NCAA Hockey – CanucksBanter

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

November 8, 2024

Collegehockey.com released the following statement yesterday:

The NCAA Division I council voted Thursday to make Canadian Hockey League (major junior) players eligible for NCAA Division I hockey and those players may start to participate on NCAA Division I hockey teams effective August 1, 2025.

Players may participate in the CHL (Ontario Hockey League, Western Hockey League, and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) without jeopardizing their NCAA Division I hockey eligibility provided they were not compensated above actual and necessary expenses for their participation.

The new eligibility for CHL players does not apply to NCAA Division III; CHL players are still ineligible for NCAA Division III hockey

According to John Wawrow of the Associated Press:

The eligibility change could also impact the USHL, which previously attracted players who turned down competing in the CHL in order to maintain their college eligibility.

Two recent NHL No. 1 draft picks, San Jose forward Macklin Celebrini and Buffalo Sabres defenseman Owen Power, both played in the USHL.

Since its inception, the USHL development model has been “intentionally aligned with the student-athlete experience,” the league wrote in a statement responding to the NCAA decision.

“The USHL remains the world’s premier development path. All aspects of the league are focused on preparing athletes for collegiate and professional hockey, inclusive of on-ice, academic, and character development.

Last month council introduced a proposal to lift the ban.

Players competing at the major junior ice hockey or on professional teams can retain NCAA eligibility “as long as they are not paid more than actual and necessary expenses.”

The decision also applies to skiing, bringing both in line with NCAA eligibility rules for other sports.

Sources: collegehockey.com, associated press

By Andrew Phillip Chernoff | CanucksBanter

October 7, 2024

The Associated Press, in an article by John Wawrow on October 7, disclosed that the NCAA Division I Council is considering making a landmark change in eligibility rules this week regarding CHL hockey players.

The change, if successful, would allow Canadian Hockey League players to compete at U.S. colleges, Forrest Karr, the American Hockey Coaches Association executive director, said Monday.

Karr, who is also the Minnesota-Duluth athletic director, said:

The council is moving forward on determining whether to lift the long-standing eligibility ban even before the two AHCA committees he oversees — one dealing with men’s hockey and the other women’s — submits its own recommendations.

The council is meeting this week, with the matter on the agenda, and a decision is not expected until Wednesday at the earliest.

“If a decision is made to update legislation, there are also likely to be discussions about the most appropriate implementation date,” Karr wrote in a text to The Associated Press.

Karr said the council will at the same time consider changing eligibility rules for skiing, which also bars athletes who competed on a professional team or were reimbursed beyond necessary expenses.

BACKGROUND

The development comes on the heels of a class-action lawsuit filed Aug. 13 in U.S. District Court in Buffalo, New York, challenging the NCAA’s ban of players from the CHL’s Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League.

“We’re hopeful that the NCAA will do the right thing at the upcoming meetings and vote to end the ban on CHL players from NCAA Division I hockey,” Stephen Lagos, one of the attorneys who filed the lawsuit, wrote in an email to the AP.

“We believe that all players and hockey more generally would benefit from this change.”

A change in NCAA legislation could be far-reaching with the potential of increasing competition for college-age talent between the CHL and the NCAA, North America’s two top producers of NHL draft-eligible players.
The lawsuit was filed on behalf of Riley Masterson of Fort Erie, Ontario, who lost his college eligibility two years ago when, at 16, he appeared in two exhibition games for the OHL’s Windsor Spitfires. It lists 10 Division I hockey programs, which were selected to show they follow the NCAA’s bylaws in barring current or former CHL players.
Online court records show the NCAA has not made any response to the lawsuit since it was filed.
In a separate development last month, Braxton Whitehead said he verbally committed to Arizona State, making him the first CHL player to attempt to play hockey at the Division I U.S. college level. The 20-year-old Whitehead said he plans to play this season for the WHL Regina Pats before playing for the Sun Devils in 2025-26.
The CHL’s three leagues are categorized as professional under NCAA bylaws, barring their players from competition.
CHL players receive a stipend of no more than $600 per month for living expenses, which is not considered as income for tax purposes.
U.S. college players receive scholarships and now can earn money through endorsements and other use of their name, image, and likeness (NIL).

Source: Associated Press