GRAVENHURST — The addition of an all-Russian team to the Greater Metro Jr. A Hockey League (GMHL) means the South Muskoka Shield and the other 10 teams in the league will no longer be able to recruit Russian players to their benches.
The Russian Red Wings were announced as the GMHL’s newest team back in November, but only now have established the venue they will play out of: the Dufferin Recreational Complex in Shelburne.
The Red Wings will be owned by Igor Vasilyev and will ice a roster consisting entirely of Russian players, confirmed Bob Russell, president of the GMHL, which is owned by Russell and Ken Girard.
Current Russian players in the league, like those playing for the Bradford Rattlers and Brock Bucks, or any other GMHL club, will be “grandfathered,” and may continue to suit up for any GMHL club. However, any new players from Russia are automatically affiliated with the Red Wings, Russell explained.
“The Russian team might take one or two locals, but it’s got to be a Russian team and our league prefers that, too, because it’s part of the excitement of bringing in a Russian team,” he said.
Regardless of exclusivity rights, Russell believes the move does not hurt the other teams in the league.
“No other teams use Russian players other than Brock and Bradford. They’re the only two teams that are affected,” he said. “I own Bradford so it hurts our team, but I thought it would help the league so much. It gives us notoriety to OHL teams and the NHL as well, and we are getting compliments from them for doing this.”
Russell said the league has yet to address what happens when the Red Wings roster is full and excess Russians request to play in the GMHL.
“The agreement now is that all Russians that come here go to their team and no Russians can go anywhere else. That’s the deal,” Russell said. “Where that goes? We don’t know yet. We’ve never had an excess of Russians, so we’ll have to come up with a strategy with them. I’m sure he’ll (Vasilyev) want some control of that.”
While there wasn’t a formal vote by all team owners, Russell said the owners of the inaugural five teams in the league supported the addition of the all-Russian club.
“As a group we thought it would be good for the league,” he said. The Russian players, he added, will help the league impress colleges, major junior teams and the NHL. He believes the Russian team will increase spectator numbers and also gives recruiters an opportunity to scout the international players.
Shield general manager Gord Carey isn’t phased by the decision, noting he has never signed a Russian player to the Shield roster.
“Personally, I don’t want kids from Russia,” he said. “I’m not doing it to develop players from Russia.”
Still, Carey said he doesn’t think it’s fair to other teams who may like to recruit Russian players.
He also questioned the assurances the GMHL has that the Red Wing club will stay a part of the league and not cease operations.
“How many towns/teams have we lost? We suffered this year because of Minden,” Carey said. He is disappointed to have lost thousands in gate revenue because the Minden Riverkings folded mid-season.
Russell said the league has known Vasilyev for the past five years as his son, Nick Vasilyev, plays for the Rattlers.
“We don’t have any assurances except that we believe the people we made the agreement with have integrity,” Russell said.
The Red Wings paid the annual league fee of $8,200, but were relieved of the $24,000 franchise fee because “we wanted them,” Russell said. The annual league fees cover the costs to run the league at a break-even operation, while the new team fee is divided equally among the inaugural team owners, he added.
“We haven’t charged a team the new team fee in more than two years,” he explained. “If we like the owner and believe the team will contribute to the league and our own teams, we’ll waive the fee.”