EDITORS NOTE:
There has been quite a strong response from the AIHL regarding this post. First and foremost, Auspuck is not affiliated, associated or influenced by any of the AIHL teams. We are fans of the sport and talk about current issues as “we” see them. Regarding the below post, the AIHL management team has assured us that they have given the Sydney Bears every opportunity to ensure that players expected to be on their roster were provided with the right forms and processes to enable their eligibility. The Sydney Bears were very aware of the situation regarding their imports and for them to not be eligible to play in recent games, is the fault of the Bears management and not the AIHL or IHA. So we’ll aplogise profusley to the AIHL and IHA for branding them “pathetic.” They obviously are very aware of every teams situation and engage in assisting with any issues they have. So please be aware of this when reading the post, opinions stated were of the information available at that time.
It’s been a while since I’ve written an AP’s corner. Certainly there was some things that have came up in the last couple of months that got me sharpening my pencils. I hate seeing ice hockey stories like this making our local papers, yet there is no cover of the AIHL. But that’s not what I am here to talk to talk about today, so with no further adieu lets get to it.
It’s no secret that the Bears are struggling this season, they currently sit at the bottom of the AIHL table earning only one measly point from the five games they have played. To solve some of the teams on ice issues, the Bears management has been relentless in their recruitment of imports to bolster the roster. Just ask the Newcastle North Stars how important imports are. The Bears have had some bad luck with their imports this year as a few off-season signings failed to report to the club (or have been delayed in coming over) prior to the season starting. These events were both unforeseen and unfortunate but, as I said before, the Bears management have taken this on board, moved past it and continued to recruit new imports.
As you may or may not be aware, an import player needs to be “cleared” by the IHA for participation in the AIHL. The entire IHA import policy and guidelines can be viewed here, but there is one section of this that I want you to be aware of. I doubt these transfer rules vary much from country to country as they are revolve around the IIHF. Specifically import players in the AIHL are required to complete a International Transfer Card (ITC) before competing in any AIHL game, as seen below
An IIHF ITC is an International Transfer Card which is purchased from the IIHF for the
purposes of providing an approval process for the transfer of players between countries.
The ITC is a numbered and registered document which must be signed by the losing
and gaining national federations as well as the IIHF before transfer approval is valid. An
ITC is required for players 18 years and over and is obtained from the gaining national
federation. ITC for players wishing to play in Australia are purchased from the IHA
Secretary (currently $388 per card). IHA dos not charge any service fees
associated with the ITC, but some countries do charge a processing fee.
Seems straight forward right, everyone with me so far?
ITC’s are purchased from the IHA secretary and once signed off by that secretary, players can the hit the ice and compete. One person, one authority that allows import players to play in the AIHL. The current IHA secretary is Mr Don Rurack.
Here is the current situation that the Sydney Bears are dealing with. After managing to recruit two new imports (goalie Sheldon Bearg and forward Tony Demelinne) and having Jordan Hale close to arriving in the country, the Bears are unable to use these players in the near future. Why, you ask? Well that would be because Mr Rurack is currently taking a “well-deserved” overseas holiday that is going to last a couple of weeks. Currently two, and soon to be three, Sydney Bears imports are enjoying the sights and sounds of the AIHL from behind the bench as they await clearance to play. The authority for imports to play in the AIHL is given to one man, and when this man is not available, the rest of the people responsible for the AIHL can only twiddle their thumbs and offer a sorry, my hands are tied approach to solving this problem.
Now, this is not a strike at Mr Rurack himself, certainly he is allowed to take a holiday whenever he wants. My issue here is with the rest of the IHA board and the AIHL management. Was this a scenario that no one envisioned? Is there no contingency to deal with something like this? Do we really have to sit around and wait for one person to return to the country in order to allow these imports to play? It’s a situation that screams incompetence from both the IHA and AIHL. Can anyone currently solve this problem? Apparently the answer is no.
I know these imports may not make a difference to the success of the Sydney Bears, that’s not the point. Think big picture for a second. Say, Wayne Gretzky strolled in off the street and wanted to play for the Melbourne Ice because he was impressed with their rink. Oops, sorry Mr Gretzky, you can’t play right now because unfortunately no one presently in the country has the authority to sign a card that would allow it. Please accept our apologies.
Okay so the Gretzky example might be a stretch, but this type of situation might really occur. A current expat living in Australia who just realises that we have a national hockey league and is a good player himself, rocks up to a Blue Tongues training session and the team wants him to play. Same result again. Sorry Mr Future AIHL All-Star, we can’t allow you to play because we can’t get a card signed. Think of what type of reputation the league would get because of this? What if it was your favourite team that was put in this situation? You’d probably start blogging about it on the internet as well!
For those of you that are saying that the import rules in the AIHL only allow a maximum number of signings so teams themselves should be more organised prior to the start of the season, that isn’t entirely true. Import rules in the AIHL are subject to conditions that allow for all kinds of weird situations to occur. According to the AIHL import rules (which can be seen here), an AIHL team can only have six imports on their roster at any one time. Of those six, only four can play in any one game. However, before the midway point of a teams season, an AIHL team is allowed to replace an import player with another import player (technically they can do this at any point of the season, but if it happens after the midway point then the new signing will not be eligible for the playoffs). Lets quote the AIHL rulebook in describing this transaction:
After a Team has entered into six concurrent Player Contracts with Imports, the Team can only sign a Player Contract with another Import if it first terminates and existing Import’s Player Contract.
