CHL vs. NCAA

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X-SHARKIE

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I honestly think that the CHL is the best place possible for a North American player to devolope.

I see alot of NCAA games and I love the hockey, It's very wide open :) and dirty though :( because the refs put their wistles in their pockets most of the time.
You can play upwards of 40ish games a year if you're on a good team in the NCAA but CHL players often get to play 70 games a year! and IMO vs better competition and more NHL like game.

NCAA is a great place for skilled players though like Vanek and Parise because it's an open game and they get to work on their crafts more then a guy in the WHL who is looking at the trap.

If somone said....what would you rather watch an NCAA game or a CHL game? It would be very close, but if somone asked which is the better league for devolopment? I would say CHL.
 

montreal

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theo6060 said:
What are the pros and cons for players playing in each of those leagues? How do they compare? Any insight is appreciated.


Your talking about two totally different leagues based on age.

CHL is mostly 16-19 year olds with a few 20 year olds for the most part.

NCAA is mostly 18/19-23 year olds. Rare to see 17 year olds, and it seems to me there's more and more 19 year old freshmen, who go the USHL or Junior A route first, as the NCAA is a physically mature league since there's a big difference in strength between a 17-19 year old and a 20-22 year old.

This makes it hard to compare. The NCAA schedule is also totally different. Almost every game is friday/saturday night (mostly, there are some sunday or weeknight games but they seem rare in Div 1) Then there's the amount of games. Ivy leauge plays on 29, non Ivy play around 36-40. CHL play twice that.

Please I don't want to hear any crap from any poster saying I am saying one league is better then the other. Both have pros and cons and it's up to the individual to see what league is best for them. I like watching both leagues, although I enjoy the Q the most.
 

college hockey

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X-SHARKIE said:
I honestly think that the CHL is the best place possible for a North American player to devolope.

I see alot of NCAA games and I love the hockey, It's very wide open :) and dirty though :( because the refs put their wistles in their pockets most of the time.
You can play upwards of 40ish games a year if you're on a good team in the NCAA but CHL players often get to play 70 games a year! and IMO vs better competition and more NHL like game.

NCAA is a great place for skilled players though like Vanek and Parise because it's an open game and they get to work on their crafts more then a guy in the WHL who is looking at the trap.

If somone said....what would you rather watch an NCAA game or a CHL game? It would be very close, but if somone asked which is the better league for devolopment? I would say CHL.
I'm not sure how much Ncaa hockey you watch,but it's far from wide open. It's pretty much clutch and grab and trap nowadays. Only 4 teams in the Ncaa averaged over 4 goals a game last year and a majority were in the low 3's high 2's and only 1 player in the Ncaa had over 1.5 points a game and that was in a weak CHA conference. And you can top that off with 6 goalies having gaa's under 2.00 which shows how defensive minded most of the teams are now.
 
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X-SHARKIE

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NCAA Hockey Fan said:
I'm not sure how much Ncaa hockey you watch,but it's far from wide open. It's pretty much clutch and grab and trap nowadays. Only 4 teams in the Ncaa averaged over 4 goals a game last year and a majority were in the low 3's high 2's and only 1 player in the Ncaa had over 1.5 points a game and that was in a weak CHA conference. And you can top that off with 6 goalies having gaa's under 2.00 which shows how defensive minded most of the teams are now.

I don't think you read my complete post, as I said there is alot of dirty play in NCAA as the refs seem to put their wistles away for the night more then any other hockey I've seen.

With no redline ect. Players like Parise fly around and it's great to watch :)
 

gb701

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montreal said:
Your talking about two totally different leagues based on age.

CHL is mostly 16-19 year olds with a few 20 year olds for the most part.

NCAA is mostly 18/19-23 year olds. Rare to see 17 year olds, and it seems to me there's more and more 19 year old freshmen, who go the USHL or Junior A route first, as the NCAA is a physically mature league since there's a big difference in strength between a 17-19 year old and a 20-22 year old.

