Re: College Hockey amps up war on Canadian major junior....
Or he's lazy in school and doesn't do his work... making him ineligible for the second semester... which is a character flaw that most professional teams won't want on their team anyway. If a kid is lazy in the classroom, he'll be lazy in the workplace... most Americans don't go North because they can get to the NHL... they go because they cant get into... or stay in school.
It is far better for a player to get his degree at 22 - 23 yrs old than play major juniors... flop around the minors for a few years then attempt to go to school and get a degree.... and not many take advantage of the MJ College money.... or if they do... probably don't graduate anyway. Bottom line, I don't care where you play... Canada or the US.... 95% or better will never make it to the NHL level... so the college route is a better way to play hockey and get their schooling in because that piece of paper they get when they graduate will be a whole lot more valuable than their hockey talents.... IN MOST CASES...
So much negativity ...
Not all American players go the Major Junior route because they can't get into school. Luke Lynes, who is with UNB and won a CIS championship with them last season and now has a nice ring, turned down an NCAA scholarship (Bowling Green?) to go OHL, because he thought it was a better route to get drafted. While playing for Brampton he got drafted by his hometown Washington Capitals in the 4th round in 2006. Did he sign with them after junior? No, but he did achieve his dream of getting drafted. Would he have got drafted if he went NCAA? Who knows, but the important part is that he BELIEVED he had a better chance of getting drafted if he played Major Junior. Luke told me another big factor was that the NCAA team wanted him to spend time in the USHL, and he didn't like the team they recommended (? I'm not sure how that works, do USHL teams draft players?) whereas he could start off a higher level right away if he jumped to the OHL.
After trying the minor pros for a few months he now using his education package from junior to attend UNB and play for national championships. What is wrong with that?
UPEI has two Americans attending school and playing for them. Aaron Dawson from Peoria who played with Peterborough and Taylor Raszka from Petersburg, MI who played most of his OHL with Saginaw and then played minor pro. American student-athletes are scattered throughout the CIS, and all of them of course played Major Junior.
I see it discussed here a bit, but I think big factor is NCAA teams getting commitments from players, yet wanting them to spend time in the USHL, while some kids are anxious to get going on their career and don't want to wait in the USHL until their NCAA team is ready for them. Screw that, head off to Major junior.
As for the number of games, the three CIS conferences play 28 game schedules. Non-conference games are all considered exhibition games, and most teams only play a handful. Good teams play more - UNB has played 8 already and has two more plus a roadtrip to Maine after Christmas. Most CIS teams practice everyday except Sunday and game days, which is probably similar to the NCAA, so there is definitely more focus on development and preparation than junior.
