Paul Kelly Leaves College Hockey Inc.

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News broke earlier on this holiday Monday that the Executive Director of College Hockey Inc., Paul Kelly, had resigned his position. The news broke on Twitter this afternoon and the stories started going up at various websites soon after.

Because of the Family Day WHL matinee at Rexall Place and then actual Family Day plans, with my family, I was unable to report or offer comment in a timely manner.

After the jump, several links to get caught up on the news and some thoughts of my own.

Saturday Morning Special - April 23rd

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Another jam packed show on Saturday as TPS went across Canada and south of the border to bring you the biggest and best in the world of hockey prospect news. We went behind the mic with two play-by-play guys who are now calling semi-final games, we looked at players leaving college teams and some interesting news out of Duluth, we chatted with arguably the top high school player in the Class of 2011 and we discussed an assortment of news and notes too.

Tuesday Night On TPS

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Tuesday night Guy and I had a live studio audience, went coast to coast in the CHL, introduced you to a Texan eligible for the NHL draft and discussed who would be our 4th nominee for the Calder Trophy.

NCAA Canadian Invasion Underway

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Above is a picture of the CN Tower. If you're taking in Toronto and checking off your list of "Touristy things to See and Do", it's probably near the top of it. A Leafs game at the ACC? of course. The Hockey Hall of Fame? Check. The Art Gallery? Done. Casa Loma? Yep. Queen Street? Sure. Blue Jays baseball or Argonauts football at Rogers Center? Uh huh. The Indy race if you're lucky? You know it.

What's left? Well... how about taking in a NCAA hockey game too?

AJHL Showcase Won't Include College Hockey Inc.

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The Alberta Junior Hockey League's marquee event (or one of them this year) will not include a visit from College Hockey Inc.'s Director Paul Kelly after all. Although the former NHLPA executive and the league have discussed combining their efforts for the 3-day event (Sept 30th-Oct 2nd), and the extra media attention it would have garnered both groups, it won't be happening this year.

But that's OK and it makes sense... let me explain.

The NCAA Comes North

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Remember last month how Paul Kelly and College Hockey Inc. were mysteriously absent from the World Hockey Summit in Toronto? We had Mr. Kelly on the The Pipeline Show that week to discuss the matter. Well, the NCAA will get its time in the Ontario limelight after all as College Hockey Inc. has created the “NCAA Collegiate Hockey Summit” for this weekend.

Another College Kid Jumps Ship

First it was Nick Leddy (who signed a 3 year - 2.7 million dollar deal with Chicago today) and Josh Birkolz (who violated team rules, reportedly a failed drug test) who left Minnesota. Now Lucas Lessio (pictured) has chosen the Oshawa Generals over the Michigan Wolverines. You can read the story here.

Now, some might say Leddy leaving is a feather in the cap for the NCAA as he will likely either play in the NHL or AHL, but he only played one year at Minnesota. Where I come from it's pretty hard to get a college degree in one year, and one of the biggest arguments from College Hockey Inc is that players get a better education packaged by going the NCAA route as opposed to the CHL.

Throw in the fact that half of the Notre Dame hockey roster has been arrested this year and it hasn't been a good summer for NCAA hockey. There are still tonnes of great hockey players playing college hockey and there will be great games this year, with great story lines that TPS will talk about, but there's no doubt the image has taken a hit this year.