Why Mat Robson will be sitting out the first half

New Minnesota sophomore goaltender Mathew Robson officially will sit out half of the season due to his time playing Canadian major juniors. He will have 2.5 years of eligibility.

Eric Vegoe of Gopher Puck Live was first to report. The Gopher Hockey Blog has confirmed.

Robson, who last season helped lead Penticton (BCHL) to the Canadian Junior A championship tournament, is ineligible for 18 games, but when the goaltender will be officially eligible to make his debut is not exactly clear at this time. He will either be eligible to play in the team's final series of the first half (December 8-9 at Ohio State), or the first series after Christmas (December 29-30 vs Army). (UPDATE: Confirmed Robson will be eligible at OSU.)

(Along the same lines, there is no clarification on whether Robson will be eligible to play in Minnesota's exhibition game. There have been cases when a player was suspended for NCAA games yet able to play in exhibitions. One such example is Leon Bristedt, who had to sit out the first two games of his freshman year.)

The possibility of the NCAA suspending Minnesota's first Canadian men's hockey player since 2006 is something the Gophers and Robson have known for a while. I spoke with Robson about his eligibility concerns for a story I wrote last December when he committed to Minnesota. At the time he was hopeful that going from Clarkson to spending his transfer season playing junior hockey would count for the additional half year penalty. Unfortunately for him, the NCAA did not see it that way.

Robson's complicated journey, in his own words:

Q: I’ve seen conflicting reports on your eligibility. Could you explain how much eligibility you have remaining?

Robson: “Last year at Clarkson I was suspended a year and a half for signing and playing in the OHL at 16. I got injured a few times in training camps so I never stuck in the regular season and was sent back to juniors to rehab and get back into playing shape.

“Missing your draft year, for me at least, I was like I didn’t have to play major junior anymore. I missed my draft year. I had heard other goalies, particularly goalies who had taken opportunities to go to the NCAA after doing the same thing, and decided that it was definitely worth it.

“I had to redshirt all last year. I would have had to redshirt this year until Christmas, but I decided I can attempt to go to a bigger, better school. Not that Clarkson isn’t at all. It’s a great place, a great school, but I really wanted to get back in the net. Coming back to junior and playing a full season - especially here in Penticton where we’re going to compete for a national championship - kind of gets you back into the playing grind.

“Worst-case scenario I have to sit out half a year, but we’re hoping not because my year and a half should definitely be over considering I’m playing this year back in juniors. So I should have two-and-a half years of eligibility at worst and at best three, so it’s time to make a splash."

Minnesota has three goaltenders on its 2017-18 roster besides Robson, including two-year starter Eric Schierhorn.

Updated with clarification on Robson's status.