Fort Vancouver - No Shame
| The Pacific District Select Camp is being held in Kent, Washington this weekend. Guess who shows up? None other than Brian Cheek, GM of the Fort Vancouver Pioneers. Not only does he show up, but he brings the Pioneers' Cascade Cup with him. He also brought a laptop from which he showed off this season's highlights to potential recruits. No word on whether those highlights included the numerous league hearings and court proceedings. From what I understand, Cheek took a lot of well-deserved flack from others in attendance. Okay, for those who have been asking for it.... this one deserves three COME ON's... |
posted by Marc Foster at 5/05/2007 10:44:00 PM
Comments on "Fort Vancouver - No Shame"
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Anonymous said ... (2:05 AM, December 19, 2007) :
post a commentCome on? ...don't you mean MOVE ON? Last season is over. Ft Van took their lumps and took the discipline handed down by USAH and the NorPac concerning allegations. Let the organization move on.
"Well deserved flack from others.." ??
It didn't come from camp participants that swarmed their table -- must have been NorPac officials in town for their meeting and other coaching staff from teams there to also recruit.
What do you expect/want Ft Van to do?
Hey, give them credit. No one had the cahoonas to stop em dead in the tracks so they are off and heading down the same street as before. I cheaters are allowed to cheat....is it cheating?????
..I'm sorry - I thought the hockey season was over? ..Jr hockey is a business. Last year is over, you need to get over it too. What does cheating have to do with recruiting players for a top notch program for next season? You sound like a 'sore loser'. No class.
It figures, My son played there last year and while winning was fun for him , this staff did NOTHING to move on any players... the few players moving on all ready had previous agreements.. glad it is over and he is in college
Thanks for the input MR/MRS Leach
hey the bottemline is fort .van would of never made it that far if they had a honest roster.... so all the players on all teams are very upset... and its had to move on knowing the power of evil moneyhas taken over jr hockey.........
SAD.BUT TRUE
depends on what your interpretation of an honest roster is. Unless you are a staff member on the team - you don't have any facts to base your comments on
Out of the 12 teams at Jr. B Nationals, I am familiar with 8 of the teams. I will tell you this, not any of the coaches or staff complained about the doings of Ft. Van. This is because of the skeltons in their closets. Those complaining are the parents who had to pay for hockey! The better players get others to sponsor them!
I paid and I'm not complaining.
If players want to advance to higher levels it is not the coaches responsibility. They should be looking into opportunities with their parents. If you find a team at a higher level you're interested in and need your coaches help - get in touch with him/them.
I have read your columns often with the bashing of Ft Vancouver, an organization I have supported since last year and continue to support. I have had extensive conversations with parents who have both sides represented. Bottom line is the there was no agreement from NORPAC teams to agree to a lame duck commissioner Mike Butters decision to eliminate Joe and Tim from the team. Kinda tells you something there right?The battle should have happened long before the playoffs, which by the way were pretty much decided in Ft Vancouver's favor in the first 2 months of play! Instead it becomes a spectacle overkill at worst and pure jealousy at best. Hockey is an expensive, often outrageously overpriced sport for kids and we are talking about kids here, to play. Give Joe credit, here's a guy who went to businesses to help underwrite costs associated with getting players in here. Other teams have that right too. I have never heard from a single player being outraged at another for getting assistance. When you go to college and you get a scholarship, meaning you don't have to pay to go to school, are those people shunned for doing that?
I congratulate Brian for taking what that Ft Vancouver team EARNED last year and showing to prospective players, saying "We can accomplish this and more"! Good for him. Seems like Marc Foster is less of a reporter, than he is a fan and a bashing one at that.
Until the rules are clearly stated with no gray areas, that define the rights and wrongs, anyone can interprete and drive a truck through the rules as they stand.
I hope that NORPAC sinks like a stone and USA Hockey gets an earful for the way they have handled the situation. Yes money talks, but also BS walks.
I, personally am looking forward to next season and hope that in whatever league they are in, they are as successful!
Uh, he isn't a reporter. This is a blog NOT a newspaper. Blogs are meant for people's opinions and that is it.
