College Club Hockey

[johnson74 0]

I was reading through another thread and noticed many MSH's weren't quite sure what College Club Hockey is all about. I will try to breifly explain and answer questions. College club hockey has three divisions (I, II, III), which is mostly determined by the size of the student body at the given University. Division II is by far the largest and has about 150 University teams. Like NCAA, Division I teams are typically better than Division II teams but not always. Most Division II schools, which is what I am most familiar with play a 15-30 game schedule. The teams do not offer athletic scholarships and players must pay to play. There is a national gverning body like the NCAA but it is the ACHA. You can learn more by looking up achahockey.org. There is a National Tournament. Oakland University in Michigan won Division II this year, University of Rhode Island won Division I this year, Wright State won the Division III and Lindenwood won the womens division.

My club, the University of Oregon, travels thoughout the west coast and plays mostly teams in the PAC 10; UCLA, USC, Washington, Washington State, CAL, Stanford... We play about a 30 game season. We practice on ice 2 times per week, have one dryland per week and 2-3 games per weekend. The level of play varies from team to team and region to region (there are 4 regions; northeast, southeast, central and west). Typically the northeast and central fair the best at nationals. Our team is comprised of a few guys who played Junior A including one from the USHL, a bunch of guys who have played Junior B, a few guys from Alaska who played highschool hockey, guys from Wyoming, Oregon, Minnesota and a few other places. Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III. Typically, the better teams will have a good third and sometimes forth lines. It is full contact hockey. Some of the Better Division I teams will actually schedule exhibition games with NCAA Disvion I teams. Penn State's Club team beat a few of the NCAA schools this year. In our region, the west, it is really your only option to play college hockey since there are no NCAA hockey programs west of Colorado besides Alaska. I think that it is an excellent opportunity for hockey players who would like to get a great education out west and still play hockey. These teams do recruit, many of you may receive letters soomeday. And it can be very good hockey. Rumors of these teams going NCAA are just that, rumors ( I think that I read on another thread that USC had claimed aspirations of going NCAA but it is very very unlikely.) IF you have questions please ask and I will try to post a response as soon as possible.

[gavin 0]

If anyone one these boards plays college club hockey anywhere near Northern Wisconson, PM me I'd like to schedule a game. I have a college club hockey team, we would like to fill out our schedule a little more and we don't think we can schedule with most of the NCAA teams around here (Michigan Tech and UMD? Pretty sure they would kick our collective butt). But it's a blast and we have great fans and if you want a piece of our program, we'd love to maybe do some home/away stuff.

[JR Boucicaut 3760]

Oakland here in Rochester is looking to go CHA in a couple of years. They went up to ACHA Div 1 staring next season.

[Gongshow11 1]

Not one team in club hockey would compete in ncaa d3. theyd win games, but would never be top of the pack. and going ncaa d1? i highly doubt any will go d1 and if they do, a lot of stuff needs to be done which most schools just dont want to spend. PSU will never go NCAA d1 and if they play a schedule next yr comprised of NCAA d3 and d1, they will lose most of their games.

"Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III"

then why are they in club and d2 club at that. Believe me if they could go d3 thyed find a way to afford it, as there are "academic" schollys.

[johnson74 0]

yglod11,

Sometimes, though, it's a matter of going to a school out west or somewhere else where there isn't even that d3 opportunity much less d1. Some people really do this! Some may just want to go to school where the weather is, say, sunny all the time such as SoCal or where there are green rainforests and mountains to ski in such as Oregon (where I live now). We all face reality at some point. Most of us aren't going to the big leagues. I bet most guys playing d3 aren't really shooting for the big show. Also, I'm from Mn and all of the d3 schools that I can think of that are any good (st. thomas, st. mary's, st. johns...) are all small religious colleges and that doesn't appeal to everyone even if it does afford you the opportunity to play hockey NCAA d3.

[UMWhockey 0]

Not one team in club hockey would compete in ncaa d3. theyd win games, but would never be top of the pack. and going ncaa d1? i highly doubt any will go d1 and if they do, a lot of stuff needs to be done which most schools just dont want to spend. PSU will never go NCAA d1 and if they play a schedule next yr comprised of NCAA d3 and d1, they will lose most of their games.

"Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III"

then why are they in club and d2 club at that. Believe me if they could go d3 thyed find a way to afford it, as there are "academic" schollys.

you don't think PSU would be able to recruit top players if they went NCAA. Just think about how their team is now and how much better it would be if they were NCAA. Title 9 and travel expenses is what keeps a lot of teams from being a NCAA program, not talent level.

[Chadd 916]

Not one team in club hockey would compete in ncaa d3. theyd win games, but would never be top of the pack. and going ncaa d1? i highly doubt any will go d1 and if they do, a lot of stuff needs to be done which most schools just dont want to spend. PSU will never go NCAA d1 and if they play a schedule next yr comprised of NCAA d3 and d1, they will lose most of their games.

"Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III"

then why are they in club and d2 club at that. Believe me if they could go d3 thyed find a way to afford it, as there are "academic" schollys.

you don't think PSU would be able to recruit top players if they went NCAA. Just think about how their team is now and how much better it would be if they were NCAA. Title 9 and travel expenses is what keeps a lot of teams from being a NCAA program, not talent level.

Expense and title 9 are exactly the reasons that they don't do it.

[flymonty3 0]

Not one team in club hockey would compete in ncaa d3. theyd win games, but would never be top of the pack. and going ncaa d1? i highly doubt any will go d1 and if they do, a lot of stuff needs to be done which most schools just dont want to spend. PSU will never go NCAA d1 and if they play a schedule next yr comprised of NCAA d3 and d1, they will lose most of their games.

"Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III"

then why are they in club and d2 club at that. Believe me if they could go d3 thyed find a way to afford it, as there are "academic" schollys.

I can find you AT LEAST 50 club hockey players off the top of my head that are good enough, or have played/been provided an opprotunity to play NCAA but have left for one reason or another. I can then find you at least a dozen or two more players who fit the same criteria except they played or could have played division 1. No BS here, and there is no clouded judgement, I watch all levels of hockey for my profession, and I am very familiar with all levels of College hockey, all the way from the shittiest club hockey programs to the largest NCAA D.1 programs ( I work with several teams/players in your league {SUNYAC} and I can name quite a few teams who could finish in that league year in and year out.)

I will agree that the bottom 2/3 of club hockey progams are glorified beer leagues, but there are actually 20-30 teams that can hang in any D.3 league, or bottom end D.1 leagues. I know of quite a few good Jr. players that cant afford to go to a D.3 school, dont want to go to a D.3 school as some players look down on it, and they just flat out arent good enough students. It isnt a matter of always turning down a D.3 offer because a good player doesnt want to "waste" his time playing D.3, because D.3 hockey is good hockey. Sometimes it just isnt economically possible.

I personally had a choice to go to a NCAA D.3 school out east, or stay at least on the west coast and play D.1 club hockey after Juniors. I wanted to play D.3 of course, but it came down to the fact I didnt qualify for any financial aid, no way of getting any academic assistance, and the D.3 school was going to cost 35K for out of state tuition, and that was before housing. I ended up staying out west, went to a pretty good school, only paid 12K a ear including on campus housing with a meal plan, books, parking pass, etc.....played in front of 1,500+ fans per night (no joke), 1/2 our home games were televised,On campus rink with seating for 2500, 4 practices a week from mid August-Mid March, full time coaching staff and management, and got to play with some very good players at the same time (everyone on our roster had at least played Jr. B, most played in the AWHL/NAHL) At the end I have the same degree I would have gotten out East, except I have about 2/3 less spent on college than I would

With as many players I have seen play in the last year, I truly believe that no mattter what path you take, if you are good enough to advance you will. Some players reach roadblocks earlier than others in their "careers" So regarding Penn State... YES they would get smoked by most teams in any league besides CHA or Atlantic hockey, and to compete there they would have to cut 1/2 their roster. I have talked to Oakland's coach a few times, he has the right Idea, they can make something there begause they are in the right geographical location for that league, and they are planning on building a rink i believe, everything is just a function of money. High end club teams can indeed hang in the mid range of all NCAA leagues, I would bet a very good amount of money on that......

[Megamandan 0]

Oakland here in Rochester is looking to go CHA in a couple of years. They went up to ACHA Div 1 staring next season.

If CHA doesn't crash and burn. I am trying out for Club hockey next year (Division I) for Niagara University. I really hope I can make it. I think I am just as good as a high school/AAA player, it's just I've never been able to play because of Time and My high school doesn't have hockey. They compared Club DI to Jr.'s and High school. We'll see how it goes.

[Gongshow11 1]

yglod11,

Sometimes, though, it's a matter of going to a school out west or somewhere else where there isn't even that d3 opportunity much less d1.  Some people really do this! Some may just want to go to school where the weather is, say, sunny all the time such as SoCal or where there are green rainforests and mountains to ski in such as Oregon (where I live now).  We all face reality at some point.  Most of us aren't going to the big leagues.  I bet most guys playing d3 aren't really shooting for the big show.  Also, I'm from Mn and all of the d3 schools that I can think of that are any good (st. thomas, st. mary's, st. johns...) are all small religious colleges and that doesn't appeal to everyone even if it does afford you the opportunity to play hockey NCAA d3.

umm st.thomas st.johns are unreal hockey schools, they send at elast 3 guys every year to minor pro, which is not that prevelant in club hockey.

