Shanahan's best Ontario junior fix lets 16-year-olds pick their rink

The headline in Brendan Shanahan's report is a new executive job. The recommendation that matters is number four: let 16- and 17-year-olds sign with any eligible team, with no geographic restrictions. That's the one a kid and his family will feel this winter.

Hockey Canada hired Shanahan in January to review men's junior hockey in Ontario. The report landed Friday with 11 recommendations, built on more than 50 interviews and a survey of about 700 people. All four bodies involved signed off: Hockey Canada, the Ontario Hockey Federation, Hockey Eastern Ontario and Hockey Northwestern Ontario. Rollout starts this winter.

Why this review happened

The NCAA's eligibility changes opened new doors for 19- and 20-year-olds, and Ontario's junior system was built for a world where those doors were shut. That's the pressure underneath all 11 recommendations.

Ontario is also just messier than anywhere else in the country. It has three member associations and Junior A, B and C leagues stacked on top of each other. The implementation guide names six leagues, from the OJHL and GOHL to the NOJHL and SIJHL. The OHL isn't one of them. It's the model the rest get lined up behind.

The four that matter to a player

One boss. Hockey Canada creates an executive role over Ontario men's junior, and junior gets split from minor hockey on governance. My read: overdue. A Junior A kid weighing a college offer and a U11 house league shouldn't share a policy meeting.

No borders at 16 and 17. Registration opens up to any eligible team. My read: this is the best line in the report. A late bloomer in a small town shouldn't need a lawyer and a moving truck to play at the right level.

One rulebook, aligned with the OHL. Every men's junior league plays the same rules. My read: good for the kid who gets called up midseason. He shouldn't be learning a new rulebook on a Tuesday in January.

Someone to call. A player pathway hotline through Hockey Canada, plus education consultants in every league. My read: this is the NCAA recommendation in disguise. Families are choosing between the OHL, Junior A and college under rules that changed fast. Most of them have never read an eligibility bylaw, and they shouldn't have to.

The rest is the less glamorous stuff that still matters: a standard billeting policy, more off-ice education, better links with universities and the U16 and U18 programs, and more help after the playing days end.

What Shanahan said

"The 11 recommendations reflect what we heard from individuals across the province, and I am hopeful that once implemented, men's junior hockey in Ontario will be even more athlete- and development-focused," Shanahan said.

Hockey Canada CEO Katherine Henderson said the organization is eager to start "as early as this winter."

My call

This is a good report, and the proof will be boring. Grade it next September on two things. Did a 16-year-old from Thunder Bay sign where he wanted to? And did anybody actually call the hotline before picking a path?

If the answer to both is yes, Ontario junior hockey got better for the kids in it. The new executive can take the bow after that.