The NHL’s biggest influence on college hockey, no surprise, is money. Talented kids arrive in collegetown, be it in their late teens or early 20s, for the most part dreaming of big bucks and not big books.
“And how many true freshmen are there?’’ noted Bruins general manager Don Sweeney. “It’s rare now for a kid to arrive at a Division 1 school, 18 years old and undrafted. So that alone is a big part of the equation.’’
Over at the Heights, the big pocketbook of the NHL never before delivered the kind of smack Jerry York’s roster has taken in recent months. At last count — and it should be the last — Boston College has seen no fewer than seven players sign NHL contracts prior to entering their senior season.
