Can a person not play hockey in high school and go on to play professionally if they played only in college?

Very likely, college is really the only level that matters when going to the professional level, The media makes high school sports (other than Basketball) seem like its a must have to play in the big leagues The above answer fails to take into consideration that in Canada, the home of hockey, we don't play COLLEGE HOCKEY, except as a pastime, because there are NO College Sports scholarships in Canada. NO body here goes to University to become a Professional athlete, in hockey, basketball, or football, un-like the USA. University, in Canada, is for education not for becoming a nfl star. In the Canadian system, a good player is identified by age 12, by the NHL scouting system, and is being groomed and trained, at 16 he is playing in the Ontario or Quebec Junior "A' league , and by 18 he may be playing in the World Junior Cup, and have a NHL contract in his pocket, too. I can cite lots of US born players who are currently playing in the NHL, who never set foot in a US college hockey program. A few make it to the NHL from Cornell or Michigan state, but they are the exception, not the rule. There are always exceptions to the rule...such as Nick Fotio(sp?) who had a fairly successful NHL career ending in the late 80's. He did not try to play hockey or learn to skate until his late teens.