OT: Kyle Okposo quits Gophs mid-season to join Islanders...

[Gopher Blog]

It may be pricey but a high 1st rounder with a lot of money coming his way could probably handle the insurance coverage for six months or so.

[Observer85]

It may be pricey but a high 1st rounder with a lot of money coming his way could probably handle the insurance coverage for six months or so.

Problem is the premium is due now, not in the future. Who pays it, the parent, kid, family advisor?? Well the parent might consider it. The kid most likely is like all kids and has no money. The family advisor, most likely not, since their should be nothing in writing that binds the player and the agent...it would violate the NCAA amateurism rules.

Again, it not the premium so much as what injury do you cover, the right knee or left knee?

[Gopher Blog]

Judging from his parents, I am sure they could handle it. Both well educated (Pharmacology), etc.

[goldy313]

On insurance, usually the advisor (agent) pays it. Hockey may be different because these kids aren't coming from low income households like most football and basketball prospects are. Reggie Bush, LeBron James, etc. all had advisors and all paid insurance money. Think about it, the advisor is usually in an agreemnet that they will become the players agent when that time comes. If the player gets injured the advisor/agent gets a good chunk of the money because they're losing out on money too.

[Gopher Blog]

On insurance, usually the advisor (agent) pays it. Hockey may be different because these kids aren't coming from low income households like most football and basketball prospects are. Reggie Bush, LeBron James, etc. all had advisors and all paid insurance money. Think about it, the advisor is usually in an agreemnet that they will become the players agent when that time comes. If the player gets injured the advisor/agent gets a good chunk of the money because they're losing out on money too.

I believe this is incorrect. As Observer85 noted, you can't get paid any kind of an advance (and this would be a monetary payment of sorts) from an agent/adviser without losing your amateur status with the NCAA. That is why kids don't sign anything official with an agent prior to going pro.

From what I can tell from the NCAA guidelines, it goes like this:

12.1.2.4.2 Exception for Insurance against Disabling Injury or Illness. An individual may borrow against his or her future earnings potential from an established, accredited commercial lending institution exclusively for the purpose of purchasing insurance (with no cash surrender value) against a disabling injury or illness that would prevent the individual from pursuing a chosen career, provided a third party (including a member institution’s athletics department staff members, its professional sports counseling panel or representatives of its athletics interests) is not involved in arrangements for securing the loan. The student-athlete shall report all such transactions and shall file copies of any loan documents associated with disability insurance with the member institution, regardless of the source of the collateral for the loan. The student-athlete also shall file copies of the insurance policy with the member institution, regardless of whether a loan is secured to purchase the insurance policy. (Revised: 1/16/93, 1/14/97 effective 8/1/97)

[Observer85]

You beat me to it Gopher Blog regarding the comment by Goldy that the player's advisor/agent can front the money. And better yet, you included actual facts from the NCAA guidelines. Pretty hard to dispute.

Goldy, just so you know, there can be NO agreement - written or implied - that the advisor will become the player's agent when that time comes. NCAA has begun to crack down on the advisor role for hockey players. This fall, some players had to sit out games (including my son) as the NCAA checked into his advisor's role in his hockey career. In fact, the kid that is suppose to be at St Cloud State, Luca Cunti, is still dealing with the NCAA on that issue of the role of his advisor.

I realize that in most cases, the advisor ultimately becomes the agent for the player. But it is not always the case.

[goldy313]

This rule the NCAA has, like many, is really open ended.

For example what constitutes a third party? Does a parent? A family friend? Why I bring this up is what high school or college kid can afford insurance let alone have the collateral to put up. Without that what "reputable" financial institution would give such a loan at a fair rate? Hockey is still a sport of the upper class, it is also the exception to the norm. Most of the new enforcement is a direct result of the Reggie Bush saga.

Bush's agent worked under an assumed name as his advisor, his family accepted gifts, an insurance policy was placed on him by another party, the list is pretty big of NCAA violations. The kicker is the NCAA is powerless to do anything at this point because Bush, unlike former Oklahoma QB Rhett Bomar, no longer falls under their jurisdiction. They can't sanction USC because they had no knowledge that any of this was going on, it was outside of USC's direction or scope of responsibility, shady but true. The NCAA also has no jurisdiction over any other party like Mike Ornstein or Mike Michaels, two of the many people who gave Bush or his family gifts.

In fact the NCAA has two and really only two ways of finding fault with anyone: 1) a whistle blower, 2) an ex post facto confession by one of the parties. Only in the first case can the NCAA do anything and then and only then if either the player still has eligibility or the school itself helped in the rule breaking. The NCAA has so little power over you or me that they have almost no chance of finding much out. For instance (hypothetically) my son is a highly regarded running back entering is senior season, knowing this I buy an insurance policy on him - the NCAA has no way of knowing who actually paid for it as they can not audit me for if they could they would find out I am unable to pay for it myself but I am the on their file as the buyer even though GopherBlog paid for it as an investment. Upon completion of the football season my son is then drafted and gets a nice signing bonus which he uses to pay back GopherBlog with considerable interest. No harm no foul.

I also want to bring up LeBron James for a moment. James recieved a $60,000 H2 as a gift from his mother but that was going to do nothing to hurt his NCAA eligibility, it was his accepting 2 replica NBA throwback jerseys from an agent that would. That alone ought to speak volumes about the NCAA rule concerning gifts and their power to investigate them.

