Ogopogo*
Guest
No, we understand. You just have an extremely warped mind-set.
Why do NHL players have children? It only takes away from practice time.
No, you don't understand - based on this response.
No, we understand. You just have an extremely warped mind-set.
Why do NHL players have children? It only takes away from practice time.
Finally, a response that makes some sense.
I think you underestimate the ties to college and college sports most American athletes have.Fast-tracking to the NHL isn't the only consideration.
Going the NCAA route does NOT mean giving up on being a professional hockey player.
Ooh, isn't this fun?
Most of the responses make "some sense". There's more to life than hockey, and if kids want to play in the NCAA, what's it to you?
I don't mind if a kid wants to play in the NCAA, that is fine. The point is, if the kid wants to be in the NHL, going the NCAA route seems to be the wrong way to do it.
If the average NHLer plays 5 seasons, why throw away 2 or 3 of them by being in school. You can do the school AFTER you are done your NHL career.
Is that too difficult for you to get?
If the average NHLer plays 5 seasons, why throw away 2 or 3 of them by being in school. You can do the school AFTER you are done your NHL career.
Is that too difficult for you to get?
If the average NHLer plays 5 seasons, why throw away 2 or 3 of them by being in school. You can do the school AFTER you are done your NHL career.
Is that too difficult for you to get?
And yet, a lot of NHL players come from the NCAA, so it seems like a "right way" to do it.
Not sure you're getting it.
You are American, so I understand Americans have strong ties to the NCAA. Fine. That is different from the Canadian perspective.
But, the point is, going to school at age 20 and 21 - when you could be playing in the NHL - is blowing two years of your NHL career. You can ALWAYS go to school after the pro career. You will never get those early 20s years back to play more pro hockey.
And who's to say that the NCAA player doesn't make it up on the back end? Unless you've got a study that shows that the average NCAA player has an NHL career 2-3 years shorter than average, then you're just making this up.
Is that too difficult for you to get?
I think you're arguing that players are making the choice between NCAA and the NHL. Most of the time that's not the case. Most of the time it's a choice between junior or the AHL and NCAA. In the case of guys like JVR or Blake Wheeler it's just a case of not needing the money and liking it in college.The thing is, you are losing two, three or four years of your pro career to go the NCAA route. Your pro hockey window is very limited, you can always get your education once you are done.
It is like backwards priorities. Are kids getting bad advice? Sounds like it to me.
On the back end? You mean in their 40s? You can't recapture lost youth - once your playing career is over, it is over - there is no making up a couple of years of your youth that you could have played in the NHL but didn't.
No, I don't mean in their 40s.
You said that the average NHL career is five years long. Taking you at your word, at what point are you expecting players to be graduating for them to be playing (on average) into their 40s? Who's playing NCAA hockey until they're 38?
Are you just having fun with us?
But, the point is, going to school at age 20 and 21 - when you could be playing in the NHL - is blowing two years of your NHL career. You can ALWAYS go to school after the pro career. You will never get those early 20s years back to play more pro hockey.
I don't mind if a kid wants to play in the NCAA, that is fine. The point is, if the kid wants to be in the NHL, going the NCAA route seems to be the wrong way to do it.
Seriously, when you're done, you're done. You can't just magically make up two lost years. Who cares if that is age 27, 29 or 46.
Spending two years of your physical prime outside of the NHL doesn't make sense to me. To an American - based on this thread - being part of the NCAA in your early 20s is an important thing so, I understand that. But, if the NHL is your goal, going the NCAA route instead of the CHL makes no sense.
Pretty simple stuff, not sure why it is so tough for people to get it.