Mike Block writes:
>        Does Canada start their schooling later then the US?  Cause, it
>    seem that many of the freshman from Canada are 21+ years of age. Hmmmm
 
This is a myth that still seems to exist even today.
 
It is almost never true that any freshmen from Canada are 21+.  Any
player, whether he is from Canada, the USA, or Mars, loses one year of
eligibility in NC$$ hockey for each year spent playing organized
hockey over the age of 20.  The key is whether the player turned 20
before his season of organized hockey began.  Thus, a player who
entered college at age 21 would be a sophomore eligibility-wise, not a
freshman.
 
The only way a 21-year-old could be a freshman would be if he did not
play for any organized team whose season began after he turned 20.
This is very rare; I can't even think of a case in which it has happened.
 
If a player turned 20 in the middle of a season and then went on to
college the next season, he would still enter as a freshman (and would
still be 20 at the start of his freshman season).  Most Canadian rookies
are 20 or younger when their first season of NC$$ hockey begins.  Within
the last few years, I have seen some as young as 16 (Lowell's Ian Hebert,
Merrimack's Guy Ragault).
 
The confusion may arise from the fact that some SIDs still list these
players who are upperclassmen eligibility-wise as freshmen, to draw
attention to the fact that they are rookies.  Then the next season,
you will see them listed as juniors.
 
Finally, there is a grade 13 in Canada.  But when you consider that
many American players go to prep school for a year after completing
high school, it somewhat negates the age factor as a difference
between Americans and Canadians - except for those schools that by
their own choice recruit exclusively or almost exclusively right out
of US high schools.
 
But some people still want to try to make others believe that all
Canadian rookies are grizzled 21 year olds, while all American rookies
are babyfaced 17 year olds who haven't started shaving yet.
 
>       Food for thought,
>
>                Players that play Juniors, can not recieve full scholarships!!
>                Or is this already true!!
 
If we are talking major junior, then this is sort of already true...
they are ineligible to play NC$$ hockey.  (although there have been
players who played a handful of games of major junior, then went on to
NC$$, and had to sit for a year and a handful of games before being
eligible to play, by NC$$ rule.)
 
There are lower levels of junior in Canada, levels that are not that
different from the levels of junior in the US...if those players are
to be banned too, then the same would have to happen for the hundreds
of Americans playing in the USHL and other leagues.
---                                                                   ---
Mike Machnik                                            [log in to unmask]
Cabletron Systems, Inc.                                    *HMM* 11/13/93