Post #144 – May 6, 2024 – D1 & D3 Coaches Meet At Annual Convention
Last Week, The American Hockey Coaches Association Held Its Annual Convention In Naples, Florida.
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Back After A Week Away
After a being away last week for the American Hockey Coaches Association national convention in Naples, Florida, I and the Pipeline are back.
The convention was different for me this year as I took on a new position and role within the AHCA as Vice President of Women’s Hockey Issues in July.
This is a new position, also having a men’s counterpart, was created by the AHCA board (and voted on by our coaching membership) to have a more formal point person to help direct the issues and challenges that face D1 & D3 women’s college hockey for the coaching body. So, while in Naples, I was in charge of running most of our D1 and D3 meetings. Which meant a lot of prep time… and a lot of nervousness!
As it was, I didn’t have a lot of time to keep up with Pipeline posts.
Key Convention Takeaways
The convention is an opportunity for all of women’s and men’s college hockey to come together in Florida for 6 days of meetings, discussion, and professional development opportunities – all in an effort to make college hockey, better.
Think coaches, conference commissioners, school administrators, NCAA staff, companies who serve college hockey, as well as representatives from the PWHL and NHL, all taking part in various discussions about conference play, playing/officiating rules, national tournaments, and the future of what the college game may look like.
And let’s be honest, with watching games in freezing cold rinks most of the year… being at the convention in the Florida sun a nice perk to being a NCAA coach!
There was certainly a lot to dive into. Here’s a list of D-I discussion highlights amongst the women’s coaching body:
NCAA’s Stance On Amateurism/Professionalism
-Coaches met with NCAA staff to discuss possible changes to NCAA Amateurism/Professionalism rules around student-athletes prior to after college enrollment.
-Name, Image, and Likeness – NLI has changed the landscape. Recruits and current NCAA players have the opportunity to make money through NIL deals, earning 4, 5, 6, and in some cases 7 figures. However, as an example, hockey players whether women or men, are ineligible for NCAA play if they earn any type of ‘Pay-For-Play’ compensation. Case in point, players who play in the CHL (Major Junior Hockey, WHL, OHL, QMJHL) have always been deemed ineligible to play in the NCAA. Only now, as an example, high school basketball players can make NIL money, even before arriving to college.
-Women’s hockey coaches have the opportunity to present the NCAA (as the men do) with what it feels is the best course of action when it comes to amateurism and the professionalism of its sport. That is not to say the NCAA will do what coaches ask, but at least the NCAA will know how coaches feel on the subject.
Playing/Officiating Rules… In consideration for all of D1 and D3
-Discussion on the body contact standard and concerns about player safety.
-Proposal to discuss no penalty when a player turns during a hit from behind.
-Proposal to allow stick contact with the puck above the 4-foot crossbar to allow more goal scoring opportunities.
NCAA National Tournament Discussion
-The need to get to 12 teams as fast as possible.
-When it comes to tournament seeding, should subjectivity be taken out of the tournament committee’s hands and be based on the NPI calculations to have true bracket integrity?
-Is the NPI the best way to select teams? Should the NPI formula and percentages be tweaked?
-Is there a better way to present the Patty Kazmaier Award separate from Frozen Four?
NCAA Transfers and National Letter of Intent
-Should Transfer window date ranges be changes to after NCAA Championships are over?
-In 2023, 49% of portal entrants were graduate transfers. What will the numbers be in 2025?
Talks with the PWHL
-Members of the PWHL leadership hockey operations team was on hand to give an overview and update of accomplishments as well as to field questions from NCAA Coaches.
-Women’s NCAA Commissioners along with PWHL officials have been on several zoom calls since December to establish and open up lines of communication.
-With over 92% of PWHL players having played in the NCAA, and no development league on the horizon, the NCAA is the leading development path for future PWHL players.
-The PWHL stated it would much rather see players finish their NCAA eligibility rather than leave early and declare for the draft… this directly relates to the NCAA’s stance on amateurism/professionalism with respect to its professional draft rules, noted above.
Later this week, I’ll discuss next steps from the convention and some of the professional development opportunities coaches had to attend.
Until Next Time Everyone… Be Well and Take Care,
-Streams for games in the ECAC can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in the WCHA can be found HERE. Subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams in Hockey East this year can be found HERE. Hockey East once again is streaming all game live and for FREE.
-Streams for CHA games with the exception of Penn St. can be found HERE. Paid subscriptions will be necessary to watch games.
-Streams for NEWHA games can be found at each teams’ website. Subscriptions may be necessary to watch games.
NCAA Coaching Changes… Keep up with all the coaching changes across D-I and D-III HERE.
Recruiting Events/League Online Directory… Find all the recruiting events on WCH.org right HERE. Want to add your event? Click HERE to fill out our WCH.org event form.
Hello There! Grant Kimball here… founder and contributing writer to my blog & website: Women’s College Hockey.org. I’m very glad you found my site. My goal is simple – to help those play women’s NCAA college hockey. I am beginning my 6th season as an Assistant Coach with the Yale University women’s hockey program. I have developed an experienced perspective in the world of women’s ice hockey having coached and recruited literally hundreds of players from across the globe and talked with thousands of parents during my close to 30 years of amateur and NCAA coaching. I have coached at 6 NCAA DI and DIII programs in the NCHA (D3), the CHA, WCHA, Hockey East, ECAC, and the Ivy League (DI). Beyond coaching, I have served in a variety of leadership capacities. I currently serves as an Officer with the American Hockey Coaches Association as Vice President of Women’s Hockey where I lead our D-I and D-III coaching body and sit on the AHCA’s Women’s Hockey Executive Committee.
