Schlossman: NCAA teams are running into roadblocks with some CHL players – Grand Forks Herald

GRAND FORKS — Canadian Hockey League players will be eligible to play college hockey for the first time in decades beginning this fall.

NCAA teams have gone into the three CHL leagues — the Western Hockey League, Ontario Hockey League and Quebec Major Junior Hockey League — to recruit talented players.

But coaches are finding out that a lot of them will not be academically eligible to play college hockey.

It’s not that the CHL players are bad students.

The primary issue is that many have not taken the required 16 NCAA-approved core classes, including 10 in the first seven semesters of high school.

When these players signed in the CHL, they thought they were giving up their college eligibility and didn’t bother working toward NCAA academic requirements anymore.

“The current group of CHL players haven’t thought about the NCAA,” said Sean Hogan, the executive director of College Hockey Inc. “They made the decision to go to the CHL. They weren’t trying to meet the requirements of the NCAA.

“We knew there would be a gap in this education, because they’ve never thought about it before. They’ve never had to think about it.”

Hogan said the NCAA announced CHL players would become eligible for the 2025-26 season on Nov. 7, and College Hockey Inc., began conversations about how to keep players academically eligible on Nov. 8.

College Hockey Inc., has discussed the issue with all three Canadian major junior leagues, their academic advisors and individual teams.

Hogan said the major junior leagues have been cooperative and dispelled the notion that CHL teams might try to keep players ineligible for the NCAA so they stay in the CHL longer.

“We’ve had conversations with the commissioners,” Hogan said. “They’ve said, ‘We don’t want to be known as a league that can’t keep our players eligible.’ They want to get it right. We’ve done education sessions for each league and each team’s (academic advisor). With the new group coming in, we’re less likely to have issues. They’ll go in knowing they have two roads in front of them.”

UND will bring in at least one CHL player in winger Josh Zakreski, who plays for the Portland Winterhawks of the WHL.

The Fighting Hawks received a silent commitment from a player in the OHL a couple months ago, but they’re running into issues with his core classes. It’s looking less likely that player ends up on campus this fall.

For the second-straight year, a UND recruit is the United States Hockey League’s Player of the Year.

Will Zellers, who plays for the Green Bay Gamblers, earned the honor Wednesday.

Zellers led the USHL with 44 goals in 52 games. He also tallied 71 points, leading the USHL with 1.37 points per game.

Last year, UND’s Mac Swanson won it as a member of the Fargo Force.

It has been 21 years since an NCAA team had a recruit win USHL Player of the Year in back-to-back years.

In 2003 and 2004, Minnesota commits Ryan Potulny of Grand Forks and Mike Howe did it.

It has happened two other times.

In 1996 and 1997, UND’s Jeff Panzer and Karl Goehring won it. In 1983 and 1984, Minnesota’s Steve MacSwain and Jay Cates did it.

UND’s other USHL Player of the Year winners are Riese Gaber, Jason Gregoire, Chris Fournier and Jason Blake, who started at Ferris State and transferred to UND.

Zellers also won USHL Forward of the Year.

Zellers and his fellow incoming UND freshman Sam Laurila, a defenseman from Moorhead, were named first-team all-USHL. Incoming freshman goaltender Jan Špunar was named third-team all-USHL.

Laurila was a finalist for USHL Defenseman of the Year. Wisconsin commit Luke Osburn won it. Špunar was a finalist for USHL Goaltender of the Year. St. Cloud State commit Yan Shostak won that.

UND’s new coaching staff spent the early part of the offseason trying to navigate the goalie situation and pipeline.

The picture has now cleared.

UND’s 2025-26 goalies will be Arizona State transfer Gibson Homer, Špunar and Minnesota Duluth transfer Zach Sandy of Fargo.

Committed recruit Caleb Heil will return to Madison in the USHL for one more season, then come to campus in the fall of 2026.

Homer has two years of eligibility left, but UND has to be prepared for the possibility of him signing after one. At 6-foot-6, he’s an NHL-style goaltender and his career save percentage of .924 is attention-grabbing. Homer also is expected to have a degree by then.

Either way, Heil will be in Grand Forks in 2026.

Three former UND players have scored their first Stanley Cup Playoff goals in the last week.

Shane Pinto and Jake Sanderson did it in the same game for the Ottawa Senators. Sanderson’s was an overtime winner. Ottawa trails Toronto 3-2 in a first-round series.

Jackson Blake did it for the Carolina Hurricanes on Tuesday in a series-clinching win over the New Jersey Devils.

The Muskegon Lumberjacks have reached the USHL’s Clark Cup Final.

Muskegon is 8-1 in the playoffs and swept Dubuque in the Eastern Conference Final.

Muskegon associate head coach Colten St. Clair, a former UND alternate captain, is looking for his second Clark Cup in four years. He was the associate head coach of Sioux City’s championship team in 2022.

It has been a wild ride for St. Clair this season.

He was named Omaha Lancers head coach in October. The Lancers fired St. Clair after going 6-10-2 through 18 games. Omaha proceeded to win one time in 40 games after firing St. Clair.

St. Clair, meanwhile, was picked up by Muskegon and is now in the Clark Cup Final again.

There are several other UND and local connections with Muskegon. Former UND standout forward Evan Trupp is an assistant coach with the Lumberjacks.

Their team captain is UND incoming freshman David Klee. UND recruit Carter Sanderson and Grand Forks native Bauer Berry, a St. Thomas commit, also are on the Lumberjacks.

• Former UND star Michelle Karvinen has declared for the PWHL Draft, which will be held June 24 in Ottawa. Karvinen has played nine professional seasons in Sweden. She also played two years in Russia’s top league under her old UND coach Brian Idalski.
• Grand Forks native Tony Gasparini is a finalist for USHL General Manager of the Year. Gasparini is the GM of the Sioux Falls Stampede.
• Warroad’s Hampton Slukynsky, a freshman at Western Michigan, is headed to the IIHF Men’s World Championship with Team USA. Slukynsky backstopped the Broncos to the NCAA national championship this season. He also helped Team USA win gold at the World Junior Championship.