By Derek Savard

Publié le 15 juin 2026

What could be worse than having something you've just acquired stolen? That is exactly what happened to the Quebec Remparts by drafting James Scantlebury and seeing him leave for the USA. With the new rule that allows players from the CHL to go play NCAA without being suspended, there are some serious questions that have to be asked. Hockey is part of the Canadian culture, but why do we send our best talents to go play in American colleges? Canada should take steps to make Canadian university hockey more attractive. 

First, Canadian universities should offer better scholarships. In the United States, colleges offer scholarships that cover alimentation, accommodation, and a lot of other expenses. In contrast, Canada is not even close in those advantages. Canada proposes some scholarships, but not as big as the American one. That is one of the reasons why hockey players decided to leave to go play in better circumstances.  

Second, is the mediation on those leagues. Hockey players will not say it, but they love being watched and filmed. In the US, mediation is at its best. Hockey clubs are followed by a huge number of fans. Those clubs fill the 10,000-place arena, and the ambiance is electrical. They have a stake that professional club could play in. For example, in 2025, Michigan State will renovate their hockey room for 26.6 million dollars. In Canada, there is no such big arena and facilities for university teams. Canada should find a way to promote and finance U-Sports to manifest their desires to have the best athletes.  

Another important point is the opportunities that those different leagues offer. The NCAA is seen as the best league for the players who want to play professionally, and it is. The Canadian leagues are to bring NHL and pro scouts. And to reach this point, our best talent has to commit to Canadian universities because scouts will come see the best talents, and Canada is a talent pool. And this brings us to the first point, which is that we have to encourage our local talents to stay.  

Finally, to keep our athletes at home, Canada has to increase their budget to bring more opportunities, have bigger and more interesting scholarships, more visibility, and better development programs. It all comes from the budget that different countries accord to those programs. And as the founder of this sport, we have to help our athletes.  

In conclusion, despite the fact that hockey is a part of the Canadian culture, there are problems that need to be settled. Those arenas would not be a problem to fill due to our love of this sport. Anyway, which Canadian would not love to see Ottawa University beat Boston College?