As any classic rock fanatic knows, the Clash posed the musical question "Should I Stay or Should I Go?" back in 1981. More recently, NHL Entry Draft prospects from the Czech Republic and Slovakia have decided in droves to leave home early to play junior hockey in Canada.
In today's
Across the Pond at NHL.com, I have taken an in-depth look at both sides of this issue.
According to the International Ice Hockey Federation, of the 575 young players to leave Europe for the CHL since 1997, nearly 500 have been Czechs or Slovaks. Most of the remainder has been comprised of players from the former Soviet Union, with a small group of Swedes, Finns, Danes and other Europeans mixed in.
The OHL offers most of these players the opportunity to get more ice time than they would in their early years in the Czech or Slovak Extraliga (the top league in both countries), and to play in front of a wider variety of scouts.
Scouting players who will eventually reach the NHL and contribute is the ultimate goal, of course. From a North American hockey standpoint, the results have been mixed.
While some of these players have been a tremendous boost to their junior teams and a few have gone on have strong NHL careers, the overwhelming evidence points to the conclusion that the move does not ultimately have much effect on the player's ability to play in the NHL.
According to the IIHF's study, about 90% of these players fail to play even a single game in the NHL.
That's pretty much the same success/failure rate of European players who spend their late teens in home leagues.
This seems to fly in the face of the often-repeated notion that "adapting to the small rink" and experiencing the more physical style of play over here makes a big difference in a European player's ability to play in the NHL.
There ARE some less tangible benefits to players coming over early from the North American standpoint. The majority of Czech and Slovak players come over speaking little to no English and the earlier exposure to hockey life over here does seem to help many of the players fit in with their teammates.
But does that REALLY help NHL teams? If the players on the whole are no more likely to make it to the show, I'm not sure that it makes a big difference in the big picture.
My personal view is that the OHL may be right for certain relatively mature young players, but it's not necessarily what's best for the group at large. I think it needs to be considered on a player-by-player basis.
From the Czech and Slovak perspective, the player exodus has been disastrous. The quality of their junior national teams has taken a nosedive. Earlier this spring, the Czechs were relegated from the Under-18 World Championships to the Division I level. That was after a mediocre Czech performance at the Under-20 Worlds.
The Slovaks, meanwhile, had to rally in the relegation round of the Under-20s after a winless preliminary round that included a convincing loss to a hungry Team Germany.
At the same time, the level of play in both the Czech and especially the Slovak Extraliga is nowhere close anymore to the top two European leagues (Russia's Super League and Sweden's Elitserien).
Hockey is a small world. The problems of the Czech and Slovak leagues are now filtering into the NHL Draft and eventually into the overall quality of players from these countries in the NHL.
There will, of course, always be Czech and Slovak stars and solid regulars in the nHL, but when the overall quality of the talent pool declines, everyone feels it.
Philadelphia Flyers Blogger •NHL.com • 
Join the Discussion:
»