Healthy Scratch Podcast
The Healthy Scratch Podcast takes on topics relevent to players and teams surrounding the sport of hockey
Healthy Scratch Podcast
Healthy Scratch Podcast - March 24, 2026
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This week's Healthy Scratch Podcast sees Kevin discuss minor hockey programs from across Ontario in relation to the OHL draft.
It's time now for the Healthy Scratch Podcast with your host, Kevin Kane. The Healthy Scratch Podcast is sponsored by Kane Hockey Management, Hockey News North, and Hockey News Windsor.
SPEAKER_02Hi again, everybody, and welcome back to another episode of the Healthy Scratch Podcast. I'm Brad Cochemelio, and uh with me as always is Kevin Kane of uh of Kane Hockey Management. And uh you know getting close to the uh we're in playoff mode uh in pretty much all junior and and you know minor hockey leagues, uh you know, getting it closer to the OHL draft coming up, and that's kind of where we're uh we're geared towards today. And um Kevin, maybe jumping right into things, uh, you know, I I know you wanted to uh wanted to talk about that in terms of uh in terms of the different associations uh associations rather around Ontario. So um I know you said you had seen something kind of interest of interest online. And um, you know, let's maybe go from there and and kind of jump into things. Uh you know, a lot of associations in Ontario that produce uh you know players for the OHL draft. Uh, you know, maybe what what are things like from uh from your perspective and kind of you know where do you see things right now in terms of uh you know in terms of those associations?
SPEAKER_01So yeah, so there's an interesting story. Uh well, I don't know how interesting it is. I think it's pretty self-explanatory, but somebody was willing to uh really put the time in to dig uh really deep into um the OHL draft and where players come from, but not in a situation where obviously, you know, in Toronto we obviously have more players, so there's obviously more kids drafted. This gets boiled down to um based on the size of the pool of players, the percentage of players that are getting drafted, so it's really a fair assessment um without any fluff, without it's it's just strictly numbers, um, and it gives you a really good idea based on where you're playing and what your odds are, yeah. Um, you know, with everything equal. Now what I wanted to say first, because you know, is you need to be a good enough player to get drafted first and foremost.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01So regardless where you are, if you're not at the level um to be an OHL draft pick, regardless where you are, that's not going to happen for you. So, first and foremost, you have to have um the ability and teams have to be able to look at you as a 15-year-old and and look down the road to see what you're going to be as an 18-year-old. That's ultimately what they're trying to project. Um, there are certainly late bloomers that don't fall into this category. Um, you know, Kale Mangoni's uh, you know, players like that that um with that extra year really, really benefited. So this is strictly the U 16 draft. And um so I'll just get into it. It's uh um uh publication Grit Hockey Canada. That's who did the uh the homework here.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um and so this is only Ontario. So you've got to remember with the new rules and the new way of doing things, the percentages are gonna be lower because now you've you know you have to incorporate the U.S. in this. So I can almost see the numbers getting cut in half, and for some, maybe getting eliminated, you know, um, you know, maybe a group that maybe uh is on the lower end, maybe not having any based on the Americans. But I'll go through this, um, and it's very interesting. So they say the GTHL, um, and I'll just read it this part for beta, with an average of 75 to 85 players drafted annually from a pool of 215, GTHL players have a 36% chance of being drafted, which is one in 2.8 players. They also dominate the first round routinely claiming about half of the top 22 picks. So they're saying the GTHL first. So next would be the Alliance in southwestern Ontario. Uh they call this the NHL Factory, producing names like Suzuki, Keneckme, and Corvat. The Alliance averages a 19% draft chance of one in 5.4 players. Despite tougher overall odds, their top teams are dominant, producing a massive five first-round picks in 2025. Following behind there is the NOHA. Um with geography and travel playing a factor, the NOHA players face the steepest statistical odds at 14%, which is one in 6.9 players, making a talent that does break through uh resilience. So then they they go into something called a res uh reality check, and it says these are just league averages across all leagues. There's a massive top team skew. If you play on a championship contending team, your draft odds can skyrocket to 70 or 80% as scouts drop to winners. If you're in the bottom half of the standing, those odds can drop uh CSS equals scouting as four years. So what that tells me in that last part is uh and we can look at