CIS hockey improving at combining hockey and higher education, while some just promise it
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November 01, 2012
CIS hockey improving at combining hockey and higher
education, while some just promise it
By Neate Sager
Perhaps Canadians would not jump for the dangling carrot — major junior players
being eligible for the NCAA — if the country's own brand postsecondary puck
received its due more frequently.
Whatever becomes of those agitating for a union in the Canadian Hockey League in
the name of education, education, education, remains to be seen. (In the wake
of Tuesday's bombshells, one does wonder who would sign a membership card
furnished by a group facing serious allegations about its spokesman's identity and
past.) During all this tumult and shouting about the CHLPA, though, it's often been
overlooked that Canadian Interuniversity Sport is already holding up its end of the
bargain on helping junior grads combine a high calibre of hockey with higher
- 2. 1/5/2016 CIS hockey improving at combining hockey and higher education, while some just promise it Buzzing The Net Junior Hockey Blog Yahoo! Sports
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/cishockeycarriesoncombininghockeyandhighereducationwhilesomejustpromise… 2/4
education.
The dreamfactory economics of developmental hockey in Canada, selling hope,
dictates CIS players often perform in front of crowds a fraction of the size of what they
experienced as teenagers in the CHL. But the everimproving quality of play is
undeniable. Perennial Top 10 CIS squads attract players who opted to use their
juniorleague education packages instead of trying their luck with an AHL contract.
The What Should Be — what if CHL grads could go to the NCAA? — is sexier. But let's
give the What Is that is the upper echelon of CIS hockey its due.
"The level of play, over the last decade, it's not even comparable between Year 1 and
Year 10," says Saskatchewan Huskies coach Dave Adoph, whose team is ranked No.
1 in CIS and will host the University Cup in March, fewer than two months before the
WHL's Blades host the MasterCard Memorial Cup. "It's so far superior it's
unbelievable.
"It used to be the major junior guys were reluctant to go to university at first because
they had been brainwashed from age 16 to go be pro hockey players," adds Adolph,
who noted it's possible to play a combined 10 seasons in the CHL and CIS. "That's all
they thought of. Now they're required to go to school while they're playing and there's
a push to take [university] classes. They're thinking about 'what if I can't play the
NHL?' Now the CIS is a good alternative and they can always go play in the Coast
league [ECHL] with a degree [after graduating]."
By almost all accounts, that comes back to all three Canadian major junior circuits
improving the education packages for former players. Some teams also offer more
money to a player who was a hot commodity when he came into the league, which
can be problematic. While CIS doesn't offer full athletic scholarships, it also provides
assistance to studentathletes who maintain a good academic standing. It's not
necessarily a full ride, but it can be one.
Halifax Mooseheads grad Bryce Swan, whose former team is facing legal actions from
the proposed Canadian Hockey League Players' Association, was one of the highest
NHL draft picks ever to choose CIS. At age 20 in 2008, two years after being taken in
the second round of the NHL draft by the Anaheim Ducks, Swan decided to play for
the St. Francis Xavier XMen ("I didn't want to be thrown into a system where I'd be
thrown out," he said at the time). He also turned down an AHL offer from the
Minnesota Wild to keep playing and studying in Antigonish, N.S..
"At that point, was it worth it to turn down another year of school paid for to go and dip
a toe in the water to see if you could make it?" says Swan, who is now skating for the
powerhouse UNB Varsity Reds after a fouryear run with St. FX. "You don't know
where you're going to end up, maybe in the Coast. If it was a year earlier, probably I
would have went pro, but after playing a year of CIS and knowing how good it was, I
knew it was worth it to go back.
"Every year I've been in the league someone has signed so I knew my chance could
come, but I'd also have my education. I don't regret my decision."
Come next spring, the 25yearold Cape Bretoner will have a MBA in his pocket.
Thanks to using his education package from the QMJHL and the Mooseheads, while
getting additional support at St. FX, Swan will have relatively little student debt
compared to most new graduates in Canada.