This makes it hard to compare. The NCAA schedule is also totally different. Almost every game is friday/saturday night (mostly, there are some sunday or weeknight games but they seem rare in Div 1) Then there's the amount of games. Ivy leauge plays on 29, non Ivy play around 36-40. CHL play twice that.

Please I don't want to hear any crap from any poster saying I am saying one league is better then the other. Both have pros and cons and it's up to the individual to see what league is best for them. I like watching both leagues, although I enjoy the Q the most.

This is a good post. I agree with everything you said, and would just add one thought. The decision for many players is made because they either don't want to or aren't qualified to go on to University direct from High School - in which case CHL is not only the better route but the only route for elite development. For those players who are also good students, then they have the other option and the added benefit of perhaps playing in some pretty nice places at a high level. It all comes down to personal choice.
 

hunter1909*

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basically it works like this...

the cream of canadian talent goes into major juniors...

why??...

because thats where they most play the pro style game...70+ reg season games and punishing best of 7 playoffs...

nothing against ncaa...but compared to the major juniors theyre not a lot more than weak players...

eg...jay bowmeester v tom poti LOL
 

montreal

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Guys this isn't a contest between the CHL and NCAA, so either stick to hockey or the thread will be closed and bans handed out since this is your warning.
 

MN_Gopher

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As a comparison. The only way to figure it out would be to play a game. A home and home series one in an NCAA arena and one in a CHL arena with respective rules to each site. There are lists of star players from each league. With several more high picks from each league yet to play in the NHL.
 

LaLaLaprise

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I think if the cream of the crop played from NCAA and CHL it would be a dandy game. Hard to pick who would win.

Thing is though the CIS allstar team dismantled the 2003 World Junior team in exhibition games. I attribute that to the CIS players being mid 20's and physically more mature. Upshall was getting tossed around, i actually thought he was going to get hurt.

I am going to garner a guess that NCAA players, for the most part, are more physically mature than the average CHLer.
 

Hunter Gathers

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La-La-Laprise said:
I think if the cream of the crop played from NCAA and CHL it would be a dandy game. Hard to pick who would win.

Thing is though the CIS allstar team dismantled the 2003 World Junior team in exhibition games. I attribute that to the CIS players being mid 20's and physically more mature. Upshall was getting tossed around, i actually thought he was going to get hurt.

I am going to garner a guess that NCAA players, for the most part, are more physically mature than the average CHLer.

I'd say the same.

I think that if it was the NCAA allstars vs. the CHL allstars that the NCAA would destroy them. But that's soley due to them being older, more physically mature, etc.

The skill level is high in both leagues. Two totally different styles for the most parts.

I think the only real difference maker is if the player wants to get an education at the same time.
 

LaLaLaprise

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Reveille said:
I'd say the same.

I think that if it was the NCAA allstars vs. the CHL allstars that the NCAA would destroy them. But that's soley due to them being older, more physically mature, etc.

The skill level is high in both leagues. Two totally different styles for the most parts.

I think the only real difference maker is if the player wants to get an education at the same time.

Desrtroy would be a bit harsh. Its a toss up. When you can dress guys like Carter, Coburn, Phaneuf, Corsby, Hennesey, Radulov, Vrana, MAF etc. it doesnt really matter how old you are. It would be a tight game.
 

ZombieMatt

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Laprise, I like how you tossed in a token Moosehead along with just throwing out some recognizable CHL names. I'm afraid that I strongly disagree that he belongs among those guys though, but we'll settle that debate in 10 years. ;)

The NCAA all-stars would probably win the game I think, because of the age difference. Players are typically stronger in the NCAA because they have usually had more time to develop. I suspect that if you wanted to ice a team that could compete with the NCAA, you would have to select not necessarily the most skilled CHL players, but the bigger guys. I'd like to see a team comprised of Anthony Stewart, Steve Bernier (my homer pick), Sidney Crosby (I realize he's not big), Dion Phaneuf, Braydon Coburn, MA Fleury, Jeff Carter...those sort of guys.

