Freshman leaves Benilde mid-season for the WHL

[Hermmunster58]

How much $ are these young men being offered by the WHL teams to entice them and "potentially" give up on a chance at full college scholarship?

[D3Referee]

How much $ are these young men being offered by the WHL teams to entice them and "potentially" give up on a chance at full college scholarship?

Well for starters they can stop "hoping" for a scholarship full or partial, as the WHL experience comes with a scolarship program and it's not limited to 50-some teams, like Alabama-Huntsville and the Rochester School of Technology - but open to near any school of their choice. If a quality education is important, the WHL is the best route anyways

[The Exiled One]

Well for starters they can stop "hoping" for a scholarship full or partial, as the WHL experience comes with a scolarship program and it's not limited to 50-some teams, like Alabama-Huntsville and the Rochester School of Technology - but open to near any school of their choice. If a quality education is important, the WHL is the best route anyways

So you're telling me they can get a guaranteed 4 year scholarship to the North American university of their choice regardless of cost? What a great deal!



Next you're going to tell me that they can even pick which WHL team they want to play for and not worry about getting traded!

[observer]

If a quality education is important, the WHL is the best route anyways

Let's be clear as that would be a quality education without playing hockey. They offer a one year scholarship, to the school of your choice in the US or Canada, for each season in the WHL. Once you set foot on the WHL ice you lose your opportunity to play NCAA hockey.

[The Exiled One]

They offer a one year scholarship, to the school of your choice in the US or Canada

...only to the value of the public school nearest your home.

[D3Referee]

They offer a one year scholarship, to the school of your choice in the US or Canada

...only to the value of the public school nearest your home.

University of Minnesota qualifies. They will send a Minnesota kid to the University of Minnesota 1 year for every year he plays in the WHL.

Villainizing the CHL is popular in our neck of the woods, but let's be crystal clear here - it's the NCAA that throws around draconian ultimatums limiting kids opportunities, NOT the WHL or any other junior league.

[Gopher Blog]

Let's remember the fine print on that WHL education package:

The player will forfeit his scholarship WHL Scholarship should the following occur:

- A player is required by their post-secondary institution to withdraw due to failure to maintain passing grades

- A player signs a professional hockey contract at the NHL, AHL or Elite European level

- A player does not enroll in a post secondary program within one year following his last season of eligibility in the WHL

- The Graduate Player is permitted to play one year in a designated professional league (ECHL or lower) without forfeiting their WHL Scholarship benefits.

[D3Referee]

Nuthin fine print about that. Those are well known and near irrelevant facts.

Kids who go to play in the WHL have aspirations of playing pro - and over 60% of them do. Only about 33% of WHL scholarships are cashed in due to almost 67% of WHL players actually relaizing their dreams.

The real "fine print" is with the elusive full ride scholly you hear so much about. It just doesn't exist. D1 schools offering partial scholarships(especially Minnesota schools to Minnesota kids) and limited to offering 1 year at a time AND you have to give up your "CHL eligibility" ;0)

There is no one size fits all solution. NCAA definitely better for some. CHL definitely better for some.

Know this though: there are many more "leaches" in the NCAA network than there will ever be in the history of all junior leagues combined.

Go get em boys! Time the NCAA bloodletting comes to an end
http://espn.go.com/espn/otl/story/_/id/ ... sion-money

[The Exiled One]

University of Minnesota qualifies. They will send a Minnesota kid to the University of Minnesota 1 year for every year he plays in the WHL.

What if the kid wanted to attend Notre Dame (much more expensive)? What if the kid is from St. Cloud or Grand Forks?

I'm not villainizing anything, I just think CHL proponents tend to gloss over inconvenient facts regarding the disadvantages of the CHL route. I'll happily list out the disadvantages of the NCAA route, but not until you own up to the fact that CHL disadvantages exist.

[The Exiled One]

... AND you have to give up your "CHL eligibility"

Blatant lie and you know it.

[D3Referee]

... AND you have to give up your "CHL eligibility"

Blatant lie and you know it.

Blatant lie? Really? So you are saying you can play in both the CHL and then play D1? Well, that is news to me ... and I suspect, the CHL & NCAA as well. Please, enlighten us

[D3Referee]

University of Minnesota qualifies. They will send a Minnesota kid to the University of Minnesota 1 year for every year he plays in the WHL.

What if the kid wanted to attend Notre Dame (much more expensive)? What if the kid is from St. Cloud or Grand Forks?

I'm not villainizing anything, I just think CHL proponents tend to gloss over inconvenient facts regarding the disadvantages of the CHL route. I'll happily list out the disadvantages of the NCAA route, but not until you own up to the fact that CHL disadvantages exist.

You choose your University at the outset. University of Minnesota is fine. If you change your mind later they will apply the funds to the school of your choice.

There are no disadvantages in the CHL for kids who have a goal of playing professional hockey. Unless you consider things like billeting away from home a disadvantage. Some call that an adventure. Some call it life. Eye of the beholder I suppose.

Kids who should avoid the CHL, IMO, are late bloomers and small kids. They are better served playing high school / USHL / NCAA to give themselves a chance to keep growing without taking a pounding on a weekly basis.

But if you have pro size to go with your high end skill, then the CHL does offer the best path for both athletics and academics.

[hockeyman84]

... AND you have to give up your "CHL eligibility"

Blatant lie and you know it.

Blatant lie? Really? So you are saying you can play in both the CHL and then play D1? Well, that is news to me ... and I suspect, the CHL & NCAA as well. Please, enlighten us

You can leave NCAA d1 to play in the CHL. Charlie Coyle did it last year and it usually happens at least once a year.

