Reply To: Junior / CIS / NCAA / ACHA/ ACAC

[hockeygod]

Aberdeen,

I played junior in Canada and the US. University in Canada.

I know of the ACHA and have watched it's progression since around 2000 – when I first became aware of 'club programs' in the US. The play by play person from Tri-Cities had a son who played for EWU (the US university I attended) so that's where I first became aware of it. Not sure if they are now in the ACHA, but I have also seen the rise of various Junior B and Junior A leagues throughout the US – leagues that previously went unnoticed by 99.9& of Canadians. And yes, there are more Canadians being recruited into these programs.

I heard rumours that the NCAA was considering implementing new scholarship rules that would start to 'cap' the number of Canadian kids allowed with the intent to provide more spots to Americans. (If this is true, this shows how quickly US hockey is developing. If the NCAA leaves the rules as is, I am sure a free-market economy in hockey players will take care of itself! In time, it will become a moot point as the talent pool in the US grows.)

Looking at Lindenwood's roster, I see Rick Zombo is the head coach (former Detroit Red Wing / St. louis Blue) and Ted Sator (former long-time NHL coach) is the Assistant Coach.

While not 100% current on the NCAA regulations (or those of the ACHA), I agree it is good that there are more places for kids to play and people to coach. Does the ACHA provide athletic scholarship monies to it's players? I would love to hear more details…

Thanks for the post. I will have changed the title of the thread to include 'ACHA' and CIS as I hope this becomes a wider-ranging discussion.

Dean
M.Ed (Coaching)
Ch.P.C. (Chartered Professional Coach)
Game Intelligence Training
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