Laprise and I have many similarities, and I know he's just tossing out names, but it may be fun to create a full CHL Super-Team to face the NCAA. I don't think I'd put Hennessy (as much as I love him), Radulov, or Vrana, but I'd have to think/look at that more.
 

PMP5030

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Having seen quite a bit of the OHL and NCAA hockey, I'll repeat what I always say:

If you're truly good enough to make the NHL, it doesn't matter where you play.

Both offer hockey against quality competition. Most of the NHL "phenoms" play CHL because you can get into it sooner agewise. The NCAA favors more the late-bloomer.

I will say that team defense is much more sophisticated in the NCAA. Many teams employ more pro-style trapping defenses than what I've typically seen in the OHL. A skilled player in the OHL has room to operate that isn't normally there in NCAA hockey. Which I attribute mostly to the fact that NCAA players are (as noted before) older and more experienced.
 

LaLaLaprise

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Matt MacInnis said:
Laprise, I like how you tossed in a token Moosehead along with just throwing out some recognizable CHL names. I'm afraid that I strongly disagree that he belongs among those guys though, but we'll settle that debate in 10 years. ;)

Not really a token player. Vrana is a top prospect. How many times have you watched him?
 

LaLaLaprise

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PMP5030 said:
Having seen quite a bit of the OHL and NCAA hockey, I'll repeat what I always say:

If you're truly good enough to make the NHL, it doesn't matter where you play.

Both offer hockey against quality competition. Most of the NHL "phenoms" play CHL because you can get into it sooner agewise. The NCAA favors more the late-bloomer.

I will say that team defense is much more sophisticated in the NCAA. Many teams employ more pro-style trapping defenses than what I've typically seen in the OHL. A skilled player in the OHL has room to operate that isn't normally there in NCAA hockey. Which I attribute mostly to the fact that NCAA players are (as noted before) older and more experienced.

I agree with your first part about no matter where you play, if you are good enough you will make it.

But i disagree about the trapping style. CHL hockey, especially WHL and OHL are renouned for playing a more NHL style game.
 

ZombieMatt

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More than a dozen. I'm just not very enamoured by him. When I see him play, I just don't see him being able to transfer his skills to the NHL.
 

LaLaLaprise

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Matt MacInnis said:
More than a dozen. I'm just not very enamoured by him. When I see him play, I just don't see him being able to transfer his skills to the NHL.

Did you watch him last year? Because he was playing with a seperated shoulder. He wanted to help the team make it into the playoffs so he put off surgery. Often times the shoulder would pop out but he would pop it back in and continue playing. He wasnt overly effective last year because of that.
 

Roughneck

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CHL

Pros: More games, NHL style, can start at a younger age, deeper talent, most direct devellopment route. Avoid all the "politics" surrounding student athletes in NCAA. Get direct help from NHL teams after being drafted.

Cons Can't get a free high-end education in NCAA. Majority of players aren't fully mature so the step from junior to NHL may be harder than expected.


NCAA

Pros: Older, more mature players. Wide open-ice. Free education (for the most part). More system oriented, players are usually more defensively reliable.

Cons: Fewer games (much fewer in some cases). need to go from international style to NHL style. Training camps and other perks need to be tossed aside until leaving NCAA (I am aware of the 'loopholes'). Less depth.


There's a synopsis.
 

Funkymoses

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as to which setup is more "NHL-like"... both have their arguments. Obviously, the NCAA has some rules differences (no two-line pass, no-touch icing, Olympic ice sheets allowed, no fighting, full cages) that make it seem like it's less of an NHL-style game than the CHL. But there is certainly more of an emphasis on defense and responsible checking than in the CHL. The players in the NCAA are also older and physically closer to NHL players than CHL players. Of course, playing 70+ games a year may help you get acclimated to the NHL schedule better.

I don't think one way is better than the other. It all depends on what you're focusing on and what feels more comfortable to you.
 
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