[The Exiled One]

... AND you have to give up your "CHL eligibility"

Blatant lie and you know it.

Blatant lie? Really? So you are saying you can play in both the CHL and then play D1? Well, that is news to me ... and I suspect, the CHL & NCAA as well. Please, enlighten us

You can play NCAA hockey then play CHL hockey, yes. It has happened several times.

You CANNOT play CHL hockey then play NCAA hockey. That has never happened.

There is no such thing as "giving up CHL eligibility."

[D3Referee]

[You CANNOT play CHL hockey then play NCAA hockey. That has never happened.

Yes, that's where I'm going with that. These days you can't. Ridiculously draconian(and hypocritical) NCAA rule. I thought this was America - land of the Free!

Got to call you on the "That has never happened" statement. It actually used to happen all the time. Here's a bit of irony for you - Brandon Wheat King (WHL) owner and GM Kelly McCrimmon played his full 4 years at the University of Michigan - AFTER - he played 2 years of WHL and a year of Junior A. Guys like McCrimmon used to be commonplace. That's the way it SHOULD be. Instead, the NCAA made a cash-greedy power grab that we shouldn't be supporting.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/pdis ... p?pid=3538

[D3Referee]

There is no such thing as "giving up CHL eligibility."

Well sure there is. You have to decline your CHL opportunities as a 16 and 17 year old (and maybe 18 and 19) if you plan on playing D1 hockey. It has the same effect

[minnscout]

Of the guys I know that went to CHL not one of them went back to school. Who wants to start school when your 21-22 years old unless your part of a team or go to Canadian College.

[The Exiled One]

You choose your University at the outset. University of Minnesota is fine. If you change your mind later they will apply the funds to the school of your choice.

In that case, everybody should choose Penn State, because it's the most expensive public school.

There are no disadvantages in the CHL for kids who have a goal of playing professional hockey.

A goal, or THE goal? Most of them will NOT make a living playing professional hockey. This is where you start to sound like a shill. How about giving up NCAA eligibility as a disadvantage? How about not being able to control what team you play for? By failing to acknowledge ANY other disadvantages, you lose credibility.

Kids who should avoid the CHL, IMO, are late bloomers and small kids. They are better served playing high school / USHL / NCAA to give themselves a chance to keep growing without taking a pounding on a weekly basis.

So in other words, if you fail in the CHL, it turns out you should've gone the NCAA route. Oops, sorry about that. Too late now.

[The Exiled One]

There is no such thing as "giving up CHL eligibility."

Well sure there is. You have to decline your CHL opportunities as a 16 and 17 year old (and maybe 18 and 19) if you plan on playing D1 hockey. It has the same effect

Really? So Cam Reid wasn't actually eligible to play for Portland halfway through the season last year? Damn, the Huskies are going to be mad when they find out!

[D3Referee]

Of the guys I know that went to CHL not one of them went back to school. Who wants to start school when your 21-22 years old unless your part of a team or go to Canadian College.

Lots of guys stop continuing education. Same thing for top guys who go D1 and leave to play pro.

Most CHL players arent dreaming of academic careers and most do realize their goal of playing pro hockey.

Still, 30% of them do go begin college at 20 or 21 years old.

Pretty consistent with other segments of society.

The fact you don't know anyone who played in the CHL and then went to college maybe says more about the guys you know than anything else. There was 301 players just this year alone from the 22 WHL teams that are enrolled in universities on scholarship.

http://www.juniorhockey.com/news/news_d ... s_id=76944

Safe to say you don't know any of those guys

[The Exiled One]

Most CHL players arent dreaming of academic careers and most do realize their goal of playing pro hockey.

Don't be ridiculous. They don't dream of playing "pro hockey", they dream of playing in the NHL. What percentage of them do that?

[minnscout]

A small % of CHL players play in the NHL, sure 60% sign pro but thats ECHL, AHL, WHL, Asia league, Austria league, ext.......

[D3Referee]

Most CHL players arent dreaming of academic careers and most do realize their goal of playing pro hockey.

Don't be ridiculous. They don't dream of playing "pro hockey", they dream of playing in the NHL. What percentage of them do that?

It's every kids dream to raise the Stanley Cup, but there are many players making a great living at the game who don't play in the NHL. Many of those go on to fantastic careers in hockey as coaches, GM's, agents, scouts etc. in life after hockey. Not everyone reaches the Holy Grail, it's true, but thats not to say they aren't suuccesful playing a game for a living.

No Minnesota kid grows up dreaming of playing for Alabama-Huntsville either, but do we consider them failures if they don't play for the Gophers?

[D3Referee]

A small % of CHL players play in the NHL, sure 60% sign pro but thats ECHL, AHL, WHL, Asia league, Austria league, ext.......

I know guys who have played in the NHL who say their best times in hockey was when they played in Europe. The NHL is great, but it's not the only ...

A wise man once said, "do what you love for a living and you'll never work a day in your life"

[The Exiled One]

A small % of CHL players play in the NHL, sure 60% sign pro but thats ECHL, AHL, WHL, Asia league, Austria league, ext.......

I know guys who have played in the NHL who say their best times in hockey was when they played in Europe. The NHL is great, but it's not the only ...

A wise man once said, "do what you love for a living and you'll never work a day in your life"

Fine, what percentage make a living* playing/coaching hockey after the CHL?

*And before you mention the ECHL, I'm letting everybody know that the average salary is about $17,000 (and I'm overestimating). The CHL is not much better. It's got to be the NHL, the AHL, the KHL, or a high-end European league to support yourself without a second job.

Also, while you're batting away disadvantages of the CHL, you have done nothing towards supporting ADVANTAGES over the USHL.