The National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) Division I Council’s decision to lift the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) player ban, has triggered a wave of uncertainty for men’s hockey programs across North America.
Earlier this month, the NCAA finalized the removal of a player ban that prevented players from the CHL, which includes the Western Hockey League, from competing in American universities. Previously, the NCAA had deemed those leagues professional, due to the presence of players with pro contracts and a monthly player stipend.
The changes will affect both Canadian and U.S. schools. USports, the governing body for university athletics in Canada, primarily targets aged-out major junior players from the CHL and Junior A leagues. The new change will create competition with American programs, impacting USports’ recruitment pipelines.
For example, more than half of the players on the roster of the nationally fourth-ranked Mount Royal Cougars have played in the CHL.
Rob Godfrey, associate director of varsity athletics for Mount Royal University, believes there are more questions than answers currently.
“There’s a lot of unknown, there’s a lot of potentials, and what ifs, and playing out scenarios,” said Godfrey.
The details of the new change have become a main concern for Godfrey and his program. The NCAA has not released any guidelines to prevent poaching or whether NCAA teams can contact current CHL, USports, or other junior-level players.
“I think there’s a part of that, that we may have to educate them and all of the value, and how good of a situation it is here, and then see where the chips fall at that point,” said Godfrey.
The head coach of Bemidji State University in Minnesota, Tom Serratore, whose team plays in Division I, believes this change will impact his program positively and create more possibilities for players.
“Thirty-five per cent of the NHL are college hockey guys, and it’s going to increase that. It’s going to make our product better,” said Serratore.
Serratore is in his twenty-fourth year of coaching the Bemidji State Beavers men’s hockey team and has seen tremendous growth in hockey in the United States. He believes this change will help grow the game and quality in NCAA Division I hockey.
“When I started coaching college hockey in the mid 90’s. It was about 55 to 60 per cent Canadian and really in a book it is about 40 to 45 per cent American.
Now we’re at 10 per cent European, 60 per cent American, 30 per cent Canadian right now, so there’s no question,” said Serratore. “It’s going to expand our pool in Canada and we’ve already expanded our pool in Europe, and that’ll continue to happen just because we’re such a global sport.”
The decision has already sent shockwaves through the hockey landscape, with CHL players committing to NCAA Division I programs.
Godfrey hopes that people don’t forget the academic part of student-athletes when speaking about the change in the new rule.
“I think there’s a lot of conversation around both the athletic and academic components, because we’re still talking about student-athletes at the end of the day, whether it’s up here or down south,” says Godfrey.
The ban will be lifted on Aug. 1, 2025.