All Episodes

January 3, 2024 • 28 mins
Grand Forks Herald writer Brad Schlossman joins hosts Jim Connelly (@jimmyconnelly) and Ed Trefzger (@EdTrefzger) to discuss what he's learned about what happens behind the scenes with the transfer portal in Division I men's college hockey. We also touch on the possibility of eligibility for players in major junior in light of NIL.

Brad's story about the transfer portal in the Grand Forks Herald: https://www.grandforksherald.com/sports/und-hockey/hockey-transfer-portal-action-begins-long-before-you-may-think

This episode is sponsored by the NCAA Division I Men's Frozen Four, April 11 and 13 in St. Paul, Minnesota. Visit ncaa.com/mfrozenfour
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:03):
Usccho dot com. Welcome to usCHO Spotlight for Wednesday, January third,
twenty twenty four. I'm Ed Trevskeralongside Jim Connolly. This podcast is sponsored
by the NCAA Men's Division One Frozenfour April eleventh and thirteenth at Xcel Energy

(00:29):
Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.Visit NCAA dot com slash m Frozen four
to get your tickets today. Oneof the areas of controversy and college hockey
continues to be the Transfer portal,and joining us now at USCCHO Spotlight he
is the well known beat writer atthe Grand Foks Herold. That's Brad Schlossman.

(00:50):
Brad, you had a great piecethis past week about the transfer portal,
and not just what the portal is, how it works, and all
of that stuff, but more ofabout how it's amazing that players are gone
from the portal the day they enter. In other words, they are committed
on the same day they enter,mostly because of the behind the scenes work

(01:11):
of agents or family advisors or whateveryou want to call them. Take us
through what you learned in researching thispiece and kind of where it lies in
terms of NCAA legality and the fringeof the rules if you will. Yeah,
so head coaches and players on differentteams. Obviously, head coaches cannot

(01:34):
contact players on different teams and tryto get them to leave, but there
are always their parties that are awayaround it, and one of the ways
is agents, And there are manydifferent things that are happening with the transfer
portal. Sometimes you'll have a playerwho's unhappy where they're at and they will
inform the agent and say, hey, look like I'm not this isn't happening

(01:59):
here. Can you go kick thetires and see who may be interested.
So the agent thing goes and you'll, you know, make a few calls
and find out maybe there's a teamthat will say, yep, we would
definitely want this guy if he goesin the portal. Some teams may say
maybe we think about it. Someteams may say no, no interest,

(02:20):
And then the agent can go backto the kid and say, well,
if you go in the portal,this is what your options are looking like.
And then the kid will say,well, I definitely would go to
this school, so I'm going tothe portal, or maybe the kid decides
to say it. There may becoaches who have specific areas to address on

(02:40):
their team the next year, andthey can go to the agent and say,
hey, you got any guys thatfit this bill. We're looking for
a guy, and you know,maybe the actually I have this guy and
he's at this school. I don'tthink he's liking you very much. Maybe
he will go there. Sometimes it'skids who have you know, all these

(03:01):
kids are so interconnected. They've allplayed at different levels, a lot of
them with each other, and maybethey have a buddy on another team,
and you know, through the buddy, they find out that this team's looking
for someone of this, you know, And so there's a lot of third
parties that are involved in finding places. So I think a lot of times

(03:22):
we'd see a guy's name go inthe transfer portal and we think that's when
the recruiting battle begins. One coachtold me, if there is a big
name player who goes in the portaland you have not gotten a call on
that player yet year out, youhave no chance. So yeah, there's
a lot of behind the scenes workgoing on. I want to hit you

(03:45):
on the agent side of this.We're not that far removed from when agent
wasn't even a legal word in collegehockey. He used to have to call
the family advisors. They technically couldn'twork for a player because that would make
them or deem them as profession ifthey hadn't. The role of the agent
has changed so much. Is isthe role just continuing to continuing to evolve

(04:10):
here, Brad to the point thatthey're almost, you know, as much
of an extra coach for this playersas anything. Well, I definitely think
with the way that the transfer portalis set up right now and how it's
become so involved, that the agentsprobably do have a larger role than they

