Michigan fans even., for 1 weekend in Oxford but owned season tix.
That’s right, I remember that.
I also remember a pair of tickets for that series going for $500 on eBay.
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True! Our son was a jr. at MU, had our 4 tix vs Michigan. It was a close call but he took some
Fraternity brothers and they had a blast ( he could have used the cash like any college kid).
Interesting article: Wellens column: College hockey can't stop NCAA's five-year eligibility proposal
CHL’s Memorial Cup set to start May 21 with host Kelowna. Chicoutimi, Kitchner, and my old home town’s Everett Silvertips. Does Miami have anyone lined up from any of these four teams?
All games will be streamed online.
No Miami recruits are in the Memorial Cup final four (Bonk, check me on this). Here are the current NCAA commits by team:
Chicoutimi:
F Émile Ricard, Omaha, 07
F Maxim Massé, UMass, 06
F Nathan Lecompte, Northeastern, 07
F Mavrick Lachance, Merrimack, 06
F Gryphon Watson-Bucci, Merrimack, 06
F Liam Lefebvre, UVM, 07
F Emmanuel Vermette, Sacred Heart, OA
D Peteris Bulans, BGSU, OA
D Jordan Tourigny, Northeastern, OA
D Alex Huang, Harvard, 07
Everett:
F Zackary Shantz, SCSU, OA
F Shea Busch, Penn State, 07
F Hunter Rudolph, SCSU, 08
F Henri Ament, Cornell, 07
D Jaxon Pisani, Providence, 09
D Tarin Smith, Minnesota, 06
G Raiden LeGall, Minnesota State, 06
Kitchener:
F Christian Humphreys, Minnesota, 06
F Weston Cameron, UMass, 08
F Dylan Edwards, Quinnipiac, OA
F Haeden Ellis, Northeastern, 07
D Max Dirracolo, St Lawrence, 06
D Cameron Reid, Michigan, 07
G Christian Kirsch, Quinnipiac, 06
Kelowna:
F Ty Halaburda, Colorado College, OA
F Ryan Oothoudt, Air Force, 07
D Parker Alcos, Quinnipiac, 06
D Keith McInnis, UMD, 06
D Mazden Leslie, BGSU, OA
G Harrison Boettiger, DU, 07
Here’s a summary by league (it does not include Everett’s Landon DuPont who will likely announce his commitment after the tournament):
HE 9
NCHC 8
ECAC 6
CCHA 3
B1G 2
AH 2
That’s likely more info than you ever knew you wanted. Back to lurking.
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Appreciate the detailed answer! Definitely looks like NCAA teams are mining the gold in the CHA big time now. Interesting to see only seven on that group are OA. Also interesting that host Kelowna, who finished somewhere in the upper third of the WHL, has that many college commits. That must be an indicator that the CHL is already a significant path to NCAA D1 Hockey. There must me a trove of guys from other teams who have committed, too.
It’s becoming the primary path. Guys are now leaving the USHL for the CHL (“since I can now go to college straight from the CHL, I can play closer to home!”). JP Hurlburt (Michigan) and Harrison Boettiger (Denver) actually left the USNTDP program this past year to head north - both are highly rated draft picks. That’s not to say the USHL is dead, just that there’s a new sheriff in town. And if you’re in the NAHL you can forget about ever playing D1 hockey - that’s the league that took the brunt of the change. What will be interesting is how the CHL and USHL work through things (or don’t work through things). There is a lot of nationalism at play here. Grab some popcorn.
I’ve been saying all along that this CHL deal is a game changer, especially for AHA, CCHA, and ECAC. Look at the CCHA this past season. There were times post-December when that league had five (5!!) teams in the top 20 NPI and had they not completely cannibalized themselves over the last 4 weeks of the season they were looking at 2 if not 3 teams in the dance. Wow. Yeah, game changer.
Back to lurking.
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My kid played top tier New England prep at Berkshire. After a senior year ACL tear he went straight to NESCAC D3 instead of playing the single year of eligibility he had available to him in Juniors that a couple of interested D1 programs were encouraging him to do.
