College Hockey Inc. – Paths: Ontario and NCAA Hockey

How Does It Happen?

Is there a common path for Ontarians to best optimize NCAA opportunities? College Hockey Inc. studied the paths of 176 players from Ontario who earned NCAA Division I commitments* from May 14, 2018, through November 15, 2021. *In the cases of players who made multiple commitments, the youngest commitment age was utilized for that player.

Noteworthy themes that emerged from the Ontario study:

• Ontarians play in a wide array of leagues at age 17, emphasizing the varied paths to the NCAA
• Only 25 percent (45 of 176) of the commitments were earned by minor hockey players
• The average age of a player from Ontario earning an NCAA commitment was 18.5
• 75 percent of players earned their commitment while playing college-eligible junior hockey

Of the 176 commitments, 45 percent spent time in the OJHL and 19 percent spent time in the CCHL.

While not many players earned their commitment while playing in the NOJHL or GOJHL, 23 percent of the players who earned an NCAA Division I commitment did play in those leagues at one point.