(04:30):
used to have At this stage inplayers careers. We just never saw a
lot of movement. Maybe there weresome players that were being recruited by CHL
teams and you had them walk throughtheir decisions in CAA or CHL with with
their advisors and agents, whatever labelwe want to give them. We all
know they're that it's the same thing. But yeah, I mean, I

(04:55):
think in the transfer portal era,they're playing a big role. And you
know that you talked to certain coachesthat you definitely think they're playing too large
of a role. You talk tosome coaches you say, you know what
the kid probably should have an ideaof what's out there before he gives up
his scholarship and goes in the transferport all that, you know. I

(05:17):
I've heard a couple of coaches toldme, you know, honestly, some
of these kids are, you know, just protecting themselves and not jumping in
and ending up somewhere they don't wantto go. In your discussions, Brad,
where do you feel that the bodyof coaches kind of sit on this?
I mean I was down in Napleslast year and remember hearing stories I

(05:40):
did not see it or witness it, but of coaches getting into it,
you know, very angered at oneanother and getting into it for one night.
And I don't you know, Ithink that there's any fallacy to that.
I believe that there's a lot oftruth that there's some animosity among coaches.
This was a sport where everybody wasvery close, there was a bread

(06:00):
But within coaches, do you feellike this is kind of dividing coaches in
the way things go? And whatdo you what do you feel like the
overall body appreciates or doesn't appreciate aboutthis this process? Yeah, I mean
I think the situations where a coachbelieves that his player was specifically recruited by
another program. And you know,like let's say Program A needs a center.

(06:29):
They're really thin its center, andProgram B has this really good center,
and Program A watched them on tape, maybe played against them, and
they went out through a third partyand said, you're our guy. We
want you to come here. Thisis what we're gonna do for you if
you come here. I think that'swhere a Team B gets rather upset that

(06:49):
their guy was being recruited. Ithink there are coaches who have just,
uh, you know, thought theyso this is the modern era of college
athletics, Like it's not going away. This is the way it is.
And you know, there definitely aresome coaches that I don't like the whole

(07:13):
kicking the tires thing with the agentswhile they're still on another team. But
guess what it's happening for them,Like, you know, it's not like
there's two college programs that are youknow, having agents float them players,
like this is happening quite prevalently.Rad One thing that really stood out to
me is in your piece, youwrote that if a team needs a center,

(07:35):
it might scour college hockey rosters andpick out ten intriguing players. In
a story that Jim roade last fall, one coach told him that his assistant
coaches are actually out there scouting playersfrom other teams in case they would want
to leave. At what point doesthe NCAA step in and say, hey,

(07:58):
there's a little bit of tampering goingon here. Yeah. I mean,
it's it's tough because they're going tofind a way around it, right
I think that's the question is howhow can you bar certain things because there's
always ways around it, and that'swhat they're they're doing right now. Are

(08:20):
there going to be changes to tryto prevent some of those things? I
don't know. I don't know whatthey would do. They're probably smarter people
than me that can come up withideas on it. But you know,
I do think, you know,one of the coaches even told me that
right now, you have to havea good body of work on almost everyone

(08:41):
because you just don't even know whois going to go in the portal sometimes.
And you know, I think whenthe portal era is first getting going,
a lot of these coaches, youknow, the second and name goes
in, they're sitting there trying towatch video on this guy, and you
know, maybe some of them realizethat, hey, it's better to get
somebody of work on a lot ofdifferent guys beforehand in case they go in
you kind of know what you got. How much of this do you think

(09:05):
is going to settle down? Andhow much do did people tell you it's
going to settle down once this onelast year of extra eligibility goes away?
Yeah, you know, I didn'teven ask that. I just personally think
it will go way down. Andthat's based on I looked up every player
that transferred into a D one programthis offseason, and forty two point three

(09:30):
percent I believe it was where guyswho only had their COVID year left.
So we are talking a massive numberof the guys going in the portal are
solely guys with that COVID year.So next year is going to be the
similar, similar type number of guys, and after that, I think we
could see a drop off that potentiallycould exceed you know, forty percent,

