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Schlossman: College hockey’s arms race has pushed its resources way beyond the CHL’s – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — When the NCAA announced a rules change last November that would allow Canadian Hockey League players to retain college eligibility for the first time in decades, the Medicine Hat Tigers were on a nine-day road trip. They played five games in 11 days. Star prospect Gavin McKenna had virtually no opportunity for […]

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GRAND FORKS — When the NCAA announced a rules change last November that would allow Canadian Hockey League players to retain college eligibility for the first time in decades, the Medicine Hat Tigers were on a nine-day road trip.

They played five games in 11 days.

Star prospect Gavin McKenna had virtually no opportunity for practices or workouts due to the bus rides and games.

It was way back then — long before he started fielding six-figure name, image and likeness (NIL) offers — when the idea of playing college hockey began to become real for McKenna and those close to him.

McKenna largely pushed his NCAA recruitment aside during the season, keeping his focus on winning a championship with Medicine Hat.

After the season ended June 1, McKenna did four Zoom calls, made two on-campus visits and ultimately announced Tuesday on ESPN’s SportsCenter that he will play for Penn State this fall.

The ensuing swarm of media coverage has been focused on McKenna’s NCAA hockey-record NIL deal. The Herald confirmed with sources that the deal hit at least $500,000.

Penn State also had the largest offer.

But McKenna’s decision to leave the CHL for college was about much more than NIL.

NCAA athletics programs have been in an arms race for more than two decades now.

College teams build their rosters entirely through recruiting. They have to convince the best players to come to their school.

To do that, they try to offer players what they want — the best life experience possible and a developmental infrastructure to help them achieve their goals beyond college.

Schools have invested big money to try to one-up their rivals.

In the National Collegiate Hockey Conference, Omaha and Colorado College have built new arenas in the last 10 years. St. Cloud State (2013), Miami (2014), Denver (2018) and North Dakota (2014 and 2022) have had multi-million dollar renovations recently.

Minnesota Duluth’s arena is only 15 years old. Western Michigan has a new one on the way.

The arms race goes beyond arenas.

North Dakota, for example, has a nutrition program and a cook at Ralph Engelstad Arena to make meals for the players. It has a sleeping area, a cryo chamber, a hot tub, a cold tub, a sauna, one of the largest high-altitude training rooms in the world, a puck-shooting room and a state-of-the-art weight room.

UND has a sports scientist, a strength coach, a sports dietician, a sports psychologist and academic advisors on staff.

“Let’s face it,” Sportsnet’s Kyle Bukauskas said on the ’32 Thoughts’ podcast last month, “in Ottawa, where I live, there’s a lot of North Dakota alums that play there now. What they had at NoDak, it was a step down in terms of facilities and resources going to the NHL. And that’s not a shot at Ottawa. That just speaks to the different world that a place like the University of North Dakota hockey setup is compared to everything else. You can’t think of ‘How can we compete with it?’ Because you’re not going to get very far there.”

UND has two or three bus trips in the NCHC. The rest of the time, it travels by charter airplane. The players are often home after games by 1 a.m., even if they’re playing across the country.

Not every college hockey team charters flights to road games, but the traditional powerhouse teams do.

CHL teams, on the other hand, largely build their rosters through drafts.

Sure, at times, they recruit against the NCAA and United States Hockey League for players, but their rosters are draft-based and trade-based.

Medicine Hat did not have to win a fierce recruiting battle for McKenna. The Tigers had the No. 1 pick and drafted him. Erie did not have to win a recruiting battle to get Connor McDavid. They drafted him.

The CHL has benefited from a system that keeps players there, too.

CHL players don’t become free agents. They can’t tour the league and pick their favorite spot. They can’t advance to the American Hockey League until age 20 (or if they’ve played four years in major juniors). They’ve been ineligible for college.

There haven’t been many viable alternatives for those who can’t make the NHL as teenagers — and very few can.

So, there hasn’t been a need for an arms race in junior hockey — nor is it set up to handle one.

NCAA hockey teams are less like traditional hockey teams and more like massive academic institutions that sponsor athletics. They have dozens of people who raise funds from thousands of donors for the university and its athletic department. State schools receive state funding, too, and are non-profit organizations.

Funding for junior hockey teams is up to the owner or ownership group. People aren’t keen to donate money to owners.

As the arms race ignited in college athletics, it has lapped the CHL in a lot of areas.

When CHL players come on college visits, they are blown away by the setups. Few, if any, CHL players who take college visits are opting against the college route.

