Derek Barach

It's been fun watching the discourse on this today. Something to throw into the conversation: There are tradeoffs and differences in each path. I'm a believer in the college model having lived it. But honestly we get way too caught up in "what path" and we don't talk enough about the "who" of the path. There are programs and coaches in college hockey that do a phenomenal job preparing kids for pro. There are some that don't. There are programs and coaches in the CHL that do a phenomenal job preparing kids for pro. There are some that don't. While I'm a believer in college hockey's model, if I'm an NHL team who invested a draft pick on a kid - I'm way more worried about who their coach is and what role they're playing on the team than if they play in the CHL vs. college. Mike is a great hockey guy and runs a great program in Kitchener. I'd love if my player had the opportunity to go there. There are plenty of programs like that in the CHL and others that aren't. I worked with Nar at Michigan, Schafe at Cornell, and Rico at Miami. All three programs I'd be thrilled to send a player to for developing them into a pro. There's also programs I wouldn't feel comfortable sending a kid to. It also depends on the player. Some would thrive in a CHL environment and may not in a college environment. Some would thrive in a college environment and may not in a CHL environment. And with the rules now, many will do both which I think is a huge value add to a vast majority of players in their development. Who is the coach, what resources does the program invest into development, and what is the player's role on the team? My opinion is those are way more important questions to ask than which path is better.