Grace Shirley still gets chills thinking about it. 

The moments she and her Wisconsin teammates stormed the ice in celebration of their National Collegiate Women’s Ice Hockey Championships in 2021 and 2023 were unforgettable. Winning those championships alongside her older sister, Sophie, added another meaningful layer to the accomplishments. 

“It was amazing. It happened a few years ago, but I still can’t put it into words,” said Shirley, whose alma mater won another NCAA title in March. “We won both national championships together, and it was just a phenomenal experience. The relationships I made with my teammates and all the staff at Wisconsin, it was such a great experience, and it’s one I’ll be proud of and take with me for the rest of my life.”

But while her success on the ice was undeniable, the pressures of college sports revealed a side of the game that doesn’t often make the highlight reel. 

The pressure to perform

From the outside, Shirley had everything a student-athlete could hope for. She was thriving at a powerhouse program, where she scored 21 points in four seasons and earned Academic All-Big Ten Conference honors three times. But internally, she was struggling with self-doubt.

“There was a lot of just pressure that I was putting on myself,” she admitted. “That was taking a toll.” 

Shirley’s experience is shared by many student-athletes, according to NCAA research data, especially those in women’s sports. In the most recent NCAA Student-Athlete Health and Wellness Study, 44% of participants in women’s sports reported feeling overwhelmed constantly or most every day.

Shirley said this weight led her to make one of the most important decisions of her life and reached out to a sports psychologist at Wisconsin — a step supported by the growing presence of mental health services outlined in the NCAA Mental Health Best Practices and  Division I core guarantees. 

For Shirley, the impact of this support far exceeded her expectations.

“Initially it was just for hockey, but I think ultimately the impact that it had on all areas of my life was pretty outstanding,” she said. “The small tips about gaining confidence and being able to remain composed in tough situations helped pretty fast, but I think more of the long-term stuff was the level of gratitude and being able to wake up every day and go about your life and really care about the relationships and the people behind you are what’s stuck with me.”

Shirley’s sessions helped her rediscover balance in her life. As she navigated the challenges of balancing academics, athletics and her personal life, she found herself embracing a broader perspective on her identity.

“For many student-athletes, attempting to find a healthy balance between the academic, athletic and social domains of life can be difficult. During my time in college, utilizing the resources available and working with sports psychologists have had such a positive impact, not only on my athletic performance, but my overall levels of happiness and well-being,” she said. “Obviously it’s important to be performing well, but there’s so many aspects of life that are just as important to foster and take care of as well. I’m really grateful for all those resources that college hockey has provided me.”

Developing her passion at the Emerging Leaders Seminar

As Shirley embraced the impact that mental health counseling had on her own life, she felt drawn to help others in the same way. That passion led her to Providence, where she competed as a graduate transfer during the 2023-24 season and began pursuing a master’s degree in counseling with the goal of becoming a licensed mental health counselor. 

This pursuit also led her to attend the 2025 NCAA Emerging Leaders Seminar, a three-day event in February designed to help young professionals develop leadership skills and explore career paths in college athletics?.

“I’m really passionate about mental health counseling,” she said. “It’s always been something that I’ve really found interesting and enlightening. Being at the Emerging Leaders Seminar has really helped with this.”

The seminar, themed “Lead Like a Superhero: Unleash Your Superpowers,” challenged participants to identify their values and understand their unique abilities. Shirley, who had already begun her journey toward becoming a mental health professional, found herself drawn to discussions on how counseling and leadership intersect in college sports. 

“We were able to talk through careers within the field of counseling and how that relates to collegiate athletics, which is definitely a growing field,” she said. “A lot of athletes are seeking mental health services, and I hope to contribute and help the lives of upcoming student-athletes.”

Being the person she needed

Shirley knows firsthand how intimidating it can be to ask for help, but she also understands how important it is.

“I’ve definitely been there where I’ve kind of been scared to talk about things,” she said. 

“It’s important to be reminded that you have people in your corner, you have people that care about you. Whether it’s a mental health counselor, your family or friends, people are there for you. You owe it to yourself to ask for help because at the end of the day nobody deserves to go through those battles on their own.” 

As she prepares to graduate with a master’s degree, Shirley is looking not just to the future of her career but to the impact she hopes to make. She wants to be a resource for student-athletes struggling with the same pressures she experienced and to help them learn to embrace life beyond sports.