[Gopher Blog]

You beat me to it Gopher Blog regarding the comment by Goldy that the player's advisor/agent can front the money. And better yet, you included actual facts from the NCAA guidelines. Pretty hard to dispute.

I posted their rule mainly because I wanted to look it up for my own education as well as refuting something I knew wasn't accurate.

This fall, some players had to sit out games (including my son) as the NCAA checked into his advisor's role in his hockey career.

Yes, they are definitely investigating things more in depth before a kid suits up. More reason for kids and parents to be careful.

In fact, the kid that is suppose to be at St Cloud State, Luca Cunti, is still dealing with the NCAA on that issue of the role of his advisor.

I believe Cunti's issue was he had played in a league in his home country that had professionals in it and that threw his status for a loop. He announced in the last week or two that he is going to leave SCSU and play in the USHL for the rest of the year. It was also implied that the chance he'd ever play college hockey was very slim. I would guess he'll sign a pro deal of some sort after the USHL season is over.

[hockeygod2323]

appearently he was upset about Coach Lucia moving him around from wing to center and the direction the team is moving in. The Islanders have confirmed the story and as soon as he gets back from the world juniors tourney he's of to NY

[Hilltopper99]

For Kyle and the Gophers, maybe this is a good thing, although I think the NHL needs to stay away from kids during their seasons - too easy to disrupt everything a college program is trying to do. Some interesting comments in 12/28 StarTrib by Lucia. He was gracious about it, but clearly irritated that too many college kids are leaving for 2-3 year stints in the AHL.

[regdunlop77]

When will Kyle move up to the parent club?



Top-prospect Okposo assigned by Islanders to Bridgeport of AHL



2008-01-06 16:50:00
UNIONDALE, N.Y. - Top prospect Kyle Okposo will begin his career in the New York Islanders organization with Bridgeport of the AHL.

Fresh off a solid run in the world junior tournament, Okposo was assigned Sunday by the Islanders to their top minor-league affiliate. He will practice with the Sound Tigers on Thursday and make his debut at Binghamton on Friday.

Okposo's first AHL home game will be Saturday against Springfield.

The winger, chosen by the Islanders with the No. 7 pick in the 2006 draft, had a goal and five assists in seven games for the United States. The Americans finished fourth at the world juniors tournament that wrapped up Saturday in the Czech Republic.

Okposo, a 19-year-old player from St. Paul, Minn., signed a three-year, entry-level contract with the Islanders last month, shortly after he left the University of Minnesota.

He will earn US$850,000 each year of the deal and is eligible for bonuses that could reach a maximum of another $850,000 per season.

In just over a year at Minnesota, Okposo had 26 goals with 25 assists in 58 games. As a freshman, he had 19 goals and 21 assists in 40 games.

[Reggie]

Garth Snow can have him!

[Zamboni Guy]

Through Okposo's first three games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL he has 1 goal and 4 assists for a total of 5 points while also tallying 2 penalty minutes. He also has a plus/minus of 0. 5 points in 3 games isn't too shabby...must be getting some decent coaching in Bridgeport!

[Gopher Blog]

Through Okposo's first three games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL he has 1 goal and 4 assists for a total of 5 points while also tallying 2 penalty minutes. He also has a plus/minus of 0. 5 points in 3 games isn't too shabby...must be getting some decent coaching in Bridgeport!

As I said elsewhere, they must have "developed" him in a week. Just goes to show you how the lack of development angle spewed by Snow was a complete joke.

I think it simply shows how much motivation plays into a guy's performance. When a player starts the season in a place that he really doesn't want to be (he wanted to go pro last summer and did not want to go back to college hockey), your performance is going to suffer. Now he has what he wants. A contract and playing pro like his buddies EJ and Toews (although not NHL).

[tomASS]

Through Okposo's first three games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL he has 1 goal and 4 assists for a total of 5 points while also tallying 2 penalty minutes. He also has a plus/minus of 0. 5 points in 3 games isn't too shabby...must be getting some decent coaching in Bridgeport!

As I said elsewhere, they must have "developed" him in a week. Just goes to show you how the lack of development angle spewed by Snow was a complete joke.

I think it simply shows how much motivation plays into a guy's performance. When a player starts the season in a place that he really doesn't want to be (he wanted to go pro last summer and did not want to go back to college hockey), your performance is going to suffer. Now he has what he wants. A contract and playing pro like his buddies EJ and Toews (although not NHL).

Ok I didn't know that he didn't really want to come back. That explains a lot. Sometimes you have to go with your gut.

[Gopher Blog]

Ok I didn't know that he didn't really want to come back. That explains a lot. Sometimes you have to go with your gut.

He wanted to go pro very badly last summer. Ironically enough, the Islanders rebuffed him. They said if he didn't want to play college hockey any longer, he could play in the WHL (which he was not going to do). So it wasn't as if they were dying to bring him into their "developmental system" back then. Okposo came back to college because he didn't have much of an alternative..... and you can imagine how his motivation suffered because of it.

[Knowlzee]

Kyle's situation totally explains my recent lack of production at work,......"I really don't want to be here".

What about when "he really doesn't want" to be in the AHL anymore,.....just quit, I guess.

Like the saying goes,.....when the going gets tough, the tough get going (they leave).