"For myself, after two degrees, including a masters' degrees, I'm going to end up with
$10,000, $15,000 in student loans," says the North Sydney, N.S., native, whose five
years in school exceeded his four in the Quebec League. "When you think about that,
that's pretty great compared to some people."
'Came here to get better'
That is far from the exception. Gardiner MacDougall, UNB's coach, recalls when
current AHL veteran Darryl Boyce demurred from signing with the Toronto Maple
Leafs organization, instead waiting another year before turning pro.
- 3. 1/5/2016 CIS hockey improving at combining hockey and higher education, while some just promise it Buzzing The Net Junior Hockey Blog Yahoo! Sports
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/cishockeycarriesoncombininghockeyandhighereducationwhilesomejustpromise… 3/4
"It was a $60,000 contract and I said, 'are you sure?' " recalls MacDougall, whose
Varsity Reds are ranked No. 4 in the country. "And he said, 'Coach, I came here to win
and we didn't win last year, plus I came here to get better and I can get a better
contract next year.'
Every year a player or two, often from either Atlantic University Sport or Canada West,
manages to land a pro shot.
"It's going the uncharted route," MacDougall concedes. "But now it's so competitive
that if you're on a twoway American League contract, maybe school's a great option
and you can become a better player and get your education — or at least part of it —
and then play some pro hockey."
No reason for change
The Big Hypothetical of NCAA eligiblity for major junior guys is pieinthesky to CIS
guys. There's already a good working relationship that perhaps shouldn't be
jeopardized.
"I know the NCAA has full rides, but when you look at the education packages that are
provided by the individual leagues and the assistance they're getting from the CIS
schools, a lot of kids are getting a good chunk of their education paid for," says Brad
Peddle, the coach at No. 7ranked St. FX. "And we as coaches are getting real good
players. It's something I can't see why anyone would want to change it."
There's also the benefit of staying in Canada, where a lot of Canadian players who
end up in the NCAA might end up settling.
"The [education] package as a whole is as good as the NCAA if not better," Calgary
Dinos coach Mark Howell says. "But it's also the whole experience, building a
[professional] network, within the school and the city. Calgary has a booming economy
and our graduates are coming out with terrific opportunities."
MacDougall, whose VReds' average attendance of 2,600 surpasses many CHL
teams, reasons the lack of recognition for the CIS game might be because, "As
Canadians, we don't hype our product as much as we should." Like the CHL,
university sports has its nooks and crannies of intense fandom, but isn't national like
the NHL. University hockey only gets national TV exposure once a year when
Sportsnet covers the University Cup. It also lacks that pushtheneedle performer, its
own Connor McDavid. The style of play is a more structured northsouth game, but it
can make for gripping inperson watching. And it's impossible to step right in from
major junior and dominate.
"What gets lost in all this is that the hockey is good," says UNB rookie defenceman
Adrian Robertson, who played five OHL seasons in Peterborough, Windsor and
Sarnia. "I didn't know what to expect coming into it. To be honest, the quality of
hockey's even better than major junior. It lacks the highend skill players, but the
hockey is good and that's something I think few people realize — the fact you get to
play another four years of really good hockey. I'm playing with and against good
players who are 25, 26 years old. Plus there's a lot of great schools in Canada to
choose from.
"All the glamour would be drawn to the NHL or the NCAA," adds Robertson. "But the
average player here was a good player in the CHL. Coming in, the first few games
caught me offguard, 'oh, this is good.' There's not the firstround pick that the media
is drawn to or that the fans go crazy over."
So what if, prestochango, the NCAA did opens it doors to players with major junior
experience? Howell, whose Dinos are ranked No. 10 in CIS, is not so sure he and his
counterparts would be hard up to recruit capable performers.
