By Chris Warner, U.S. Hockey Report

The six freshmen hockey players who arrived at Boston University in the fall of '05 were, as a group, rather underwhelming. Not one of them -- Matt Gilroy, Chris Higgins, Jason Lawrence, John McCarthy, Steve Smolinsky, or Brandon Yip - was considered a big-time recruit. And not one was drafted as an 18-year-old. Lawrence, having played in the NTDP, was the most high-profile of the group, but was 5'9" or so. Gilroy, the 21-year-old walk-on forward who wound up playing D, was the least high-profile. Gilroy, as everyone knows, would go on to provide inspiration to thousands of overlooked kids by winning the Hobey Baker Award, gaining a college degree, and signing a $1.75 million free agent contract with the New York Rangers - all in one spring. Yip, from the Coquitlam Express (BCHL), could score, but was a little physically undeveloped and lacked high-end skating skills, not entirely unrelated attributes. However, he was drafted ? as an overager -- in the 8th round of the 2004 draft. McCarthy, ex-of St. John's Prep and the Des Moines Buccaneers, was drafted in the 7th round, as a double-overager, in 2006. McCarthy, a forward, would score four points as freshman, five as a sophomore, seven points as a junior, and 29 points (!) as a senior.

Yip and Gilroy established themselves as NHL players last year, in their first season out of college. McCarthy scored 42 points for Worcester (AHL) last year and had a four-game call-up with San Jose. On Saturday night, McCarthy opened the season with the Sharks, skating on the fourth line.

On Sunday night, Gilroy was a healthy scratch -- a bit of a surprise, that -- in the Rangers' season opener.

Yip, of course, is a regular with the Colorado Avalanche. Because of his touch, he always had a chance. But who could have predicted that Gilroy would jump from BU to the NHL, and that McCarthy would follow him a year later?

The moral here is a simple one: the race does not always go to the swiftest. And, if there is one valuable thing that college hockey offers, it is the gift of time. It's nothing to sneeze at. Gilroy, if he had played major junior, would have aged out at 21, precisely the time he arrived at BU and began his four-year climb from unknown to NHLer. (Fortunately for Gilroy, no one thought he was good enough to play major junior.) As for Yip, no one thought much of him as a youngster either: he was passed over in the WHL Bantam Draft, which runs about twenty rounds and allows over two hundred 15-year-olds to believe they have their ticket to the NHL punched. And then there's McCarthy, who played Massachusetts high school hockey, derided by many as a graveyard for serious players. Now, in his second year out of BU, he is opening the season in the NHL. McCarthy, too ? had he gone major junior -- would likely have aged out somewhere along the line.

Instead these guys won an NCAA championship in a game no one is likely to forget, got their degrees, and are now living the dream.

Hey, time is a gift, and that's something you only realize when you've been around the block a few times. If there's anybody playing college hockey who is thinking of leaving to play major junior - and there usually are a few unhappy campers in early October - that extra time is something to seriously consider before making a decision you may later regret. Are there exceptions to the above? Are there guys who slogged through major junior, put in years in the AHL, and eventually made it to the NHL? Of course. There are always exceptions. But if you're not a star, if you're less than a sure thing, don't discount the value of time. It gives you a chance, and, in case you don't make it to the show, a degree.

It's just something to think about, that's all.