Every facet of hockey is becoming more and more unaffordable to the middle class. How does this surprise anyone when everyone from the equipment manufacturers, to ticketing operators, to Fanatics and the NHL itself, treat the sport as a short term cash grab?
capitalism means external competition in which companies compete for the loyalty of customers. Now they all own each other and are given lucrative government grants. Go to Tim Hortons or Popeyes, $ goes to the same people
Baseball is way more expensive now. When I was young I only had to bring a glove and cup. My kids played last year and they had to buy everything themselves. It's hard to justify trying a sport your kid might not even like if you have to spend hundreds on gear for a 2 month season.
Its simply too expensive. Only rich kids make it. There are exceptions, but it takes dedicated parents who will mortgage years of their lives on the chance their child makes it.
You didn’t include how Canadian teams haven’t won a cup in 3 decades. And that when you watch hockey it’s all ads about gambling. Those are real things.
Well, it's certainly not because Canadian players have lost their quality or level of play. Every NHL roster is like the U.N. nowadays. The addition of nothing but teams in the U.S. inevitably lowers the possibility of a non-American team winning the Cup. There are other factors at work, including speculated preferential officiating on behalf of the American teams and specifically those in the sun belt.
@@FischerFanthe teams are still majority Canadian, if you’re trying to say they aren’t. Yes there’s a little more diversity in nationality but it’s still a Canadian league with teams in America
With property values and interest rates where they're at I guarantee one ball cross over a property line and the cops are showing up for a vandalism call. Canada is over, many people are just starting to cope with that.
When you purchase the NHL package and half of your teams' games are blacked out, it's quite frustrating. Also, 80% of the ads have something to do with gambling.
I agree ☝️ regular cable T.V. Which very few can afford any longer offers very little NHL content. Sports in general is doomed with the failing economy.
@@Matanumi the value proposition of the Bally sports player is so sooo awful. my team is detroit and i live in the UK so i have to do some serious ninja work to even get the legit games because you have to live in the state (WTF!!) to access their site and then the games are only online for 3 days.. and the player tells you annoying stuff like how long the game is which lets you know that the game either is or isnt going to overtime (kills close games!) compare all that to how someone like me could just stream it off a site for free.
Soccer teams across the world have gambling sites plastered on their jerseys as sponsors, it's not affecting their popularity. It simply has to do with finances. Hockey is like polo, it's a sport for rich people only. For soccer all you need is a field and a ball, you can play it in the poorest countries on the planet easily. That's why its popular around the world, your family's wealth has nothing to do with your accessibility to the sport.
I grew up in the 90s in a lower middle class family. I played hockey every year until I was 15. My school had an ODR that I spent my evenings and weekends on through the winter. The custodian would come in early and flood the rink every morning. Some of my best memories are on that rink. Playing against the big kids, laying out some big hits, fake fights, my feet being so cold that I had to crawl home. So many good times. My son has no interest in watching or playing hockey but is obsessed with basketball. At first, I felt a lot of disappointment that he won't have the same experience. Now I see it as a blessing - he still is passionate about a sport and we don't face the financial burdens that come with playing hockey in the modern era.
For now is Basketball but in the future it will be football (soccer). I know because I am part of that generation. You can't match the experience of a game with 45,000 people chanting their hearts out and feeling a sense of community with watching a basketball game, which isnnonlonger that much about the game. Also, with soccer, if you make it, you do it in the global stage. You do became a supper star. You could play in a team with more fans than people in the USA or Canada. It's just another magnitud.
Now extrapolate that information to analyze how a working class family's kids would have fared while you were able to enjoy that small luxury. Organized hockey has always been expensive, but in the last decade, like many other commodities, has become unattainable (not just unaffordable) for most.
It’s not just the high cost, it’s the culture. It’s become something for rich snobs spoiled children. Poor kids are often bullied, shunned or cut from the team. The hockey set has become a country club. What’s really sad is the fact that so many super talented kids quit for these reasons long before they’ve realized their potential.
