The Graeme Roustan Show: Sean Hogan

The Hockey News' Money and Power 2025 hockey business annual is available at THN.com/free, featuring the annual 100 people of power and influence list.

W. Graeme Roustan, owner and publisher of The Hockey News, sat down with special guests for peer-to-peer conversations also featured in the issue, including the executive director of College Hockey Inc., Sean Hogan.

Here's their full conversation in The Graeme Roustan Show:

Read along with an excerpt from their discussion:

W. GRAEME ROUSTAN: How did you transition from a kid who loves the game to the coaching ranks?

SEAN HOGAN: I was finally told I wasn’t good enough to keep playing. It’s essentially what happened. I played a little bit of college hockey at Iona College, which is now called Iona University, at the NCAA Div. III level. I tried to play minor pro in the ECHL and bounced around a couple of teams. After three teams in about four weeks, the common denominator was me, right? So, I actually got a real job. I went and worked at a health insurance HMO for a little while. I was like, “This is not for me. I need to get back into the game in some kind of way.” I started volunteering as a coach, and it eventually started growing into bigger opportunities. Here we are, 25 years later, still working on college hockey.

I was really fortunate. There’s a level of hockey in the U.S. called ACHA hockey. It’s a step down from NCAA Div. I, but it provides a ton of opportunities for kids and coaches. I started as a volunteer there at Oakland University. I then became the hockey director for the local youth hockey association and then started coaching junior hockey. I was able to coach at the University of Arizona and was a coach at Ohio University. I did some things with USA Hockey with the World University Games. Again, it’s more of a story about how I was never a great player, and I wouldn’t consider myself a great coach, but passion, persistence and just continuing to put myself out there for opportunities led to further opportunities. I owe everything I have to the game of hockey. I met my wife in the game of hockey. I have a master’s degree because of the game of hockey, and I continue to work in hockey. I’ve been really fortunate in the game.

Back in May, Mike Snee, my predecessor, had an opportunity with the Minnesota Wild, and Mike left huge shoes to fill. He’s a tremendous administrator and leader. He did a great amount of work for the game of college hockey. He asked me if I was interested in the role, and I was. We had a full interview process through the Hockey Commissioners Association, and I was named the new executive director in August.

WGR: You’ve got your own skates to fill. What’s your vision for College Hockey Inc.?

SH: We do a variety of things. One of the things that we do is partner with Div. I athletic departments and try to create more NCAA Div. I hockey teams. A big part of what we’re tasked to do is grow the game on the college side. We started to do that at the NCAA Div. III level as well.

We’re doing it not only on the men’s side but on the women’s side, too. It’s important to me that we’re out there speaking to universities saying, “Here’s the reasons why you should add NCAA hockey. It does a tremendous amount for your campus.” In our sport, what is different than most college sports is that the blue bloods don’t always win the national championships. The biggest brands in college sports don’t always win the national championship in NCAA Div. I hockey. That’s an important thing for us, the parity there. It offers all different types of universities the chance to compete nationally.

WGR: The NCAA has come out with this ruling, and it’s changing the landscape. It’s been a certain way for decades and decades. There was a lot of angst and a question of, “What’s the best way to proceed?” Now, there’s a path. What does it look like going forward as compared to the way it was in the past?

SH: One of the things that we also do at College Hockey Inc. is we’re a free resource. There’s never a charge for what we do. We host events and we provide resources to families. We make sure everybody understands the benefits of playing college hockey. One of the things I picked up on in that process, which I’ve been doing for five years now, especially with Canadian audiences, is there’s a lot of anxiety at 16 years old. Out west, it’s 15 years old, and they need to make a decision, “Well, college hockey intrigues me, but this is what’s in front of me right now. I can play in the WHL, the OHL or the QMJHL, but if I do that, I can no longer play NCAA hockey.” This removes that anxiety. This is a big win for the players, in my opinion, because they can decide what’s the next best step for them. They don’t have to leave and come down to the U.S. to play junior. They can stay home and play junior for their local Tier II team or in the CHL and then matriculate to the NCAA on their road to the NHL.

WGR: That’s pretty good. Having a parent needing to make a decision with their 15- or 16-year-old, where they’re trying to plan out where they’re going to college, those are big decisions. If you get the decision wrong at the age of 15, it affects your entire life. What is the financial impact, if any, on these families today about making a choice of going to the NCAA? I assume it’s mostly scholarship but not always.

SH: Correct. There’s a landscape change coming here in April outside of the CHL eligibility that just happened. There’s likely to be what’s called the house settlement. In April, for hockey programs, particularly the NCAA, they’ll go up from 18 scholarships. Right now, scholarships can be broken up any way they want. A coach can offer you 50 percent for hockey and 50 percent for academics or 50 percent, 40 percent and 10 percent for financial aid. There’s a pool of money that’s put together for a scholarship for a hockey player.

Going forward, likely in April, they’ll be what are called roster caps. There’ll be 26 players on a team, and all 26 players will have the ability to have a full athletic scholarship. The financial impact for families will be less on financial aid and more on being able to secure a full-ride athletic scholarship at the hockey level, which has been unprecedented.

WGR: How could the NIL program affect these players?

SH: There’s an opportunity. It’s having a significant impact in college football and basketball. It’s starting to make some impacts in hockey, and it allows a player to make money on their name, image and likeness. The rules before were very strict, where a player couldn’t even host his own hockey camp. Now, players can do that, and they have the ability to do a variety of things. It’s not straight-up pay-for-play. You can’t just pay a player to be on your team, but they have the ability now to make money through NIL. Now, for a Canadian or an international student, it’s a little bit different because there are some student and work visas involved, but for many players, there’s an opportunity in the NIL market.

For this and more interviews with a deep look into the world of the hockey business, check out The Hockey News' Money and Power 2025 issue, available at THN.com/free.