In February 2012, after UND lost a few high-profile committed recruits to the CHL, former UND head coach Dave Hakstol told the Herald the NCAA should examine the possibility of opening up the CHL. Hakstol felt, with all of UND’s amenities, he would be able to lure top CHL players to Grand Forks.

Almost nobody in the NCAA backed Hakstol and there was no serious discussion about it.

But Hakstol was right.

And in Year 1 of the CHL being open, UND will have a first-round pick (Cole Reschny) and a future first-round pick (Keaton Verhoeff) on its roster from the CHL.

The buzzword you’ll hear from both sides is “development.”

For decades, CHL personnel and fans proclaimed it was the best developmental league in the world, the only place for high-end future stars, and many scoffed at people who suggested that top players could develop just fine in college.

That should have ended when Jonathan Toews, the No. 1 overall pick in the Western Hockey League Draft, opted to go to UND, was a captain in the NHL at age 19, won three Stanley Cups, two Olympic gold medals and became the youngest member of the Triple Gold Club in hockey history. But it didn’t.

There will continue to be arguments and debate about which route is best — even though players don’t have to choose, they can do both.

It will come back to “development.”

So, what makes a place ideal for development? It’s coaching, competition and resources.

There are terrific coaches at both levels.

The competition is tougher in the NCAA — the players are older and stronger. Last year, Alex Weiermair tallied two points in nine games at Denver and was healthy scratched at times. He went to the CHL midseason and averaged more than a point per game. Meanwhile, McKenna had 129 points in 56 games. What good is going back to that league for him? He’s outgrown it.

When it comes to resources, the college athletics arms race has pushed NCAA teams way beyond the CHL — and it’s not just the traditional powerhouses. Bemidji State has tremendous training facilities. Sacred Heart has one of the nicest arenas in the country. Canisius shares facilities with the Buffalo Sabres.

This week, Sportsnet’s Sam Cosentino made another age-old argument in support of staying in the CHL over playing college hockey: “I think it’s important you get as many games as possible at this age.”

But fewer are thinking that way.

McKenna played 86 games last year and rode a bus throughout Western Canada. It left little time for practicing and developing strength.

This season, he’ll play around 45 games while he flies charter planes. Utilizing a college strength program will help him at the next level. It’s something that would have benefited Connor Bedard.

There’s another important element about the NCAA and CHL battle that few discuss: The life experience in college is fun. It entails so much more than hockey. You’re on a vibrant campus with thousands of other people your age. You live with your best friends. You have countless options for activities.

Word will soon get back to others in the CHL about the away-from-the-rink college experience and lifestyle.

McKenna’s NIL deal, the hot talking point, is an extreme anomaly. Nobody else is in his ballpark.

If people think CHL players are choosing college strictly because of NIL money, they’re missing the point. It helps. But there’s so much more to it than that.

College hockey teams haven’t spent the last two decades telling everyone they have the best developmental league in the world. They were building the infrastructure to make it so.





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Ex-Gymnastics Coach Charged With Child Pornography

NEED TO KNOW Ex-gymnastics coach Sean Gardner was arrested on child pornography charges last week, according to reports Gardner was reportedly suspended in 2022 from coaching after sexual assault allegations were made against him by gymnasts he coached The AP reported that FBI documents show authorities uncovered child pornography material from Gardner’s home, including videos […]

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NEED TO KNOW

  • Ex-gymnastics coach Sean Gardner was arrested on child pornography charges last week, according to reports
  • Gardner was reportedly suspended in 2022 from coaching after sexual assault allegations were made against him by gymnasts he coached
  • The AP reported that FBI documents show authorities uncovered child pornography material from Gardner’s home, including videos he allegedly shot on a hidden camera inside a gym bathroom

Years after facing several sexual assault allegations from a number of young athletes, a former gymnastics coach was arrested in Iowa last week after investigators uncovered a trove of child pornography — some of which he created — at his home, according to reports.

Sean Gardner was arrested this week, according to the Des Moines Register, The Guardian and The Associated Press, which was first to report that the disgraced gymnastics coach appeared in court on Friday, Aug. 15.

Gardner, 38, faces a charge for producing child pornography materials after federal authorities raided his home and discovered hundreds of child pornography images, as well as batches of nude images showing girls as young as six years old, which appeared to be taken by Gardner using a hidden camera in a gymnasium bathroom where he worked as a coach, according to the AP.

