Didn't get drafted? Take out a newspaper ad to whine about it!

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Alternate thread title:

How to make sure that no coach will EVER draft your kid as long as you're still his parent!

Banga deals with draft list omission


Banga deals with draft list omission
Minor midget hits junior tryout camps

Jim Parker
Windsor Star
Saturday, May 10, 2008


Gurinder Banga wanted to celebrate his son's accomplishments and also find a reason why no one else would recognize his achievements.

As last Saturday's Ontario Hockey League Draft was set to begin, The Windsor Star hit doorsteps with a picture of his son Sammy Banga in his Windsor Junior Spitfires jersey congratulating him on his season.

It also begged the question why would his son not be taken in Saturday's OHL Draft.

"I just wanted people to notice what was going on," Gurinder Banga said.

The problem for 15-year-old Sammy Banga was simple.

He was never placed on the OHL's Draft list.

If a player isn't on the list, he isn't eligible to be drafted.

"It was pretty disappointing when I found out," said Sammy Banga, who has played hockey since he was six and played AAA travel for seven seasons.

"I wanted to see if anyone could tell me why I didn't make the list."

The OHL's central scouting bureau is responsible for forming the initial list and updating it through the season.

FIVE ADDITIONS

Prior to Saturday's draft, each of the 20 OHL teams is permitted to make five additions to the list, but Banga was not among those either.

"If he was on the draft list, I think he would be drafted," Gurinder Banga said.

In fact, the younger Banga has many of the tools scouts look for in a prospect.

At five-foot-11 and 160 pounds, he's not undersized for his age.

He led his minor midget team last season with 39 goals and finished with 71 points in 52 games, which shows he has a scoring touch.

"In the overall scheme of things, this kid should have been on the list," Kitchener Rangers head scout Mike Sadler said.

"He has the heart of a Lion, but he's not a great skater and he's not five-foot-11."

Windsor Spitfires general manager Warren Rychel took the extra step and called Gurinder Banga to talk about his son.

"His skating needs to improve, but there's something there," Rychel said.

"Lots of kids don't get drafted, but it's not the end."

And it doesn't mean he can't make his way on to the draft list again next year.

Windsor drafted Mitch Cain in the 10th round this year after he was passed over last season.

As well, former Spitfire T.J. Battani is headed to the Memorial Cup with Kitchener after being passed over his first year.

"If I was Sammy Banga, I'd just go out and prove people wrong," Rychel said.

That's what Banga is trying to do.

He went to junior B Leamington's camp last weekend and junior C Belle River Wednesday. He also plans to hit junior B camps in Petrolia and Chatham.

"I know it's not the end of the world and he still has a chance," Gurinder Banga said.

"We'll see how it goes."

[STLtender]

What a pussy. I would be embarassed if I were him/his father

[T Kell 09]

I would be embarassed if i were the son, the father took out the article.

[roger]

loosers both of them,play hard and get drafted next year you big babby
booooo hooooo,i hope no team wants him after that...

[LukePhillips]

Well, there goes his career. No one is going to take a chance on a kid when he has a basket case father. The guy is an idiot on several levels. No team wants to deal with that. Thanks dad!

[leaferguy]

Sucks if he did have talent, cause it doesn't look like he'll ever get to show it (unless a team is cash-strapped).

[Crazee]

Thanks to his father, it looks like his development will now regress. Trying out for junior B and C teams after playing AAA?

[azdave]

If he really is that good or Dad has an in that kid will be playing somewhere and soon. A lot of placements seem to come from 1. a need 2. money or a combination of both. If this kid's dad can take out an ad, seems like the money part is there.

We just had a kid where the parents went full blown crazy last year and swear they would never set foot in the rink come back and guess what? He is on the team. Seems odd but you see it all the time.

I think the kid should go about becoming the best he can be and perhaps the dad stuff will get forgotten.

[jf-laflaire]

I hate articles like this. Makes me upset. How does someone have a right to be drafted in the OHL? There are NO absolutes. This is what's wrong with minor hockey in Windsor-Essex county, **** like this. And even dragging Rychel into this too... what a bunch of ****. What a great way to lose ALL your respect.

I don't read the Windsor Star anymore for reasons like this [mainly not in sports though, sports is really supposed to be fun right?], bad articles about whinny hockey players. Reporters mis-quoting things, mis-using phrases & so forth.

My torts prof called the Windsor Star, "Windsor's worst written fiction," me being one of few "native Windsorites" is the only one who gets it

When I was younger, I remember reading another whiner story before of a kid playing Junior C who didn't get drafted... all he does is play hockey, all he wants... yadda, yadda, yadda crap... face it kid, if you were good enough you would still be playing... either work on your game & improve or get off.

Geez, you never see one of these stories end up playing at a higher level ironically... wonder about the mental makeup.