“I just want to demonstrate a level of empathy and understanding,” she said. “I was once in that seat. I was someone who was seeking additional services or resources, so I understand. And I want to be that person that can really help and just kind of change your outlook or maybe some of those patterns of thinking. I just really want to demonstrate that I’m there for you, that I care about you and then I want to be with you as you start this process.”

As Shirley reflects on her journey — the championships, the struggles, the growth — she said her biggest win has been learning who she is beyond the game.

“There’s a lot more to life than just sport and there’s more to me than just a hockey player. I’m a daughter and a sister and a really good friend,” she said, before reflecting on her journey more broadly. “Hockey has impacted my life in so many ways, and I have nothing but positive things to say about Wisconsin and Providence. They provided me the resources and support needed for me to reach my full potential as both a hockey player and as a person.” 

The Falcons could very well have a distinct international look to them when they hit the ice next winter. Already with three skaters from France and a goalie from Canada on the roster this season, the Fitchburg State ice hockey team continues to add in the offseason, harvesting talent born in other countries. The defending […]

Originally Published: May 1, 2025 at 2:25 PM EDT

Boston University sophomore Aiden Celebrini has no regrets over the decision he reached at 16 to maintain his college eligibility by skipping a chance to play for the Western Hockey League’s Saskatoon Blades.

And it makes no difference that college hockey wasn’t on his radar growing up in North Vancouver and regularly attending WHL games with his younger brother Macklin, the NHL’s draft’s No. 1 pick last summer.

“We didn’t know much about college hockey,” Celebrini said during the Frozen Four championship in St. Louis. “Going to Vancouver Giants games, that was always kind of our dream to play in the WHL and then eventually play in the NHL.”

It’s a dream Macklin has already achieved in completing his rookie season with the San Jose Sharks and after one year at BU. Aiden could well follow after being drafted by his hometown Canucks in 2023.

Last fall, the NCAA made a landmark eligibility decision to allow Canadian Hockey League players to compete at the college level. The ruling frees today’s players from the either-or choice the Celebrinis faced to either join the CHL team that drafted them or preserve their college eligibility as they did by playing at the Canadian Junior A or USHL levels — Aiden in Alberta and Macklin in Chicago.

“I’m kind of jealous,” Aiden Celebrini said. “I think it’s awesome that guys can experience both now because I think the WHL is a top league, and obviously the NCAA is also. It’s great to have that kind of pipeline now.”

While players will benefit most, the NCAA ruling has the potential to dramatically tilt North America’s junior hockey developmental landscape toward U.S. colleges in a fundamental altering of how prospects reach the NHL.

Paths to the NHL

The route for many has traditionally run through the CHL’s three leagues, the WHL, OHL and QMJHL.

The CHL remains the clear leader in having 839 players drafted from 2015-24, with the NCAA’s 74 a distant seventh. And yet, of those 74 college players, 63 were chosen in the first round, including two Canadians selected first overall (Celebrini and Michigan’s Owen Power in 2021).

College hockey players now make up about a third of NHL rosters, up from 20% in 2000, with Hockey East commissioner Steve Metcalf envisioning that number growing.

“I don’t think it’s that complicated. There’ll be an increasing number of NHLers that come from college,” Metcalf told The Associated Press at the Frozen Four. “(The CHL and USHL) will feed players up into college hockey. And college hockey will feed the players up to the NHL.”

College money

College sports awaits the final approval of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement that will change the economics across the NCAA and its hundreds of member schools by allowing revenue sharing. That, and the availability of NIL endorsement money, will provide college programs beyond football and basketball different resources to attract recruits.

A hot topic of discussion at the Frozen Four was the potential of hockey programs making six-figures offer to lure top-end CHL players, such as Medicine Hat forward Gavin McKenna, already projected to be No. 1 pick in the 2026 NHL draft.

“The better talent we can get into college hockey, the better it is for college hockey. So access to a new talent pool is a good thing,” said Western Michigan athletic director Dan Bartholomae, whose Broncos won their first title.

“We’re going to compete in that space,” he added of an athletic department in the midst of building a $500 million new downtown arena. “We could grow a little bit in the sport of hockey, and we’re planning to.”

WMU fans celebrate first-ever NCAA Ice Hockey National Championship win

A resized talent pool?

