CHL can now play NCAA - change everything !

[BadgerBruce]

Probably the CHL will re-write its educational benefits program to ensure that it is not subsidizing NCAA hockey.

How might that work? The scholarship is academic, meaning a kid who leaves the CHL and pursues a post-secondary education virtually anywhere in the world has his
tuition costs defrayed via the earned CHL scholarship. Gonna take away an earned academic scholarship because the kid plays school hockey? On what basis?

Not saying the scholarship package will remain as-is, but I really can’t fathom how the terms can be altered to disqualify kids after they’ve left the league just because they play a sport.

 

[Andy Dufresne]

How might that work? The scholarship is academic, meaning a kid who leaves the CHL and pursues a post-secondary education virtually anywhere in the world has his
tuition costs defrayed via the earned CHL scholarship. Gonna take away an earned academic scholarship because the kid plays school hockey? On what basis?

Not saying the scholarship package will remain as-is, but I really can’t fathom how the terms can be altered to disqualify kids after they’ve left the league just because they play a sport.

They already do. Unless it's changed recently. I'm not sure exactly how it's worded but players who go pro, even if they're only playing in the ECHL or 2cnd tier Euro league for peanuts, forfeit their scholarship credits. I believe it used to be they had a 1 year grace period. Maybe somebody who knows the exact details (of how that worked) will post them.
Either way, putting it in writing that players who accept an NCAA scholarship forfeit their CHL scholarship is very very likely.

EDIT: Copied directly from the whl website:
"The WHL Scholarship is guaranteed to the player through him and his parent or guardian signing a WHL Scholarship & Development Agreement, provided he does not sign a professional hockey contract in the NHL. Players are allowed to play minor professional hockey (AHL, ECHL, etc.) before he must activate his scholarship, within 18 months of his junior eligibility ending"

 

[BadgerBruce]

They already do. Unless it's changed recently. I'm not sure exactly how it's worded but players who go pro, even if they're only playing in the ECHL or 2cnd tier Euro league for peanuts, forfeit their scholarship credits. I believe it used to be they had a 1 year grace period. Maybe somebody who knows the exact details (of how that worked) will post them.
Either way, putting it in writing that players who accept an NCAA scholarship forfeit their CHL scholarship is very very likely.

Nope — the scholarship eligibility remains intact unless the former CHL player signs an NHL deal. He has until age 23 to begin using the scholarship.

 

[BadgerBruce]

@AndyDufresne, the attached link should provide the information you seek. It’s a 2024-25 document, so up to date.

https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/05/31113908/FAQ-2.pdf

 

[HawksDub89]

House Settlement pegs revenue sharing at 22% of all income but part of that equation also includes tuition, stipends and other cost of attendance related items. NIL appears to be excluded from those revenue calculations, but the NCAA will attempt to rein in third party collectives. 85% of revenue sharing is expected to go exclusively to football and basketball (the sports actually driving in the revenue), so that doesn't really leave much for non-revenue sports like hockey.

Oh it’ll be a very small percentage for sure. But the number floated around this summer was schools being able to share up to 20M. (Based on percentage of current annual rev)

Let’s say a hockey powerhouse like Michigan or any other B1G team gives 5% rev to hockey, that’s a million bucks. That’s not nothing.

All I’m saying is it could be a factor at some point.

 

[Corso]

@AndyDufresne, the attached link should provide the information you seek. It’s a 2024-25 document, so up to date.

https://media.chl.ca/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2024/05/31113908/FAQ-2.pdf

Thank you for that info BadgerBruce (you have always been a wealth of solid information on this topic). I did find number 17 interesting when it stated "As per Article 5.01 (a) of the SPA, at no time shall the payment for room and board exceed the dollar amount charged by the school they are attending."

So we can take this to mean that if an OHL player decides to play at Michigan on a full ride, the OHL will not have to cover his room and board due to the fact that the school is already paying for it. I wonder if they will then do the same with tuition?

 

[BadgerBruce]

Thank you for that info BadgerBruce (you have always been a wealth of solid information on this topic). I did find number 17 interesting when it stated "As per Article 5.01 (a) of the SPA, at no time shall the payment for room and board exceed the dollar amount charged by the school they are attending."

So we can take this to mean that if an OHL player decides to play at Michigan on a full ride, the OHL will not have to cover his room and board due to the fact that the school is already paying for it. I wonder if they will then do the same with tuition?

The former player in FAQ #17 had the University of Toronto designated as his Home School under the domicile rule when he signed the CHL Standard Player Agreement. He is also a “full ride” scholarship recipient, which means he’s receiving the so-called CHL Gold Package, which covers room and board in addition to tuition/compulsory fees/books. “Full ride” does not refer to what the university is giving him. It refers to what the CHL gold package scholarship is giving him.

