At 09:35 AM 11/10/00, you wrote:
>Barrett tried to sign with Buffalo but it came down to their offer and
>Barrett's belief that he should get the rookie maximum. What he is doing
>now is the same thing Mike Van Ryan of Michigan did a couple of years ago.
>There is a loophole that allows a college player that doesn't sign with
>the team that holds his NHL rights to go to Major Juniors and play there
>for a year. Then, they become un-restricted free agents and can sign with
>any NHL team.


I just read recently that the OHL has closed this loophole.  Other leagues,
such as the WHL, have not so it remains to be seen if the OHL is setting
the trend or if they will have to revert to the old policy to compete.

-Deron