SafeSport, the organization launched to oversee sexual assault prevention in U.S. Gymnastics in the wake of the Larry Nassar case, suspended Gardner from coaching gymnastics in 2022, three months after an athlete alleged he sexually assaulted her while he was her coach.

A SafeSport database reviewed by PEOPLE shows Gardner was suspended in July 2022 for “allegations of misconduct.”

Chow’s Gymnastics & Dance Institute.

Scott McFetridge/AP


The AP reported that Gardner was working as a gymnastics coach at Chow’s Gymnastics and Dance Institute in West Des Moines, Iowa, when he was accused of sexual assault by the former student, who alleged the coach used “inappropriate spotting techniques” in order to put his hands between her legs and touch her privates.

The young girl reportedly also provided the names of at least six other girls she said were abused by Gardner throughout his tenure as a coach at the Iowa gym, where the likes of Olympic gold medalists Shawn Johnson and Gabby Douglas once trained.

In the years after, two more former students made formal accusations against Gardner for sexual abuse, according to the AP. One alleged that the former coach required her to do stretches that exposed her genitals, fondled and inappropriately touched her during exercises, and also openly discussed his sex life with her. 

The outlet reported that Gardner’s abuse allegedly appeared to date back to his former job as a gymnastics coach at Jump’In Gymnastics in Purvis, Miss., before he moved to Iowa to join Chow’s gym, where he climbed the ranks and later became in charge of the school’s junior Olympics team. He was also named director of an annual event drawing more than 1,000 gymnasts to Iowa. 

The FBI documents obtained by the AP, and requested Tuesday, Aug. 19, by PEOPLE, reportedly say the Jump’In Gymnastics gym’s owner identified the bathroom seen in Gardner’s hidden camera videos as the bathroom at the gym, which has since closed down.

PEOPLE also asked the FBI for comment Tuesday on Gardner’s arrest and charges but did not immediately receive a response. PEOPLE attempted to contact Gardner regarding his charges and allegations Tuesday.

Never miss a story — sign up for PEOPLE’s free daily newsletter to stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer​​, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.

The AP reported that after Gardner was suspended from coaching gymnastics in 2022, he was able to land a job as a surgical technologist at MercyOne West Des Moines Medical Center in Des Moines, Iowa. The hospital told the outlet that Gardner, who was arrested and charged last week, is no longer an employee there.

The child pornography production charge Gardner faces carries a potential 30-year prison sentence, according to the AP.

If you or someone you know has been sexually assaulted, please contact the National Sexual Assault Hotline at 1-800-656-HOPE (4673) or go to rainn.org.



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Buckeyes captain launches special Ohio State Beats by Dre headphones in ‘Beats Elite’ campaign

Buckeyes captain launches special Ohio State Beats by Dre headphones in ‘Beats Elite’ campaign originally appeared on A to Z Sports. Ohio State Buckeyes fans will have the chance to get some of the coolest school-branded headphones on the market as the 2025 college football season arrives. On Tuesday, Beats by Dre announced that nine […]

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Buckeyes captain launches special Ohio State Beats by Dre headphones in ‘Beats Elite’ campaign originally appeared on A to Z Sports.

Ohio State Buckeyes fans will have the chance to get some of the coolest school-branded headphones on the market as the 2025 college football season arrives. On Tuesday, Beats by Dre announced that nine athletes have partnered with the brand to represent their Beats Elite class. At the forefront of the marketing is Buckeyes safety Caleb Downs.

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It includes some of the best players in the sport ahead of their upcoming seasons with Alabama WR Ryan Williams, Michigan QB Bryce Underwood, Georgia RB Nate Frazier, Texas LB Colin Simmons, Oregon QB Dante Moore, Florida QB DJ Lagway, Oklahoma QB John Mateer, and South Carolina QB LaNorris Sellers.

View the original article to see embedded media.

For the third consecutive year, Beats by Dre has rolled out its name, image, and likeness (NIL) campaign, showcasing some of college football’s brightest stars. Each year’s group has featured standout athletes who dominate on the field, including Downs, now a two-time member of the prestigious ‘Beats Elite’ after earning the honor in 2024.

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This year’s class includes seven of the most marketable figures in college sports, extending beyond just football. The lineup boasts impressive NIL valuations: Sellers ($3.7M), Lagway ($3.7M), Underwood ($3M), Mateer ($2.7M), Williams ($2.7M), Downs ($2.4M), and Simmons ($1.5M), all ranking among the Top-50 overall and Top-30 in college football. Frazier ($827K) and Moore ($640K) also command significant valuations, cementing their influence.