Anyway, in the hypothetical scenario he has chosen to attend Brock University in St. Catharines. That’s his right. But Brock University charges significantly less than U of T for a residence room and meal plan. The player wants to receive the higher amount charged by U of T, but the league is saying “No, we won’t give you the higher U of T amount because Brock doesn’t charge that much. We won’t give you MORE than you are actually charged by Brock.” For clarity, if he chose to attend a university that charged more than U of T for a residence room and meal plan, the CHL would only pay the amount charged by U of T, since that’s the kid’s home school under the domicile rule.

If the kid decided to attend, say, the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor, his CHL Gold Package scholarship would cover his residence room and meal plan (“room and board”) up to the amount charged by the University of Toronto, which is his domicile rule dictated home school.

Obviously, the American players in the CHL are entitled to WAY more scholarship funding because the domicile rule also applies to them, and US college tuition is so much more. Americans on Gold Packages … yikes! A 4-year gold package at an American university could easily run $250K.

 

[Corso]

Obviously, the American players in the CHL are entitled to WAY more scholarship funding because the domicile rule also applies to them, and US college tuition is so much more. Americans on Gold Packages … yikes! A 4-year gold package at an American university could easily run $250K.

How ironic will it be if the CHL begins subsidizing NCAA hockey. On the flip side, why would any college recruit from outside the CHL?

I would think that the CHL will somehow have to either change the scholastic packages to exclude U.S. college hockey or actively discourage players from playing in the NCAA for cost saving purposes.

 

[RayMartyniukTotems]

How might that work? The scholarship is academic, meaning a kid who leaves the CHL and pursues a post-secondary education virtually anywhere in the world has his
tuition costs defrayed via the earned CHL scholarship. Gonna take away an earned academic scholarship because the kid plays school hockey? On what basis?

Not saying the scholarship package will remain as-is, but I really can’t fathom how the terms can be altered to disqualify kids after they’ve left the league just because they play a sport.

The agreement is that for every year played in the CHL,1 years worth of tuition is paid that's it period no ifs ands or buts...otherwise it's a renege on a agreement

 

[BadgerBruce]

Well, consider this my public mea culpa.

I had assumed that former CHL hockey players could use their league scholarship packages and play NCAA hockey, once the regulations are changed and former major junior players are eligible to play.

Now, I’m not so sure.

@Pens2021 (with admirable good humour) let me know that NCAA Bylaw 15.2.6.2 in the financial aid portion of the NCAA Manual states the following: “No Relationship to Athletics Ability. A student-athlete may receive financial aid awarded solely on bases having no relationship to athletics ability.” The rule is in place to prevent schools from artificially exceeding the scholarship limits.

So, what do folks think? I suppose the NCAA could change the bylaw once former CHLers are granted eligibility to play, but as things currently stand, the answer would seem to be “No.”

As a brief aside, sometimes this (usually) wonderful site gets a little bit too “gotcha!” and becomes about the posters instead of the points being made. So I’d like to openly thank @Pens21 for being decent and privately informing me of the error of my ways. We all need way more of this.

 

[jtechkid]

should no a lot tomorrow on this subject -
right now a ton of speculation

 

[Oak]

American kids who could have had a solid career in D1 and graduate with a diploma will now get butt f*cked by CHL overagers who will not be playing past college anyway.

Shame Americans get no priority in American universities.

 

[Boonk]

American kids who could have had a solid career in D1 and graduate with a diploma will now get butt f*cked by CHL overagers who will not be playing past college anyway.

Shame Americans get no priority in American universities.

Less than 2% of all NCAA athletes go on to pro sports, hockey is no different. The vast majority of junior and college players dont play pro. The best US born players that are not on the NTDP will more than likely go to the CHL when the barrier drops, and the rest to the USHL. Theyre still going to commit and go to these colleges, theyre not gonna disappear lol.

Also, international students still need to enrole with proper grade & academic requirements and pay even more in tuition fees for entrance to US school institutions. The NHL and CHL will need to completely rework any scholarships and financial subsidies and even then, some schools like the Ivy Leagues dont accept scholarships. Internationals are not eligible for NIL or NCAA revenue share money either.

 

[Oak]

Less than 2% of all NCAA athletes go on to pro sports, hockey is no different. The vast majority of junior and college players dont play pro. The best US born players that are not on the NTDP will more than likely go to the CHL when the barrier drops, and the rest to the USHL. Theyre still going to commit and go to these colleges, theyre not gonna disappear lol.

Also, international students still need to enrole with proper grade & academic requirements and even more in tuition fees for entrance to US school institutions. The NHL and CHL will need to completely rework any scholarships and financial subsidies and even then, some schools like the Ivy Leagues dont accept scholarships. Internationals are not eligible for NIL or NCAA revenue share money either.

