Saturday News

Edmonton Oil Kings scooped up local product J.P. Szaszkiewicz in expansion draft... Soo Thunderbirds camp in full swing... Don't call Lewiston Maineiac (and former EJHL/USHLer) Matt Bourdeau a rookie... Ryan Ostertag is in Regina trying to follow his grandfather's footsteps... Former Springfield Blues netminder Michael Garman enters training camp for the Nanaimo Clippers as their #1 goalie... Prince George Cougars head coach Drew Schoneck is not real happy with the performance of his vets in training camp... Blueliner Patrik Magnusson fills big skates at Cougars’ camp... Burnaby Express head coach Dave McLellan assesses training camp hopefuls... Belle Tire LW RJ Mahalak, 15, signs with Plymouth Whalers... Guelph Storm open camp Wednesday... Former F-M Jet Matt Moreland signs with CHL Arizona Sundogs... Prince Albert Raider hopefuls work to show Bruno Campese what they've got... Abitibi Eskimoes looking forward to coming season... Plenty of Cape Breton talent trying out for QMJHL teams... Chiliwack Bruins add Bob Rouse to coaching staff... Pair of former USHL players land on South Carolina Stingrays roster... Vernon Vipers primed for camp opening... Regina Pats facing media attention competition from the 6-2 Saskatchewan Roughriders... Jordan Foreman looking forward to fresh start with Niagara Ice Dogs... Thunder Bay Bearcats head coach Vern Ray (talk about a blast from the past, here in Fort Worth at least) trades his leading scorer from last season... Willy Palov: Ten reasons to go to QMJHL rinks this season... Victoria Grizzlies coach Rick Lanz eyes jump to NHL scouting job... Moose Jaw signs Quinton Howden, their first pick overall from the Western Hockey League bantam draft... Regina Pats release Justin Scot, getting down to three 20-year olds...

Thursday News

US Jr. B Nationals open today. You can track the games on Pointstreak or listen here to the games... Meanwhile, the New Hampshire Junior Monarchs took the Tier III-A title... There's no mention of the USHL in this article, but Kevin Reichard over at ArenaDigest.com says the league is under consideration in the murky confusion that is the hockey scene in Toledo... Sooke Stingers considering relocation And finally, a non-hockey related aside. My college roommate bagged this beauty in the Texas Panhandle yesterday before later losing his windshield...

A look at the books

The great thing about most American junior hockey leagues being 501(c) organizations is that their annual IRS Form 990 tax filings are public information. So here are the most recently available filings for some of those leagues. These forms provide some rather interesting information about the revenues and expenditures of each league. I'm not going to make a lot of comments at this time about any particular league's filing. The posting of these forms may generate some controversy (no one likes being examined), so why am I doing this? First off, I'm a strong believer in transparency - I'd be surprised if many teams ever looked at the filings of their own leagues. I also believe these forms contain information that each league could find useful. I don't mean that in a political intelligence sense, but a "Best Practices" one. However, I will include the caveat that each league is different in the services they provide directly, as well as how they categorize and/or itemize their revenues and/or expenses. That said, I would caution anyone from jumping to conclusions. In addition, I'm also throwing in the Big 3 NCAA leagues, as well as the NHL and AHL, which recently switched their operations to 501(c)'s. Junior Leagues NAHL: 2004-05 EJHL: 2005-06 CSHL: 2004-05 MJHL: 2004-05 WSHL: 2004-05 College Leagues CCHA: 2004-05 WCHA: 2004-05 Hockey East: 2004-05 Pro Leagues NHL: 2004-05 AHL: 2004-05 In other news... IceDogs headed for Niagara Falls??? OHL All-Star Festival rolls out the red carpet in Saginaw... CHL and NHL partnership to offer officiating development camp... Saskatoon Blades lose director of business operations...