Yote 53

I could write a book about youth hockey but will just say that the other sports have caught up to and surpassed hockey in terms of cost and travel. Travel (USSSA) baseball, AAU basketball, volleyball, gymnastics, travel soccer, etc., etc. It's pay-to-play for anything these days and hockey shouldn't have to apologize anymore. My local youth hockey association is cheaper than playing travel baseball or travel basketball. My daughter is in gymnastics. Yeah, that ain't cheap either. The cheapest and purest sport left is football. Start in Jr High/High School. School provides all the training, equipment, etc. Great athletes can still excel and play at the highest levels.

Doesn't USA Hockey have the final say on if Hockey Canada junior leagues can expand into the USA? I'm pretty sure there is an entire structure set up for not only that but player transfers between the two countries that USA Hockey can just say NO.

Regarding SOS, some people are like "you should have known better than to schedule..." Well, what is a school supposed to do when they get faced with a late cancellation and can't find a replacement game? We played Northern in week zero on a Thursday night before Labor Day because we couldn't find anything else. I believe SDSU had the same situation with Augie. We both just tried to make the best of it by playing a regional school. The alternative was just not playing at all. What exactly was USD supposed to do about the Portland State situation? They cancelled the game because of whooping cough. We were there and ready to play. The game should have been a forfeit, though I don't think the committee would have given any weight to that anyway. I think the issue for most USD fans is we went into that game a 1 v 4 matchup. We came out of that matchup with a win and the seedings ended up 2 & 4. We got absolutely no credit for winning, but would have been punished and dropped maybe to 8 or 9, for losing. While NDSU did not get punished at all for a loss. There is no difference between a 1 & 2 seed in these playoffs. Either one gets you a home semifinal. In the end, most USD fans are fine with a 4 seed. If we can't be #2 with a home semifinal game, then #4 and going to MSU is preferable than being the #3 and having to play either of the SU's again on the road. Rather see some new meat than fight another battle with a conference opponent. Seems like every year we had previously been in the playoffs it turned into a MVFC tournament. Playing a bunch of non-MVFC schools is preferable in the playoffs.

Yeah, how the hell did you guys lose to Indiana State, they're bad. We held them to -3 yards rushing on the day. That said, I am fully dreading our trip to The Forks. That place has been a house of horrors for us no matter how good of team we have.

Having CHL players eligible for NCAA hockey will hurt American born players. Players, predominantly Canadian, that go the CHL route as a faster track to the NHL will now have the fall back of NCAA hockey taking roster spots from American born players in the USHL/NAHL/NCDC. The NHL today has grown to 1/3 American born players largely because of the NCAA route. It's simply a numbers game. Less opportunities in NCAA for American born players will mean less American born players moving on to the NHL. Not to mention the impact on youth hockey players in the USA that dream of growing up and playing for UND, the Gophers, Wolverines, Terriers, etc. Less roster spots available, less opportunities, and this will trickle down from NCAA D1 hockey all the way to D3 and even to the ACHA who also does not allow CHL players. Yes, this trickles all the way down to club hockey. Another effect will be on the USHL. I imagine there will be pressure to now offer stipends to players like the CHL does. The hook that the USHL had, retain your NCAA eligibility, is now gone. To compete on a level playing field with the CHL for players they will now have to offer the same package (compensation) that the CHL does. This will put a strain on the USHL teams budgets as they adjust. There isn't much, if any money in American junior hockey to begin with. The USHL has nothing like the CHL media rights contract in Canada to generate additional revenue beyond gate and concession sales. In conclusion, if you have youth hockey player in the USA who has a dream of maybe one day playing college hockey this sucks, because things just got a whole lot tougher.

This is related. Here we have another player quitting on the season to preserve his redshirt so he can transfer and get paid. A school would be foolish to bring in players like this. This guy is going to be on his third school now. Very checkered history of fence jumping.

NCAA got their butts handed to them in court for trying to maintain control. I'm of the opinion that even if the NCAA would have "got out in front" of NIL and provided some sort of payment structure to athletes years ago that there would have been at least one player to push the envelope and sue and we'd be where we are now anyway. The only thing that is going to reign this all in is an act of Congress that will provide coverage for the NCAA from the courts. The only other thing that can stop the NIL/transfer fiasco is if donors get tired of throwing their money away for nothing. When the ROI doesn't pay, maybe the NIL money will dry up. I doubt that though, there are too many big money donors that have funds to burn. As for this kid, he should have got it in writing before he ever stepped foot in Vegas. UNLV is going to get a rep for not acting in good faith, but at the end of this, these kids want to get paid like pros so they can get treated like pros. Sign the contract.