(09:56):
maybe even fifty percent drop off,because then you know, guys are going
to be getting more opportunities. Soof course, if the two time transfer
lawsuit goes through, that could maybechange a few things too. It's making
it easier to trust for twice.That being said, I still see a
massive drop off coming because the majorityof guys going in the portal, or

(10:20):
almost a majority, are guys withjust that COVID year left. More with
Brad Schlassman in a Moment. Thispodcast is sponsored by the NCAA Men's Division
One Frozen four April eleventh and thirteenthat Excel Energy Center in Saint Paul,
Minnesota. Where are my hockey fansat? Welcome to fandom one oh one.

(10:46):
It's NCAA Ice Hockey Championship time whenthe hottest teams in the country faced
off under one group. Be thereto see your squad hoist the ultimate trophy
overhead the NCAA Men's Frozen Pool Aprileleventh team in St. Paul, Minnesota.
Attendance is encouraged, Passion is mandatory. Viruses today at NCAA dot Com

(11:07):
slash improthen cool class dismissed. Continuingnow with Brad Schlossman from the Grand Forks
Herald. There's been some discussion aboutthe impact on smaller teams, smaller leagues

(11:28):
being more like a farm club forsome other teams. We've certainly seen you
pointed out in the article. It'san opportunity for some players to maybe go
to a lesser team where they canget more playing time. But there also
seems to be what some might evencall poaching, with top players from a
program ending up going to a biggerprogram. Is this something that is dangerous

(11:50):
for college hockey? Or is againthis is something that might settle out,
you know, and in certain casesthere could be benefits. I think the
ones that get a lot of thepublicity are the players who are having a
lot of success at a program andend up going to you know, a
blue blood type program that's won alot of national titles in their history.

(12:13):
And you know, I think thoseare the ones that get a lot of
the publicity. But if you golook at different leagues around the country,
there are a lot of other leaguesthat, you know, I think people
say, well, this league isgetting poached from the bigger league. Well,
the other league is benefiting from alot of transfer guys, like you

(12:35):
look around at some of these programs. I mean, I think I just
looked at the box scorer this weekendand what Jack works had a hat trick
for Michigan Tech. That's a Denverplayer that ended up going to Tech.
He wasn't playing much at Denver andnow Jack Works is playing a lot and
he's having success. And you know, in that sense, I think the

(12:56):
portal kind of worked for everybody.You got to a guy who wasn't playing,
now he gets to play. Youget a guy that a program in
Michigan Tech that's having a lot ofsuccess with jack Works, and you know,
Denver, you know, maybe itwasn't going to work out there.
So I think sometimes the transfers canwork both ways and programs can have success.

(13:22):
A lot of different programs can havesuccess with transfer guys. Brad,
I want to hit you on anotherstory, but first go back to a
comment you made a couple of questionsago. You said that the lawsuit the
two time frands for a lawsuit.Can you explain that to people that might
not be that familiar with it.Yeah, so there's a lawsuit going on
right now about two time transfers.Right now, what you have to sit

(13:46):
out a year if you transfer thesecond time, and that is being tied
up in court right now. There'san injunction, so two time transfers can
currently play immediately and I'm up herein North Dakota and there's a situation with
the basket men's basketball team where theyhave a two time transfer who was did

(14:07):
not get a waiver and was goingto have to sit out, and now
he's playing the rest of the year. The judge backed up the case far
enough to where all these kids aregoing to get to play this year,
the two time transfers, and thenit may be decided. I don't sometime
in the spring. I don't knowif a date's been set, but that's
going to be something that's really interestingto follow because I don't know if that's
going to be resolved before the portalopens up this year. But there might

(14:31):
be guys who are potential two timetransfers that are really watching that close that
might want to jump into portal ifthat goes through and they can play immediately.
So I don't know exactly when thatwill be the case will be decided,
but that is going to be somethingto watch. Two transfer certainly calls

