A report recently released by the International Ice Hockey Federation (IIHF) noted that nearly 80 percent of European players who play in the CHL (the Canadian junior leagues, where the bulk of players are drafted by NHL teams) never make it to the National Hockey League.

In recent years many young European hockey hopefuls have gone over to play in Canada supposedly to help them adapt to the North American game. The IIHF report recommends that most of those positions going to European players in the CHL should instead be going to North American players.

The report was released by the IIHF in hopes of allowing European players to play longer in the European leagues to not only hone their skills but also to bolster European hockey.

Hockey Night in Canada’s controversial analyst Don Cherry claims this report supports his long-held contention that young European players have received preferential treatment over Canadian players.

"You have all these Canadian kids who are working their #### off, just trying to get drafted”, Cherry told the Toronto Globe & Mail. “And they were passed over for guys that are Europeans. The Canadians were just as good. It boggled by my mind."

Cherry also told the G&M that cultural differences and language are to blame for the slow development of European players in the CHL.

His comments infuriated Ken Campbell of The Hockey News, who points out that “elite players, for the most part, will find their way to the NHL whether they play in Europe, the Canadian junior system or U.S. college hockey.”

While Cherry cited former Chicago Blackhawks prospect Igor Radulov as an example of why young Europeans struggle in the CHL, Campbell cites Marian Hossa, Petr Sykora and Tomas Vanek as star NHL’ers who adapted well to playing in either the CHL or the American college ranks.

Campbell also points out that, while nearly 80 percent of European prospects may not make it to the NHL, over 20 percent of them do. “The fact is, the CHL would love to have a graduation rate among Canadian players to the NHL that would be anywhere near that”, Campbell writes. “Next time you go to a junior game, take a close look at both benches. If more than three or four players from the two teams combined end up having a lengthy NHL career, you’ve pretty much hit the jackpot.”

He also points out that the CHL allows only two European players per team and “theoretically, they are taking up the spots of the two worst home-grown players on those teams, players who probably wouldn’t have had a snowball’s chance in Hades of making the NHL anyway.”

I have plenty of respect for Don Cherry, whose hockey sense is usually far sharper than his critics give him credit for, but I’ve never been comfortable with his rants against European players. I’m firmly on side with Campbell on this subject.

I’d love to hear your thoughts on this folks!