CHARLOTTETOWN, P.E.I. — Jack Howatt and Donovan Arsenault weren’t surprised, but disappointed Wednesday to hear the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL) cancelled the in-person component of the June 6 draft.
The league announced Wednesday morning the draft of midget-aged players would be held online this year due to the coronavirus (COVID-19 strain).
The QMJHL cancelled the remaining games of its regular season, its awards gala, the Gatorade Excellence Challenge, a New England showcase and a goaltenders’ development camp earlier in the week.
“You could feel that this was coming up next,” said Howatt, a 15-year-old goalie from Charlottetown. “It’s disappointing because, growing up, you dream about attending your draft, hearing your name called and getting to meet all the staff members from the team that same day.”
Arsenault, a 15-year-old forward from Richmond, also saw the writing on the wall.
“I kind of predicted this coming,” he said, noting how the virus had shut down the hockey world.
The six-foot-one, 185-pound right-winger with the Kensington Monaghan Farms Wild had thought about hearing his name called at the draft for years.
“It would be a really cool experience, but I guess I won’t be able to participate in that,” he said. “It just kind of sucks that you don't get to have that experience, but it is what it is.”
Howatt and Arsenault were two of the midget-aged players who were expected to have their name called when the draft occurred in Sherbrooke, Que. They will still be eligible, but it won’t happen in person with a walk to the stage or the table of the team which selects them.
Jim Hulton, head coach and general manager of the Charlottetown Islanders, said the in-person draft separated the QMJHL from the Ontario and Western hockey leagues.
“It put a big spotlight on the individual players,” he said.
For some it would be the highlight of their career, while others it is the starting point of their junior career en route to the NHL. The in-person draft allowed teams to have most of their picks under one roof at one time and help sell their programs to prospective players.
“There’s a lot that’s accomplished on that day, so it’s unfortunate, because of the times we’re in, that we’ll have to cancel it and move on,” Hulton said.
He’s been through online drafts in other leagues and said there’s a difference.
“There’s not the adrenaline rush, there’s not the hype, there’s not the media attention,” he said. “A lot of things that help us to sell our league – don’t exist when you go online.
“The economics of (an online draft) might be favourable but the optics of it certainly aren’t.”
Howatt said the 2004-born players on his Charlottetown Bulk Carriers Knights were looking forward to the Gatorade Excellence Challenge, representing Prince Edward Island and wearing the province’s colours while competing against their peers from eastern Canada.
Howatt and Arsenault were in the midst of the Prince Edward Island major midget series when Hockey Canada cancelled all sanctioned events late Thursday night.
“The first few days were tough to wrap your head around not being able to play,” Arsenault said.
Howatt called it heartbreaking.
“We were playing our best hockey of the year,” he said. “That hurt.”
Hulton and his scouting staff won’t get to see players compete in the biggest events of the year. Provincial major midget series were heating up across the region while Atlantics, nationals and scouting combines won’t occur.
“Your staff works diligently from September right up until June. They have a lot of the information already,” Hulton said. “Maybe, in one sense, there’ll be less mistakes because people like me can’t go out and watch a guy play twice and influence a decision.”
The QMJHL draft started in 1973 and has always been an in-person draft.