These athletes are not only marketable but also among the top talents projected for the upcoming season, representing some of the sport’s elite programs. Sellers, Lagway, Moore, Mateer, Williams, and Underwood rank in the top 12 for Heisman Trophy odds, according to BetMGM.

They’ve also earned widespread preseason accolades, with Williams, Downs, and Simmons named AP Preseason All-Americans, while Sellers and Frazier joined them as preseason all-conference picks in the SEC and Big Ten. Additionally, their nine programs are all among the top 12 in BetMGM’s odds to claim the College Football Playoff national title.

This story was originally reported by A to Z Sports on Aug 19, 2025, where it first appeared.



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Robinhood to Roll Out Football Prediction Markets

Robinhood to Roll Out Football Prediction Markets Privacy Manager Link 1

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Soccer faces Texas in first of three-game road trip

TEMPE – Sun Devil Soccer returns to the pitch on Thursday when it faces Texas in Austin for Arizona State’s first road match of the season, scheduled for 5 p.m. MST at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field.  The match can be seen on SEC Network+, which is part of ESPN+ that requires a […]

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TEMPE – Sun Devil Soccer returns to the pitch on Thursday when it faces Texas in Austin for Arizona State’s first road match of the season, scheduled for 5 p.m. MST at Mike A. Myers Stadium and Soccer Field. 

The match can be seen on SEC Network+, which is part of ESPN+ that requires a subscription. 

The Sun Devils meet the Longhorns for the first time since August 22, 2014 when both sides played to a 2-2 draw in extra time at the Outriggers Resorts Shootout in Honolulu, Hawaii. Texas holds a 1-0-2 series advantage and this will mark the second trip to Austin for the Sun Devils since 2008.

ASU opened the season at home last Thursday with a 2-0 clean sheet victory over Nevada with goals by Miki Hayashi and Peyton Marcisz. Veteran goalkeeper Pauline Nelles secured her 19th career shutout with two saves to secure the victory.

The Sun Devils finished their first contest outshooting the Wildcats 18-5, with 11 shots coming on goal. ASU also managed 12 corner kicks last Thursday without allowing Nevada a corner kick opportunity. 

Defender Addison Baltodano registered a team-leading four shots, three coming on goal in 45:22 minutes of playing time. Forwards Tatum Thomason and Cameron Valladores combined for six shots, three being on goal with Valladores earning an assist in the second half.

About Texas:
The Longhorns dropped their season opener against Northwestern State with a 3-2 result and totaled a 25-7 advantage in shots, with 16 coming on goal. They rebounded with a 2-1 victory over Long Beach State last Sunday.

Reigning SEC Freshman of the Year Amalia Villarreal has one goal and leads the team in shots with 12, 10 coming on net. Last season, Texas went 17-4-2 with a 10-1-2 record at home. The Longhorns then won the SEC tournament and made the second round of the NCAA Tournament before falling to No. 16 Michigan State, 2-3, in overtime.

Nelles in Net:
The senior goalkeeper has made 58-straight starts in goal for the Sun Devils and notched her 19th career shutout in the win over the Wildcats. Currently, with 231 career saves, she ranks fourth in program history and is one of five Sun Devils to have recorded 200+ saves in their career. She has played 4,410 consecutive minutes in goal for the Sun Devils. Nelles is three wins away from surpassing Kim Bingham (2003-06) for third in program history in career wins.

The senior goalie is five clean sheets away from tying Chandley Morris (2011-15) for most shutouts by an ASU goalie in program history. She is aiming to become the second Sun Devil goalie to have 20+ shutouts in a career.

 

Milestone watch:

  • Pauline Nelles is 34 saves away from surpassing Kim Bingham for third in program history.
  • Nelles is two starts away from making 60 career starts at goalie, which would rank fourth by a goalie in ASU history.
  • Forward Cameron Valladares is four games away from 50 career matches.
  • Valladares is two points away from 30 career points.
  • Washington transfer Tatum Thomason is 3 starts away from 50 career starts.
  • Thomason is 2 goals away from 10 career goals.

Early Season Success:
Since 2018 the Sun Devils have had a run of success in the opening month of play, compiling a 15-0-6 record in the month of August. ASU has outscored teams 62-13 in those games.

Preseason Recognition:
Reigning Big 12 Freshman of the Year Kierra Blundell was named to the 2025 Big 12 Preseason Team and is the only sophomore forward to make the list. She earned spots on the 2024 Big 12 Second Team All-Conference honors and on the 2024 Big 12 All-Freshman list.

