Canada vs America 2009

Many of us wanted this discussion to begin ASAP after numerous discussions from the past and during recent Saturday games.
Because of the results of the last two CanAM games USA needs to change the way we have been doing business in order to win against "Canada/World" team.
It is important for anyone who has played in the past 2 games to post their opinions about the future of these events as well as players who plan on playing this year.

Questions For Discussion:

Should/is the CanAm game a "come one/come all game"?
My Answer; No! If we divert from "throw your stick in the middle" way of fate selecting teams then we have already began the "picking teams or have begun a segregation approach" to the whole SSH concept of throw your stick in the middle mentality.


Should we limit the number of players?
My Answer; Yes. Last year was a total clusterF@$! that killed us by having 30 people on the bench and the worst players that day taking the most amount of shift time. Lots of mismatches , infighting etc, etc. Nothing more than an unorganized mob! There were and still are a lot of players that don't have a clue about the etiquette of make line changes and are often too stubborn or clueless to rotate out with the other players on the bench. I'm personally not a fan of the worst player taking the most amount of playing time. We need to be more organized and get away from the "USA Mob Team" approach to be competitive.

If so, how do we select a team?
My Answer; I think we should have players play in weekly games and "earn" a spot on the USA team. Everyone who wants to play on the USA team should put their names on the roster. Over the next few (2-3 weeks) we should have the USA players have 15 votes (one for each player to represent USA) and vote for players who they would want to represent USA. The number of votes is dependent on the total number of players we decide to field for the game 15-20. That way if there is a player that is "good" but doesn't act as a team player I.E double half ass shifts,cherry picking and not playing D, or someone who doesn't hustle etc. This gives an equal chance to the players who are not as "good" as others but have the team player and hard working qualities that will be noticed and voted upon respectively. Those players that are selected by the USA roster will play and represent the USA appropriately.

If not, should we have a separate game for the players that want to play as a "select team" or a competitive USA vs. Canada game? Canada; What say you?
My Answer; I'm open to a rec team and a competitive team. Maybe a simple tournament style approach at the Can Am game???


If we have two divisions should we have a recreational game before 2pm and a competitive game after the recreational "come one/come all" game? Or select another date for the real game USA say in another challenge event?

My Answer; My vote would be to categorize the CanAm game as a real representation of the USA vs. Canada/World players. Recreational division game to be played at 12pm come one/come all. The real game to start at 2pm. Otherwise the CanAm Mob type game will mean as much as a "Lefties vs. Righties" game in my book.

Should we bring in a Ref and have a penility box to keep the game cleaner?

My answer; Yes, we could have one Canadian ref and one American ref. These people could be injured regular players or outsiders who know the game of hockey.



Lets all discuss these topic's until June 1st and then let's make a finial decision as to what the game plan will be. I'll talk to the COMMISH and see if we can somehow send or host a voting system and we can vote in the 3rd of June after that Saturdays game as to the meaning and format of this years CanAm game.
We have the blessing of the Canadian/World team coaches and management to make this a "bring your best team" event. Now let put it to a discussion and vote!
If you don't participate in the discussion or the vote you haven't earned the right to complain about this years event!