If you ever want to give someone the middle finger, Bemidji State and NCAA Hockey have shown every amatuer player in North America exactly how its done.
Not only has the NCAA failed every player who was on the track to play NCAA hockey at the division one level for the last fifteen years or so, but now they have allowed money and professional players to corrupt the system.
NCAA hockey was never designed to be a place where players who have played professionally go to refine their game. Yet now, when a loophole is there, schools will screw players who have been waiting and patient in order to maybe win one more game now.
Enter Connor McClennon with seven American Hockey League games played, and two ECHL games played. Also enter Oliver Peer with one ECHL game played. Both enrolled at Bemidji State.
The big fish though is Hudson Thornton. With fifty games played as a professional in the AHL and ECHL, adding him to any NCAA roster is a double fisted middle finger to all those players trying to play NCAA hockey. If these three signings dont make you wake up and understand that these coaches do not give a damn about you, nothing will.
Now, its bad enough that Bemidji went and recruited these players, but that deed is compounded by NCAA compliance officers and the NCAA clearinghouse allowing these players to play. Everyone who can read knows that the AHL and ECHL are professional leagues by anyones definition. Anyone with half a brain knows that every player in the world knows these leagues are professional leagues.
So why is it that when the NCAA rules still state that no professional players are allowed to play NCAA hockey that these two have been rostered? Thats right the rule change for NCAA hockey only made it clear that CHL players were no longer considered professional players.
Now I am sure these three young men are nice guys, and no one is pointing a finger at them. They are just taking an opportunity. The problem is that the opportunity should not even be available.
Years ago I had a client that nearly lost his eligibility for accepting a flight to visit a QMJHL team. I had a player lose eligibility over staying two days too long at an OHL camp and for accepting “gifts” from the team. Yet another player from Europe was forced to sit out an equal number of games for playing with professional players even though he was a junior player call up in pre season.
I hope every player who had problems with the NCAA because they didnt understand the rules, or the compliance officer at their school of choice came down on them files a lawsuit.
NCAA hockey historically has been about getting your education, representing your university, and then if there was anything after that it was a bonus. Now it is simply nothing more than another professional league.
Maybe you disagree with it being a professional league? Well, three players in, means three players out when there is a limit of twenty six players for each roster. So three players are either decommitted, had their commitment pushed back, or they were released outright. There are twenty eight players on the Bemidji roster as of August 28th.
All of this taking place on August 26th, 2025 when students are already reporting to their campus.
Bemidji has seventeen of twenty six players allowed coming from countries other than the United States. Texas house bill HB3100 takes effect on Monday September 1, 2025. This limits scholarships given to non American athletes to 25% of the total number of scholarships any university gives out. Think this isnt coming to hockey hotbed States after this last move by Bemidji State and the NCAA? Think again.
Sorry, but this is a slap in the face to all American and Canadian players who made the choice to follow their NCAA path by not playing in the CHL or professionally. This is an abhorrent action, that no university should have ever had the opportunity to make.
Whats next? Players who left NCAA football early for the NFL coming back after it doesnt work out? Johnny Manziel anyone?
