By Earl Seitz

KIJHL College Showcase — a one time shot, or an annual affair?

Dec 28, 2018 | 2:11 PM

KAMLOOPS — This is the second day of the Kootenay Junior Hockey League College Showcase in Kamloops.

With all 20 teams gathered in one location for two games each, for a total of 20 games over three days.

It’s the first College Showcase for the league — an experiment for now — to see if it’s something that can continue on an annual basis.

“We’re always looking to promote our players and our league,” KIJHL President Larry Martel tells CFJC Today. “We thought this was the best avenue to jump into to see how it works. I know the B.C. Hockey League does a very successful one and we’re trying to copy their model on that.”

The idea of the showcase is to give Canadian and U.S. College scouts the opportunity to gather in one central location over a short period of time to assess talent for their future rosters.

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“Usually coaches will just send us videos and highlights of kids,” says Iowa State hockey scout Briar McNaney. “We usually don’t get a chance to see them live, which is a very important part of the recruiting process. This gives scouts (college) from all different teams and leagues a chance to see all the players in one place at a really convenient time.”

“It’s a big state school,” says Missouri State scout Jeremy Law. “27,000 students.  We have a great hockey program, in the top 10 in the country. We get a lot of fans. For me a player can get his education at a good school, and continue to play hockey.”

How many scouts do you think you’ve had interaction with here?  

“In the past two days — seven or eight,” says Revelstoke Grizzlies player Jon Vandermolen. “Seven or eight different schools, there’s a lot of opportunites, a lot of choices, so I mean the future is bright.”

But not everyone is happy.

With most teams operating on shoestring budgets, the format has meant an extra expence of travel, accomodation and meals.

While it may be at a convenient time for the scouts, for some of these teams the timing between Christmas and New Years isn’t great.

“Some teams are going to give up some big gate revenue at this time of year,” says league president Larry Martel. “If you’re in a Fernie or Nelson, you get pretty big crowds this time of year. So you’re giving that up to travel on your bus and the expense to be here.  That’s something that’s a little bit of give and take, so hopefully there is some benefit to the players here, and some of the teams will try to make up the cost in other areas.”

There will be an assessment once the College Showcase is over, to see if the experiment will be an annual affair, or stay in the test tube.