The league began as a business plan, because every college student could use a little more cash. Steve Oleksy was finishing his senior year at Lake Superior State in 2008, barely at the outset of his incredible rise toward the NHL, just a 22-year-old kid searching for extra revenue, a way to stay fresh during summers and, in case this whole playing thing didn’t work out, a possible career. He never thought he’d play a minute of pro hockey after graduation and, besides, he liked studying business. So why not?
“It’s almost like a hobby for me now,” he said.