Lewis Saga Over...to the OHL he stays...

[chiefgongshow]

CHL RULES AGAINST WESTERN HOCKEY LEAGUE AND SPOKANE CHIEFS

The Western Hockey League advised the Spokane Chiefs today that the Canadian Hockey League has ruled that player Trevor Lewis will be permitted to join the Ontario Hockey League Owen Sound Attack for the 2006-07 season.

The player’s eligibility had been under review since it was announced in mid July that Trevor Lewis had signed with Owen Sound. Lewis is a resident of Utah, a WHL U.S. protected territory under CHL Regulations, and signed with Owen Sound without receiving the approval of the WHL.

The CHL will be sanctioning the OHL for not obtaining approval from the WHL to have the player transferred to OHL territory for the upcoming 2006-07 season. The matter will continue to be reviewed as the CHL works toward the adoption of a national regulation to govern the movement of players from territory to territory.

Chiefs General Manager Tim Speltz said, “I am very disappointed with Dave Branch’s decision. I feel as President of the CHL he was not objective with this decision and the rules regarding CHL Territories. The OHL was not forthright with the process regarding request for player transfers.”

[rinkrat]

I guess its open season? :skeptical

[Dwight Schrute]

what a load of horsecrap
he was probably scared of the physical play in the dub like eric gryba is
sorry im just bitter that the dub gets screwed

[Beaner]

So the OHL wins, but gets sanctioned for breaking the rules.

So what did we learn. Break the rules, get a sanction (whatever that is, probably a fine) but you get to keep the player. Which is what you really wanted all along.

Nice job, but I am hardly surprised at the out-come.

[Dwight Schrute]

so this means they can do it again ?
also what was meant by getting parents high paying jobs ?

[Toswammi]

wow what a load of horse crap.

Can them stealing a dub player cause he vacationed in Ontario be very far behind?

[grainbear]

Would you expect anything else from an individual who,s bread and butter is in the OHL. This is the most unethical move I have seen in hockey in a long time . This should be persued further. Perhaps it is time to send them a message in the East . How, maybe because we view him as Spokane property we should declare him not being allowed to play in any situation where 'WHL players participate . Memorial Cup , Canada Cup are a few examples but then again we are used to being screwed by the East in every policitcal decision . Sound like a Red Neck and on this issue I am ! May be we should start going to Ontario and finding high paying jobs for the parents in the West so that we can recruit their Sidney Crosby as 16 year olds.

[LifelongChiefsFan]

The matter will continue to be reviewed as the CHL works toward the adoption of a national regulation to govern the movement of players from territory to territory.

Lame, but not unexpected. I would have loved to see what Lewis could do in a Chiefs uniform, but I'm really not upset that he's not going to be a Chief. The part that gets me is the quote above. It seems to me that the matter is over and closed, which makes the above statement BS. Thus I fear that this won't be the last time that a league "steals" a player from another league's protected area. As was stated earlier, OS got the player they wanted and got a slap on the wrist. Who cares about paying a small fine if they get a gifted hockey player. And if that's all that will happen, what's to stop another team from doing the same? I believe this shows very very poor judgement not only of Branch but the entire CHL for opening up this can of worms and basically saying that the WHL should be treated as a lesser league than the OHL, by wiping out their territorial restrictions. As was stated earlier, I would love to see the WHL hold out of CHL events. Unfortunately, the WHL and its teams couldn't afford to lose the money they would get from participating. I guess all they can do is move on and hope that other teams and their ownerships will be honest when dealing with matters like these in the future. It is obvious that the people who run the OHL/CHL really can't be relied on to enforce the league rules already in place that were supposed to prevent something like this from even being an issue. But is that really so suprising? These are, after all, the same people who believe the WHL has adequate officials for league games.

[Jimmypop316]

Wow sanctions, I wonder what that exactly means? Oh thats right, nothing. Sanctions aren't going to do **** (excuse me, this is ridiculus atm) to the OHL for breaking the rules.

I figured this was going to happen, I just hope the Chiefs got some sort of money out of this or anything, because Lewis should have been in the dub this year.

[Some_Arrogant_Jerk]

I wouldnt think of it as a loss. Lewis was a bonus, but he didnt come. The chiefs will still be a decent team anyways with players like grabner, ryan and armstrong this year. A possible 2nd place finish in the divison is still realistic.