Questions include how much college hockey can expand, given the eight-figure price tag to launch a Division I program, and how the CHL and USHL adapt. CHL President Dan MacKenzie doesn’t expect his three leagues to take a back seat to anyone.

“The changes have been monumental, obviously. We’ve all been trying to get an handle on what’s going to happen,” he said. “What we’ve seen in those five months is the CHL basically get stronger.”

For proof, MacKenzie noted that 205 CHL alumni, representing more than 50% of NHL rosters, are currently competing in the playoffs. He also pointed to NHL Central Scouting having 170 CHL players included in their pre-draft rankings, the most ever.

Expansion is on the horizon, with the WHL preparing to launch two teams in British Columbia, which would increase the CHL’s total to 60.

“Every player is going to make a different decision,” MacKenzie said. “All we can do is try to run a whole bunch of great programs across our teams and leagues and let the chips fall, because we feel pretty confident that we’re going to be the destination for that player.”

The challenge for the USA Hockey-backed USHL is somewhat different in staying competitive while maintaining its objectives of growing the game across American and developing U.S.-born talent.

The initial fallout from the NCAA ruling led to two teams, Youngstown and Muskegon, being rejected in their bid to leave the USHL and join the OHL. All 16 teams have since committed to remaining in the USHL next year.

Commissioner Glenn Hefferan dismissed the potential of a lawsuit by noting the USHL has anti-trust protections. He instead foresees a future in which the USHL and CHL forge closer bonds, with the potential of inter-league preseason games on the horizon.

Canada vs. USA

A bigger concern is the NCAA’s change in eligibility rules leading to Canadians potentially displacing Americans on college rosters. Hefferan and USA Hockey executive director Pat Kelleher both said they’d like to see the U.S. Congress cap the number of international players on college teams.

Hockey East’s Metcalf dismissed that proposal outright.

“My immediate reaction is that’s the opposite direction we’re going in,” Metcalf said. “College hockey is interested in getting the best players they can from where ever they’re from.”

In the meantime, the NHL is monitoring developments and might eventually need to weigh in, with input from the NHL Players’ Association.

Currently, NHL teams retain the draft rights to players for 30 days after they leave college. By comparison, teams hold CHL players’ right for two seasons after being drafted.

One benefit NHL teams have in drafting college players is, once signed those players can be sent directly to the minors. CHL players must be returned to their CHL teams until their eligibility expires.

“The NCAA made whatever decision, and we’re all going to have to adjust,” NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman said. “We’re going to have to talk to the union and understand how we think it works based on the current rule and what maybe we need to modify to be reflective of the way we think things would flow best.”

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AP Hockey Writer Stephen Whyno contributed.

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AP NHL: https://apnews.com/hub/nhl

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SOUTH BURLINGTON, Vt.- The American Hockey Coaches Association (AHCA) announced that former Norwich Ice Hockey broadcaster George Commo will receive the 2025 Jim Fullerton Award.

The AHCA presents this annual award, “Named in honor of the former Brown University hockey coach and ACHA spiritual leader, this award recognizes an individual who loves the purity of our sport. Whether a coach, administrator, trainer, official, journalist, or simply a fan, the recipient exemplifies Jim Fullerton, who gave as much as he received and never stopped caring about the direction in which our game was heading.”  

Commo will add the Jim Fullerton Award to a lengthy list of accolades, including winning Vermont Sportscaster of the Year eleven times, enshrinement in the Vermont Principals’ Association (VPA) Hall of Fame, the Vermont Association of Broadcasters Hall of Fame, the Norwich University Athletic Hall of Fame, the Rice Memorial High School Athletic Hall of Fame, and the Vermont Sports Hall of Fame. In addition, Commo has received the Warner Fusselle Award for Excellence in Broadcasting by baseball’s New York Penn League and the Monahan & Wallace Media Award by the ECAC Sports Information Directors Association.

After a lengthy career commentating various athletic events for the University of Vermont, Commo joined WDEV Radio in 1998. He became the play-by-play voice for Norwich Ice Hockey until his retirement after the 2022-23 season, calling numerous conference and NCAA tournament games, including all four runs to the National Championship for men’s ice hockey.

The AHCA will present the award to Commo at a luncheon on Wednesday afternoon at Vermont National Country Club.

Full AHCA Release