Team N OH A as an example, um if they're in the running at at the OHL Cup and and and you know playing well and and things are going well, there's more eyes watching. If it's anything like last year, um by the middle of the week there's nobody there. So um it it need like it needs to be competitive because keeping in mind already they're well behind the the uh the grade, and uh the only way that you're going to bump that up is to be very competitive at the OHL Cup, which hasn't been the case lately. So um we'll see how it is this year. Um I know it has the same staff as last year, which is not a great omen, but uh maybe there's some lessons learned last year and uh things will be different. So uh so it's it's you know, for parents out there that have uh players that are either going into U-16 or younger that are contemplating um whatever their move is going to be. There are a couple things to factor in here. Um I'm not a GTHL guy or fan because there's so many other variables uh that go along with this. Um you know, where you're going to school, where in town you're living, um you know, there's some areas that you don't want like there's just a lot of things that you can't control that um may make experience uh certainly not as enjoyable as it could be. Um the the place that I really um am a fan of for a couple reasons. I know maybe a lot of the people there and I know what they're all about is the OMH. Um the Windsor area, that sort of uh part um because it's a lot like the Sioux. Um there's a you know good chance you're going to one of a couple schools, so you know you're gonna be going to a school with teammates. Um it's not an overly big city. Um so you're not getting swallowed up. Um it's a you know, if you're in the Sioux as an example, it's a nice five-hour ride on four-lane highway. Um, they have great coaching out there. Um they're well supported by the Spitfires. Um and there may soon be another OHL team in the area, potentially in Chatham. They're talking about building a new arena there. And I watched a presentation from the league and basically it was if you build the arena, you'll get a team. Um potentially down the road, um, you know, there's a there's as well, there could be a second uh OHL team, and you're so close to everything London, um, all those areas uh with great highway. So for parents I think it's it's uh much easier. Um I think it's also much more affordable than the GTHL. Um and I think it's far less political than GTHL. But again, those are my experiences. Um you know, everybody's are different. I you know, the other part to this is for those that decide to stay in the Sioux and play U-16 or Sudbury or North Bay or whatever the case may be, those centers have an opportunity to have a you know um great team. They have to find a way to keep kids home so they're all together. Um the Sioux hasn't been able to do that. Once they get to U-15, all of a sudden, you know, a pile of kids leave, which which you know diminishes the group for the following year, um, and then kind of leaves those that are left um on a less than competitive team. So um associations need to find a way to uh um you know keep kids together, um you know, uh good coaches with a that can run a good program, um well-situated tournaments, um, you know, all those things are important. At the end of the day, though, you know, when it gets to that time in your hockey career, um, you know, getting eyes on you is the biggest, you know, yeah, is the biggest thing and and the most helpful when it comes to OHL draft time. So I will leave it at that. I don't want to upset or anger anybody. That's fair. Um you know, I I'm not going to get involved in in what I would do because every player is different.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01Some are mature enough to be able to do it, some are not. Um, some skill-wise are not yet there to be able to do it. Um, so of course, um, you know, promoting somebody to go somewhere else that they that they can't get to um uh is foolish. So I'll leave the information to those that that can uh decipher on their own for families and uh just kind of go from there and we can leave that part at that.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, which makes uh makes sense for sure. Um and kind of shifting gears, but you know, we're on the you know the same topic uh in uh in in some senses um like travel hockey in the north. And I mean I know this is something that we've you know we've touched on, and those some of those numbers are you know that you talked about obviously they're pretty telling in terms of uh you know where eyes are looking and you know how and like you said earlier, how they're looking at uh you know different players, whether they're winning you know on winning teams and whatnot. But uh yeah, I mean travel hockey in the north has been uh you know obviously a hot topic of late and you know with the freedom of movement rules. So let's maybe jump into that. Uh you know, maybe kind of where's the first spot you wanted to go on that in terms of uh you know discussing the latest on travel hockey, uh, you know, especially in Northern Ontario.