(14:52):
into question a lot about the player, but we will cross that bridge another
day. One thing I wanted toask you about, because you're you have
your your pulse on a lot ofissues. Something we've heard a little bit
about here in the day of nilthere's a lot of money moving around within
the college ranks and college players gettingpaid. Of course, major junior players

(15:13):
are banned from playing college hockey becausethey take small stipends usually to play major
junior well, they're playing for theirteams in UH, in the the HL.
There's been discussion that maybe major juniorplayers could play in college hockey.
What are you hearing about that?And is that a good thing or maybe

(15:33):
not a good thing when you thinkof all the progress that has made across
the college hockey universe of making surethat players are choosing college hockey first and
not major junior Yeah, I meanI first of all, obviously that's going
to be something that's UH that's beenyou know, talked about a lot,

(15:54):
as you mentioned, and we'll seewhen if that decision is made. I
think the big question is if someoneeventually ends up suing like a CHL player,
why am I ineligible to play collegeI haven't signed a professional deal.
Why am I different from a kidin Sweden that's playing in a you know,

(16:18):
their Tier two league or Tier threeleague. Why what's different about me?
And in a USHL kid, youknow, and I don't know if
the n Cuba can win that,Like college hockey has banned those guys,
but there is an argument to beadd that they are no different than other

(16:41):
players that are playing junior playing inEurope. I think the prevailing thought I
know among a lot of college coachesis that they won't get the high end
guys anymore. They're just going togo to major junior and they're going to
stay there. I think the oppositeis going to happen. I think they're
all coming to n c do andI think the CHL essentially could be like

(17:04):
the USHL, where guys play thereuntil they're eighteen years old. Then they've
they'll you know, been there,done that for two years. Now it's
time to move to a higher level. And I think like a perfect example
of that is Shane Wright right now. Ray. Like Shane Wright was a
high pick for the Seattle Kraken,he had outgrown major junior. He was

(17:26):
not ready for the Kraken, youknow where would have been the perfect He
would be a sophomore in college rightnow, and that would be the perfect
spot for a Shane Right to develop. And I think a lot of NHL
teams would probably agree with that,saying, if you ask the Seattle Kracken,
would you like Shane Wright playing I'llChackie right now? They would say,
yep, that would be the idealspot for m So, yes,
you're going to have a few ofthe high end kids that go straight to

(17:49):
the AHL, but I think alot of them are going to use college
as the next step in that.You know, So I do think college
are going to get the high endkids. They look at the facilities that
are built up all over the countryand from and we're talking every league,
you know, from you know,the n sach in the Big Ten to

(18:11):
Atlantic. You know, there's somebrand new rinks all over the place that
are the facilities are better than alot of major junior schools are programs,
not schools, And and so Ido think they're The college is well positions
to win a lot of recruiting battlesagainst major junior teams to get those kids

(18:32):
to come. But it is goingto be very challenging for colleges because now
you're opening up a whole new poolof players. They're going to have to
scout major junior to bring in certainguys. Are you going to get more
of the one end done or twoand done guys in college hockey? I
think so. I think a lotof those first rounders are coming to college
for a year or two, andthere's going to be a trickle down and

(18:56):
guys, you know, schools aregonna have to decide how many of those.
You know, you still need tohave the older players and the guys
that stick around to win. Ithink we we've learned that the teams with
although one and done's haven't won theirnational titles yet. So it's going to
be a challenging thing to recruit ifit does happen, I think it probably
will. But I also I knowmost coaches think I'm wrong and I'm crazy

(19:19):
that they think they're not going tosee these top end kids, and I
think the opposite. I think you'regoing to see all of them. Well,
you also mentioned to you know,use the European League as a comparison,
but when a college program might begiving out, you know, tens
of thousands of dollars nil money,it's hard to say that taking a few
thousand dollars a year in the HLor major junior you know, makes you're

(19:42):
a professional with when you have collegesdoing such different things. But I think
your argument is very fair that thereis still a battle to be won.
It does it certainly increase the recruitingmarketplace and certain you know, makes you
really spend more time scouting and watchingmore players than than less. But it

