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J U N I O R     S U R V E I L L A N C E - January 18, 2007 Sooner or Later the Cupboard is Bare Many NHL fans are upset with the lack of trading that has taken place since the new collective bargaining agreement took effect. Even worse, the flood of trade rumours that used to fill the sports pages all winter long has all but disappeared. Those real or imagined swaps would spark hours of debate amongst hockey fanatics. In the junior ranks it isn’t the collective bargaining agreement that makes trades difficult.What makes junior trades unique is the fact that junior players have a very limited shelf life. Trading players of apparent equal value is harder than the average fan realizes. The general rule of thumb is that the contenders will go out and acquire veteran players who are in their last year of junior hockey. In return they are forced to give up players of lesser value, who have two or three years remaining before graduation. Generally these are players who are the verge of blossoming. Draft picks are also thrown around liberally. For several years now the Hunter brothers have wheeled and dealed to keep their London Knights in a position to contend. It was mind boggling to try and track all the bodies and draft picks that were coming and going. It appears that it’s now time to pay the piper. The Knights no longer have the roster depth to pull another rabbit out of the hat. Here’s an excellent article from the local London Free Press, that makes it clear that no matter how savy a GM may be when it comes to the trade market, there is a point when the franchise has to step back and restock. Hunter claims he’s not worried. He says he likes his team the way it is. He had to say that. Even though it’s not true. He went to the cupboard like he always does. Only this year the cupboard was bare. http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/Junior/2007/01/11/3300081-sun.html Send your story to hockspy@hotmail.com and we will pass them on to our readers in a future installment of Junior Hockey Surveillance.

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