NCAA Clears Path for CHL Players

“I think it benefits the players, and the teams within the CHL,” Kelowna Rockets head coach Kris Mallette told RocketFAN. “Some of these elite players were on the fence, not wanting to jeopardies their schooling eligibility, now that isn’t in question. All players aspire to play in the NHL, and the quickest route is through the CHL, and getting noticed playing against the best, and yet still having that schooling opportunity is a win-win.

“It is going to bring in some new talent, and higher end players and it is going to benefit some of these older players within our league by giving them more of an opportunity to further their careers.”

The concern, until more clarification is made on the issue, is WHL players possibly leaving in their 19 or 20-year-old seasons for the NCAA rather than staying until their major junior eligibility has ended.

“That is hard to say,” Mallette said when asked the question. “At this point their [NCAA] target would probably be the older players, and our younger players in our league likely are wanting to be here under the eyes of the NHL scouts constantly playing with a high caliber of opponent in their age bracket. If you jump [move] a little quick, that might hamper their development.”

Mallette has experience as both a WHL head coach and as a father with his youngest daughter, Kaitlyn, playing next season with the NCAA’s Clarkson University Golden Knights, which is the highest level of hockey for women students in the USA.

As Mallette points out, if players from the WHL choose NCAA hockey down the road, they must also show they are academically inclined.

“They [NCAA schools] have transcripts since grade nine that they want to see,” he said. “Our players, fortunately, are a student-athlete first. There are requirements to play each and every night, if you are a school player, so you have to make sure you are withholding those grades. When guys graduate, they will be fine, but there is a misconception that you can just jump [move] and just play, but there are a lot of hoops they will have to jump through first.”

The new changes should see both the NCAA and the CHL work together, in harmony as opposed to working apart. That means college scouts could be seen in WHL arena’s evaluating potential targets.

“Former teammates of mine are coaching in the NCAA,” Mallette commented. “I have been approached by half a dozen schools already asking me about players. My response has been, do your homework. If you have players you are interested in, come to me, but I am not going to hand them a list of guys. They can respect that, but now there is going to be a lot more freedom. You will see a lot more schools in the stands. They will be more present, but we want them to do it the right way.”

In the CHL’s eyes, doing it the right way means the NCAA being transparent on the players they earmark for their program once their time in junior hockey is over.

“If there are players they are interested in, come through the front door,” Mallette added. “Come talk to us. Don’t go through the agencies. Don’t go through the players themselves, be professional about it, and that’s the first step forward.”

Mallette is also a former assistant coach in the BCHL’s Vernon Vipers, a maverick league where many players gravitate to over the WHL in an effort to keep the door open to playing in the NCAA. With the new rule changes, that league could feel the wrath.

“You would have to think some of these players, these high-end guys, now the door is open for those players to come our way,” he said. “You are seeing some signings, not out of Junior A, but a couple of CHL players have committed to schools for next season.”

In September, Braxton Whitehead of the Regina Pats became the first CHL player to commit to an NCAA school. Whitehead will play for Arizona State next season.

“Our league is the best league in North America for development to getting players to the next level, so they [players] would be silly not to come to us first to give themselves the best opportunity, Mallette continued.

“There was a lot of talk [about the rule change] for a long time. It will only make our league stronger and it gives the players a lot more opportunity, so I think it’s great.

“Did I ever think it was going to happen?

“We were battling for a long time [for players], so it will be interesting to see how it goes now.”

by Regan Bartel

NCAA Clears Path for CHL Players

Comments

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

What's Trending