Recruits 2025 and Beyond

[Trotsky]

So a bit off topic but of definite interest here.  My son is a prep school player and we recently attended this big D1 showcase in Florida - they time it to be held just after the NCAA coaches annual conference and so literally there are either head coaches or assistant coaches from every hockey east and ECAC school there.  Competition is pretty amazing.  Anyway they have a conference portion of it and during that, one of the coaches pointed out that since it was determined  that Canadian juniors players were now NCAA eligible, in those 6 months of 135 players committed 125 of them were from those Canadian juniors leagues.  Now maybe there was a huge backlog of players that were wanted.  But it changes a lot - I think kids will still get signed out of NE prep schools but then they can choose to play in the OHL or the Q instead of just the USHL or NAHL  or BCHL.  And also, I would think, if you're thinking, after graduating from prep school, that you're just going to go and play juniors and get signed out of there, probably the already low odds of that leading to D1 hockey got a ton lower.  I just think it might be real interesting considering Cornell seems to have an edge on recruiting north of the border anyway.

Great insight.  Two things are unique for this one time.  First, as you said, backlog.  That huge number is something that would spread across 3-4 years typically.  Also, this was the one time guys who would have gone the other way, but didn't due to apparently sacrificing their eligibility, were given a second chance.  That had to play into a lot of jumping.  But from now on, it is known ahead of time the choice isn't irrevocable.

I think this helps both paths and the athletes.  I don't see a downside, unless some programs really compromise themselves to be a soft landing for non-academically inclined CHLers, but honestly those schools are already doing that (Qough).  And it might finally force the CHL programs to provide legitimate college preparation, which right now (and always) kids there could only do as autodidacts.  I am all for putting pressure on CHL brass. They are highly exploitative even by youth sports standards.

[BearLover]

So a bit off topic but of definite interest here.  My son is a prep school player and we recently attended this big D1 showcase in Florida - they time it to be held just after the NCAA coaches annual conference and so literally there are either head coaches or assistant coaches from every hockey east and ECAC school there.  Competition is pretty amazing.  Anyway they have a conference portion of it and during that, one of the coaches pointed out that since it was determined  that Canadian juniors players were now NCAA eligible, in those 6 months of 135 players committed 125 of them were from those Canadian juniors leagues.  Now maybe there was a huge backlog of players that were wanted.  But it changes a lot - I think kids will still get signed out of NE prep schools but then they can choose to play in the OHL or the Q instead of just the USHL or NAHL  or BCHL.  And also, I would think, if you're thinking, after graduating from prep school, that you're just going to go and play juniors and get signed out of there, probably the already low odds of that leading to D1 hockey got a ton lower.  I just think it might be real interesting considering Cornell seems to have an edge on recruiting north of the border anyway.

I hadn't realize the extent of CHL commitments until I just scrolled through Heisenberg's spreadsheet. Holy smokes, many schools have 6 or more CHL players matriculating next season.

[adamw]

Look no farther than this year's national champ, western Michigan, for evidence that a platoon can work

until they decide it doesn't. Slukynsky started the last 10 games of the year. Something 2001-02 Cornell notably did not eventually do with LeNeveu. Actually went the other way, I think.

My recollection is that Underhill got all the playoff starts. At least the two in Placid and two in Worcester after being the Friday guy most of the year.

I know. When I said Cornell "notably didn't do" - I meant, start the better freshman at the end.

[Chris '03]

Look no farther than this year's national champ, western Michigan, for evidence that a platoon can work

until they decide it doesn't. Slukynsky started the last 10 games of the year. Something 2001-02 Cornell notably did not eventually do with LeNeveu. Actually went the other way, I think.

My recollection is that Underhill got all the playoff starts. At least the two in Placid and two in Worcester after being the Friday guy most of the year.

I know. When I said Cornell "notably didn't do" - I meant, start the better freshman at the end.

Ahh. I misread it as "notably didn't abandon the platoon"

[Redpucks1!]

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Not to tech savvy - hope this goes through.

[Redpucks1!]

Well - what I tried to send previously was news that Michael Dec cleaned up at the St. Andrews College Hockey banquet.  
On the St. Andrews College Hockey twitter account / dated May 11, he won the following;

     1. Practice Champion Award - awarded to the member of the team who achieves the highest cumulative average in practice statistics during the current season.

     2. Offensive MVP - awarded to the player who leads the team in the offensive side of the game as the top point producer.

     3. Team MVP - awarded to the individual who is judged to be the most valuable member of the SAC 1st hockey team - voted on by players and staff.


Cornell is so good at identifying the guys who may not be considered blue chippers like the BU's, BC's, UND's, Michigan's all get yet they are always competitive.  A real credit to the coaching staff.  Michael Dec sounds like a great prospect that played some games with Owen Sound in the OHL last season and faired well.  I assume that he'll play there in 2025-'26.  He is an '07 and is scheduled to come to Ithaca in 2027.

[David Harding]

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Not to tech savvy - hope this goes through.

This link should take you to the Instagram account https://www.instagram.com/sachockey1899/