"That's beyond us, we'll have to see how all of that unfolds," he says. "In the end, I
don't think there's enough places for all these players to go anyways, There's still
great situations in the CIS regardless. There's NCAA kids from Europe and more and
more U.S. kids. There's fewer and fewer opportunities for Canadian kids and that's
![1/5/2016 CIS hockey improving at combining hockey and higher education, while some just promise it Buzzing The Net Junior Hockey Blog Yahoo! Sports
https://ca.sports.yahoo.com/juniorhockey/blog/buzzing_the_net/post/cishockeycarriesoncombininghockeyandhighereducationwhilesomejustpromise… 2/4
education.
The dreamfactory economics of developmental hockey in Canada, selling hope,
dictates CIS players often perform in front of crowds a fraction of the size of what they
experienced as teenagers in the CHL. But the everimproving quality of play is
undeniable. Perennial Top 10 CIS squads attract players who opted to use their
juniorleague education packages instead of trying their luck with an AHL contract.
The What Should Be — what if CHL grads could go to the NCAA? — is sexier. But let's
give the What Is that is the upper echelon of CIS hockey its due.
"The level of play, over the last decade, it's not even comparable between Year 1 and
Year 10," says Saskatchewan Huskies coach Dave Adoph, whose team is ranked No.
1 in CIS and will host the University Cup in March, fewer than two months before the
WHL's Blades host the MasterCard Memorial Cup. "It's so far superior it's
unbelievable.
"It used to be the major junior guys were reluctant to go to university at first because
they had been brainwashed from age 16 to go be pro hockey players," adds Adolph,
who noted it's possible to play a combined 10 seasons in the CHL and CIS. "That's all
they thought of. Now they're required to go to school while they're playing and there's
a push to take [university] classes. They're thinking about 'what if I can't play the
NHL?' Now the CIS is a good alternative and they can always go play in the Coast
league [ECHL] with a degree [after graduating]."
By almost all accounts, that comes back to all three Canadian major junior circuits
improving the education packages for former players. Some teams also offer more
money to a player who was a hot commodity when he came into the league, which
can be problematic. While CIS doesn't offer full athletic scholarships, it also provides
assistance to studentathletes who maintain a good academic standing. It's not
necessarily a full ride, but it can be one.
Halifax Mooseheads grad Bryce Swan, whose former team is facing legal actions from
the proposed Canadian Hockey League Players' Association, was one of the highest
NHL draft picks ever to choose CIS. At age 20 in 2008, two years after being taken in
the second round of the NHL draft by the Anaheim Ducks, Swan decided to play for
the St. Francis Xavier XMen ("I didn't want to be thrown into a system where I'd be
thrown out," he said at the time). He also turned down an AHL offer from the
Minnesota Wild to keep playing and studying in Antigonish, N.S..
"At that point, was it worth it to turn down another year of school paid for to go and dip
a toe in the water to see if you could make it?" says Swan, who is now skating for the
powerhouse UNB Varsity Reds after a fouryear run with St. FX. "You don't know
where you're going to end up, maybe in the Coast. If it was a year earlier, probably I
would have went pro, but after playing a year of CIS and knowing how good it was, I
knew it was worth it to go back.
"Every year I've been in the league someone has signed so I knew my chance could
come, but I'd also have my education. I don't regret my decision."
Come next spring, the 25yearold Cape Bretoner will have a MBA in his pocket.
Thanks to using his education package from the QMJHL and the Mooseheads, while
getting additional support at St. FX, Swan will have relatively little student debt
compared to most new graduates in Canada.
"For myself, after two degrees, including a masters' degrees, I'm going to end up with
$10,000, $15,000 in student loans," says the North Sydney, N.S., native, whose five
years in school exceeded his four in the Quebec League. "When you think about that,
that's pretty great compared to some people."
'Came here to get better'
That is far from the exception. Gardiner MacDougall, UNB's coach, recalls when
current AHL veteran Darryl Boyce demurred from signing with the Toronto Maple
Leafs organization, instead waiting another year before turning pro.](data:image/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAIAAAAAAAP///yH5BAEAAAAALAAAAAABAAEAAAIBRAA7)