It was announced on Tuesday that American International College would be dropping its men’s ice hockey program to division II level of play in the NCAA at the end of this season. The men’s ice hockey team, known as the Yellow Jackets, was the only division I sport at the school, as all other athletic programs competed in D-II. The ice hockey team moved up to D-1 for the 1998-1999 season and has been there ever since. The school does not have a women’s ice hockey program.
The school specifically cited “budgetary reasons” and the “changing landscape of the NCAA”. The most likely factor could be the cost of operating the team. According to College Factual, the ice hockey team had $1.8 million in expenses which made it the most expensive sport at American International (only their football program also had over $1 million in expenses). American International is the one of only two schools in their conference without their own on campus or school sponsored ice rink (the other being Canisius College). The Yellow Jackets share the MassMutual Center with the AHL’s Springfield Thunderbirds.
What caught our, and some commenters on Twitter, attention was the “changing landscape of the NCAA” comment. The NCAA has been thrust into the world of NIL (the thing that allows college athletes to make money of their name, endorsements, etc.) over the past few years and that has caused economic concerns. The long heard concern was that if you “pay” student athletes (or allow them to be paid in some way shape or form) they’re no longer “amateurs” and it detracts from them being students. A more likely economic concern is that student athletes at big name schools gain more than athletes at smaller schools. Smaller scale D-I schools can’t compete and thus might lose out on prospective student athletes who chose bigger name schools in search of a bigger name payday.
American International’s home state of Massachusetts has proposed legislation to regulate NIL. Daily Faceoff explained NIL might be a tool used to convince Canadian players to go the NCAA hockey route. Former college player turned analyst Colby Cohen explained in the same article that NIL could mean the end of the “middle class” of college hockey as power shifts towards the powerhouse schools, with some smaller schools holding their own.
American International’s announcement also comes after the NCAA recently opened eligibility to CHL players. Longtime NCAA guidelines prohibited CHL players due to the fact those leagues contain players on NHL contracts making them a pseudo “professional” league. Allowing CHL players into college hockey significantly increases the talent pool, which one might think would be a good thing for a small-time hockey school such as American International since now there will be more highly skilled players looking for places to play”. One Twitter user made a very good point however that American International players who might enter the transfer portal after the D-I demotion news now face stiff competition in spots at other schools. The NCAA ruling makes CHL players eligible in 2025.
An interesting little factoid buried in ESPN’s story on that was that CHL players are still prohibited from playing D-III college hockey. If American International drops down to D-II they can still recruit CHL talent. That means those same concerns would still apply.
To grow the game of hockey you would think we would have to grow the game of college hockey and this American International news seems like a step in the wrong direction. The University of Alabama-Huntsville discontinued their D-I ice hockey program in 2021. American International has had two players, Dave Forbes and Kevin Wortman, reach the NHL.