With college hockey back in full swing in 2021-22, the revitalized (and expanded) landscape reopened to some of the best USPHL alumni in the nearly 10-year history of the league. The 2022-23 season will, in fact, mark the 10th anniversary of the USPHL’s inaugural season of 2013-14.
More than 3,100 USPHL alumni – from all levels of USPHL Midget and Junior Hockey – hit the ice for teams at all divisions of the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA), American Collegiate Hockey Association (ACHA), College Hockey Federation (CHF) and USports, of Canada.
Several hours of research were undertaken by USPHL Media staff that involved reviewing college hockey rosters and utilizing the fantastic “Where Are They Now” tool on EliteProspects.com. From there, USPHL staff removed duplicate players, those who played in more than one USPHL league, in order to count each individual college hockey player only once.
The Tuition-Free Tier II NCDC featured more than 390 individuals who had played exclusively in the NCDC prior to moving on to college hockey for 2021-22. Including players who had also played in other USPHL levels, that number climbs to 754.
Just over 1,000 individuals who had only played in the USPHL Premier skated in college hockey in 2021-22, and another 500 came out of the USPHL Elite only. Including players who had played in other USPHL levels, the combined number for Premier and Elite was closer to 2,400.
There were more than 1,360 advancements by players who have skated in any or all of the USPHL Midget Divisions (18U, 16U and 15U – as well as the 15U predecessor, 16U Futures) to skate in college hockey in 2021-22. Removing duplicates of players who moved between leagues, the number of individuals playing college hockey who played in just the USPHL Midget Divisions tops 1,000.
For the 2021-22 season, there were over 300 college commitments from all levels of the USPHL, including more than 90 from the NCDC, including 32 advancing to the NCAA Division I level.
To learn more about how you can become part of the USPHL, go to USPHL.com/tryouts for contact information for every Member Organization as well as information on upcoming camps.
