SJHL commissioner Kyle McIntyre: “We have always been a developmental league … I don’t see that changing.”
When the top U.S. colleges changed their eligibility rules for hockey players, one of the worst-case scenarios being predicted was the eventual demise of the SJHL and its fellow junior A leagues.
Not so fast, said the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League.
The NCAA’s new eligibility rules have only been in place for less than a month, since Nov. 7, so maybe it’s too early to check out any doomsday predictions.
“It’s incumbent upon our programs to run quality player experiences,” said McIntyre. “If you’re not helping kids move to the next level and you don’t have a good player experience, it doesn’t matter if you’re the WHL or the SJHL, you’re not going to attract and retain players.
“I get that teams are fearful about how it’s going to impact them, but if you’re running a quality program, like when I go to Nipawin on a Tuesday night and there’s 700 fans in the building, I don’t think (the fans) care where the kids are going. They care that they’ve got players who are proud to wear the Nipawin Hawks sweater.”
Before the changes, players wanting to attend Division I colleges in the U.S. weren’t allowed to play beforehand in Canada’s major junior hockey leagues. The NCAA considered the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League to be professional leagues because players received an excessive honourarium and living expenses. As such, those “pro” players were ineligible for NCAA programs.
To retain their NCAA eligibility, prospects played in one of Canada’s nine Junior A leagues, including the SJHL, who were deemed to pay “reasonable expenses” to their players. One outlaw junior league in B.C., which last season incorporated several franchises from Alberta, existed solely to provide opportunities for players looking to play in U.S. colleges.
Media reports indicate at least 30 players have recently left BCHL teams.
In the SJHL, McIntyre said, the only player movements have been the typical call-ups and returns of affiliated WHL players.
“The first concern I have is that (the SJHL has) always been a developmental league,” said McIntyre. “We develop players for the (WHL), (Canadian) U-Sports, NCAA Division I and Division III, the ACAC (Alberta Colleges Athletic Association) and the ACHA (American Collegiate Hockey Association). I don’t see that changing.”
Listed every year on the SJHL’s website are the current players who have committed to attend schools in Canada and the U.S. Each of the past two years listed 74 commitments.
So far this season only six players have committed, all to NCAA Division I schools. It is indeed early and there will certainly be more, but that’s a list worth watching in the next few years to see if/how the junior A landscape changes because of the new eligibility rules.