If a Team intends to terminate an Import’s Player Contract for the dominant purpose of allowing it to sign one with another Import, it must first notify the Commissioner and other Teams
Nowhere does it state that dropping an import for another import is subject to league approval, so theoretically a team could replace imports all season long if it wanted to, right? But that’s not the point right now. That’s not even the point of the post. The point is that between all of the goofy examples and what-might-have-beens that have closed off this post, there is a current real life example in the Sydney Bears where the IHA and AIHL have failed to live up to any number of their “objectives” or “codes of conduct.” A situation like this where players are held in limbo is unacceptable for the AIHL. There has been no fault by the Sydney Bears here, yet they have been left shorthanded by the league. I hope this is the last time that something like this is ever reported, I really do!
I hope the league learns from the situation and develops some contingency plans to avoid it in the future. I really hope to see all of these Bears palyers on the Ice next time I see them play, and I hope you do too!
Anyway, as always, feel free to share your thoughts and feedback below!
And just something quick that I wanted to share:
I’ve heard that Ben Boudreau is looking for a roster spot in the AIHL. His dad just happens to be the coach of that team from Washington, I think they are called the Capitals or something. I remember them playing not to long ago but my memory of them faded pretty quickly, jusat like there Stanley cup hopes. Ben is not a good player though, he wouldn’t cut it as in import spot on the ‘A’
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love it
I think it’s safe to say, the situation with ITC’s is simply well and truly fucked. It’s crap like this that stop this league from lifting to the next level.
IN NORTH KOREA (BEST KOREA!), KIM JONG IL SIGN OFF ON EVERY THING
WORKS WELL FOR KIM JONG IL
KIM JONG IL NOT KNOW WHY COMPLAIN FOR?
haha you have made my day KJ!
That’s what happens when one person has all the control in an organisation
Hmmm, not all facts are included. Teams know very well the process and you have that correct, except for one important detail. Before an import even arrives you can have them sign a fax clearance and have it processed via IHA well in advance. Once the player has arrived you fill in the original paper work.
Fax transfers are good for 30 days which covers anytime lost because of holidays as you imply in your article. Not all imports work out, some don’t turn up, some don’t fit the teams systems and some are simply not good enough welcome to the joys of running an AIHL team. This story highlights how important developing local players is, fail to so at your own risk.
Those fax transfers are interesting. I guess that is insider team knowledge because no where did I read that these fax transfers were available or what they did authorise. You say that it should be done before imports arrive, which I understan, but please tell me how these fax transfers are are useful if the player walks off the street as my other example above?
Its not really insider knowledge, but it is a practice that has been used for many years. As for players that walk off the street I agree in your case there is a delay, however teams have more than 6 months to sort out their import roster, having provision for 6 imports more than covers the no shows. Also I think its highly unlikely that Wayne Gretzky is going to walk off the street. Additionally IHA do not close office went Don and Shirley are out of town, Kevin Brown is available and if its a fax transfer then scanning and sending PDFs off is not hard, allowing clubs to still go about their business. I would say IHA and AIHL are definitely open for business.
Interesting article.
Im not privvy to much of the going ons of the AIHL, so my opinion counts for little . but as a hockey player and the AIHL representing the premier talent, Skill(z) and the best of hockey Australia has to offer , i think that this may be seen as lack (sorry not in a harsh way , couldnt find another word) of professionalism.
The IHA and AIHL represent australia ( a sports lovin nation) in ice hockey affairs and this will no doubt be the face shown to imports of how we work , these imports are the guys that do end leaving the country to express grievances , great experiences etc to international audiences, be it back home in europe or north america or when they head off to another international space to play. I think any debacle where they are affected lowers the view that the outside world sees our National league and association. I understand hockey isnt a massive sport here, but I think most in the community agree that those who are involved love the sport and want to see it grow and become more of a force. Things like this can disrupt this growth , imports sitting out, Fans being disappointed, teams suffering , and im sure this will reduce any sponsor ship opportunities.
This is an interesting article and blaming the IHA or AIHL is a straight cope out. The Bears who have been referenced in this case, need to become far more organized and professional in their administration processes. As a fan of Auspuck I’m very disappointed in an article of this nature, its these short sighted publicity stunts that hurt our league and the sports profile. So much for being a positive supporter of ice hockey, your just another detractor that really doesn’t care. You have lost sight of the fact that ice hockey is an amateur sport run predominately by volunteers who actually care? Surely you could write something more beneficial, anyone can through stones from a distance? I hope this is just a one off poor judgement call? Yours faithfully.
Sorry, I am not familiar with “through stones from a distance?”
It’s easy to bitch at someone making a personal post on a privately run website (that has no affiliation with the league or any team) when you do so under the name “Anonymous”.
If you’re going to point out how unprofessional someone is on a personal site, at least do so openly instead of hiding behind a name!
For the record, people have a right to opinions and on a private blog, site or forum, it is their right to speak their mind.
specific examples and rebuttals to those examples aside, how is it a ‘cop out’ to point out a problematic process? It seems like a glaring problem where an organisation is unable to continue business as usual when one person is away – especially when you could easily make provisions to allow someone to act in the role, or avoid naming a person/position specifically and simply do the “requires league/federation approval”.
Being run by volunteers shouldn’t absolve you from having bad processes pointed out.
If every team got it wrong – Bad process. If one team screws it up – not the process.
It’s a convoluted process but it’s a universal IIHF one and everyone has been operating under it since the league started i’m sure.
Hell, even the WHL screwed up on this once and got some suspensions because of it
It’s been made pretty clear to us that it was the AIHL’s fault.
Woops, I mean WAS NOT that AIHL’s fault.
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