I wanted to play D.3 of course, but it came down to the fact I didnt qualify for any financial aid, no way of getting any academic assistance, and the D.3 school was going to cost 35K for out of state tuition,

if you are referring to the league i think you are (ECAC NE or ECAC E) then playing d1 club could have been better as those schools are not good for hockey except maybe 3. If you were recruited to play in the NESCAC, then i'm not you, but I would shell out 35k a yr, because you can pay that off graduating from say an Amherst in what 5-7 yrs?

but there are actually 20-30 teams that can hang in any D.3 league, or bottom end D.1 leagues.

please, find me these 30 teams, lets be realistic. If PSU were to take their team andnot cut anyoen and play NCAA d3, theyd be equivalent to maybe a skidmore, or a cortland. Aside fromt he 3 top teams in ACHA d1, there is no way they could compete, let alone d1. PSU playing D1? r u serious? so they beat RMU once, in a full season they'd have a losing record.

you don't think PSU would be able to recruit top players if they went NCAA. Just think about how their team is now and how much better it would be if they were NCAA. Title 9 and travel expenses is what keeps a lot of teams from being a NCAA program, not talent level.

i'm sure they would get top recruits, but im sayign if they kept their roster. they never will tho however, because A) they need a d1 rink, B)) they'd have to open up scholarship opportunities, whether athletic or academic for canadian players. Beleive it or not, Ontario produces the most d1 players in the US.

[Gongshow11 1]

Oakland here in Rochester is looking to go CHA in a couple of years.  They went up to ACHA Div 1 staring next season.

If CHA doesn't crash and burn. I am trying out for Club hockey next year (Division I) for Niagara University. I really hope I can make it. I think I am just as good as a high school/AAA player, it's just I've never been able to play because of Time and My high school doesn't have hockey. They compared Club DI to Jr.'s and High school. We'll see how it goes.

club d1 is at most jr.b. NCAA is prep school and jr.a

[hockechamp14 0]

you don't think PSU would be able to recruit top players if they went NCAA. Just think about how their team is now and how much better it would be if they were NCAA. Title 9 and travel expenses is what keeps a lot of teams from being a NCAA program, not talent level.

i'm sure they would get top recruits, but im sayign if they kept their roster. they never will tho however, because A) they need a d1 rink, B)) they'd have to open up scholarship opportunities, whether athletic or academic for canadian players. Beleive it or not, Ontario produces the most d1 players in the US.

National champion wisconsin has 4 canadian players on thier roster, one from ontario. You don't need canadian players to be sucessful.

[Trooper 8]

Not one team in club hockey would compete in ncaa d3. theyd win games, but would never be top of the pack. and going ncaa d1? i highly doubt any will go d1 and if they do, a lot of stuff needs to be done which most schools just dont want to spend. PSU will never go NCAA d1 and if they play a schedule next yr comprised of NCAA d3 and d1, they will lose most of their games.

"Most teams have at least two very good lines with guys that could have or did play Juniors and/or NCAA Div III"

then why are they in club and d2 club at that. Believe me if they could go d3 thyed find a way to afford it, as there are "academic" schollys.

PSU would do decent in DIII right now. In Naples, there were about 4-5 DIII coaches that came up to the PSU guys and were stunned that PSU had landed some guys they were going after hard. PSU's budget is practically double some of the lower DIII teams' budget. It is a very attractive offer for kids who know they aren't going anywhere and want to play hockey while going to a good school.

[rogue 0]

My school used to have a club team. Then came Title IX.

[johnson74 0]

yglod11,

umm, unreal hockey schools? They are very good yes but unreal? I would only classify the upper echelon of d1 schools as unreal hockey schools. Think about how few players from those schools actually make the big show, it's a very small percentage. Many of the decent players that I played with in highschool played in the MIAC, most going to St Thomas which has one of the best programs year in and year out. As far as sending guys to the next step, a few may go to the minor pro's and every once in a blue moon someone might get a shot at the big show but face it, chances are slim to none. Things change when you get a little older and you face reality. You realize that there is more to life than hockey. WHere are you from? Being so familiar with the teams in the MIAC you must be from Minny. As flymonty3 pointed out there truly are many players playing at the club level that could have or did play NCAA d3. The biggest difference between d3 programs and the better club programs is depth, but trust me, take any of the top ACHA teams and I bet that most of their 1st and maybe even their 2nd lines can play with people in d3 for sure. However, they may not have the academics or cash to attend. And maybe, they don't really want to go to a small private Catholic school in St Paul such as St Thomas, but would rather leave the cold winters and mosquito infested humid summers for the more temperate climate of the west coast. Thus having to play "club" hockey if they want to continue to play hockey at a competitive level.

[mack 44]

Finally a realist who puts education above the sport.

