Major Junior hockey in Canada

[Dougie8 0]

What good is it giving $40-50 per week? Is it for Twix bars and bubble gum?? Might as well give no money at all.

It's better then nothing. For teenagers that don't have a job, you don't think they'd like to have extra cash to go to the movies or buy things in there spare time? It's not like there supposed to pay bills, or live off the money.. it's extra spending cash.

[-knowlzey- 0]

Heh - he should have accidentally brutally sprained his wrist while combing his hair and kept the scholarship too. :)

Never had a scholarship to begin with unfortunately.

[pantherfan 0]

Heh - he should have accidentally brutally sprained his wrist while combing his hair and kept the scholarship too. :)

Blackadder reference? :P

[mxihockey 0]

Yea a lot of people have a big misunderstanding about NCAA hockey and scholarships. There are only so many scholarships to go around on each team. When I was talking to a D1 coach this summer he told me that most kids come in as freshman paying their way, and he tries make sure they are all on scholarship by their senior year. So a lot of these "4 for 4's" you here kids talking about are BS.

[RecLeagueHero 0]

Yea a lot of people have a big misunderstanding about NCAA hockey and scholarships. There are only so many scholarships to go around on each team. When I was talking to a D1 coach this summer he told me that most kids come in as freshman paying their way, and he tries make sure they are all on scholarship by their senior year. So a lot of these "4 for 4's" you here kids talking about are BS.

Really depends on the program. Most of the guys that play for the Golden Gophers are getting full rides, or close it it, because the program is big over there. There are other north eastern colleges, and notably Denver University, where hockey is also big and there's more money to go around. Not to bring up a huge gender issues debate, but pre-Title IX there was also a lot more scholarship money for hockey players. In smaller programs, even in D1, there probably isn't enough money in the program to give the whole roster scholarships. Then again, it's also common for colleges not to give kickers, punters, and place kickers scholarships for the first couple of years either and that certainly isn't for a lack of money in football. If you want to play a college sport that can't turn a profit for the university and you aren't a woman there's a good chance you may never get a full scholarship. That's hardly a secret.

[shooter27 116]

The thing is that the education thing is almost as risky NCAA route aswell. The OHL provides the same "scholarships" that the NCAA does, its just that its one year of school paid per year of sevice (which is considered 16-25 games as I recall) and you get to pick your school in Canada. Obviously you run the risk of getting hurt and not being able to lay the full four seasons. However; you can just as easily lose your scholly in the NCAA aswell.

You can't really compare the educational packages from the CHL to the NCAA scholarships. First of all, yes, you can lose a scholarship, but there are a variety of rules/protections in place that prevent schools from pulling a scholarship just for the sake of pulling it. The NCAA academic requirements, which consist of GPAs, 5-year graduation rates, and the like, penalize schools for having kids drop out of school and not get a degree because there scholarships get pulled. That being said, its not unheard of for a guy to lose an athletic scholarship, but be given some other form of financial aid so that the kid can still graduate and the school gets to give the scholarship to someone else without getting penalized. It happens quite often when players have career-ending injuries. I'm not sure quite how the mechanics of it all work, but thats the way I've understood it to be handled. Secondly, CHL educational packages are immediately null and void once the player plays in a professional game. So while that education package looks good from the outset, you play one game in the ECHL, or a lower league, and there goes your education money. At that point you're now 20-21 years old (the same age as a lot of NCAA freshman), have played 4 years of major junior, are playing minor pro hockey (with little chance of ever making the show) and if you want an education you've got to pay for it yourself. I'm of the opinion that unless you get one of those up front side deals that people have discussed then you're probably better off in the NCAA.

Yea a lot of people have a big misunderstanding about NCAA hockey and scholarships. There are only so many scholarships to go around on each team. When I was talking to a D1 coach this summer he told me that most kids come in as freshman paying their way, and he tries make sure they are all on scholarship by their senior year. So a lot of these "4 for 4's" you here kids talking about are BS.

The reality is that hockey teams are allowed a MAX of 18 scholarships. Some teams use them all, some don't. But 18 isn't even enough to put a full roster of 20 skaters on the ice on a given night. It's no secret that there are a lot of partial scholarships being given in NCAA hockey that are rotated amongst the entire roster. It's also no secret that just because you're not on a hockey scholarship doesn't mean you're not getting some other type of aid package that pays your way.

[warrior37 0]

hot rumor is that plymouth paid aj jenks like $100K not to go to the U of Mich.

jenks isnt even that good of a player

last i checked he was drafted in the nhl and he is playing major jr hockey, annnnnd he was paid to play/not play for someone else, i mean he's decent right

[doogie24 0]

That rumour of Pat Kane getting 200K was shot down by his parents, but who knows. When dealing with top level prospects that are sure to make the NHL, it seems like most of the time it is better to choose the CHL route, as there is more exposure. (especially in a place like London). Around here we like to compare the Hunter brothers to the Steinbrenner family, as they own the London Knights and run their team in similar ways to the Yankees, which may mean buying players sometimes. They have been very successful in the OHL priority selection (Rick Nash was the first pick that the Hunters made when they bought the team), but sometimes the complaints come when the Knights find these American kids out of nowhere, with rumours that they paid them not to accept NCAA offers.

[doogie24 0]

The OHL just put in a new rule on "tampering" with 15/16 year olds, I heard it on the radio a few times, don't have any print links though. Basically if a team is caught in shady business like telling a kid to say that he is going the NCAA route and than is picked up later in the draft (other teams will pass on that player because they think he won't report to the team, so no point drafting him), than the fine will be $250,000, and two first round draft picks. Obviously this will be very hard to prove, but like I mentioned before there has been rumours of London doing this before, along with other teams.