The Ontario Hockey League insists it does not condone 15-year-olds entering its playing ranks.
But when you're 14-year-old John Tavares, who happened to score 83 goals playing in the Toronto area this past season, the OHL is willing to make an exception.
After developing a process that the major-junior league hopes will soon be the standard across Canada when it comes to dealing with underage hockey phenoms, the OHL has determined that the Oakville native is an "exceptional" hockey player.
As a result, Tavares -- who turns 15 on Sept. 27 -- will be eligible for Saturday's OHL entry draft, where it's expected he will be selected first overall by the Oshawa Generals. (Oshawa general manager Brad Selwood admitted as much last night on The Fan sports radio station.)
The OHL normally does not allow players under 15 to be drafted.
"We unanimously conclude . . . that John Tavares is an 'exceptional' 15-year-old hockey player, who possesses the maturity and strength to play in the Ontario Hockey League for the 2005-06 season," was the finding of a panel established by the OHL to assess Tavares's request to enter the OHL next season.
The decision of the panel, which included former National Hockey League star Doug Gilmour, was released yesterday.
In arriving at its decision, the panel conducted interviews not only with Tavares and his family, but also sought input from the player's high school teacher.
"John Tavares is that once-in-a-while player, a person who is capable of playing in the OHL at the age of 15," said panel chairman Kevin Burkett, a respected labour arbitrator and mediator who is also an experienced minor-league hockey coach. Burkett said that Tavares displays the maturity level of many 18-year-old players.
OHL commissioner David Branch said the decision, which will mean that Tavares will be competing against players as much as four years older than himself, does not mean that his league has declared open season for all 15-year-olds.
He said the extensive evaluation process that Tavares has been subjected to indicates he is a special individual who will not only be able to handle the athletic challenges of playing against older players, but also the emotional and academic components as well.
"I can't overstate . . . the analysis, the information, the reports that were submitted, suggest that this young man is far beyond his years as a person and suggested that he does have the ability to cope with everything that could come at him through his OHL career," Branch said.
Tavares, who is already more than 6 foot, is considered far and away the best Ontario player born in 1990. The honours student in high school scored 83 goals and 64 assists in 77 games this past season for the Toronto Marlies midget team.
He is already being touted as the next Sidney Crosby, the star of the Rimouski Oceanic in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League who would in all likelihood have been the top choice in this year's NHL draft were it not cancelled as a result of the labour lockout.
Branch said he does not believe the decision to allow Tavares into the league will open the floodgates.
The last 15-year-old to play in the OHL was Jason Spezza with the Brampton Battalion in 1998-99. Spezza is now in the NHL with the Ottawa Senators.
Before Spezza, Rico Fata, now with the NHL's Pittsburgh Penguins, played as a 15-year-old with the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds and Kirk Muller, a former NHL player with Montreal and Toronto, also played at 15 in the Soo.
To help safeguard against frivolous applications from overzealous parents of 15-year-old hockey-playing prodigies who want to follow in Tavares's footsteps, the OHL is suggesting that a $1,000 application fee be implemented.
"You may get aggressive, ambitious parents," Branch said. "But there's also going to be in there that if you wish to apply to be considered an 'exceptional' player, you must file a deposit fee of $1,000 so that we don't hopefully get frivolous applications.The OHL normally does not allow players under 15 to be drafted.
"And it's not returned if you're deemed not to be 'exceptional.' "
Branch said the OHL's evaluation process to determine "exceptional" players will be forwarded to Hockey Canada, which is said to be putting the final touches on a similar proposal of its own to minimize the numbers of 15- and 16-year-olds moving up to play junior hockey.