NCAA poised to start allowing players from the CHL
Xander Holcomb, Contributor |
A big shift is potentially in the works for the structure of junior hockey in Canada, as the National Collegiate Athletics Association (NCAA) looks poised to begin allowing players from the Canadian Hockey League (CHL), as SportsNet reported in February.
Charlie Black, the former assistant GM for the Surrey Eagles of British Columbia Hockey League (BCHL), says that currently CHL players are barred from NCAA competition as they receive a small stipend from their CHL teams, and are thus classified as professional athletes.
Instead, the NCAA must draw from college-tracking Junior ‘A’ leagues such as the Alberta Junior Hockey League (AJHL), or the BCHL to fill out their rosters.
It also means that players must choose between the CHL and NCAA before beginning their junior hockey career.
Much like the college route, the CHL is comprised of three member leagues: the Western Hockey League (WHL), Ontario Hockey League (OHL), and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League (QMJHL).
Players are drafted into one of the three CHL leagues at just 14, but many factors will make up their decision to play in the CHL or choose a college-tracking path.
American-born goaltender Charlie Zolin was the first overall selection into the QMJHL in its 2020 draft, but instead chose to pursue the NCAA path, playing in college-tracking leagues in Alberta and British Columbia.
“I wanted the ability to receive collegiate education while also playing the sport that I love, and I think that’s a better opportunity in the long run,” Zolin said.
Zolin’s choice to focus on education is a common theme among players who choose the college route.
“There is a life after hockey,” Black explained. “This path is a chance to have an education to fall back on, or pursue other interests.”
A 2020 study found that the CHL “remains a popular route and it is an opportunity that many top players strive for because it remains the best route to the NHL.” More than 46 per cent of the NHL is made up of players who played in the CHL, as opposed to only 24 per cent from the NCAA.
Some players also understand that their abilities may be more suited to the NCAA, which is known to be more skill and speed-oriented.
“Sometimes you have a smaller player that would be absolutely slaughtered physically in the CHL, or would need more time to develop, and that’s where the NCAA is such an attractive option,” Black said.
It is true that CHL players can go to Canadian universities like Mount Royal University, and play college level in USports, but there is a much smaller success rate for these players turning professional. Between 2005 and 2020, only six USport players made it into NHL games, compared to almost 200 former NCAA players in 2017 alone.
Even one game in the CHL will cost players their NCAA eligibility, which severely limits their options once they have graduated from junior hockey. The new proposal would change that, allowing players who are released from CHL teams after a handful of games to continue playing in a college-tracking league and eventually play in the NCAA.
The new proposal will restrict CHL players from playing NCAA until they turn 20, and have graduated from the CHL.
For Zolin, it’s an opportunity that he wished he had available to him when he made his choice.
“The CHL has probably the three best junior leagues in the world, and to have the option to play both [CHL and NCAA] would be a tremendous opportunity,” Zolin said.
Black believes that it will benefit players, but won’t lead to a major change in where players decide to play their junior hockey. Instead, top-end players who want to use the NCAA path will still use college-tracking leagues to be able to play in college at 17 or 18 as “true freshmen.”
In the meantime, young players across the country will still have to make that decision as to what path they want to take for their career, and their life after hockey.