Went down a wormhole reading this article and the related tweets in it. I 100% support and agree with this tweet below. The NCAA should keep CHL players ineligible because of what playing NCAA hockey does for American players and the opportunity for American kids to play college hockey. I'd also add, many NCAA schools are state institutions supported by our tax dollars, and if not, all of these colleges are in some way shape or form receiving federal funds, either through student loans paying tuition or a variety of other forms. NCAA hockey would not exist if these schools did not exist. The Canadians cannot have their cake (CHL) and eat it too (NCAA). If a Canadian kid wants to play in the NCAA there is a pathway for that USHL/NAHL/NCDC, go play in one of those leagues. If the Canadians want, they can create their own collegiate hockey system by emphasizing their USports programs and elevating them to NCAA levels. Pay for it yourselves, don't piggyback on our dime. USA Hockey should be playing politics and looking out for the development of American born players. Absolutely, that's their job. Otherwise, why have I been chipping them off $1,000s of dollars over the years in registration fees for my kids to play, coaching registration fees, CEP classes, coaching modules, etc.?

The Paw is USD's primary logo and has strong support. That will be around for a very long time. This new thing is the secondary logo replacing the coyote standing on top of the words South Dakota. Personally, not a fan, and reaction has been split, but it is still only a secondary logo.

This is confusing. Set football aside for a second, the rest of the D1 sports all compete against each other in D1 under the same set of rules. So now the P4 schools get to play by a different set of rules? How does this effect scholarship limits in sports like hockey? Because the Big Ten schools are P4 they now get to set higher scholarship limits in hockey while UND and other programs not attached to P4 schools play with a different limit? So confused right now about the other sports. I understand the football side, and imagine the G5 and FCS limits will change here soon as well.

Midco Sports on cable carries UND hockey but the Midco Sports Plus app does not carry UND hockey? That just makes no sense. I can't stand all of this segmentation.

Dropped Midco cable for DirectTV Stream. The final straw was the Bally Sports North situation going on now and that caused me to look around. Can stream DirectTV for cheaper and get more channels (including BSN) and, frankly, a better interface with more features than traditional cable, plus avoid all those cable boxes and the ridiculous rental fees they tack onto each one of them. I swear, the way cable companies operate they are begging for people to cut the cord. Only loss has been Midco Sports which I can make for by getting the app when the time comes. From what I understand, the MVFC and Summit basketball will still be on ESPN+, and I would need Midco Sports Plus for UND Hockey/CCHA.

If the roster at Nebraska gets cut from 115 to 85 you think those 30 players are just going to quit the game? No, they'll funnel down to G5 then FCS then D2, etc. Less roster spots means less opportunities to be on a college football team. Simple as that.

Less opportunities for actual student-athletes that want to EARN their athletic scholarship. Way to go NCAA. This will also put a dent in that historic Nebraska Cornhusker walk-on program. Now consider the ripple effect of this. No more P5 walk-ons means they will be taking G5 spots, who will be taking FCS spots, who will be taking D2 spots, who will be taking D3/NAIA spots. Cut the number of spots by 30 at 134 FBS schools means there will be over 4,000 less opportunities to play football each year.

I've played against the ISU club team at Hilton back in the early 90's when I was on Team Midwest HS All-Star team. We regularly played the ISU club team and crushed them. That turned me off of "club" hockey as I thought it was garbage seeing as how a bunch of high school kids could kick the crap out of them. Played football out of HS instead as that is what was being offered in front of me. That or a tryout for a junior team in Kalamazoo, MI. I chose college football. Iowa not only has a conference home waiting for them they also have a D1 hockey level arena sitting there begging for them to move into in Coralville. I'm to the point where (as a big Hawkeye fan) I am actually getting really negative of my views on their athletic department for their short-sighted refusal to start D1 hockey. Oh, and USD and SDSU are going to rue the day they let Augustana beat them to the D1 hockey punch. That program is taking over Sioux Falls. I'm watching it happen in real time.