(20:04):
could be a good thing for collegehockey. It could be a bad thing.
It's it's hard to really predict thisone. It's hard to predict.
I just we haven't we haven't seenthis, so I don't know what it's
going to look like. But soI don't know if it's gonna be a
little bit of a mass and achallenge and the recruiting boards are going to
be all thrown off because the rulis going to be so much bigger,

(20:26):
and what's going to happen. Mygeneral thoughts though, are that I really
think it's a matter of win,not if uh. And I do think
college hockey is has become such agood product that I think people who don't
think that they can win major readingrecruiting battles, I think that's I think

(20:49):
that's wrong. I really do.I think that, you know, you
can see where I'm sitting right now, right like you could probably bring a
major junior kid in this building andrecruit right like. I just and I
think a lot of those kids aregoing to have played two years. They
they're going to play major junior whenthey're sixteen, seventeen, maybe even eighteen,

(21:11):
and it's going to say, youknow, look, I've I've been
in Sudbury for three years. It'stime for it's time to move on.
And they're they're going to see collegehockey and the great atmospheres and the buildings
that they have with the student bodiesand the bands, and I just think
it's going to be a a lotof these kids are gonna end up playing

(21:33):
college if that goes through. Well, there's certainly plenty of news out there,
Brad, and we appreciate all youdo to cover it. You do
a great job with the Grand ForksHerald. But Bradshlossman, thanks for your
time, great piece last week.Well, we'll continue to look forward to
what you write every week. Perfect. Thanks for having me, guys.
That's our friend, Brad Schlossman fromthe Grand Forks Herald. Jim, this

(21:59):
is not a simple subject and oneof the things that I think Brad did
very well. In the piece isbring up all the things that are under
consideration. You have coaches that area little sour about seeing their players go.
You have stories of scuffles between coachingstaffs. You have coaches saying they
have to be more like a GMthan a coach these days. This is

(22:19):
a very complex story and it gotcomplex very quickly. We can't forget that
that this kind of I don't wantto say happened overnight, but it was
very quick. It happened during atime of transition. We were in the
pandemic when all this legislation went boothwith the NCAA to allow the transfers in
these sports, including college hockey.It is complex, and I think that's

(22:45):
it's hard for coaches to get theirarms around. It's it's very easy to
make mistakes in this. You know, oh, we need these guys,
let's go to the portal get them, and then you're just shopping. You
know, you're going to a grocerystore and shopping. Whereas the recruiting process,
you know, for colleges usually ismore of a one and a half
to two year process. As youwatch a kid, you make sure that

(23:08):
you've interviewed him, make sure hefits your culture. I do think that
most coaches are trying to do thatin the portal, but sometimes you have
to be so quick with your instincts. You don't get to really put the
effort into the shopping. You don'tget those interviews, you don't get the
long term informational background that you sometimeshave on some of these players that commits

(23:30):
as true freshmen. So I thinkthat that is what's happening in the portal.
That is the negative. You also, I think the unfortunately, I
think the agent involvement that you know, Brad kind of references in this piece
is unfortunate. I don't think thatthat is in the true spirit of college
hockey or college athletics. But Ialso don't think that the true spirit of

(23:53):
college hockey or college athletics ever intendedto have players make a commitment and leave.
And I get it. Coaches makecommitments and then they leave, and
that's this is supposed to equivocate tothat and make things equal for the players
as it is for the coaches.But I still think there's something. The
more you talk to coaches, youknow, if there's there's sixty four Division

(24:14):
one men's coaches. I can't saythat I've surveyed them all. I've talked
to at least a third of themabout the portal, and I say that
the it's eighty five percent hate,fifteen percent like. But even those eighty
five percent that hate understand they haveto use it. So it's not going
away. There's just there's just thereneeds to be a way. Because this

(24:36):
was a really congenial sport where youfelt like there was a lot of fraternity
among the college hockey coaches. Ithink you're losing a little bit of that
because there's some nastiness involved in theportal, and the way it gets used
is so diverse among teams too.You have teams that use it as a
major recruiting tool to fill in theirprogram. You have some that might take

