BCHL talent scooped up by WHL

by Scott Brown of The Nanaimo Daily News

"There is no hidden agenda in the reason why we keep some of our 16-year-old players, if we don't (keep them) we won't get them back (from the BCHL)," said Hamilton. "I am one of the owners of the (BCHL's Penticton Vees), so I'm not bashing anyone, but I believe the best players should be playing at the highest level possible."

"The way we have to combat it is we have to get rid of the 17-year-old import rules if we want to compete with them. The (WHL) has the best of both worlds. We're prevented from bringing Grade 12 students from out of province but they can take players from us at any time, basically for free, no fee," said Bestwick.

"They can talk to our players any time they want. There's no tampering. And of course, colleges can't talk to these kids until they've finished Grade 11. It's not a level playing surface and in order for us to get a level playing surface we have to play by the same rules as them."

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