NCAA hockey has long been a competitive and entertaining source of prospects
for the NHL, but nowhere near the level seen in the past decade or so. No longer
are the top players coming from a few storied programs in just one or perhaps
two top conferences; college hockey is spreading in popularity across the nation
and more schools in more conferences are producing NHL ready talent -- just
witness the amount of free agents coming from FIFA 18 Coins colleges that are so heavily
sought after by
NHL teams at the end of FIFA Mobile Coins each season. This summer, the top pick in the NHL
draft is expected to be defenseman Seth Jones -- born and raised in Dallas,
Texas and the son of a former NBA star. Jones was developed in the Dallas Stars
junior hockey system and is himself a product of the USNTDP and is just another
in a growing line of top NHL prospects to come from "non-traditional" markets in
the United States.
While Canada has certainly been to fifaah -- and remains -- the lead dog when it comes
to hockey development and international competition there is a sense of panic
growing that while the nation may be producing some great individuals, other
countries have found the best way to produce better teams. Canada did not medal
in this past World Junior
Championship and has not earned gold since 2009, while the women's team has
fallen to the U.S. in four the past five women's championships.To be fair, the
men's Olympic team for Canada has won gold twice in the past three tournaments,
although nether Canada nor the U.S. medaled in 2006.Hockey in the United States
continues to grow and could be directly attributed to the focus of the NHL to
promote the sport in markets many expected to never be able to support such a
venture.
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