> Is there some loophole that I don't know about?  I always thought that
"once a professional, always a professional" was the policy of the  NC$$,
and the WHL was considered pro.
 
The easiest way to put this is that some juniors players are pro, but most
are amateur.  A few juniors players have signed pro contracts but are held
in the juniors for seasoning -- Marion Hossa of the Ottawa Senators /
Portland Winter Hawks is a good example this year -- so the juniors are not
a purely amateur system.  But for the most part, the compensation which the
juniors players receive is no more "professional" than are the athletic
scholarships given by many colleges.
 
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