[Gongshow11 1]

you don't think PSU would be able to recruit top players if they went NCAA. Just think about how their team is now and how much better it would be if they were NCAA. Title 9 and travel expenses is what keeps a lot of teams from being a NCAA program, not talent level.

i'm sure they would get top recruits, but im sayign if they kept their roster. they never will tho however, because A) they need a d1 rink, B)) they'd have to open up scholarship opportunities, whether athletic or academic for canadian players. Beleive it or not, Ontario produces the most d1 players in the US.

National champion wisconsin has 4 canadian players on thier roster, one from ontario. You don't need canadian players to be sucessful.

look at majority of teams and count up every candian guy vs every other state oin the US, most are ontario guys than any other state. Obviously there are more US guys as its US hockey, but take for example a league in d3 like the SUNYAC, look at the amount of canadian there

WHere are you from? Being so familiar with the teams in the MIAC you must be from Minny.

i am from canada, and play NCAA hockey. For a canadian guy, club hockey is useless as there is hardly any $$ given out to international students who dont have a 4.0, whereas in the NCAA the scholarships are more leniant, like in d3

[Trooper 8]

i am from canada, and play NCAA hockey. For a canadian guy, club hockey is useless as there is hardly any $$ given out to international students who dont have a 4.0, whereas in the NCAA the scholarships are more leniant, like in d3

There are actually quite a few schools with Canadians getting "student diversification" money. Liberty is loaded with Canadians as their coach is from Canada and happens to be the Canadian recruiter for the school. Several others offer money to Canadians as well.

[Jason Harris 31]

My school used to have a club team. Then came Title IX.

That's interesting that you say that, since I skate with the JV coach at CU, and he said the reason they are a club team is they don't have to comply with Title IX requirements.

I'm not sure whether Title IX requires that schools offer the same sports for both sexes, but I'm pretty confident it requires that the athletic departments spend the same amount of money on both sexes. Since most sports are a net loss for a school, they'll sanction club teams rather than spend the money for both sexes.

[UMWhockey 0]

My school used to have a club team. Then came Title IX.

That's interesting that you say that, since I skate with the JV coach at CU, and he said the reason they are a club team is they don't have to comply with Title IX requirements.

I'm not sure whether Title IX requires that schools offer the same sports for both sexes, but I'm pretty confident it requires that the athletic departments spend the same amount of money on both sexes. Since most sports are a net loss for a school, they'll sanction club teams rather than spend the money for both sexes.

title 9 shouldn't cause a club to have to fold, only a varsity program.

[johnson74 0]

yglod11,

If you are getting money to play hockey and go to school that is a whole different ball game. Congrats! Coming out of high school in Mn I was recruited to play at most of those teams in the MIAC Conference, however, I was told that I could not be given an athletic scholarship to play hockey at a religious University and I would not qualify for financial aid because my parents had a high income level and claimed me as a dependent. So, it wasn't worth it at that time to take out a bunch of loans to play d3 hockey when the future was the same either way you look at it, I wasn't going to the big show and would end up being in the workforce.

Club hockey may not be your bag but to say that it is useless is hardly fair. When you say useless, if you are referring to the fact that your chances may be incredibly thin to make it to a higher level of hockey, then the same could be said for almost all d3 NCAA programs as well. You still get the experience of being a student athlete, yes you have to pay some cash to play, but for some it is the ultimate choice.

[Wayne 0]

Oakland here in Rochester is looking to go CHA in a couple of years.  They went up to ACHA Div 1 staring next season.

If CHA doesn't crash and burn. I am trying out for Club hockey next year (Division I) for Niagara University. I really hope I can make it. I think I am just as good as a high school/AAA player, it's just I've never been able to play because of Time and My high school doesn't have hockey. They compared Club DI to Jr.'s and High school. We'll see how it goes.

club d1 is at most jr.b. NCAA is prep school and jr.a

what Jr. B are you watching???

Club D1 is head and shoulders above Jr. B.

MANY club D2 teams are above Jr. B teams.

[johnson74 0]

Oakland here in Rochester is looking to go CHA in a couple of years.  They went up to ACHA Div 1 staring next season.

If CHA doesn't crash and burn. I am trying out for Club hockey next year (Division I) for Niagara University. I really hope I can make it. I think I am just as good as a high school/AAA player, it's just I've never been able to play because of Time and My high school doesn't have hockey. They compared Club DI to Jr.'s and High school. We'll see how it goes.

club d1 is at most jr.b. NCAA is prep school and jr.a

what Jr. B are you watching???

Club D1 is head and shoulders above Jr. B.

MANY club D2 teams are above Jr. B teams.

Agreed!

[warrior37 0]

what ACHA club teams are you watching?

[Gongshow11 1]

when i say jr.a i refer to the OPJHL and AJHL and BCHL and USHL. I dont see many of those guys goin to club hockey. If you look at club rosters, they are all high school or jr.b rosters. Even if they are high jr.b, theyre still jr.b