NCAA makes a historic rule change that will change junior hockey forever

The NCAA announced today that it is amending its rules concerning player eligibility that allows players to be involved with pro teams prior to college enrollment."

From the NCAA:

So... what does this mean exactly?

Well, previously the NCAA considered the CHL (Parent organization of the OHL, QMJHL and WHL) to be a professional league since its players receive weekly stipends. In fact, even if a player attending a CHL training camp, they were deemed ineligible for NCAA play. This means that 15 year old children would have to make a life-altering decision of whether or not they should attend a training camp at the risk of eliminating the opportunity to play NCAA hockey. That rule is now gone and players can, at least in theory, jump back and forth between the NCAA and the OHL, WHL or QMJHL.

I suspect that the biggest loser in this entire new arrangement will be the BCHL. As arguably the top Junior A league in the world, players used to flock to the BCHL in order to keep NCAA eligibility. The USHL operates in a comparable way. Now, junior aged players don't need to worry about maintaining NCAA eligibility and may elect to play in the CHL as opposed to the BCHL or the USHL.

The CHL, BCHL and USHL have made statements regarding today's announcement.

From the CHL:

From the BCHL: 

From the USHL:

Suffice it to say that this is bound to have an enormous impact on the junior hockey world and that the ripples of this cannonball will reverberate for generations to come.