There is substantial talk that the NCAA and CHL are working out a deal to allow players to play NCAA D1 hockey following time in the CHL.
From Elliotte Friedman on the latest 32 Thoughts podcast:
The CHL & the NCAA are talking very seriously about if you are eligible to go to school in the U.S. after your CHL career is done, you can go play for an NCAA Team.
Keep in mind, the CHL has never disallowed its players from pursuing the NCAA. It is the other way around. Due to the CHL allowing its players to sign NHL contracts and play pro games before being returned to the CHL, the NCAA has deemed the CHL as a professional league. Therefore, since one has to be an “amateur athlete” to play NCAA D1 sports, CHL players have been ineligible to play in the NCAA.
The elephant in the room is why now? Why is the CHL suddenly wanting to make a deal with the NCAA to allow its players to pursue US college opportunities following playing in its league? It seems simple to connect the dots. The BCHL just left Hockey Canada to become a non-sanctioned league. Moreover, they also just took five AJHL teams with them. This looks like retaliation for going against Hockey Canada.
If this happens, it will change the landscape dramatically of junior ‘A’, major junior and college hockey in Canada and the United States.
First of all, it will make it harder to advance to an NCAA D1 program from Junior A, BCHL included. Players out of the CHL will consume a good portion of the NCAA D1 scholarships that would have went to Junior ‘A’ players.
But keep this in mind, one thing that won’t change is that CHL players who have signed a professional contract or played a professional game will remain ineligible to pursue the NCAA. This means a lot of CHL players won’t be in a position to pursue NCAA opportunities. In addition, 20 and 21-year-olds who have European, AHL and ECHL opportunities in front of them will have to choose between going pro or going to college.
On the flip side, this move would open up more opportunities at the CIS USport level for Junior ‘A’ players due to more CHL players going the NCAA route. Most CIS USport players are currently coming out of the CHL, especially since they have CIS USport scholarships written into their CHL contracts.
Another thought – there could be more opportunities for CHL roster spots if teams are losing their 19 and 20-year-old players to the NCAA prior to them aging out of junior. This could lead to more Junior A players getting the call to advance to the CHL later in their junior careers. It suddenly could become common to be a 19-year-old rookie in the CHL as a replacement for those who go South of the border.
Please contact us at info@iceexposure.com for further details on this developing situation.