SPEAKER_01So my my issue with all of this really kind of goes back or goes into um House League A and A hockey. Yeah. And that is we've been over the last, I don't know, 10 years, every year creating new levels and new teams um at the travel level. Yeah. So as an example, let's let's just say you have uh a 10-year-old team.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So you create this travel team. Well, it's great, except you have nobody to play. So now you have to go play Sudbury, North Bay, Timmins, whoever, at this different level.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Um, and we'll call it double A hockey for argument's sake. So now you've you've run a family at at 10 years old in double-A hockey, probably 15 grand.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01So now to play 10, you know, it may be five or six or seven or eight to play on the team, and then when you factor all the travel and hotel and all that stuff to play other teams in the north, your the money starts to get staggering, especially at 10 or 11 years old. So my point with this is there doesn't need to be all of these double A and whatever um le or teams or whatever at that young level, right, because you're going to price out people when it really counts as they get older, and the player is capable of being a double A or AAA player. Yeah. So, you know, families are are, you know, say you've got two, three, four years before you get to your U15 or U 16 year, and you've spent sixty thousand dollars on Johnny to play A hockey up to that point, it's just an obscene amount of money for you know, arguably just above house league hockey. Yeah. And back in the day, you know, people say, well, you know, um things have improved and got better over the years. Like I I I beg to differ. Yeah. Um, you know, why can't we go back to, as an example, the double-A Bannham? There was a time, you know, in the Sioux that we had four or five teams in a really good league.
unknownYeah.
SPEAKER_01Played all local teams, traveled two, three times a year, was very affordable. You had long-term coaches because it's not a every weekend travel situation. And you know, and then there were still kids that moved from AA to AAA every year. Right now, you're talking about a $15,000 bill for your kid to play 10U, which he may still be at 15U by the time, and you've spent sixty thousand dollars. So to me, they need to reconsider some of this because um you're going to price people like out of hockey, and it's tough enough for families to make a a go of it um in this day's you know, economic situation. And now you're you know asking people to travel 10 or 12 times uh through the winter for league games and stuff, um, and for a level that you could easily split those kids up um you know through all of the different you know age levels and have leagues in town where you just play each other, and then you can go on your you know two or three tournaments a year. But at this point, they just keep bringing you know coming up with with new groups, new levels, new travel teams, and all it's doing is A putting kids that probably should be in-house, that are at the bottom of the roster at on some of these teams, now playing travel, so mom and dad are happy because the kids are playing travel.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01But on the flip side to that, they're still not that level of player, and now you're paying fifteen thousand dollars um to have the benefit of wearing a greyhound jacket. Um it just it's unsustainable long term. So, you know, I remember in the old days, not old days, not that long ago, when you had the four or five team AA Venom League and the three or four-team AA Midget League, um, it was very popular.
SPEAKER_02Absolutely.
SPEAKER_01Um and there's no reason why you can't go back to that um and save you know familys um or give them an opportunity that their kids can actually go through the system the whole way without bankrupting them by the time they get to uh Banham hockey. So yeah, um I hear some horror stories, and you know, everybody wants their child to be uh uh a travel double A or AAA hockey player. Um unfortunately that's not real life. Yeah it just isn't. And we do it in schools now where if you don't do well enough, it doesn't matter. They'll just pass you anyway, right? And they move you along. Um if you play in a in a you know, whatever, everybody gets a medal. Yeah, you know, everybody, everybody gets a medal, or everybody has to be equal, every you know, it's not real life. And so why are we trying to do this in hockey? Um, it's the one thing that we have the ability to try to help people, and we've fallen into this um, you know, every kid wants to be a travel hockey player, yeah, so let's just keep creating teams and levels. Um, but ultimately they're the same hockey player.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01So you know I just you know, I I I worry that we're gonna um price people out, or on the on the unfortunate side, people will continue to find the money to do this because they love Johnny, which of course uh everybody loves their kids.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01And they want the best for them, they want them to be that player, but unfortunately, uh eventually money just runs out.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01And um, you know, and then it becomes a real problem. So I I just wish they'd look back. Um, not everything that's new is better, and maybe it's time that we looked at um you know, going back to city leagues. Um obviously triple A is an entirely different animal.
SPEAKER_02Of course, yeah.
