In the CCHA, a player is eligible for all-rookie team honors if he is in his
first season of collegiate competition (originally came up when Michigan -
Dearborn dropped hockey and a few players entered the CCHA).
 
A couple of seasons ago a Western Michigan defenseman (Chris Belanger) broke
his ankle in the second game of the season, but we still had him eligible for
the Canstar/CCHA all-rookie team the following year.
 
Last year, WMU had a forward (Derek Innanen) who had to sit out a year
(transfer) because when he played junior hockey in New York, he took a couple
of classes at a Division III school that had varsity hockey even though he had
no contact with the hockey team.
 
This year, Dale Crombeen at Bowling Green is eligible for all-rookie team
honors if his coach places his name on the ballot.  He had to sit out last
season because of playing a couple of Major Junior "A" exhibition games.