Lots of kids were still going straight from prep to high level D3 back then (2012). Since then it’s become almost mandatory to play a post-prep year of Juniors - mostly in the NAHL, BCHL, and OJHL. Guys coming to the 10 NESCAC programs from prominent prep programs are almost all coming from a team in one of those leagues now. I think the NAHL is the major feeder to D3 out in the upper Midwest. Those leagues are no longer feeding as many guys to D1 as they used to.
I was completely in agreement with you in predicting that the CHL decision would be a major disruptor of traditional college recruiting patterns. We were definitely right on that on.
Excellent recap, agree NAHL has taken biggest hit. Leagues below that (EHL, USPHL, NCDC) will eventually merge (some of that talk is going around) and you will see massive consolidation.
This comment of yours got me wondering so I grabbed the latest Heisenberg list and totaled up the recruits by league. Interesting that 45% of all recruits are from the CHL and more than 2/3 of all recruits come from the CHL and USHL.
| League | Commits |
|---|---|
| WHL | 161 |
| OHL | 159 |
| QMJHL | 118 |
| CHL Total | 438 |
| USHL | 287 |
| BCHL | 134 |
| NAHL | 105 |
| Total | 964 |
Back to lurking.
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I think the EHL, USPHL, and NCDC will die out. Why pay the money to at best play ACHA club hockey, especially since the NAHL wont take you now if you play in any of those leagues. NAHL, NA3HL are now the D3 feeders. The USPHL is an oversaturated garage league taking advantage of parents and kids who are still living the dream and we know no one is more delusional than hockey parents, so maybe they survive in some form. The EHL used to be a nice Northeast D3 feeder, but I think those days are over.
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On a side note Middletown, Ohio is slated to build a new rink with about 5000 seats and two additional rinks on the old mall site. They are also being awarded a USHL team to play there as well. Should help Miami recruiting or at least cut down on travel since a team will be about 30 mins from Oxford to watch and everyone else come into to play.
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You answered your own question lol
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This is on the opposite side of 75 directly across from the hospital, it’s being funded by Warren County. The mall site is owned by and being redeveloped by the city.
Thanks for your commentary, Lurker (and Bonk, Nescac, etc.). It’s incredibly informative and interesting.
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Yep. I can spit on 4 hockey “academies” and a half dozen NEPSAC schools from my front porch. All with rich parents and mediocre players chasing the dream. At least at the NEPSAC you get an education.
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@ejt40 At least back in 2012 there were lots of far better than “mediocre players” on many NEPSAC (New England Prep School Athletic Conference) school rosters.
Most of the guys on my kid’s Berkshire teams played college hockey. NHL veteran Kevin Rooney played on those teams, as did Trevor Mingoia and Kevin Sullivan. Both won a D1 natty at Providence and Union respectively. Rooney was on that Providence team, as well. Berkshire played against lots of solid players, including Shane Gostisbehere, Boo Nevis and a lots of other kids who played D1, D3, European and NHL hockey.
And not all of us were rich parents. My kid got $39k in financial needs-based aid. That left me with about $12k to pay for each school year, about what I’d pay for a high level travel hockey program. He had a new dual sheet state of the art arena walking distance from his dorm.
You are right about the incredible educational value of attending a NEPSAC school. My son now has a law degree from UChicago. One linemate has an PhD in Microbiology and another one is a dentist. It sure beat billeting in Prince Albert, Wenatchee or Moose Jaw and the 300 mile bus rides..
And I think New England preps are still putting kids in D3 schools. This years’s D3 national champs, NESCAC’s Hamilton College (where my kid played) had a number of NEPSAC kids on their roster. The difference now is that most are heading to college after a post-prep year in Juniors.
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My kid went to a NEPSAC school. So Im not knocking them per se, and I agree back in 2012 and even pre covid, it was a much different landscape than it is today. The CHL has changed even prep. Im not sure how close you are to it these days but the D1 kids are leaving for the CHL after a year or two in prep and I think this is only going to increase or get skipped entirely which will dilute the product. I stand by statement that its predominantly rich families with mediocre players (certainly good high school players) but mediocre as far as D1 prospects (I think even Cushing, AOF, KU are seeing this) and D3 isn’t really on my radar (and yes plenty of very talented D3 players, not a knock on them just not my interest).
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