Yeah but the high cost directly affects the culture, as you said the snobs are really the only ones that can afford to go and play, and the politics are just brutal
100 percent correct. Well said, well thought. I don’t watch the stupid nhl anymore because that “rich kid” culture is palpable in the way the game is played. Hockey has not been a working man’s game in decades
I saw this in the eighties. Richer parents would promise team uniforms, sticks equipment etc. I used to shovel driveways and cut lawns so I could purchase leaf tickets. Last time at the gardens, they wanted a weeks salary for the privilege of sitting in the nosebleed section.
What about TV rights and being hard to see your favorite team? Just look at r/NHL people complain about blackouts. It's as bad as being an MLB fan in Iowa.
I'm here reserved to watching hockey on a legally questionable site. The only time I pay for a subscription is come playoff season because I can guarantee all of those matches will be shown
Hell, I have this problem in Baltimore cos the Orioles have games exclusively on MASN, which isn't available on any streaming services. My only chance to watch 'em live is on FOX
It's sad honestly. I'm a 20-year-old hockey fan and sometimes it feels like I'm the only person my age passionate about this sport. I'm playing hockey in Spain now and the best part is seeing that there are people here who love hockey too
I was born and raised just outside Toronto. This is true, as kids and teens the world revolved around the Leafs, how they were doing. Constant topic of convo every day. Now, it’s fallen out of the mainstream, where you only know what’s going on if you are a true support. even in the downtown core you may not even be aware the leafs are playing a big playoff game. The Big Hockey supporters when I was young now have kids that are obsessed with soccer, and they have started to get drawn to the sport also. Soccer was once in the fringe and now it is definitely a top 3 in my opinion. Raptors winning in 2019 also increased the popularity of basketball in the city like crazy. Much more parents prefer to put their kids in soccer than hockey as it’s cheaper and seen as safer
Its all kids in the square outside the ACC...and they all have current player sweaters...you seldom see an Iafrate (like I have) or a Salming, or Sittler anymore..even Gilmour (babysitter) and Sundins are rare. Us older fans have had enough of the wretched Leaves... Go Bruins!
As an American that is a huge hockey fan I was shocked when I started visiting Canada every summer and figured out that most people there don't watch hockey. More fans than the US, but out of my about 6 or 7 friends I've made only 1 watches hockey.
im from near detroit, grew up in the 80s 90s, love the red wings , always wanted to play hockey, my parents are fairly well off too, but even they didnt want to pay for me and my brothers to play hockey, expensive equipment and ice time, travel, 6 am practices... its too bad its such an expensive sport to play cuz its def the best team sport
I have a theory that Wayne Gretzky's aww shucks modesty had a huge effect on how interesting players can be. In the 70s and 80s you had a lot of guys with huge personalities but it plummeted by the late 90s and 2000s. Now if someone even dares to wear the number 66 it's somehow insulting to greats of the past. A necessary but significant change was making helmets mandatory. Players look a lot more homogenous than the days of guys with huge hairdos flapping in the wind and crazy facial hair. The Minnesota high school all hockey hair team is one of the more consistently viral videos in the modern age.
yeah that’s true. Hockey players just don’t stand out and most of them are every boring. the NBA is very famous because it’s a league full of superstars. even if you don’t watch basketball you still know about Lebron James, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis and other players. but the majority of people who don’t watch hockey can’t name a single player except for Gretzky. and some young people don’t even know who Gretzky is cuz they weren’t alive when he was playing.
NHL players arent fake tho. They are not boring at all. As said by Perlini on his YT channel, he said that McDavid was actually very funny irl and had dry humor. Which is not the things you see in media.
When I think of big personalities, I think of guys like Patrick Roy, Jeremy Roenick and Brett Hull. Guys who talked big and could back it up. NHL players now are normally really modest, but somewhat bland in personality.
Hockey in Canada is becoming unaffordable, highly unpopular and other stuff. Bettman doesn’t try to promote the game here yet it’s still better known in Canada then the us
Canada has officially priced itself out of its own game, I went to buy a stick just the other week, I couldn’t find one for under $180, that’s insane, not to mention in southern Ontario we don’t get the winters that we used to so you don’t even get free ice in the winter anymore Forcing you to have to pay to play, plus how Canada handled Covid also really hurt, you basically didn’t have hockey for a year or two, that had a big affect especially to a kid growing up wanting to play and had to choose different sports
Lets face it. Newcomers to Canada and also most, not all, p o c are not into hockey. They would rather identify with a game that is more universal or common from their home land.
