consideration. Others might be late bloomers who could use a little more time developing at lower levels before moving up. Major Junior players are twenty and under, though the elite players have jumped to the pros long before they hit twenty. But college hockey starts and ends later. So a guy who might not have been ready to play junior may be able to take advantage of those extra years to get stronger and polish his game.

  Another area worth investigating is the lineup you are joining. While this may not be the biggest part of your decision, it should be a consideration. For example, if I am a defenseman and the program I’m looking at has seven returning veterans in that position, I have to consider my chances of getting ice time. You can be joining a NCAA championship team, or the winners of the Memorial Cup, and that is wonderful. But if in the process you never get the chance to dress for a game, then your development will be stunted and you probably won’t be a very happy camper. It is something you need to consider. Many players who have had solid pro careers have come from small programs at the university or junior levels. You don’t always have to come from a top program to succeed.

  It isn’t a simple decision. What is a great situation for one person could be a disaster for another. And remember, when you’re being recruited, you’re going to be told a lot of things you want to hear. But things almost never come as advertised. And be ready, because nothing will be handed to you. The decision as to which hockey route to take is a difficult one, and it requires serious consideration. Use all the resources at your disposal to gain the necessary information to assist you in making an informed decision, including asking questions of previous players associated with a given team. Know that when the decision is made, it will have a dramatic impact on the rest of your life.

  THE ROLE OF ADVISORS (REPRESENTATIVES/AGENTS)

  I made a very conscious decision in 1991 to make a career move into the player-representative business, focusing specifically on hockey players. It’s no secret that I didn’t have the best of all possible experiences with an agent during my playing days. Many players and their parents I am in contact with today are aware of that fact. No doubt, they all realize that my experiences have shown me a side of the game that few people have had to endure.

  Representing clients who aspire to be professional players has been a very interesting journey, and I have met some inspiring young men and their families. Unfortunately, I’ve also met others who seemed to have an attitude of entitlement. They are the type of people who feel they are owed something yet don’t act with the kind of responsibility you would expect. The old saying, “To those whom much is given, much is expected” is something all athletes should remember. I’m always amazed how some people feel this entitlement when, in reality, they simply have not earned it.

  As a company, we get close to our clients and their families. I want what is best for them. When things don’t go well for them, I am frustrated. If a GM or a reporter is giving them a hard time, my instinct is to come to their defense. And sometimes I do, but more often, and especially with young players, my job is just to try to keep them on the right path. A player can have it all, but if he doesn’t have discipline, it is all too easy to let everything slip away. And once he does have representation, he has someone who can help him make the most of his talent. That doesn’t just mean making sure he has the best possible contract. More than anything, it means helping him to do the right thing. And it means helping him understand what it takes to be a pro.

  A few years ago, I handed out a letter to our clients at a hockey camp in which I tried to get across the idea that the journey they were on, though filled with many potential rewards, was a very difficult path indeed. It’s a journey that requires a special type of person, someone who is able to navigate the highs and lows, all the while keeping an even disposition in order to move forward and get better at their trade. That letter follows below. I would like to thank Dale Dunbar, who has done work for the Orr Hockey Group over the years, as the originator of the earliest draft of this document. I believe it still has relevance and may allow players and parents to see more clearly the life
they are choosing.

  So You Want to Be a Professional Hockey Player . . .

  As the old saying goes, “If it was easy, everyone would do it!” So it is for professional athletics as a career choice. What follows are some questions and thoughts that everyone preparing to pursue a life in sport should consider before committing the time and effort necessary for success. It would be irresponsible on your part to be caught off guard with what is about to happen in your life simply because you did not do your homework! Please read on and contact us directly if you have any questions pertaining to the following information:

  Are you willing to move away from home at a relatively young age, perhaps fifteen?

  – this means potentially having to look after yourself for some meals, which have previously been prepared by one of your parents.

  – this means you may have to do some laundry, something that was probably also done for you by a parent.

  – this means living in a billet home that may have young children and where you may not have all of the conveniences of your own home, all the while with total strangers!

  – this may mean being homesick.

  Are you prepared to work hard at each and every practice and game and always give your best effort regardless of how much ice time you get?

  Are you willing to pick up pucks after practice, load the bus for road games, sit next to another first-year player on the bus, and generally do all of the things expected of a rookie, as this is considered part of the game?

  Are you prepared to get limited ice time and possibly be a healthy scratch on occasion because you are the youngest player on the team?

  Are you prepared to play for a coach who is extremely angry because your team just lost or played poorly? You may be benched or not dressed for the next game without any communication from the coach. This could make it appear that you are the cause of the loss or poor play.

  Are you willing to accept that this is the first rung of the ladder of pro hockey and that everything is about winning?

  Are you able to remain positive and work hard if every time you make a mistake it results in you being benched?

  Are you prepared to move to another team with new teammates, a new coach, and a new billet if you are traded?

  Will you be able to disregard any negative remarks made toward you during a game or in the media?

  Are you prepared to live your life in a fishbowl where everyone knows everything about what you do or say?

  Are you prepared to go to school every day and do your very best to succeed?

  Will you have the courage to tell teammates or friends that you are tired, or you have schoolwork to do, or you need your rest when they ask you to go, for example, to the movies?

  Will you have the courage to say no to any form of alcohol or drug that is offered to you?

  When everyone around you is having a beer, will you be able to say “no thanks”?

  When you are invited to a party and you know that it isn’t where you should be, will you have the courage to say “no thanks”?

