NCAA to allow CHL players to play hockey?

cg98

Registered User
Oct 10, 2017
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3,932
I'd like to see some evidence of this.
This is probably outdated as the article is from 2017, but by the CHLs own admission on their own site (citing their research in response to a litigation suit, sadly attached file links with research and sources seem to be lost):

"KMPG found that if you removed the two most profitable franchises as outliers, the remaining 40 OHL and WHL clubs lose, on average, $75,000"

&

"The majority of our member clubs either break even or lose money on an annual basis"



Since that time, weve faced a global pandemic and a bunch of other crazy shit that absolutely wrecked the international economy everywhere and thats before even bringing up the rises in costs of facilitating ice hockey. Equipment, facilities, utility bills and ice time have all increased in costs and are only getting more expensive.
 
Last edited:

Voight

#winning
Feb 8, 2012
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Mulberry Street
To clarify, Dreger says that the years of eligibility are only for players that went to Canadian University, not the years in the CHL.

So if a player has spent two years in Canadian University, he'd only be eligible to two years in the NCAA.

My interpretation of his comment was players who play in USports lose one year of NCAA eligibility per year they play in USports, not the CHL.

"If that graduated Major Junior player is playing USports, and he's in his second year, well that's two years of eligibility that now gets removed. That means that player only has two more years of college eligibility in the NCAA."

That makes a lot more sense.
 

Corso

Registered User
Aug 13, 2018
471
470
The NHL actively subsidizes all 3 CHL leagues and their teams with millions of dollars annually, Muskegon and Youngstown will recieve those payments under the CHL umbrella. The vast majority of CHL teams lose hundreds of thousands to millions of dollars annually and are not profitable, this isnt an issue unique to either of those 2 teams.

McDavids Erie Otters lost nearly $1mil the year after he was drafted, and even filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in Pennsylvania during his draft year in 2015: Owner: Otters lost $831K last season

Last figure I heard was a 15 million dollar transfer fee to the CHL. That equates to about 250K a team; enough to cover the salary of some of your coaching staff. I would imagine that broadcast rights are not worth all that much (no real idea, I will ask those who have a more intimate knowledge of the financials of the league). The lion share of revenue comes from the gate and local sponsorship. The vast majority of teams most likely just break even on their operating budget of 2.5 to 3 million a year. USHL operating budgets are probably 1 to 1.5 million dollars less, so you would have to ask how either Muskegon or Youngstown could afford the extra expense when their gate revenues are much lower than your typical OHL franchise. Youngstown is currently averaging 1037 fans a game through four games played while Muskegon barely averaged over 2000 a game last season. The Otters are averaging over 3300 a game so far this season, and yet are probably still just breaking even. The transfer money from the NHL and broadcast/media rights would simply not be enough to keep Muskegon and especially Youngstown viable.
 

GGpX

Registered User
May 30, 2010
3
0
The eligibility rule change will allow any CHL players who has not signed a pro contract (ELC in the NHL or AHL ATO) to play, regardless as to how many years they played in the CHL.

The golden question now is how will the NHL and the PA decide on how long are the rights to drafted players who go from the CHL to the NCAA retained?
Beyond players having an option to continue their playing careers at a high level, that's possibly the most interesting part of this whole thing for me.

I would assume that the rules would change for players taken in the CHL so that they somewhat mirror the rules for players taken in the USHL / BCHL.

Select a player in the CHL, you have two years to sign him to an ELC. If the player chooses to play in the NCAA, the window that a team can keep his right is extended by four years.
 

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