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I'd check it out, but this weekend I'm much more ecstatic that our local WHL squad (the Giants) handily defeated the legendary Kamloops Blazers 4 games to 1 to advance to the next round of the Memorial Cup, which is..........I'm sorry to say....vastly superior hockey.
It's strange....it's hard to explain really.......but hockey has always taken a slightly different route than the other major sports. Much like baseball, it isn't relegated to strictly educational institutions, and instead is fostered through community programs and organized minor leagues, starting as early as the age of 4. College hockey in Canada has always been seen as maybe single or double-AA calibre, mostly made up of players who are castoffs and cuts from AAA clubs riding a hockey scholarship, or players really determined to get an education and make it a higher priority than making it as a professional hockey player.
I imagine the sentiment in the States is the same. Getting into the College circuit is fine, but if you're serious about hockey you'd bolt from any University at the drop of a hat to play for the Portland Winterhawks or Tri-cities Americans.
Not to say it's bad hockey. It's probably a fun, exciting game, and there's nothing that comes close to the fervent rivalry between American Colleges in all competitions. But it simply does not compare to the might and calibre of the Canadian Junior Hockey system.
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