Hockey is a extramural sport that doesn't have any pull with admissions. If you are going to play hockey for BYU you must be a matriculated student which means you had to meet regular academic standards when applying for school. The ever increasing admission standards are taking a toll on available players that might consider BYU. The standards were much lower when the Ice Cats were first started and BYU had a lot of Candian and border state players available in its regular student body. As admission standards increased the pool of talent decreased and the team became less competitive. It hasn't helped that USU, Weber, and Utah (even after getting the death penalty and then getting resurrected) are pulling a lot of the in-state talent.