I mentioned the embarrassment of the Wisconsin Junior Hockey League yesterday, and here's a little more on that.
According to the head coach of the Rhinelander team, the league has collapsed. The Rhinelander Daggers were trying to gain admission in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League, but so far, I haven't heard anything.
I questioned yesterday whether the league's failure was due to poor planning or straight up wrongdoing on the part of the people running the league. The latter looks to be in the lead right now, with most of the blame falling on WJHL franchise director Scott Schwendeman. Said Rhinelander head coach Igor Myaskovskiy, "The guy is almost like a criminal."
Calling him almost a criminal is in fact, too kind. If you search Wisconsin Court Records, you'll find a pretty impressive rap sheet for a 26-year-old, including a lot of small claims to recover lost money, writing bad checks, and a couple bail jumping accusations.
That link is also helpful for keeping track of all the lawsuits filed against him so far in relation to the WJHL debacle. He also received a speeding ticket on September 2nd, presumably while driving away with those people's money.
It's really a shame that something like this happened. I guess the lesson here for players and parents is to be very careful when dealing with unsanctioned leagues. The WJHL was never sanctioned by USA Hockey, and according to USA Hockey, they never even talked with USA Hockey. Perhaps USA Hockey's rules and regulations for junior leagues would have kept something like this from happening.
According to the head coach of the Rhinelander team, the league has collapsed. The Rhinelander Daggers were trying to gain admission in the Minnesota Junior Hockey League, but so far, I haven't heard anything.
I questioned yesterday whether the league's failure was due to poor planning or straight up wrongdoing on the part of the people running the league. The latter looks to be in the lead right now, with most of the blame falling on WJHL franchise director Scott Schwendeman. Said Rhinelander head coach Igor Myaskovskiy, "The guy is almost like a criminal."
Calling him almost a criminal is in fact, too kind. If you search Wisconsin Court Records, you'll find a pretty impressive rap sheet for a 26-year-old, including a lot of small claims to recover lost money, writing bad checks, and a couple bail jumping accusations.
That link is also helpful for keeping track of all the lawsuits filed against him so far in relation to the WJHL debacle. He also received a speeding ticket on September 2nd, presumably while driving away with those people's money.
It's really a shame that something like this happened. I guess the lesson here for players and parents is to be very careful when dealing with unsanctioned leagues. The WJHL was never sanctioned by USA Hockey, and according to USA Hockey, they never even talked with USA Hockey. Perhaps USA Hockey's rules and regulations for junior leagues would have kept something like this from happening.