The NCAA is moving forward with its plans to allow student-athletes to profit off their own names and needless to say, it’s a pretty giant step for the organization. While the idea may have been primarily aimed at football and basketball players, I wondered what the impact would be for college hockey.
When Calgary Flames star Johnny Gaudreau was in his final year at Boston College, for example, his parents began noticing illicit ‘Johnny Hockey’ T-shirts being sold by folks trying to make a quick buck off the dazzling winger’s fame. That led to Gaudreau trademarking the nickname after he left for the NHL, but he wouldn’t have been allowed to profit off any merchandise while he was in college anyway.