Feature Story
From college to the NHL
Nearly a third of all NHL players in
2007-08 honed their skills in college before making the leap to the pros
By Kevin Kurtt
Let’s Play Hockey Editor
If you’ve watched nearly any NCAA
sporting event on television in the past few years, you’ve seen the ad. You may
even be able to recite the tagline: “There are 380,000 NCAA student-athletes,
and just about all of them will be going pro in something other than sports.”
It’s a noble campaign directed at
educating the masses that most athletes in college will see their athletic
careers come to an end at graduation.
In the world of NCAA hockey, the vast
majority of players on the 59 Division I and 77 Division II/III men’s teams
will not make the jump to the NHL, AHL, ECHL or any other of the various professional hockey
leagues around the world. But for a select few, college hockey is merely a
steppingstone to the bright lights of the National Hockey League.
In fact,
according to our research, 252 players who saw at least one regular season NHL game in
2007-08 honed their skills in college before making the leap to the
professional ranks. That number represents nearly a third of all NHL players from
the current season. In 2007-08, 53 former collegiate hockey players made their NHL debut.
Leading the list of former college
players now in the NHL are standouts such as Tampa Bay’s Martin St. Louis (Vermont), Ottawa’s Dany Heatley (Wisconsin), Colorado’s Paul Stastny (Denver), New Jersey’s Zach Parise (North Dakota) and Buffalo’s Ryan Miller (Michigan State) and Thomas Vanek (Minnesota).
Former college players are also among the
leading 2007-08 rookies. Seven players who competed in the college ranks are
currently among the top 20 rookie scorers in the NHL. They are Chicago’s Jonathan Toews (North Dakota), Edmonton’s Andrew Cogliano (Michigan), Tom Gilbert (Wisconsin) and Curtis Glencross (Alaska Anchorage), St. Louis’ Erik Johnson (Minnesota), Phoenix’s Daniel Winnik (New Hampshire), Dallas’ Matt Niskanen (Minnesota Duluth).
Breaking down the 252 players by college
sees the University of Michigan leads the way with 22 players, followed by Wisconsin (19), Boston College (15), North
Dakota (15), Michigan State (13) and Minnesota (13).
Naturally, the state of Minnesota is well-represented among the college-to-the-NHL players. Of
the 252 players, there are 41 native Minnesotans, including 14 who made their NHL debut this
season.
And the numbers will only continue to
grow. During the 2007-08 college hockey season, there were 201 players whose
rights were owned by an NHL franchise. In addition, the NHL Central
Scouting Service’s rankings for the 2008 Entry Draft list numerous prospects
who will head to college hockey programs across the nation this fall.
Phil Housley was the rare hockey player
to make the quantum leap from high school to the NHL. Countless
Canadians take the Major Junior route before making the jump to the pros.
European players compete in the numerous leagues throughout the continent in
hopes of someday earning a spot on an NHL team. But
for 252 NHL players, college was the path to take.
Click here
for a complete list of college-to-the-NHL players.
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