SMJHL is a league for the first gen rookies:

"The SMJHL's main purpose is to introduce the first generation members to the site and how it works, from how to apply your TPE to how to gain money. This league is where you are supposed to learn it all.
This to setup the user for the real deal, the SHL."

Id say this is more of the responsibility of Juniors GM's, Mentors & HO; a league (SMJHL) doesn't introduce people to the fundamentals of the site nor does it teach them how to apply TPE, that comes from asking questions, GMs reaching out and offering advice, posting guidelines and how-to's also staying up to date with rookies making sure they aren't confused and are generally enjoying themselves the SMJHL more or less prepares people for the cruelty that is STHS and gets them used to reading idex's, ect. In the GOMHL you have one league, the "league" doesn't teach you anything that comes from the quality members, GMs, mentors, teammates and HO

Rookie ice time:

Actives over inactive, I get that for sure although are you playing a 160 active rookie over a capped inactive? competition matters at the end of the day and rookies understand that, it gives actives something to work towards "I want to improve so I move up in the lines" I like giving guys this fire and 9 times out of 10 I see them rise to the occasion and they are replacing higher TPE inactives in no time at all and enjoying the story line along the way. Its not "welcome to the SMJHL here have first line minutes, dont worry you dont have to work for it"... there is nothing to learn there imo. You earn your ice time its the same everywhere its makes sense to me and should be that way. There are dozens of other ways to keep a rookie active giving them top minutes shouldn't have to be one of them that being said I think there is a good balance that needs to be met and as long as your players are happy are you really doing anything wrong?

350 TPE cap is to low:

I have bounced back and forth between raising the cap or keeping it, its hard to say how it would affect things without seeing concrete evidence. I think you may end up with rookies spending more time playing less minutes do to the now larger tpe gap between rookies and 2nd or 3rd year players. I like the increase in build diversity and I like the idea of giving juniors more stuff to spend tpe on but in the end I think this goes against most peoples concern of rookies not playing enough (which I dont think is a concern personally)

Competitiveness of the SMJHL should not be the focus of the league:

100% it should be part of the league I dont know if its necessarily the "main" focus I think that's an assumption of how each team feels. The main focus to me is making sure my guys are having fun period always has been and always will be. I think preforming well & winning cups are just a result of doing that and keeping people around and engaged. I'm fine with everyone making the playoffs I think that does help make the off season a little more bearable and creates some good story lines yet at the same time I understand how shitty it would be to be knocked out of the playoffs by a team that probably shouldn't have even made it because you know... STHS lol.

Spending to long time in the SMJHL is bad:

I never thought this was a bad thing I remember when Kez was SMJHL Commish he actually wanted to make lifetime SMJHL'ers a thing, not sure if he still feels the same way but I loved that idea, I guess it depends if people consider the SMJHL to be more like the CHL or the AHL. I really like the idea of being able to stay as long as you want but maybe after 5 seasons you hit "junior regression" which is more harsh then the SHL regression encouraging people to make the leap.



At the end of the day rookies come in and want to help the "Team" not themselves, I think that "I need to be top scorer" mindset is way more rare then the "I want to help my team win a cup" mindset. Hockey is a team sport at the end of the day. Rookies learn and grow and stay active through teammates, the LR, & GMs being active and diligent, ultimately people want to be around a winning culture. Winning cups is not the main focus of a team nor should it be, but when everyone does their job right the result is such. The goal isn't to win numerous cups in a row either its to be competitive and keep your guys happy the later is only a result of everyone on a team doing their jobs to the best of their ability.