If you’re a 2006 birth-year player, I have to ask one simple question:
Why would you pay to play junior hockey when you could be playing college hockey this season?
Seriously. I’d love to hear the answer.
If you choose college hockey now, you’ll be a transfer student next year if you decide to change schools.
If you choose college hockey now, you’ll also earn college credits that count toward a degree instead of spending another year hoping someone notices you.
So what’s the reason?
Let me guess.
Some of you just want one more year of “living the dream” and hanging out with the boys. You want to delay going to school for another season, and your parents are willing to keep writing the checks.
Or maybe you’ve convinced yourself that this is finally the year you’re going to become an NCAA Division I player, despite everything that’s happened over the past few years.
Or maybe you’ve bought into the annual sales pitch.
“Coach says we’re making a championship run this year, and I’m going to be a huge part of it.”
“Coach says there are schools coming to watch me.” (Funny how those schools never seem to have names, and none of them have ever contacted you.)
“Coach says I’m finally moving up the lineup and will be an impact player this season.” (Even though you’ve spent the last several years on the third and fourth lines.)
Then there’s my favorite:
“You need another year playing against older, bigger, faster, stronger players.”
Really?
Because unless I’ve completely misunderstood the sport, college hockey is filled with players who are older, bigger, faster, stronger, and better than most pay-to-play junior leagues.
At some point, you have to ask yourself whether you’re making a decision based on facts—or because you’ve become so conditioned to saying, “Yes, Coach,” that you’ll accept whatever story you’re told.
The reality is that every additional year of pay-to-play junior hockey costs time, money, and opportunity. If your long-term goal is a college degree and continuing your hockey career, it’s worth asking whether another expensive year of junior hockey actually gets you closer to that goal—or simply delays the inevitable.
