CHL can now play NCAA - change everything !

[landy92mack29]

yeah no leagues will fold as there are still the same amount of players but now all of the best will just play chl instead of a few wasting time in Junior A before NCAA. BCHL will basically become the AHL for the CHL with some 20 yr olds vets not good enough to get a D1 or one of the 3 OA spots in the CHL. All the other Junior A leagues won't lose much to the CHL but will lose some 20s to the BCHL. Most Junior A fans don't really care where a player goes after they leave the team as long as the team itself is good/entertaining. The BCHL will lose the "prestige" of having a lot of NCAA D1 commits but overall quality won't drop that much with the trickle down from the CHL. There's only a handful of players not in the WHL that are better than the current 4th liners/3rd pairing kids.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

BCHL will basically become the AHL for the CHL

That can't happen unless the bchl comes back into Hockey Canada. It might make the most sense, but there's a lot of hard feelings on both sides right now. At least thats my sense where things are atm
I agree with everything you wrote there actually. It just might take some time. Some pretty big egos involved etc

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Chicago Steel made the playoffs last year. Projected to do again this year.

That's like as good of a "down stretch" as it gets. No franchise can sustain being one of the few best every year. If the "down years" are still respectable, that almost says as much about a franchise as the best years.

And they've pulled in a bunch of big recruits in that stretch (Hage, Valentini, Croskery, Cloutier, Parsons, Pardue, Lapointe, Schultz, Sawchyn).

 

[Bubbles]

The BCHL will lose the "prestige" of having a lot of NCAA D1 commits but overall quality won't drop that much with the trickle down from the CHL. There's only a handful of players not in the WHL that are better than the current 4th liners/3rd pairing kids.

No, quality is going to drop significantly. Those top recruits in the past, those 1st rounders like Nadeau, Wood will never go to the BCHL now. Those players that are trickling down from the CHL are not going to add to the "quality" of the players, since they're the lower end players.

Everything is in flux right now with a ton of BCHL players leaving for the CHL.

That can't happen unless the bchl comes back into Hockey Canada. It might make the most sense, but there's a lot of hard feelings on both sides right now. At least thats my sense where things are atm
I agree with everything you wrote there actually. It just might take some time. Some pretty big egos involved etc

Yes but they both need to get over it. BCHL and Hockey Canada just needs to think about the players. BCHL cannot function as it is with the new NCAA rules. If they go back, at least HC will again fund the league equally. And the players will be allowed to participate in organized tournaments.

 

[Bubbles]

The Everett Silvertips have signed Bemidji State University commit goalie Raiden LeGall to a WHL Scholarship and Development Agreement.

Not only the BCHL losing players, now MJHL. Junior A in Canada is in for a big change.

 

[jtechkid]

Theirs a good podcast yesterday with Glen Heferrman - commmish of ushl on daily faceoff( youtube ) breaks down some of the topic on whats going on . USHL right now is 78% usa kids and would expect number to increase . the have met with top people in the nhl on the subject . he gave lot of positive on ushl in developing players and bashed youth hockey in usa - cost -60-70 game schedule all about winning . In final , he said right now nobody has a grasp on how this will play out with CHL , NCAA -

 

[Hockeyville USA]

Donovan McCoy (2004 RHD out of the O) commits to Providence College

 

[lardneau]

The more I think of this change, the more I like it. A guy can now play very competitive junior hockey and then go earn a degree in college while continuing to play.

And yes, I’m aware of my naivety in that most these guys hardly think of the education piece To me, the old status quo felt too restrictive.

Very curious to see how the junior hockey landscape evolves in the coming years

 

[jtechkid]

The nig negative I see is this year NCAA div 1 is 62% usa kids so the trend is already heading down . in 5 years you couod only see 40-45% usa kids at American college . in long run this trend is hurting growth of usa hockey youth . The dream of a USA kid is to play college - they want to associate with local kids that play in their program that eventually went to play a college . this no different than local Canada kids watching local CHL teams . In USA number of kids playing youth hockey has really seen no growh - the growth in numbers is women and adult players . So in 5 years your only going have 40-45% USA kids playing for USA college, rest will be Canada and Europe - Russia . i think is not a great thing for USA hockey . This was all brought up by the Commish of ushl in his interview.

 

[Hockeyville USA]

The nig negative I see is this year NCAA div 1 is 62% usa kids so the trend is already heading down . in 5 years you couod only see 40-45% usa kids at American college . in long run this trend is hurting growth of usa hockey youth . The dream of a USA kid is to play college - they want to associate with local kids that play in their program that eventually went to play a college . this no different than local Canada kids watching local CHL teams . In USA number of kids playing youth hockey is down last 5 year so trend already not great . So in 5 years only going have 40-45% USA kids playing for USA college i think is not a grear thing for USA hockey . This was all brought up by the Commish of ushl in his interview.

