College Hockey PROSPECTive

On weekends, College Hockey Prospective is pleased to welcome voices, on a rotating basis, from around the world of college hockey on topics that have caught their attention.

By Matt Mackinder    CHP Columnist

College hockey is like no other NCAA sport.

For one, a player has to choose if they want to play college hockey pretty much before they hit puberty.

And if they’re a stud player, the Canadian Hockey League will be all over them right around said puberty events start to swing into action.

Yes, the CHL-NCAA war has raged for years and shows no signs of slowing down. Ever.

The NCAA sees major junior hockey as a pro level because players get somewhere in the neighborhood of $50 a week – even more once the players turn 20 – but the fact of the matter is that kids playing major junior in Western Canada, Ontario or Quebec are simply that – kids.

Some players have full rides to big-name schools and spurn those scholarships to play an NHL-style of game in the WHL, OHL or QMJHL. Heck, you don’t have to look much further than last summer when JT Miller reneged on North Dakota to play for the OHL’s Plymouth Whalers and Jamie Oleksiak left Northeastern to skate with the Saginaw Spirit. Goalies John Gibson and Jack Campbell left Michigan hanging in subsequent years to head to the OHL.

Good thing Shawn Hunwick has blossomed into a stellar NCAA-caliber netminder, eh Red?

Some players stay true to their word and even when the CHL is breathing down their necks, still wind up playing NCAA hockey. Tyler Biggs at Miami comes to mind, as does Phil Di Giuseppe at Michigan.

I’m not saying that either route is better than the other – that’s for the player to decide and in some instances, the NHL team that drafts them. When Miller was taken in the first round last June by the New York Rangers, he signed shortly thereafter, losing his NCAA eligibility, and was assigned to Plymouth.

Heck, guys like Patrick Kane and Brandon Saad could have gone anywhere in the NCAA, but landed in the OHL. In fact, scuttle a few years back had both going to Michigan, but that’s neither here nor there.

My point is this – either route is going to be demanding hockey and filled with pressure. Some will say that major junior is better as more games dot the schedule. Some will counter that and say that college hockey is secondary as school comes first.

I agree with both arguments, but another point I have is this, and TJ Hensick and a plethora of others will back me up – if you commit to college, it should be a four-year deal. If you are a five-star blue-chipper, like say Jack Johnson was at Michigan, your coach will drive you to the airport to sign your first NHL contract.

College only comes once in a lifetime and if you get the shot to not only live the college life and play hockey at the same time in front of classmates and friends, what’s better than that? There are only so many Division I teams these days, so players should take advantage of the opportunity, even if that means giving up school dances and senior trips, those that have played NCAA puck will agree – there is nothing better.

Matt Mackinder has been in the journalism biz for 15 years and has contributed to such publications as Michigan Hockey Magazine, Rubber Hockey Magazine, Red Line Report, USCHO.com, MichiganCollegeHockey.com and Sports Review Magazine. Matt lives in the Flint, Mich., area with his wife, Stephanie, sons, Ethan and Wyatt, daughter, Madelyn, and dogs, Eddie and Max.