A while ago, I stumbled across some information breaking down the college Freshmen class of 2018. Where these players came from concerning leagues, countries of origin, date of birth and states of birth.
Very interesting information to examine for sure. What was real interesting though is to see that a majority of NCAA commitment claims being made by Tier II hockey teams and leagues, are simply not real. There is the USHL and then there is everyone else very far behind.
With literally hundreds of commitments being claimed by the NAHL, BCHL and other leagues in Canada, the real numbers of college freshmen show that those claims are just not true.
Before everyone gets all upset and starts crying in their morning coffee, these statistics come right from the NCAA. They provide the information, so don’t shoot the freakin messenger. Be glad the messenger is here to straighten out a lot of the bullshit spouted by other people.
The NAHL, the greatest junior hockey marketing machine in the world, has been claiming around 250 commitments per year. But they aren’t all D-1 commitments. So lets not get the facts twisted.
To be fair, the NAHL publishes its commitment breakdown every year. Parents and players don’t read the breakdown of course and everyone thinks all those commitments are for D-1. They are not.
In fact, more than one third of those claims on average are for NCAA D-3 programs. But again, all parents and players see it the big number over 250.
The problem is, that this year, there are only 75 total Freshmen NCAA D-1 players from the NAHL. If the average claim is 250 commitments per year, and one third (80) on average are D-3, that leaves 160 claimed. Yet only 75 are actually on rosters?
The BCHL has the same problem. An average of over 150 commitment claims over the last three seasons but fewer actual players on rosters. Every other league that claims D-1 commitments has the same problem.
What’s really strange is that while the NAHL claims around two hundred fifty commitments each year and has 75 Freshmen at the NCAA D-1 level, the BCHL claims around 150 and has 82 Freshmen at the D-1 level!!!
How the hell does that happen?
Its easy. First of all a commitment is not a guarantee. It is nothing more than a verbal agreement that is contingent on the player passing through the admissions process. Many of them don’t.
A commitment is NOT a scholarship. Many players, actually most players commit with NO money or very little.
A commitment is no guarantee you will actually be on the roster. Players get cut all the time.
Maybe the NAHL, BCHL and other leagues should stop the bullshit practice of claiming Alumni players in their annual commitment totals. You know, like only claim players currently playing in your league when they get commitments? Something real honest like that.
So maybe we should stop with all the bullshit commitment numbers and start talking about how many players actually are playing at the D-1 level! Or maybe we should all say we have committed to winning the next Powerball and when it doesn’t happen it will still count?!?!?!
Nah, who wants transparency in the process? Leagues want to inflate numbers and players and parents want to believe what they think is real no matter how much truth you tell them.
Since everyone else is doing it we would like to announce that Kikolino the Cat will be committing to play NCAA D-1 Hockey at Harvard in 2029. He is just waiting to hit his growth spurt.
Come back tomorrow for an epic story of stupidity in Canadian Junior Hockey……Moms and Dads are gonna love this shit.
David Wagner – The Angel Of Death – For Those Who Live Stupidly I Salute You!
*The Death Pool is a mix of Comedy, and Satire in connection with recent events. It is not an official report of current events although it may look as though the news is so accurate that it could one day happen or may be happening.
