At the media day for Atlantic Hockey America, longtime Air Force coach Frank Serratore summed up the changing college hockey landscape:
“We’re witnessing a massive paradigm shift the size of which college hockey’s never seen, with the inclusion of the CHL players and the former CHL players via Canadian college and minor pro,” said Serratore, in his 29th season at Air Force.
More than 300 former CHL players are playing college hockey this season, the first time players from the WHL, OHL and QMJHL, as well as players from Canadian colleges can compete in NCAA hockey.
In Atlantic Hockey America, at least 29 new players have major junior experience, including at least seven that played for a Canadian college after playing in the CHL.
“It’s not like we’re basketball where we have 350 teams,” said Serratore. “We have 63 teams and really Army and Air Force haven’t been able to recruit the CHL players… so really it’s 61 teams and there’s 60 CHL teams. D-I hockey players have always been members of an exclusive club. That club is about to become even more exclusive.
“The real beneficiaries will be the fans of college hockey. They’re going to be watching the best college hockey ever played.”
In recent years, the transfer portal has contributed to a talent drain in Atlantic Hockey, and this past year was no exception, with a third of the all-league players from 2025-26 transferring to programs from other conferences. This has slowed down a bit with the end of the fifth “Covid” year, but it’s still been an issue – albeit maybe not as big as it appears. Transfers have become a part of life in college sports.
“I don’t know if we lost anything (to the portal) more this year than we lost in previous years,” said Robert Morris coach Derek Schooley. “I think we had actually might have slowed down a little bit on the portal because not everybody lost that many players.
“In this day and age, you’re going to. I mean, unfortunately, you’re going to have deletions, you’re going to have additions. I don’t know if anybody lost as much as they lost in previous years.”
Sacred Heart coach CJ Marottolo expressed a similar opinion.
“Players are transferring out of every league, not just Atlantic hockey,” he said. “It’s the way of the world today, you know? The top teams in the country, they’re losing players to other teams in other leagues, and some teams in our league haven’t lost anybody.”
Big or small, one way to hedge against portal losses is to recruit wisely, and the CHL offers a huge pool of talent, not just for blue chip schools like Penn State, which won the recruiting battle for Gavin McKenna, but for every school.
Marottolo now has three players on his roster with CHL experience, and sees the opportunity to better his program.
“I think what’s going to happen is that the pool is so much bigger, everybody’s going to get better hockey players,” said Marottolo. “Penn State’s gonna get bigger, better hockey players. Michigan’s gonna get better hockey players. Michigan State’s gonna get better hockey players, which is going to help us get better hockey players.”
“It’s the wild, wild west out there, and everybody’s going to benefit from everybody getting better hockey players,” said Schooley, who also has three ex-CHL players on his roster.
It’s probably going to take a while for this new pool of CHL players to shake out, especially with competing agendas between college hockey and major junior.
“They’re happy for us to take their 20-year-olds who are aging out,” said Schooley. “But when (17 year-old) Gavin McKenna goes the college hockey route as well as a lot of younger players, then we can be in conflict.
“Certain teams are being really good about it. But certain people aren’t – you’re hearing horror stories of the CHL removing (NCAA) coaches from their arena, not allowing them to talk to kids. You hear those stories. Some teams are embracing it because they know we’ll help them get players, and some teams are not very cooperative. What we all need is shared development – that’s what’s best for the players.”
With an addition of 60 new teams to the recruiting pool is forcing coaches to make tough decisions.
“We have to adapt or die, and opening the CHL has given us an avenue to a thousand new players,” said Marottolo. “We’re navigating it. We’re doing our homework. Our guys are out pounding the pavement. I think there’ll be a very good influx of talent into our league because of (the CHL).”
This new reality is tough on players from traditional Tier I and Tier II junior leagues, because of the large influx of players competing for scholarships.
“Who it’s really gonna hurt right now is the 2005 birth year, Tier II players,” said Schooley. “There’s still going to be some opportunities, but the 20-year-old who has a great year in junior hockey is going to have a bigger issue finding a spot right now.”
Some CHL players remain ineligible to play NCAA hockey because they don’t have the necessary core courses on their transcript. But that’s a temporary problem, according to Schooley.
“We looked at a couple kids that weren’t able to be recruited,” he said. “We had a couple kids that we looked at their transcript (and they weren’t eligible).
“I think it’s going to change now because the developmental path is going to change. They’re going to want to go to the USHL or CHL, and they’re going to keep their options open for school.”
The overall recruiting process hasn’t changed much despite all the rule changes, according to Marottolo.
“It’s the same,” he said. “These are young guys that want to continue to play hockey, and we have to sell them on our school, what we have to offer. (CHL players) have been great to deal with. All the major junior guys that we’ve dealt with, they’ve been great.”
Former CHL players have already made an impact on Robert Morris and Sacred Heart.
The Colonials have only played a pair of exhibition games so far, but goalie Charlie Schenkel stopped 18 of 19 shots against Bowling Green in exhibition play, while forward Bruce MacDonald and defenseman John Babcok combined for a goal and two assists.
Sacred Heart swept RIT in conference play last weekend, thanks in part to a three-point weekend from junior Stephane Huard, including the game-winning goal in Friday’s 1-0 win. Huard played two years at McGill after playing over 200 games in the QMJHL.
“There’s going to be better players, and there’s going to be more depth,” said Marottolo. “I think it’s great for college hockey.”