Welcome to Tempe:
The Sun Devils have welcomed 14 new players to the roster and return 12 players from the 2024 season. Midfielder Miki Hayashi made an impact last week with the first Sun Devil goal of the year from a corner kick after playing her freshman season at Tyler Junior College. In addition, UCLA transfer Peyton Marcisz registered her first career goal in the win over Nevada last Thursday.

Spanning the Globe:
The Sun Devil soccer team has 17 international student-athletes competing, led by Canada with seven players. England (four) and South Africa (two) also have multiple players, while Japan, Norway, Germany and the Netherlands have one player each.

Barrett, The Honors College:
The Sun Devils have nine student-athletes enrolled in Barrett, The Honors College. Honors students are diverse and come from a wide range of backgrounds. Barrett students take additional honors courses and are required to complete a thesis during their college experience. 

Soccer student-athletes in Barrett, The Honors College:
Norah Bell, Business
Kierra Blundell, Sports Science and Performance Programming
Addison Haws, Biological Sciences (Biomedical Sciences)
Miki Hayashi, Data Science
Olivia Herrera, Business (Sports Business)
Brianna Nunley, Marketing
Katie Ozard, Medical Studies
Tano Uzezi-Itesa, Health Sciences
Ava Wright, Biological Sciences, (Biomedical Sciences)

Blundell’s Best:
Appearing in all 19 matches as a freshman last season, Blundell garnered 2024 Big 12 Freshman of the Year honors and scored a team-best nine goals, which was ninth nationally among freshmen last year and eighth in the Big 12 overall. 

The sophomore had two multi-goal games last season, including a hat trick against Penn. Her two game-winning goals came against Houston and Penn. In 2024, the Sun Devils were 7-3-1 when Blundell registered at least one point in a match.

Looking Ahead:
ASU continues its three-match road trip with a match against Texas State on Sunday, August 24 at 9 a.m. MST in San Marcos, Texas, which can be seen on ESPN+.

Be sure to stay connected with Sun Devil Soccer throughout the season on social media by following @SunDevilSoccer on Instagram, X (formerly twitter), and Facebook.



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Men’s Basketball, NEC Unveils 2025-26 Conference Schedule

Story Links EASTON, Mass. – The Stonehill men’s basketball program has announced its NEC conference schedule on Tuesday afternoon. In its fourth year as an NCAA Division I member and first as NCAA tournament eligible, the Skyhawks will open up NEC action a day into the new year, hosting the University of […]

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EASTON, Mass. – The Stonehill men’s basketball program has announced its NEC conference schedule on Tuesday afternoon.

In its fourth year as an NCAA Division I member and first as NCAA tournament eligible, the Skyhawks will open up NEC action a day into the new year, hosting the University of New Haven on January 2.

They will go on the road for a pair of games against Wagner College (Jan. 4) and Central Connecticut State (Jan. 8) before returning home to face Chicago State  (Jan. 10). After two games on the road against Mercyhurst (Jan. 17) and Saint Francis (Jan. 19), Stonehill will begin a three-game homestand against LIU (Jan. 23), Central Connecticut State (Jan. 25) and Fairleigh Dickinson (Jan. 29).

The Skyhawks will head back out on the road for three games, before concluding the regular season with four out of five games at home: Wagner (Feb. 14), Le Moyne (Feb. 21), Saint Francis (Feb. 26), and Mercyhurst (Feb. 28).

All Stonehill home games will be broadcast live on NEC Front Row – the NEC’s digital broadcast platform. Tickets for the 2025-26 season, including season ticket packages, will be available at a later date.

For the latest on Stonehill Athletics, follow the Skyhawks via social media on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram and check out its all new website, powered by Sidearm Sports, at stonehillskyhawks.com.



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Gymnastics: SJV’s Beltra makes college decision

Giovaninna Beltra of St. John Vianney on vault during the Shore Conference Gymnastics Championships at Brick Memorial High School on Saturday October 28, 2023. Duncan Williams | For NJ Advance Media One of New Jersey’s top gymnasts has officially made her college decision. Giovannina Beltra of St. John Vianney announced that she will continue her career […]

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Gym: Shore Conference Championship
Giovaninna Beltra of St. John Vianney on vault during the Shore Conference Gymnastics Championships at Brick Memorial High School on Saturday October 28, 2023. Duncan Williams | For NJ Advance Media

One of New Jersey’s top gymnasts has officially made her college decision.

Giovannina Beltra of St. John Vianney announced that she will continue her career at Boise State.

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