Boo Nieves features in NY Times article on NCAA vs CHL
Our own Boo Nieves features heavily in a NY Times article from yesterday about the choices American skaters have to make between staying eligible for NCAA hockey vs choosing to go the CHL/OHL route, often by the age of 14 or 15.
There's some typical NCAA-hating by the OHL sources but I think the NCAA actually comes out looking better. There's specific reference to how OHL players play in front of half full arenas while Boo and Michigan get to play in front of a packed out Yost and student section.
Remember kids, just say no to the O
December 20th, 2013 at 8:53 AM ^
December 20th, 2013 at 9:15 AM ^
Need to go to the O - but those are pretty much limited to like 1 or 2 guys a year. Everyone else would be better served in college. Of course there are some people who just aren't 'college guys'
I wonder what the US basketball scene would look like if the NBA "D" league accepted 18 year old kids. I don't think its a stretch to say some of the one and dones just aren't 'college guys'
No disrespect to people who aren't 'college guys' there are plenty of ways to make a living without a college degree - college is just not for everyone
December 20th, 2013 at 10:45 AM ^
great article. Go Blue!
December 20th, 2013 at 10:46 AM ^
also the pay in the O is pretty bad. you'll probably get indirectly comped more than just by meal plan alone and academic/athletic support in college.
December 20th, 2013 at 10:56 AM ^
For example:
Out of state tuition at M is now what, $30,000 ?
Tuition at any Ontario university: Around $6,000
These are ballpark estimates but you can see the huge difference.
December 20th, 2013 at 11:19 AM ^
“I think some guys from this league, if you send them into college, they’d dominate,” DeAngelo said.
I'm sure the 1st-round talent would, but would anybody else? Maybe some of the OHL guys are more skilled, but it would still be teenagers playing against guys who's bodies are completely fully developed.
December 20th, 2013 at 12:15 PM ^
because a lot of 1st and 2nd rounders play up there but its a bit delusional in my opinion because I think they either dont realize or choose to ignore the fact that there are plenty of NHL draft picks playing in college hockey as well. Plus, the fact that players in the CHL are generally younger than guys playing in the NCAAs
I think the CHL hype machine has a lot of these guys convinced that because they're a 4th rd NHL draft pick playing in the O that somehow they would vastly outperform a similar 4th rd draft pick in the NCAAs. Playing a few college games would change their minds ime.
December 20th, 2013 at 12:31 PM ^
That could be something to work on. Comparing the success rates of the 4th/5th/6th rounders and whether or not they make it in the NHL.
I mean the CHL is obviously gonna have more people, just because it's bigger, but I'd be interested to see the % breakdown. Or if each group is sending guys to the AHL too
December 20th, 2013 at 12:54 PM ^
If you're a mid-round pick, the chances are that you're facing an uphill battle to make the league. CHL guys will probably not agree with me, and I'm bias but I tell it like I see it.
Players up there score a lot and everyone thinks they can go pro. As a whole, the defensive play up there is almost non-existent. Most of the players are only interested in scoring. Patrick Kane said in an interview a few months ago that he never knew how to forecheck. Milne is playing very well in the OHL, but had no interest in playing defense and couldn't get off Michigan's bench.
The NHL is tough league to score in. How long will a player last who has never been taught how to play in the D-Zone if you get to the NHL and can't find you're scoring touch. There are always exceptions but for the most part this is how it is.
December 20th, 2013 at 3:15 PM ^
I wondered today if anyone has ever quantified how people progress through the different leagues compared to their projected draft stock coming in. Like if you take Joe Schmo 4th rounder and let him play a few years in the NCAA, USHL, CHL, or Internationally. Who generally progresses more?
I think that'd be a fascinating (but incredibly difficult) study to undertake.
And on your point, I wonder if certain positions tend to perform better in certain leagues. There's a lot of scoring in the OHL but it sure seems like there's a high percentage great goalies in the NHL who are college alums (Howard, Quick, etc.)
December 20th, 2013 at 2:04 PM ^
December 20th, 2013 at 4:42 PM ^
There's just so much more of it to the NCAA. You don't even have to be a US citizen to get the benefit of it, either. I knew a guy from western Canada, a graduate from Northern who played a couple of years for our ECHL team in town here...sharp dude, decent player, but it was obvious he wasn't going to make a lot of money playing hockey. Two years in he got an offer to play overseas and the team he signed for made graduate school a part of the contract. So the guy got to keep playing hockey for money, visit a foreign country (Northern Ireland, I think) AND further his education for nothing. It was like still going to college, but getting paid at the same time. Plus the guy has a higher degree to tack on to his resume' once he decides he's ready to quit playing.
Who wouldn't want to do that?