Accusations against Gary Bettman and the NHL: The verdict is in!
It's a debate that has raised a lot of questions for several years in the hockey world, and it's a concept that many fans have trouble understanding.
Why can't a CHL player play professionally in the American Hockey League (as long as he is a junior), while another youngster, of the same age but playing in Europe, can?
For example, next season, Juraj Slafkovsky could play for the Laval Rocket in the American Hockey League, but not a player like Shane Wright.
In the case of the Seattle Kraken, they only have two options for Shane Wright: the OHL or the NHL.
This makes the decision and the development of the youngster very complex.
In the case of Slafkovsky and Simon Nemec, who played in Europe and not in the CHL, there are a multitude of options for them: the NHL, the AHL, junior, or Europe.
On that note, there is a man named Kobe Mohr, a former Western Junior Hockey League (WHL) player, who has filed conspiracy charges, against Gary Bettman, the NHL and the CHL.
He filed the charges in 2020, via an $825 million class action lawsuit, blaming the NHL and the North American circuits for preventing players between the ages of 18 and 20 from playing professionally in the AHL.
THE VERDICT IS IN
As reported by TVA Sports.ca, the verdict just came down:
The agreement between the two leagues is therefore maintained and there will be no changes at this level.
The lawsuit failed to prove that the NHL and CHL conspired, as defined in section 48 of the Canadian Competition Act.
It should be noted that in the past year, due to the pandemic, there were exceptions and some junior CHL players were able to play in the American Hockey League, but this will not happen again.
However, we have seen that it is great for their development. A kid like Cole Perfetti (Winnipeg Jets) has really benefited from it.
For the important details:
| POLL | ||
Who will have the better career? | ||
| Juraj Slafkovsky | 339 | 61.2 % |
| Shane Wright | 101 | 18.2 % |
| Logan Cooley | 73 | 13.2 % |
| Simon Nemec | 41 | 7.4 % |
| List of polls | ||