SPEAKER_01Um if you get you know, if you're capable of triple A, then families know what the gig is, they understand the what needs to happen, but you know, double A shouldn't be traveling all over the province, yeah um, you know, to the tune of 50 Rand or whatever it costs a family um you know from the time they're 10 years old. It just makes no sense. But it'll it I mean that tape's gonna be very unpopular, but the reality is um, you know, I I said to somebody the other day, every player, whether they make the NHL or or play in high school, every player at some point in their career, somebody tells them they're not good enough.
SPEAKER_02Yep.
SPEAKER_01And whether it's you know, a guy in his tank in the NHL, um who slowed a little bit and you know, doesn't get a new deal and has to retire, or a kid that doesn't make the double-A 12-year-old team and he plays house, at some point in their hockey career, um somebody's going to tell them they're not good enough. And you know, why are we telling people like we're gonna make you good enough because we're gonna create a team in a level that you can play at, yeah, and you know, and then have all this travel involved. So um, you know, it didn't take long for me to figure out I couldn't play.
SPEAKER_02Yep, same here.
SPEAKER_01It was pretty simple, it was it was easy. Um, my situation was easy, yep. So, you know, and there was no medals, there was no, you know, um I played as much as uh this coach wanted me to play, yeah, and uh and you were happy with that. 100% that was just the way life was so um I think we we've gone way too far the other way, and I think we now have to for the sake of the parents, because it's them that are getting absolutely railed into this money pit, and um and it's unfortunate because it wants the best for me.
SPEAKER_02Yeah, like it's uh you know, at some point you've gotta be you've gotta be Realistic with the situation, and you know, I I mean unpopular opinion or whatever, you're not wrong, you know. Um, I it's funny you say that you know, looking back, I was the same way. I I knew I knew for a long time I was never gonna be good enough to play for a travel team, and I was good with that. And you know what? I had coaches tell me, hey, this is where your level of talent is. Hey, if that's what you think, you know the game well enough, and I'm good with that. And you know what? I was realistic. I played house league hockey all the way, all the way up, and I learned a ton all the way up still. I had a great time doing it, and you know what, I like to think I'm a pretty good person because of what I learned there, and you know what, at some point it's probably not a bad thing if a kid's told, hey, you know what, you're not quite good enough to you know to be playing travel hockey. It's you know, it's probably not a bad thing because the real world comes at you pretty hard. And you know, if you don't start learning early, you're uh you're gonna take it a lot harder when you grow up and people actually start telling you that.
SPEAKER_01Yeah, well, and the other problem with it is a pride, it's just it starts so young.
SPEAKER_02Yeah.
SPEAKER_01So at 15 grand a year, it's a hard pill to swallow when you get to minor midget at 16U and and you know, and you know, you try out for the triple A team, it's the thing that you dreamt of all your life and you worked hard for, and you don't make it. And you know, I'm the first to advocate for um late bloomers. Trust me, I I've had so many great late bloomers over the years um that continue to play. Um my my problem is at like 10 years old, 10, 11 years old, 12 years old. Um it is just unsustainable um to have hockey cost that amount of money, um and uh you know, year after year after year. And you know, unfortunately, uh again, because people love their kids and love want to do the best for them, they uh they find a way to do it.
SPEAKER_02Yep. Yeah, Kev, you know, I mean I mean you're dead on there, and that's uh, you know, I think that's uh that's a good spot to you know kind of leave this on uh on uh on that note kind of this week. And um, you know, like you said, dead on uh, you know, in that scenario. And you know, there's uh let's face it, there's a lot of work to uh a lot of work to be done to you know maybe get things in a you know in a better spot for everybody and you know do right by everybody. But uh yeah, that's uh you know, on that note, that's gonna that's gonna do it for uh for another week of the Healthy Scratch podcast. Uh, you know, uh for myself, for Kevin Kane, uh, you know, and as always, we you know, we mentioned that uh anybody that has any questions for Kevin can uh you know reach him uh by email at Kane at Kanehockey Management dot com. And uh we will be back in a uh in a week's time with a with another episode for Kevin and myself. Thanks so as always for tuning in, and we look forward to having you uh tune in uh next week.