Former Chiefs Make The Rounds Adam Magarrell

Adam Magarrell thanks the Western Hockey League for his college education.

He sees friends struggling to pay their way through the University of Manitoba and thinks of his five seasons in the WHL as more than a good time.

It was an investment in his future.

Magarrell’s take on it is that he would have lost his education benefit if he’d played professionally. Although that’s not how it works, it’s close.

If a player makes it at the highest minor league level, in the International or American leagues, or plays in the NHL, he forfeits his WHL education benefit. If he plays two seasons in the low minors, or makes it in a major European league, he also forfeits the scholarship, the league’s educational consultant, Jim Donlevy, said.

A WHL veteran who’s contemplating a second season in the minors should think about what he’s giving up, Magarrell said.

Canadian university hockey is competitive. WHL alums can play college hockey, on the WHL’s dime, then resume a pro career.

Of course by then their opportunity in the pros may be lost to a younger player. Magarrell weighed his options and opted for school.

“There’s glory playing for a championship in front of 10,500,” said Magarrell, a defensive mainstay on the Chiefs’ ‘95-96 West Division championship team. “But it’s a grind, too. It wears you down. There’s a fine line between loving it and needing a change.

“I needed a change.”

Magarrell said he hasn’t ruled out returning to competitive hockey but said he thinks he made the right move“for me at the time, getting my education.”

The second or third-year pro who never hits it big runs a risk, he said. “You never know when a knee goes and you’re done. Guys (in the low minors) make - what? - 19 to 22 grand a year, spend it and then have nothing to go to school with.”

The WHL scholarship started as a straight annual cash award of $2,500 for school but was indexed to the cost of a public university education, Donlevy said.

An American who attends a state-funded school in his home state has books and tuition paid for each year he plays in the WHL. A Canadian has the same agreement at a public provincial university.

The WHL was the first of the three major junior leagues to look after future educational expenses. League officials believe they should not have to subsidize the schooling of a professional athlete, Donlevy said.

This sidebar appeared with the story:

Age: 24

Seasons in Spokane: 3, late 1994-95, ‘95-96, ‘96-97

Currently: Student at University of Manitoba