Sorry, I have been reading his stuff for a long time and he has always had great sources of information.
He IS a fan of hockey, wants the best for junior hockey and is ALWAYS giving suggestions for eliminating the GREY area you complain about.
About the recruiting, I have no problem with him being there. I just don't agree with potentially getting kids to sign up, taking their money and counting on a team that doesn't even know what league they will be playing in. That's all.
Please remember the difference between a blog and a newspaper.
Someone has already stepped up to defend me (thanks), but here's my own response.
BBD, if you really have been reading me, then you'd know I agree the USAH rules regarding sponsoring/scholarships for players are problematic. It was the paying of players that got the Pioneers into hot water, but you don't address that.
More clouding the water - Mike Butters tried to resign several times before the issue became heated due to a conflict of interest of his starting the AWHL, but the owners, including Loftgren, continually refused his resignation until recently.
The banishments came not from the NorPac/Butters, but from USA Hockey/Dave Tyler... and BTW, they were negotiated with the Pioneers, not laid down by any individual.
I'm not a reporter, and have never claimed to be. I'm someone who has worked for junior hockey teams in the past, and may work for teams/leagues in the future. In other words, I'm an insider with lots of contacts. I mix news from traditional media sources with news obtained through my contacts, and toss in my opinion where I feel like it... that's what blogs and bloggers do.
But hey, if it makes you feel better by ranting against the league, USA Hockey, and me, go right ahead. Just don't expect me to drink the Kool Aide...
As to the reference to MR/MRS LEACH. Although I am ashamed to admit we have read this blog in the past when someone has directed our attention to it, we have never posted to this blog! we will not post something anonymously. If we can't have our name attached to it then it should not be said.
Our thoughts and opinions (good and bad) of the past year with our son is ours and no one elses. Each person can determine there own opinions because everyones experience is different. With that we would appreciate it if you would keep our family's name out of this blog. Thank you Mikki Leach
Wow, I thought I had seen and heard it all until I read Big Bad Dog's comments regarding Ft. Vancouver. If what is posted is true, then showing up at a USA Hockey event with a trophy that was anything but earned fairly is a lack of class. I would go a step farther and say that whether it was earned or not has no bearing on it. You just don't do it. It lacks class.
I am not so sure that the players swarming around the table were looking at a video or waitng in line to get paid, receive cash, get a scholarship or any of the other ridiculous stuff that can be said of this group. I heard their owner and coach were suspended for life and their G.M. - Cheeks - was given a 4 year ban. I also heard they hired the coach that coached Tuscon last year. How do you think USA will respond to this? A Cheating team hires a cheating coach and has a cheating G.M. who is banned and has violated rules of scholarship.
I feel bad for the parents of the kids who actually paid to play there. At least Iknow the 5k that I paid went to a good group of people who helped get my kid to school.
It sucks that the league or USA would allow people of this ilk to participate in this event. They don't have a league to play in next year. The norpac league kicked them out. I lnow one thing, my younger boy will not be going there. Let that serve as a lesson to parents who like the promises and bad info on teams out there. Parents beware.
Teams like Tuscon and Ft. Worth and Ft. Van are black marks on the game of hockey. The only thing that kept the Ft. Van team on the ice was a slick lawyer. What a bunch of losers. I feel for those kids. They were sold a bill of goods.
it was won fair and square IN SPITE of all that norpac (butters&co) threw at the pios in an effort to not allow them to prove who was the best team in norpac. nothing norpac did detered this team from completing the goal they set out to accomplish - a chance to compete with the best at nationals. you want to talk about fair? why weren't the other norpac teams investigated when some of there recruiting tactics and mgmt procedures came up? (including the rvr city coach offering a player $1000 to play for them, but then who cares when your the team with the worst record) - oh that's right, there owners,coaches and GMs were the judge and jury. way to support the kids in your league. course the coach also had a ax to grind because Ft Van gave him the boot mid season the year before. I find it odd that everything was in question at the end of the season. I guess some teams will go to extremes to try to advance, when its evident their skill and coaching can't get them there. They got pretty good at slinging mud and forgot they were playing hockey.
