Major Junior or NCAA Hockey: Which Path Should Be Chosen?

Each year in Canada and the United States, thousands of talented teenaged hockey players are faced with a life changing decision. They must make a choice between playing in the Canadian Hockey League (CHL) or going to college and playing NCAA DI (National College Athletic Association, Division I) hockey. This is such a big decision because each of these choices can help lead a player to a professional career, but in very different ways. The CHL is structured more like the NHL in the number of games they play and the day to day schedule of practice and games. College hockey plays fewer games and focuses more on the development of individuals both on the ice and in school. That being said, the purpose of this research was to determine which path is more effective at preparing young hockey players for a professional hockey career in the future. In order to answer this research question, I looked into the past rosters of college and CHL teams. I took a random sample of players from each path and looked into how far those players got in their hockey careers. This helped to show just how well the path they took prepared them for the future