nhl players reflect on college careers

Montreal's Chris Higgins would have lengthened his stay at Yale beyond 2001-03.

"I just wish I'd stayed two more years," said Higgins. "That's the only thing I regret. I had a great two years there, and I definitely miss the college experience, my friends and all."
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"I wish I got the degree," said Komisarek, who bled maize and blue from 2000-02. "When I left about halfway through, I promised my parents I'd get my degree. I'm chipping away at it. At home, my sister has her big Boston College diploma, and I have my (Ann Arbor) Pioneer High School beside it. So that's my challenge now."
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"Sometimes," said Nieuwendyk, a special assistant to Panthers General Manager Jacques Martin after a star-studded NHL career and a former standout at Cornell, "I analyze whether it was the right decision to leave after my junior year. And there is some truth to becoming your own little fraternity on the hockey team; you didn't branch out. You meet a lot of people and make ties across the country with alumni, but it would have been nice to have a few more close relationships with people outside of athletics."
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Panthers defenseman Noah Welch got a degree from Harvard and played in the NCAA Tournament every year from 2001-05. Ask him, however, what he'd like most to have accomplished and he answers quicker than an outlet pass.

"Win a Beanpot -- hands down," said Welch about the coveted tournament each February among Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College and Boston University. "Nothing else, if I could change one thing. Yes, winning a national championship would be No. 1, I guess. But it's weird; winning the Beanpot is the first thing that comes to my mind."
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Which brings us to Glass – and his most profound reflection and resolution.

"It's a dream-come-true getting here," said the 2007 Dartmouth graduate. "But to go back, I wish I were a religion major. I'm really fascinated by it. I'm not really a religious guy, but a lot of people are and it causes a lot of different conflicts in the world; a lot of pain because of it. A lot of joy, too, but I wish I understood that a little better. That's one thing I really appreciated about Dartmouth. It really opened my eyes to a lot of different people and a lot of different walks of life; a lot of different opinions and philosophies and things like that."

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"Win a Beanpot -- hands down," said Welch about the coveted tournament each February among Harvard, Northeastern, Boston College and Boston University. "Nothing else, if I could change one thing. Yes, winning a national championship would be No. 1, I guess. But it's weird; winning the Beanpot is the first thing that comes to my mind."

Panthers defenseman Noah Welch got a degree from Harvard and played in the NCAA Tournament every year from 2001-05.