Wednesday, April 15, 2015
Alums Lead Teams into Playoffs
Stanley Cup to showcase former players from 37 NCAA schools, with at least 12 alums in each first-round series.
Former U.S. college hockey players, who made up 30% of the NHL for the sixth straight season, are set to lead their teams into the 2015 Stanley Cup Playoffs that begin Wednesday night.
NHL Matchup Tool | NHL Debuts in 2014-15
Leading the way are the Presidents’ Trophy-winning New York Rangers, which led all NHL teams with NCAA representation in 2014-15. NCAA alumni accounted for more than 53% of all games played by Rangers players, most in the NHL.
Elsewhere in the Stanley Cup Playoffs:
– Former North Dakota star Jonathan Toews seeks his third Stanley Cup as captain of the Chicago Blackhawks
– Goaltenders Ben Bishop (Maine/Tampa Bay) and Andrew Hammond (Bowling Green/Ottawa) are set to make their NHL playoff debuts
– Impact rookies like Johnny Gaudreau (Boston College/Calgary), Kevin Hayes (Boston College/NY Rangers) and Anders Lee (Notre Dame/NY Islanders) will get their first taste of the Stanley Cup Playoffs
– The offseason additions of Matt Niskanen (Minnesota Duluth) and Brooks Orpik (Boston College) have helped Washington return to the playoffs
– Five sets of former college teammates will meet in the first round, all in the Rangers-Penguins and Blues-Wild series
Each of the eight first-round Stanley Cup Playoff series will feature between 12 and 22 former college players, representing at least nine NCAA schools in each series. A total of 37 schools have at least one former player in the playoffs. Alums account for eight goaltenders on playoff teams and 19 20-goal scorers.
Forty-eight NCAA schools produced the 285 NCAA alumni in the NHL season, including the first player from third-year NCAA program Penn State to reach the NHL (Casey Bailey). Boston College and Wisconsin led all schools with 22 alumni in the NHL each, followed by Michigan (19), Minnesota (17), Michigan State (15) and North Dakota (15).
NCAA alumni in the NHL in 2014-15 included:
– 80% of all Americans in the league
– 20% of all Canadians in the league
– More than half of all undrafted players in the league (55%)
– 37 players who made their NHL debut
NHL teams dressed an average of more than 10 former college players during the course of the season. The four teams with the fewest NCAA representatives all failed to qualify for the Stanley Cup playoffs.
More than 73% of the 285 former college players in the NHL this season spent at least three years at school, with 40% playing four years. Hockey enjoys a 92% graduation rate, the best of all NCAA Division I men’s sports according to the NCAA.