Eh, not every US hockey dreams of playing NCAA. That is the dream in Minnesota and parts of New England. But a lot of kids in the States who play hockey dream of playing in the NHL, as their exposure to hockey is through the NHL, not the NCAA.

But yes you are right, we could go from a 61% US, 29% Canadian NCAA to those numbers being even or potentially plurality Canadian in a handful of years.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Eh, not every US hockey dreams of playing NCAA. That is the dream in Minnesota and parts of New England. But a lot of kids in the States who play hockey dream of playing in the NHL, as their exposure to hockey is through the NHL, not the NCAA.

But yes you are right, we could go from a 61% US, 29% Canadian NCAA to those numbers being even or potentially plurality Canadian in a handful of years.

I would still expect Americans to be the plurality in college hockey. The NHL numbers have shifted more everything other than Canadian over the years, which says that other nations have improved. Canadians are still 1, but it’s not by as much right now as it has been in the past. I have a hard time believing that Canada’s secondary pathway will overtake the USA’s first pathway.

 

[SergeConstantin74]

Julien Wasmer was added to Chicoutimi's roster.

Julien Wasmer - Stats, Contract, Salary & More

Eliteprospects.com hockey player profile of Julien Wasmer, 2005-08-06 Montréal, QC, CAN Canada. Most recently in the BCHL with Penticton Vees. Complete player biography and stats.

www.eliteprospects.com

 

[hypereconomist]

The more I think of this change, the more I like it. A guy can now play very competitive junior hockey and then go earn a degree in college while continuing to play.

And yes, I’m aware of my naivety in that most these guys hardly think of the education piece To me, the old status quo felt too restrictive.

Very curious to see how the junior hockey landscape evolves in the coming years

Agreed on both points. Removing the overlap between a bunch of leagues (e.g. BCHL, USHL, CHL, NCAA) by centralizing the best 17-20 year old players into the CHL is good for the game.

Not to mention the additional bonus of having the NCAA now available as a pathway for players that are too old for junior, but not ready for the pros yet.

 

[wickedwitch]

Agreed on both points. Removing the overlap between a bunch of leagues (e.g. BCHL, USHL, CHL, NCAA) by centralizing the best 17-20 year old players into the CHL is good for the game.

My guess is it will be more like the best 16-17 year olds in the CHL and the best 18-20 year olds (who aren't good enough for the NHL) in the NCAA.

 

[Wieters]

Agreed on both points. Removing the overlap between a bunch of leagues (e.g. BCHL, USHL, CHL, NCAA) by centralizing the best 17-20 year old players into the CHL is good for the game.

Are you implying that the majority of elite American prospects are going to react to this change by abandoning college hockey to spend the entirety of their amateur careers in the CHL? Because those types of prospects aren't going to the NCAA at 21+. I'm far less certain how this all plays out than most posters here, but that is one outcome I cannot see happening.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Agreed on both points. Removing the overlap between a bunch of leagues (e.g. BCHL, USHL, CHL, NCAA) by centralizing the best 17-20 year old players into the CHL is good for the game.

Not to mention the additional bonus of having the NCAA now available as a pathway for players that are too old for junior, but not ready for the pros yet.

The only way you do that is if the NHL steps in, and decides that they are going to have one uniform "minor leagues" pathway. It would have to become almost like what it is with baseball. Could still be difficult with the European leagues. How are you going to get them on board? There would likely also have to be a realignment with how the CHL works.

As long as you have leagues like the USHL, NCAA, BCHL, AJHL, NAHL, players are going to go wherever it benefits them. Theoretically it would be good if everyone played in the same place, but the idea that it would be good for EVERYONE to play in the CHL as it's currently constituted doesn't make sense.

 

[Blue and Green]

As long as you have leagues like the USHL, NCAA, BCHL, AJHL, NAHL, players are going to go wherever it benefits them. Theoretically it would be good if everyone played in the same place, but the idea that it would be good for EVERYONE to play in the CHL as it's currently constituted doesn't make sense.

I think that very few Canadian players entering junior from next season forward will choose to play in BCHL/Junior A once they receive assurances from their CHL rights holders that they'll get legitimate playing time. Younger guys might not go if they think that they'll be 4th-liners or spare defencemen/goalies but beyond that it seems like a fairly easy choice. Far better calibre of competition plus scholarship funds. Already there's a large exodus of BCHLers.

USHL will do a little better (especially among QMJHL draftees) because some American kids don't want to go to Canada but there will still be a lot who will make the move as soon as they are genuinely good enough to get respectable ice time.

My guess is it will be more like the best 16-17 year olds in the CHL and the best 18-20 year olds (who aren't good enough for the NHL) in the NCAA.

Some of the 18YO/19YO's will move to NCAA but many will stay in CHL. Plenty of them will sign ELC's shortly after being drafted.