OHL To Ban European Goaltenders

More opportunities may be waiting in the not too distant future for Ontario goaltenders as the OHL plans to do away with European goalies.

In order to achieve their goal, the OHL will ban the selection of goalies in the CHL Import Draft, beginning next year. The change, which was decided at a recent CHL goaltending symposium, aims to create more opportunities for Canadian born goaltenders. The plan, will effectively eliminate all European goaltenders from the OHL in the next four years.

Although only four OHL teams featured European goaltenders last season, three of the four teams participating in this year’s Memorial Cup started European goalies, and all three NHL candidates for the Vezina Trophy are European.

With the move taking effect soon, the door may be open for more local goaltenders who otherwise would find themselves buried at the Junior A, B, or C levels to advance.

Chatham-Kent Cyclones goalie Brendan Johnston is one local goalie who could benefit from the move, as Johnston was selected by the Windsor Spitfires, and signed by the team this spring. Similarly, had this rule been in place previously, Chatham Maroons goaltender Darien Ekblad may have seen full time OHL duty last season, as the All-Star Junior B netminder, was behind Russian goalie Nikita Serebryakov on the Saginaw Spirit depth chart. Ekblad appeared in his first career OHL game this season, recording a win.

Have your say! Do you think it’s right for the OHL to ban European goaltenders?