(24:57):
one player maybe to fill in agap here or there, and then you
have others that haven't used it.I don't think he's ruled it out in
other years, but David Carla Denverdidn't use it at all, according to
the story from Brad. I wantto touch on one quick last thing before
we wrap, and that was thediscussion of major junior I don't know how

(25:18):
you fall in this, and Ithink you're gonna tell us, But I
think Brad is exactly right. You'regoing to have to let those players in
if you're going to allow money tobe part of the sport. Well,
I agree with that part. You'renot going to have a choice at some
point because nil money is now farexceeding what you're paying kids in major junior
and that's just a reality. Soif players want in for major junior,

(25:41):
you're going to have to allow thatat some point that that's not even something
you know, whether it's needed tobe discussed or not. I understand the
argument that there's been so much effortand money spent to make the case of
why you choose college hockey over majorjunior. That's been the almost the exact
mission of college hockey inc. Sinceit's started. They've done a fantastic job.

(26:07):
But at the same time, atsome point you might have to pivot
here. As Brad said, it'snot that hard to sell these colleges,
in these campuses, in these programs. They're fantastic, and they're not being
sold to sixteen year olds. That'swhat major junior is. You're selling major
juniors sixteen seventeen eighteen year olds.You're selling college more than eighteen nineteen to

(26:33):
twenty year olds, so you haveto think about getting them in the next
generation. I do worry a littlebit, not about the USHL, but
maybe the minor, minor leagues ofwhat you would call Tier one juniors in
the United States, the NAHL,some of those smaller leagues that are that
are subdivided by eight geographical sections inthe United States. Those are the leagues

(26:56):
that I worry will suffer. Maybethe USHL loses some players, but they'll
substituted by getting the top end ofthe NAHL. But where does the NHL
get their players? And where doessome of the Eastern leagues and the Western
leagues and some of the ones thatare down for the South that have become
these small tier two junior programs thatare still, you know, churning out

(27:17):
some college players where they go.I still think the pool of players in
the United States is pretty large.If you do your homework, you'll get
the right players. I understand thatthe USHL wants the best Americans, they
want the best imports they can get. That might be where the loss hits
the most. I don't think it'shit the colleges that much though, well.

(27:40):
We'll continue to watch this story andwe do thank Brad for taking time.
And by the way, you canfind a link to his story in
our show notes. This podcast issponsored by the NCAA Men's Division. One
Frozen four April eleventh and thirteenth thatXL Energy Center in Saint Paul, Minnesota.
Visit NCAA dot com slash Frozen fourto get your tickets Today for Jim

(28:02):
Connley, I'm ed Trefsker and thishas been usc CHO Spotlight
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist

It’s 1996 in rural North Carolina, and an oddball crew makes history when they pull off America’s third largest cash heist. But it’s all downhill from there. Join host Johnny Knoxville as he unspools a wild and woolly tale about a group of regular ‘ol folks who risked it all for a chance at a better life. CrimeLess: Hillbilly Heist answers the question: what would you do with 17.3 million dollars? The answer includes diamond rings, mansions, velvet Elvis paintings, plus a run for the border, murder-for-hire-plots, and FBI busts.

Crime Junkie

Crime Junkie

Does hearing about a true crime case always leave you scouring the internet for the truth behind the story? Dive into your next mystery with Crime Junkie. Every Monday, join your host Ashley Flowers as she unravels all the details of infamous and underreported true crime cases with her best friend Brit Prawat. From cold cases to missing persons and heroes in our community who seek justice, Crime Junkie is your destination for theories and stories you won’t hear anywhere else. Whether you're a seasoned true crime enthusiast or new to the genre, you'll find yourself on the edge of your seat awaiting a new episode every Monday. If you can never get enough true crime... Congratulations, you’ve found your people. Follow to join a community of Crime Junkies! Crime Junkie is presented by audiochuck Media Company.

Stuff You Should Know

Stuff You Should Know

If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.