It would come down to a technicality like if Prince George was required to sign release papers to let him play in Humbolt as the newspaper article suggested.
If he is eligible to play in the AHL a team might be more likely to draft him a bit higher than a 4th or 5th round because they could control his development.
I know that it's very early to post something like this because there is still a third of the season left, but it Humboldt wins the SJHL, it could make for a very interesting inaugural Western Canada Cup. Forsberg will no doubt make an already strong Broncos team better, but will it be enough to beat the Brooks Bandits or whoever comes out of BC and Manitoba. Personally, I'm pretty excited about how this will all turn out. Hopefully this kid is still focused on his career after this fiasco.
on this humboldt broncos team as i am 40 miles away from the city. very good goaltending, good defensive team that is finally getting a boat load of injured d men back. they are a bit light on offense, and adding a guy like forsberg, is gonna be a big boost. flin flon and yorkton and humboldt are the 3 strongest teams in the league. expect humboldt to go very far. these guys are gonna move up in national ranks. but ranks mean nothing. if these boys make it to the royal rank cup, i would be very very afraid of this team.
on this humboldt broncos team as i am 40 miles away from the city. very good goaltending, good defensive team that is finally getting a boat load of injured d men back. they are a bit light on offense, and adding a guy like forsberg, is gonna be a big boost. flin flon and yorkton and humboldt are the 3 strongest teams in the league. expect humboldt to go very far. these guys are gonna move up in national ranks. but ranks mean nothing. if these boys make it to the royal rank cup, i would be very very afraid of this team.
Why, are they suddenly going to become the Brooks Bandits?
so question... can forsberg play in the AHL next year since he wont be drafted out of the CHL?
Way too obvious of a loophole that could be exploited by tons of guys just playing a couple games at the end of the year in a league other than the CHL in their draft year. I assume playing in the CHL at all before being drafted gets you covered as being drafted out of the CHL for CHL-AHL purposes.
Hmm. I know that more players are drafted out of BC, but I never thought the overall product between the leagues was THAT much different in comparison. I guess that is going to make the new Western championship a little more interesting. I also thought the BC and Alberta leagues especially were about equal, but I will take your word for it. Thanks for the clarification.
Without getting to much into what league is best and what league is worst between BC, Alberta, and Saskatchewan (as for whatever reason it is a touchy subject for some), From watching the Broncos in 3 RBC's and following some of the other leagues a bit my opinion is: There is a lot more scholarship and draft opportunities out in BC (and to a certain extent Alberta as well) So you will see guys with a higher profile at a younger age in BC (see guys like Lucia and Reilly last year with Penticton). While the SJHL I find has a lot of their more high profile players as bigger experiences 20 year olds.
The BCHL has 7 of the 16 Royal Bank Cup National Championships since the tournament changed to it's current title and format. So it's certainly valid to assume it's the most talented league in Canada Jr. A. Not to discredit any of the other leagues, but national championships and scholarships are simply in my opinion the measuring stick.
RBC Titles since 1996:
BCHL: 7
SJHL: 3
AJHL: 2
MJHL: 2
MHL: 2
NOJHA: 1
I do disagree though with the sentiment that the SJHL is vastly inferior to the BCHL and AJHL, there has been plenty of strong contenders come out of the SJHL the last few years and IMO if Humbolt hadn't of layed an egg in the semi's last year they would've beaten a very impressive Penticton team in the finals (I know I'm biased and if wishes were fishes right? They DID physically and talent wise dominate the Vees during the round robin however)
Getting to Forsberg as I know he's the REAL topic of this thread. He seemed to struggle finding chemistry playing wing with his 2 linemates his first 2 games. He got moved to center on a line last night with Cody Pongraz and Joey Davies (the 2 leading scorers for Humboldt). The results were immediate, they were on the ice for 5 of Humboldt's 6 goals and cycled the puck with ease all night. Forsberg ended the night with 3 assists (should've got credit for 4) and had a few real good chances in the slot that he got shut down on. This line is going to do some damage down the stretch here for sure.
My observations seeing Forsberg for the first time is that he's a great stick handler and has a great sense of where to be in the offensive zone. He isn't the quickest guy on the ice from what I can see and could stand to get stronger on the puck.
You get definitely see the talent is still there with this kid, I hope for his sake he can put things together with Humboldt down the stretch here and go on a nice long run and still have a shot with an NHL team later in the draft.