It is because Bettman was brought in to GROW the game business wise for the NHL across the 🇺🇸 USA, and NOT further in 🇨🇦 . It has gotten worse every year since Bettman got into office. Pro sports are corrupted just like Boxing now sadly. Canadian teams face an ever greater financial hardship competing against American 🇺🇸 hockey teams in many ways. For example, if an American boy (USA team) & Canadian boy (Canadian team) play a boardgame in a best-of-seven games against each other, and the Banker (Bettman & NHL) give the American player between $2000- $3000 in monopoly money per game to start with, and only $500-$900 to the Canadian player per game to begin with, then the odds of the Canadian boy winning a best of seven game series of monopoly against the American drops to almost NIL. The business side has overtaken the sports side and Canadians pay for overpriced tickets to Canadian teams that play against American team markets, with a 30-40% US-Cdn dollar exchange rate, etc. They need to change things quick or it will get worse.
Grew up playing some aaa but mostly aa, in Saskatchewan with my single dad paying every single year. I’m now 28, don’t have a degree, pretty middle class job, solid relationship, not a chance my future kid is playing hockey, and it breaks my heart. Just so expensive on top of everything else in this country rn.
My grandfather told me stories of the 1950s when hockey practices were played on frozen lakes and a league cost $12 per season to play, plus skates and a stick. Only the final tournaments would be held in an indoor ice rink, and the city only had ONE single indoor ice sheet at the time (located on and shared with the military base, now long gone). Fast-forward to the present where fees are $5000 per year plus much more equipment than was used back then. No outdoor games are played anymore, and that same city now has 12 indoor ice surfaces.
I would argue the rise of streaming impacts television viewership. In addition, COVID played a major part in decline in sport participation in general. Soccer, for instance, once was the king of child participation. Registration has declined rapidly since COVID. From what I've observed, hockey is very expensive and families are participating. However, most clubs provide equipment, registration and resources for those in lower incomes. It's more than a trend.
It's a rich people sport, the culture is offputting, insanely boring players/broadcasters/personalities, everyone in hockey is old, the references they make are old, the music they play is old, everything is just OLD, the NHL's presence on the internet is zero, no Canadian teams winning/worth talking about, hockey isn't viewed as "cool" like basketball or European soccer leagues are, cost of play is insane, most people are blocked out of the sport by the cost alone, and the NHL are the worst marketers in the world.
As a guy who has played hockey since he was 4 in St. Paul. I grew up in a middle/lower class family and I never had the newest gear and it was always a struggle for my family to afford it. It was really bad when I played goalie in middle school and really really bad in high school. And things just get more and more expensive and kids want the newest gear every time so I think that might be a reason and also the NHL marketing is absolutely horrendous. Plus there’s a massive stigma about health concerns which idk if most are true and people just get so very afraid of it. My parents didn’t really care they just wanted me to have fun and from my experience most kids nowadays don’t want to play a sport anymore and rather game or anything else lol
Well please don’t get sucked in the play in the house stuff. Street Hockey is still big where I’m at. And I’m 57…. The kids call me Coffee cause I wear a Paul Coffee Sweater from red wing days. I have a blast
Concussions are no joke. I've had more than my fair share just living life. It's hard to measure how such things can hold a person back in life, but considering what we know now, it seems there are better ways to exercise and nurture teamwork. Plus, that money could be used more constructively.
Our demographics are changing. The new Canadian kids don't relate to hockey players and prefer the NBA instead. The hockey league in Scarborough shut down over 30 years sgo because if a lack if players.
Yep, basketball and soccer. Then you have lobby groups led by people like Kim Davis who insist the NHL has a 'lack of diversity problem'. It doesn't. It was created to showcase the best hockey players in the world. The day the NHL has quotas imposed on its player pool is the day the league collapses.
the demographics changing is not the important part, the existing hockey culture and how exclusive it is towards 'good ol whiteboy' Canadians was the greatest mistake of hockey culture. Don cherry (i dont even hate the guy and i dont think he should have lost his job) was championed as one of the main respected voices of the sport yet he was notoriously xenophobic, he was consistently rewarded and celebrated for that. all the kids before practice would talk about don cherry, laugh at what he said and admire his takes. things like that among other things have encouraged + perpetuated the rich, stuck up, pompous attitude of hockey culture; which immigrant kids will never feel connected to as something more grassroots like soccer or basketball.
