When Jack Eichel scored a goal in his first National Hockey League game for Buffalo and Ben Hutton notched an assist in his NHL debut for Vancouver, it put a smile on the face of Waterville native Nate Ewell.
Ewell is the deputy executive director of College Hockey Inc., a non-profit marketing group established by USA Hockey to spread the word about the benefits of college hockey.
Eichel won the Hobey Baker Award as a freshman at Boston University last season. Hutton, a fifth-round pick of the Canucks, played three years at the University of Maine. He played 17 minutes in his NHL debut.
College teams are in a battle for players with Major Junior programs that offer money and don’t have the recruiting restrictions college coaches face.
U.S. college teams are unpaid as that would make them professionals and thus ineligible under NCAA rules.
College Hockey Inc. holds events for players ages 13-16 and makes presentations about the advantages of playing college hockey over Major Junior.
“We bring in the best players in the area from that age group and the college coaches can watch them play,” said Ewell.
The coaches can’t approach them under NCAA guidelines but the players can contact the coaches and open a dialog.
“We tell the players that the coaches have rules to follow and that’s why they hadn’t talked to them already,” explained Ewell, who said many players believed college coaches weren’t interested in them because of the lack of contact.
Coaches may now make contact on January 1 of a student’s sophomore year in high school. Major Junior teams can contact them at a much younger age.
The presentations include videos from prominent NHL players extolling the virtues of college hockey. Former Black Bears Jimmy Howard, Ben Bishop and Teddy Purcell have appeared, talking about playing at Maine.
Sometimes players will show up at events and talk to the recruits.
Ewell said their presentations focus on three reasons for pursuing a college hockey career.
“They have the opportunity to get a free education at some of the best institutions in the world. Regardless of whether or not they play in the NHL, they need an education,” said Ewell.
He said approximately 30 percent of NHL players are former college players, up from 20 percent in 2001.
“Second, they will receive an elite hockey experience,” Elwell said. “The Major Junior guys say their way is the fastest way to the NHL but we reinforce that if you play college hockey, it won’t slow you down.”
The final aspect is the life experience and lifelong friends made in college.
The atmosphere at college games is another reason and videos of games at UMaine’s Alfond Arena have been used to show the excitement.
He said college hockey gets a lot of TV exposure now and pointed out that 80 percent of the U.S. Olympic team members are college players.
He feels they have made inroads and will continue to do so.