This Newsday Article touched on the Islanders signing former Fighting Sioux forward Brock Nelson signing with the New York Islanders, the Newsday writer used this opportunity to give the silly notion that the CHL was the best route to develop hockey players. Personally, I think that opinion is short sighted and I can give many examples that would shoot holes in that theory.
Arthur Staple, Newsday --- College hockey players are still regarded with some wariness around the NHL, and the top of the scoring charts shows why: Of the top 30 scorers in the league entering Tuesday night's games, only four spent any time in U.S. colleges, including two players on the ice here last night, the Isles' Matt Moulson and the Devils' Zach Parise.
Canadian junior hockey is considered the better track for talented teenagers to reach the NHL. J.T. Miller, the Rangers' first-round pick last June, de-committed from North Dakota to enter the Canadian junior system and try to fast-track his development.
North Dakota is where Nelson, 20, went after the Islanders drafted him 30th overall in the 2010 draft. He had a solid freshman year, then bulked up his 6-4 frame and had an eye-opening sophomore season, scoring 28 goals in 42 games.
Let me be clear, I am in no way shape or form anti-CHL, and I realize that there are a lot of great players in the NHL that got to the NHL using the CHL route, however, this opinion that the CHL is the “best route” to get to the NHL if you’re a top draft choice is a load of horse manure. It’s obvious that the writer of this article didn’t do his research when he formed this opinion.
All you have to do is look at WCHA teams like North Dakota and Wisconsin who have a history of developing NHL talent, the New York Rangers have a few examples of this with Derek Stephan who is currently ranked fourth in points for the Rangers. We could use a lot of band width giving examples of college hockey players that are making a huge contribution in the NHL right now.
Last night’s game on NBC Sports between the Detroit Redwing and the Saint Louis Blues featured Justin Abdelkader (Michigan State), Brian Elliot (Wisconsin) T.J. Oshie (North Dakota), David Backes (Minnesota State), Andy McDonald (Colgate University), Kevin Shattenkirk (Boston University)
The Rookie Year Candidate is the Flyers Matt Read who played his college hockey at Bemidji State.
At the end of this article, the guy then contradicts himself with this closing paragraph.
Eight of the players the Isles suited up Tuesday night had some college experience, including Donovan, who got thrown right in the fire by playing most shifts against the Devils' top line, featuring Parise and Ilya Kovalchuk.
"Honestly, we don't care what league they come from -- college, juniors, Europe," Snow said. "If they can play, they can play for us. Every player is unique."