  If a teammate or friend is doing something that is wrong, will you have the courage to tell them it is wrong and distance yourself from them?

  Will you have the courage to walk away from any situation that could be detrimental to your health, welfare, or reputation?

  We all know that it is human nature for most people not to want others to succeed. There will be some who are jealous of you and want you to fail. Will you be able to stay away from this group of people?

  These are some of the issues you may encounter as you pursue your dream, and we want you to be ready for whatever may come up. If you are one of the lucky few that make it, I can assure you that the life of a professional hockey player is wonderful. Don’t cheat yourself! Do things right. Make good decisions to give yourself the best chance to realize your dream.

  • • •

  Some of the preceding information may in part appear to paint a negative picture of a life in sport. In reality, professional athletics has many distinct advantages for its participants, but it is never an easy process to make it to the top. As such, if a player is going to commit his energies to this pursuit, I feel that it becomes vital that he considers these ideas very carefully! Why? Because down the road we do not want him to be among that group of foolish athletes who make headlines for all the wrong reasons.

  If you want to be successful, you must be prepared to sacrifice some things, and professional athletics is no exception. I often read media accounts of professional athletes who have embarrassed themselves and their sport and I can’t help but wonder why. Why do these people view themselves as bulletproof? Why didn’t someone sit them down early in their career and give them the necessary “what for” with respect to the path they are following? It’s one of the reasons that we have tried to keep the lines of communication open with our clients right from the beginning within my own company.

  They need honest and reliable information if they are going to adjust during their transition into professional sport. Our clients inevitably gravitate to different men within our organization because they feel comfortable with them. But in the end we all share the same message. That is, we try to be honest and forthcoming in order to help them develop as athletes and people. Of course, it’s a two-way street. Parents and players need to communicate, as well. We can’t guess that something might be wrong. I’ve actually had parents say they don’t want to bother me with little problems. But they should. They need to.

  Once you become a pro, other issues will arise, many related to performance. Because the hard reality is, if you contribute to a winning program you retain great value. If you are associated with losing, your value decreases. You can’t control what the people around you do—except by example. The thing you can control, though, is your own consistency. During my time in the NHL, I had all kinds of teammates with all kinds of skill levels. The most frustrating thing as a player, and I know that this drives coaches mad, is to have an athlete who performs at a world-class level on one day then a recreational level on another. It all relates to consistency and this is a key to long-term success. It isn’t that everyone has to or even can perform at the level of a Gordie Howe. That isn’t the point of consistency. The point is, whatever your performance level and whatever positive skills you bring to the team, you must demonstrate those skills game after game.

  There is nothing worse than having a teammate whom you cannot trust with respect to their level of play. Eventually, that player will be left behind. On our old Bruins teams, Pie McKenzie was the same player every night out, we always knew what Dallas Smith would do on defense, and Eddie Johnston or Gerry Cheevers gave us NHL-caliber goaltending regardless of who was between the pipes. In order for us to become champions we all had to contribute consistently. A great example is my late teammate Ace Bailey.

  Ace couldn’t play at the level of a Gordie Howe—of course, not many could. And teammates never expected him to. But we did expect him to bring whatever his particular level was night after night, and that he most certainly did. Ace ended up scoring some big goals for us, especially during the run for the Cup in 1972. Great coaches don’t try to get anything out of their players other than that which they are capable of. They are supposed to know at the pro level what you can and cannot provide for the team. The key is to bring what you have every day.

  It is a lesson that all young athletes should be aware of, because inevitably they are going to be judged in no small measure on how consistently they perform over time. During my brief stint in the coaching ranks with the Chicago Black Hawks after my playing career was over, I remember having a discussion with a young player who was not living up to expectations. After I had shared my ideas about consistency with him, he looked at me and said, “Ya, that’s easy for you to say but I can’t play like you.” Fair enough, but the whole point was that
I didn’t expect him to play at any level that he was not capable of, only that he should play at his level, whatever that level might be, night after night.

  RULES

  There have been some rule changes in recent years that I’m not sure have made the game better or safer for our players. In my view, player safety should be the top priority. Of course, hockey is a physical game played by big men. There is no out-of-bounds to escape to, and it is played at high speed. When you add those factors up, it’s easy to understand there will inevitably be injuries. Whether you are talking about hockey, football, rugby, or any other contact sport, casualties occur, and there is nothing that can ever stop that. When you examine what has happened to the game over a long period, however, you have to question some of the changes that, in my opinion, might have damaged, rather than advanced, the cause of preventing injuries. I’d like to share my views on several of these changes.

  For example, many of the new rules that prevent impeding opponents make me wonder if I’d want to be a defenseman in the current NHL. I think if I were playing in today’s game, whenever the puck was dumped into my corner I’d just let the opposition go get it. Call me chicken if you want to, but going back there with absolutely no time or help seems a little bit crazy to me. I’d rather be a chicken and not have to worry about another concussion, thank you very much. Even a split-second of interference on an opposing forechecker can allow a defender to get to a puck, make a play, and then brace for contact. I’d feel the same way even if I wasn’t the guy going back in the corner. You have to allow me to protect the health of my defense partner. In the current game, however, there is no allowance for impeding an attacker who is speeding to the corner, and as a result we see defensemen being forced to choose between making the play and getting rammed into the glass. Taking the hit is part of any contact sport, and those acts of sacrifice are exactly what are needed to win. But it is shortsighted to change our game in such a way that the players’ instinct to make the play, no matter the cost, puts them in danger night after night.