Josh Gorges has had his day in the sun.
A veteran of 783 games and 13 NHL seasons, the now-retired former Montreal Canadiens defenseman just wants to give back to the game by coaching his kidsa国际传媒檚 team with Kelowna Minor Hockey.
Unfortunately for Gorges he cansa国际传媒檛 do so as he and others are pawns in a political war that is going on between the B.C. Hockey League and Hockey Canada.
This past summer, the BCHL decided to break away from the jurisdiction of Hockey Canada due to philosophical differences, with the main issue being the fact that 16 and 17-year-old players had to have their parents have residency within the province if they wanted to play in the BCHL. The same rule applies nation-wide to all junior leagues except the Western Hockey League, the Ontario Hockey League and the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
That rule was a deal-breaker for the BCHL, whose main selling point is providing NCAA prospects with an extremely high level of competition and exposure. The 61-year-old league is a feeder system for NCAA hockey with 321 alumni currently playing at that level according to the leaguesa国际传媒檚 website.
The BCHLsa国际传媒檚 approach also conflicts with Hockey Canadasa国际传媒檚 model which likes to see kids graduating to the three major junior leagues rather than the NCAA sa国际传媒� even though they have no issue with having NCAA players on their national teams representing the country in international competitions.
According to BCHL Commissioner Chris Hebb, the league prepared a 35-page white paper to suggest a coordinated effort with BC Hockey and Hockey Canada. The latter didnsa国际传媒檛 even respond to the initiative while the former was dismissive.
The end result is that BC Hockey and Hockey Canada are coming down hard on players, coaches, referees, teams or organizations that are associating themselves with the BCHL and promising dire consequences as Ben Lypka of Black Press Media pointed out in his story .
As for Gorges, all he wants to do is give back to the game he loves.
As a Player Development Consultant for the West Kelowna Warriors of the BCHL and as a hockey dad who wants to coach his kidsa国际传媒檚 team, Gorges has been caught in the middle of this conflict.
sa国际传媒淚t was at some point, late spring or early summer, I cansa国际传媒檛 remember exactly but we knew that the BCHL was moving away from B.C. Hockey. Thatsa国际传媒檚 when I started to ask questions about what my status would be as a volunteer coach for minor hockey. At the time I was like, wow, theysa国际传媒檙e not going to say I cansa国际传媒檛 coach eight-year-old kids because I work with a junior team because I donsa国际传媒檛 understand where the conflict would be. Itsa国际传媒檚 not like I can take my eight or nine-year olds and switch them over to the BCHL. But then I filed for my application to coach my sonsa国际传媒檚 minor hockey team and it got denied. Thatsa国际传媒檚 when I was like, sa国际传媒淥h, this is real,sa国际传媒� explained Gorges, who placed an appeal with B.C Hockey and Hockey Canada but ultimately was denied an exemption.
Gorges is certified to coach rep hockey up to U-18 but would have needed to take additional courses to be qualified to coach his boysa国际传媒檚 team. He was planning on doing so, but once his appeal was denied, he decided there was no reason to go ahead with the process.
With one son already playing in the HPL (High Performance Level) League which is also not recognized by Hockey Canada, Gorges opted to remain with the Warriors, help coach the HPL team and help with his other sonsa国际传媒檚 Kelowna Minor team in a limited capacity.
sa国际传媒淚 can go on the ice for practice and assist in practice. Isa国际传媒檓 not allowed to take control or direct any of the practice and Isa国际传媒檓 not allowed to be on the bench because of an apparent liability issue,sa国际传媒� said Gorges, who retired from the NHL with the Buffalo Sabres in 2018.
Gorges strongly emphasizes that this isnsa国际传媒檛 about him. Itsa国际传媒檚 about giving back which I know from personal experience is part of his DNA. Hesa国际传媒檚 always been involved in charity events in the Kelowna area, whether itsa国际传媒檚 been fundraisers for the Kelowna Hospital Foundation or golf tournaments, hesa国际传媒檚 selfless with his time.
Now he just wants to be able to give back to kids sa国际传媒� and give back to the game.
sa国际传媒淭heresa国际传媒檚 nothing in my life thatsa国际传媒檚 given me greater joy than being with these little kids and seeing them develop and grow and knowing that I can help them be a part of their dream that theysa国际传媒檙e chasing. I love it - I just love it. Itsa国际传媒檚 not like Isa国际传媒檓 doing it because I have nothing else to do. I actually want to. I just love being on the ice with these kids. I have fun with them. I push them hard in a way that they seem to enjoy - they donsa国际传媒檛 get frustrated with it,sa国际传媒� said Gorges.
sa国际传媒淚 build relationships with these little kids and I become close with them to the point where I walk through most rinks in Kelowna and theresa国际传媒檚 usually two or three that come right up to me and say sa国际传媒楬i Coachsa国际传媒�. To me thatsa国际传媒檚 the greatest feeling - these little kids who might look up to me and acting on the things that I tell them sa国际传媒� it provides me with a lot of joy. I know if my kids had to learn from somebody whosa国际传媒檚 been where they want to go, Isa国际传媒檇 want them to learn from them. And Isa国际传媒檝e always thought, there comes a responsibility with us as players to give back to the next generation - to come back and help continue to grow the game so that itsa国际传媒檚 better than when we got to it.sa国际传媒�
As far as the ongoing saga, Hebb and the BCHL have requested a meeting with Federal Sport Minister Carla Qualtrough to voice their concerns of what the perceive to be actions contradictory to Hockey Canadasa国际传媒檚 mandate which is to promote the game in Canada.
In the meantime, Gorges and others continue to pay the price.
Veteran B.C. sports personality Bob sa国际传媒渢he Mojsa国际传媒� Marjanovich writes twice weekly for Black Press Media.
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