NCAA forces Golden Bears to look at Junior A and professional leagues

It’s a theme told time and time again by current players, coaches, alumni, fans, and media — there’s a certain standard that must be upheld by the University of Alberta Golden Bears hockey team.

That’s what happens when you have 16 national titles and 56 conference wins to your name. It adds a certain level of gravitas to the program and pressure onto the players.

It can be put no more simply than by Edmonton Oilers head coach, Kris Knoblauch, himself.

“The identity has been established so well. It’s just important for everyone to continue that on.”

Hard to argue there.

Especially when the “identity” was drawing top-level talent to the program that otherwise couldn’t head south to play for the more well-known and better funded, National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA).

But a special case and a rule change later, the Bears now find themselves knee-deep in what some would call mediocracy, instead of former captains of the Western Hockey League (WHL) — Aiden de la Gorgendiere, Brett Hyland, Josh Prokop, to name a few.

“The only thing we definitely know now, is that players we would have talked to in the past in the WHL have already committed to NCAA programs. A lot of them are not great programs in the states,” Bears’ head coach Ian Herbers told Edmonton Sports Talk.

“Not great programs.” Interesting.

It’s a loaded question when asked if it’s better to play, or even stay with the Bears in U Sports, as opposed to the NCAA route.

First, the players good enough to go play Division 1 (D1) hockey at 18 were never going to play in U Sports, so the Bears are not losing that level of talent to the NCAA.

Second, most of — if not all — of the players the Bears would have looked at, are committing to D3, maybe D2 schools, and that’s where the debate on skill between the two leagues come in.

U Sports largely falls into the worst D2 to best D3 range, maybe even mid to high D2 for top level programs, like the Bears. They just don’t carry the NCAA name, and have less to offer U Sports transfers.

“As far as our guys leaving, I’m assuming they’ve been pressured all year long by different NCAA teams about coming there,” Herbers explained.

“Their alumni associations pay them a ton of money under the table on top of the scholarships they receive, so a lot of incentive monetarily. Unfortunately some of those schools aren’t the best places to be going and playing at.”

Unlike the Bears. It’s what he’s saying without saying.

For now, the Bears have solid avenues that they could pursue, and have in the past.

“We’ll look at some top Junior A guys that we think have some potential for development to come in and help the program. It’d be a plus for both sides.”

It worked for Konrad Belcourt (third year), though he spent two years out of the lineup before he got his chance, and it’ll work for Vincent Lamanna (first year) — maybe even sooner.

“There might be one or two WHL guys that decide they want to come this way,” Herbers added.

Perhaps.

But a recent U Sports rule change, allowing players with less than 18 months experience in a professional league enrolment without red shirting a year, adds more quality to the Bears’ recruitment pool.

“That opens it up for us a bit. Some players in the East Cost League [ECHL], or a little in the American Hockey League [AHL]. If it’s not going the way they want it to, we’ll be able to recruit them and bring them in as well.”

It worked for De la Gorgendiere (7-27-34), a recruit from the ECHL last season, and arguably the best veteran defensemen for the Bears. And it’ll work for other guys too.

The league will self-correct

While the Bears would love to recruit more from the AHL, it’s a bit unlikely. The ECHL is hopeful. And Junior A is probable, but will not last.

Part of that has to do with the WHL’s expansion to accommodate a greater demand of players who are no longer concerned with preserving their NCAA eligibility by joining major juniors.

Case in point, the Penticton Vees, formerly a Junior A team in British Columbia (BC), will join the WHL in the 2025–26 season, immediately following the NCAA rule change.

We’re not saying the Canadian Hockey League will expand enough to accommodate all U Sports and NCAA teams, but it’s a trickle down effect, and the Bears will always get better prospects than lower-level Canada West teams.

The players will still be some of the best in their league. And they’ll still win titles.

“It’s always going to be one of the top programs in U Sports,” Knoblauch added.

“But I think a lot of it has to do with the pride of the team and their success. The teams have had success before you got there, you just never want to disappoint.”