Paul Kelly, the head of College Hockey Inc. and former NHL Players Association head, resigned from his position on Monday. College Hockey Inc. was created two years ago by the Hockey Commissioners Association (HCA) to be the marketing and educational arm of college hockey.
"The HCA would like to thank Paul for his service to CHI and wish him the best in his future endeavors," HCA President, and ECAC commissioner, Steve Hagwell said in the statement.
The HCA may choose "chart a different course" with the position, but may hire someone to serve as interim Executive Director.
While Kelly didn't have a final say in matters, particularly in the most recent wave of conference realignment, I thought College Hockey Inc. had done a good job promoting and marketing the sport over the past couple of years. Kelly regularly made himself available for interviews during college hockey broadcasts and websites as well as overseeing College Hockey Inc.'s website, Facebook and Twitter marketing efforts.
It will be interesting to see what the HCA decides to do with both College Hockey Inc. and the Executive Director position, especially with the sport reaching a critical point in its history starting in 2013-14 when two new conferences begin play -- Big Ten Hockey Conference and the NCHC -- as well as realignment affecting both the WCHA and Hockey East.