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Ishkur · April 2nd, 2004, 06:38 PM

oh, by no means am I entirely discrediting the NCAA program. It's made some leaps and strides, especially in the last ten years, and especially with the construction of that Super School in Ann Arbor (you should know the place. Ironically, Herb Brooks hated the idea....it's essentially like the old centralized Soviet model: put all your talent in one location and train them exclusively, rather than train everyone uniformly at their own pace). This year's Junior team came from that place.

But still: most of the players you mentioned are Canadian and grew up in Canada, and while they attended University in the states and played in the NCAA, they are still very much products of the canadian minor hockey system. Your argument is suffering from sample bias here. A handful of names can't compare to the wealth and breadth of non-NCAA talent that fills up the entire league.

I'm not sure where you got this "25-30% of the NHL are from US colleges" stat from, considering 55% of the league is still canadian, and 1/3 of the league is from overseas. Sure, I'm interested to see what Zack Parise and Ryan Kesler are capable of, but more than that I'm interested in what Alexander Ovechkin (Moscow Dynamo) and Sidney Crosby (Rimouski Oceanic) can do. When NHL scouts look at the up n comers, the #1 league with a bullet is the OHL. Then the WHL, and then the LHJMQ (QMJHL). And then, after that, Division 1 European systems like Modo/Ornskoldsvik or Jokerit. The NCAA is good as a supporting role, but the level is still not as competitive as the feisty canadian system. A dozen of competitive schools in the midwest can not be compared to the nearly 200 AAA junior franchises that dot the canadian landscape.

April 2nd, 2004, 06:38 PM	#11
Ishkur Crazed Fan Join Date: 12-27-2003 Location: Vancouver, BC Posts: 438 Tournaments Joined: 0 Tournament Wins: 0	oh, by no means am I entirely discrediting the NCAA program. It's made some leaps and strides, especially in the last ten years, and especially with the construction of that Super School in Ann Arbor (you should know the place. Ironically, Herb Brooks hated the idea....it's essentially like the old centralized Soviet model: put all your talent in one location and train them exclusively, rather than train everyone uniformly at their own pace). This year's Junior team came from that place. But still: most of the players you mentioned are Canadian and grew up in Canada, and while they attended University in the states and played in the NCAA, they are still very much products of the canadian minor hockey system. Your argument is suffering from sample bias here. A handful of names can't compare to the wealth and breadth of non-NCAA talent that fills up the entire league. I'm not sure where you got this "25-30% of the NHL are from US colleges" stat from, considering 55% of the league is still canadian, and 1/3 of the league is from overseas. Sure, I'm interested to see what Zack Parise and Ryan Kesler are capable of, but more than that I'm interested in what Alexander Ovechkin (Moscow Dynamo) and Sidney Crosby (Rimouski Oceanic) can do. When NHL scouts look at the up n comers, the #1 league with a bullet is the OHL. Then the WHL, and then the LHJMQ (QMJHL). And then, after that, Division 1 European systems like Modo/Ornskoldsvik or Jokerit. The NCAA is good as a supporting role, but the level is still not as competitive as the feisty canadian system. A dozen of competitive schools in the midwest can not be compared to the nearly 200 AAA junior franchises that dot the canadian landscape.