[Northendzone]

interesting article for sure. can't really say that there is anything overly shocking written.

i guess to some extent one would hope that a players family keeps him grounded, but the reality is that it is not easy being any type of professional athlete. These young men are miles away from thier homes, families and friends - temptations around them all of the time, people who want to suck them dry.......not a pleasent picture for parents

to me the toughest decision good young players need to make it tryout for a CHL team and risk the possibility of an NCAA scholarship. go the CHL route and then get settled in a town with a billet family, and then a school - and then bam get traded to anotehr city, town, province or country and then try and start to fit in socially and academically all over again.

As for going to school, could be a tough for some players who took the easiest possible route in high school,or perhaps did not finish. And then there is the scholarship that the CHL offers - it is my understanding that thee is a timelimit on when you can start using those. If you spend a couple of years in Europe trying to make a hockey career - your CHL scholarship may expire - if this is correct then what?

all that being said, getting paid to play (regardless of the level, NHL, AHL, ECHL, KHL etc) is not easy. those that do represent a very small portion of your peer group (1% o less?) - and no matter what you choose to do for work, it is not easy to rise to the top 1.0% of your peer group