Not sure how this clarifies or debunks anything I said? American kids who previously chose CHL over USHL never had a plan to solely play NCAA and then move on to life after hockey. Young guys who went CHL instead were always kids expecting to get drafted.

The bigger issue is USHL will suffer with more Americans choosing to go play major junior regardless of the fact if they are drafted or not. OHL and WHL are better leagues than USHL so it will prepare them better to play NCAA and will accelerate them entering college.

 

[Boonk]

Not sure how this clarifies or debunks anything I said? American kids who previously chose CHL over USHL never had a plan to solely play NCAA and then move on to life after hockey. Young guys who went CHL instead were always kids expecting to get drafted.

The bigger issue is USHL will suffer with more Americans choosing to go play major junior regardless of the fact if they are drafted or not. OHL and WHL are better leagues than USHL so it will prepare them better to play NCAA and will accelerate them entering college.

You said American kids are going to be screwed out of NCAA roster spots by CHL overagers who are Canadians who 'dont go pro anyways'. Thats not true whatsoever lol and most hockey players from both CHL & NCAA dont go pro anyways so truthfully its not a relevant big deal you make it out to be.

Canadian students still need to meet the academic and athletic requirements to go to US schools and NCAA D1 commitments are non-binding. Whether or not they are trying to play pro hockey going forward has no bearing on that.

 

[jtechkid]

their a couple good article yesterday on the topic yesterday one was on sportsnet and other one with mike commodore - just google CHL Ncaa .
it’s stlll early but :
1, this will destroy bchl with the merger actually was looking great and was ranked second best junior league( for college ) they had like 288div 1 commits playing there with top league ushl had like 320 . bchl right now is 60% Canada -35% usa . would think all the top canada kids in that league go CHL and lot of top usa kids stay or go to ushl as that league will lose some to CHl too . Bchl and ushl will both get watered down a lot but the bchl will fall off a cliff .

 

[Hockeyville USA]

NCAA officially allowing CHLers in now starting 2025-26.

 

[Peasy]

CHL landscape will be pretty interesting the next decade or so, especially if they end up working in 19 year old AHL eligibility to the CBA.

 

[Bonin21]

I don't see what Landon Dupont will have to gain playing a third year in the CHL over going and getting in a year as the most famous person on a big college campus and adding a Hobey Baker and hopefully natty to the collection.

For most high enders though (1st and 2nd rounders), they'll do their two years in the CHL and the drafting team will push a little harder to get them signed right away in that summer to control them not going the college route and the potential to go free agency.

 

[Kingpin794]

CHL landscape will be pretty interesting the next decade or so, especially if they end up working in 19 year old AHL eligibility to the CBA.

I mean they can do that but there aren't alot of 19 year olds that would do well in the AHL. Maybe 2/3 every year.

 

[Juniorhockeyguru]

I don't see what Landon Dupont will have to gain playing a third year in the CHL over going and getting in a year as the most famous person on a big college campus and adding a Hobey Baker and hopefully natty to the collection.

For most high enders though (1st and 2nd rounders), they'll do their two years in the CHL and the drafting team will push a little harder to get them signed right away in that summer to control them not going the college route and the potential to go free agency.

School also coyld not his thing too. Not everyone whacks it to the thought of going to the NCAA.

 

[Boonk]

I don't see what Landon Dupont will have to gain playing a third year in the CHL over going and getting in a year as the most famous person on a big college campus and adding a Hobey Baker and hopefully natty to the collection.

For most high enders though (1st and 2nd rounders), they'll do their two years in the CHL and the drafting team will push a little harder to get them signed right away in that summer to control them not going the college route and the potential to go free agency.

Buddy still needs to graduate high school dude, his senior year is also his draft year and he would need to do summer/advanced schooling to grad a year earlier and go to D1 college as a U18 minor.

 

[Breakers]

Half these cats NLI's and FAA are going to be voided by the NCAA strictly for requirements that they weren't even close to meeting.

 

[Bonin21]

School also coyld not his thing too. Not everyone whacks it to the thought of going to the NCAA.

Let's just say it's not too hard to survive one year of classes as an athlete. They find a way to make it work even for the brightest bulbs.

 

[Bubbles]

Well, this decision really sees the death of Junior A hockey in Canada. Literally the only reason why anyone pursuing a hockey career with Junior A hockey is to secure a college scholarship.

I'm going to guess that there will be discussions between the BCHL (and other Junior A leagues) to either merge the top teams into the CHL or go back down to Junior B.

Kinda sucks with the rich history of Junior A clubs but it is what is.