Hockey Canada has decided that 15-year-old Sam Reinhart will not be allowed to play in game 2 tonight in Saskatoon.
If he does, he will be ineligible to play in the Telus Cup.
Reinhart, who played in game 1 last night and 4 regular season games, has reached his allowed limit of 5 games.
The rule of 5 games is lifted if the players' current team is done it's season.
Reinhart, who plays BC AAA Midget w/Vancouver NW Giants, will play next week in the Canada Midget Championships, the Telus Cup, in Newfoundland.
He is missing no games in being with the ICE this week.
It's no secret that Sam Reinhart is the clubs #1 prospect and the team was going to bring him up to join the ICE once his season ended.
In his 4 regular season games he got regular playing time and scored 2 goals.
In last nights playoff game he centred the 3rd line and got regular playing time all night.
One of the reasons for the 5-game rule is to protect players from being called up to the CHL team too many times and hurting his development by not having regular playing time.
Some teams will bring up a prospect only to have him play 1-2 shifts a game.
If Reinhart was being put on the ICE roster just so they have a full roster as they are battling injuries and illnesses and sat on the bench the whole game then I would agree with him not suiting up.
This obviously is the not the situation here.
I'm not totally sure of what happened in Kamloops this season but 15-year-old Mike Needham played in 13 games with the Blazers. He played 6 games around the X-mas season when the Blazers were missing players to 2 tournaments. (World Junior Championships and World U-17) He played 3 games in March when the Blazers were missing players to injuries.
What makes this so surprising is that Hockey Canada is always using CHL players for camps and tournaments all year long.
Every April there is an U-18 tournament. (Max Reinhart played last year).
July and August there are U-20 Development Camps for the the World Junior Hockey Championships and also Goalie Camps.
In August they have another team for the U-18 Championships.
In December they have up to 40 players report for the Selection Camp for the World Junior Hockey Championships.
Then the 22 players who made the team play in the tournament.
Usually, at the same time, there is an U-17 Tournament.
How many times have you gone to a WHL game around X-mas and New Years and seen teams missing 2-6 players off the roster because of these events?
The WHL teams have always made their players available for the Hockey Canada events.
Financially Hockey Canada must be doing great with the big crowds in Saskatoon last year and the big attendance figures anticipated next year in Calgary and Edmonton.
The ICE have other prospects on their list but they all haven't played in 4-6 weeks and aren't options at this time.
Sam Reinhart wants to play for the CE .
His Father Paul Reinhart wants him to play for the ICE.
Vancouver NW Giants Head Coach has given his approval to let him play.
BC Hockey has ruled that he be allowed to play.
Hockey Canada said no.
Hockey Canada's decision is hurting the player and benefiting no one and that makes this wrong.