On the one hand I am stunned that Brian Cheek would show up at Select Camp, on the other hand, it doesn't surprize me a bit. The Ft Van people don't think they did anything wrong, so they have nothing to hide. They are definately out there recruiting for their next season and last years players planning on returning. Once again, it shows that the low life will survive. They are slick wheelers and dealers. Did USA hockey/Norpac really think these scumbags would go away? HA! Jokes on them. The Pioneers will be alive and well next season. Unfortunately.
and you probably still won't be able to make the team.
if you did your homework you would know that they did nothing wrong this year. Unfortunately you want to listen to all the losers who can't recruit.
If they did nothing wrong, then explain why did they accept a negotiated deal that included the bans? If you did nothing wrong, you don't accpet such things...so something was amiss with what they did to build that team.
Like I said, if you did your homework you would know the answers to those questions.
Exactly what homework am I supposed to do? Charges were brought, they negotiated with USAH, agreed to being banned. Seems pretty straight forward. As a parent, I have far too many other options to waste time looking further into this than I already have.
Why don't you elaborate since you act as if you've "done your homework".
Wrong again. They negotiated with NORPAC not USA Hockey. They had to sacrafice themselves to keep the players on the ice. Envy is what the others have. They should try to improve their own programs rather than attack the best.
Really? You want to explain exactly how NorPac can enforce a USAH ban?
Thankfully my son has options at higher level, but I feel for the kids out west with limited options.
Keep drinking the kool aid...
They can't. The Kool Aid tastes just fine, especially from the Cup!
"they had to sacrafice themselves"
The thought of Tim Best falling on his sword for ANYONE is one of the funniest things I have heard in a long while.
Thanks for a good laugh. Great way to start my day.
Isn't denial great? Makes all your pesky problems go away and you don't have to deal with any messy scruples. Double winner.
Now I know you are out of the loop. What does Tim Best have to do with Ft Van?
It sucks that this team will not simply pack it in. Whether or not they were outright proven to cheat it looks like that league thought they did and were willing to go through ewith it.
Someone said they settled out of court. Sound liek guilt to me.
As far as recruiting goes, If my kid was offered either money or a scholarship by one team and not another, I would call that cheating.
These posters who are in support of this team are probobly the parents or the coaches themselves. Do junior hockey a favor and leave with whatever class you think you have left.
We had 3 friend of our's play for Ft. Van 06-07 and they hated it. Hated the BS, hated the way management went about their scheme's, hated that they where not HONEST. Here's 3 young men that loved hockey, but couldn't stand Ft. Van. Sad but true, Ft. Van didn't do anything but sour it for players and fans alike. Nothing else worth saying, because Ft. Van isn't worth thinking about.
Probably not on the final roster.
MY SON PLAYED FOR FT VAN PIOS THIS PAST SEASON. WE "HIS PARENTS" PAID EVERY PENNY. WE JUST WANT TO TAKE THIS TIME TO THANK ALL OF YOU THAT KEEP THE BASHING GOING ON. BASHING OF A BUNCH OF TALENTED KIDS WHO WORKED THERE BUTTS OFF PLAYING A GAME THAT THEY LOVE MORE THAN LIFE ITSELF. MOST OF THESE KIDS HAD NO IDEA OF THE PROBLEMS UNTIL JUST BEFORE PLAYOFFS. WE ALSO WANT TO TELL T.O. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE BAN SO THAT THESE BOYS COULD FINISH WHAT THEY STARTED, I'M SURE IT WAS NOT EASY. MY SON HAD A GREAT TIME AT NATIONALS. MEMORIES THAT WILL LAST A LIFETIME. NOW GO BACK TO YOUR PATHETIC BASHING.
I don't think many informed people are bashing the kids of Fort Van, most people are bashing your boys Loftgren Cheek and T.O. who is the most classless underhanded dishonest person that hockey in or around Washington has ever seen. USA hockey is better for having Loftgren and T.O. out forever sadly cheek is still involved and Loftgren is still throwing his money around im sure.