Any college hockey fans care to clear a few things up for me?
 

So, as the NHL has been locked out for the whole season I've been trying to get into college hockey a lot, but its really confusing me and I need some help.


1st of all: I don't get how players like Al Montoya and other NHL draft picks can play in college hockey. Have they not signed contracts with their pro teams yet? or is there some special exception?

2nd: Am I correct in saying that CCHA and WCHA and the like are just different conferences just like the ACC and BigTen and the like?

3rd: Is the way they decide a championshp is the winners of the conference championships go into the NCAA tournament and then its decided?


if any of these assumptions are wrong I would love to be filled in. Its hard to enjoy college hockey when I don't understand a lot of it. :( thanks guys.

I can answer 2 and 3. You are correct when you say that the CCHA, WCHA, ECAC, etc are analogous to conferences like the ACC and Big 10.

All of the six conferences in Div I Hockey award an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament to the winner of its conference championship tournament. The NCAA hockey tournament is a 16 team affair, so 10 at-large bids are also handed out, using a mathematical formula/comparison system similar to the RPI for basketball. For more info, consult http://www.uscho.com/m/ncaad1/

thanks a lot that helps me a bunch. Now if only i knew why professional draft choices can play in college hocke :P

Well
the NHL is not like the NBA
there are no "garunteed"(sp) contracts, the team must sign the player. if he is not signed in the 365 days(or some time, im not sure what it is), he goes back into the draft and the team gets another draft pick (usually something like 4th round)

as a result
being draft does NOT equal going to the NHL, or going to the NHL's farm team
if a player wants to continue playing college, he simply does not sign a contract and goes back and plays college, and then signs once the year is over.. or, I suppose it might be possible for him to sign a contract that comes into effect once hes done playing


al montoya choose to go back to college before the lockout started

thanks for clearing that up. I was a bit confused.

Everything's been somewhat covered, but just for more info:

When a player gets drafted in the NHL, the team has their rights for something like 3 years. The team can choose to sign him to a contract, at that point, the player can play for them. They don't HAVE to sign them though, they can just leave them with their college/junior team to develop until they're more ready or older. It's not like other leagues (NBA, NFL, etc.) where the player can't play once they've been drafted, as long as they haven't signed a contract they are still considered an "amateur" and are eligible for the NCAA.

So, the better college hockey players are all drafted, but most stay in the NCAA until they're older. Once that 3 years is up, the player would most likely become a free agent, not go back into the draft.

The other ones got covered, but that's a bit more info about that whole process or whatever you want to call it. Hope it helps!

i believe they can also sign a letter of intent or some sort, so they can still play in the ncaa for their final year (3 years ususall ends when they are a senior), and still beable to play and go on and play for the team that drafted them.

Sorry, That-One-Guy is right. NCAA players who are drafted and not signed within 3 years become free agents. The rules are that if the player does not sign with the team, and does not hire a professional agent, then he can go back to college until he and the team decide he's ready to play in the NHL.

I was confusing NCAA with the CHL. Players who are drafted from the CHL must be OFFERED a contract within a year and SIGNED within 2 years. If they are not they can choose to go back into the draft.

College hockey is really fun to watch, I hope you enjoy seeing some games! the atmosphere at most of those little barns they play in is exciting because of the student cheering sections. It's very easy to want to keep going back to college hockey games IMO.

thanks for the help guys, I get it now, hooray. and betula the only game i could go to is my school (michigan tech) and they're terrible so that wouldn't be much fun to go to...maybe i'll hit one up anyway.

Doesn't ESPN's college sports channel start this month? They are supose to show some hockey on it..

i wouldn't be surprised if ESPN gave hockey a miss altogether. They seem to be avoiding hockey since the lockout. and I don't mean not covering it. They did a tribute to Detroit sports yesterday on ESPN Classic and there wasn't a word about the red wings....which is odd since they're the only successful detroit franchise (minus 2004 nba championship) in almost 20 years in Detroit.

ESPN usually shows the Frozen Four. I'm pretty sure they're televising them this year, as I haven't heard anything to the contrary.