@@FischerFan dont be ridiculous, no one is arguing for a diversity quota in hockey and they certainly arent talking about changing meritocracy or reducing the skill of the league. they are being politically correct and really they are stating that only a certain type of rich white folk play the sport and maybe if there was outreach to less fortunate minorities, the sport might become more popular with different groups. the 'lack of diversity' has pigeon holed the sport into a niche community of rich white folk. if you want to keep your sport exclusive and homogenous then dont complain about any of the sports short comings because you did it to yourselves.
For the cheapest ticket to see the leafs play is $120. That's in the nose bleed section. Better off staying home and watching it on tv. For the same price you can get lower bowl seat to watch the red wings play. Nose bleed is $50..
I remember the 2003/2004 world junior finals. I was in high school and all classes were put on hold and the entire school piled into the cafeteria and they broadcasted the game onto a projector. I wonder if Canadian high schools would do the same today?
not a god damn chance- you have to seak it on your own. ESPICALLY if Canada is NOT in the Finals.... I'd be shocked if schools would pause for the Olympics now.
The 2004 World Junior gold medal game? That was the game in which Marc-Andre Fleury pulled a Steve Smith, was it not? The only difference is, the roles were reversed!
What an amazing video. The research that went into this and the data you shared is incredible and eye opening. I love how you including the path other sports leagues have gone to make efforts to attract fans to their sport. When intermission comes on during an NHL telecast I find something else to do for those 15 mins. It’s dull and you showcased that in a polite way. Well put together video. Very insightful stuff. Thank you.
For Canadian kids. Their only hope growing up to be a successful sports player was hockey. They got all the recognition on TV and were super successful. Now, Canadians are producing good basketball players. The Canadian basketball team took third place in the FIBA World Cup. I say in the next 15 years Soccer will take over the most popular sport over Hockey. The young Canadian superstar all young Canadians look up to is Alphonso Davies. He went from playing MLS soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps to playing on one of the greatest soccer teams in the world, Bayern Munich. This shows Candian kids that you can make it in other sports. You can be the next Alphonso Davies. I see the CanMNT being super competitive in Concacaf and qualifying for World Cups. Maybe the next biggest Concacaf rivalry will be the USA vs. Canada.
You hit the nail on the head + 1 of 3 MVP candidates in the NBA SGA is Canadian, Canada seems like a really underrated country full of talanted athletes who probably would lift hockey to higher heights if it weren't for the cost of playing.
I came from Mexico and I support Canadian soccer every time I can. I think the national team advanced a lot the last few years and now is competitive I'm sure Canada will perform well in the next "Copa America"... I already have my Canadian jersey
This is not a new issue. The proportion of Canadians in the NHL hasn't been a majority for a pretty long time (and it used to be over 90%, back before the league expanded to 12 teams from 6). It is in the low 40% range now, and will likely continue to decrease. Canadians still make up the plurality of NHL players, and that is not likely to change for a long time, if ever. But the counter-argument is that other nations have correspondingly seen investment in hockey pay off - places like Germany, Latvia and Austria consistently compete at the top level of the international adult game, and they even win the occasional medal (which was unheard of twenty years ago)...their contribution of players to the NHL continues to increase. So at the highest level, the sport is becoming more international, and I think this is, on balance, fairly positive, as it means that as the popularity of ice hockey waxes and wanes in any particular country, there are other nations picking up the slack and sustaining it. But make no mistake, hockey is still the sport that most Canadian youth watch above all others, and while adult immigrants may not be ready to embrace a new sport, their children (who want to fit in and become culturally Canadian) will. These kids may not immediately want to PLAY hockey, but if they show curiosity for the sport, the cost of skating lessons is still relatively affordable (plus it's good exercise, and can be a family activity!), and those who show aptitude for skating can be supported by the community in taking up hockey. For example, there are initiatives involving current and former NHL players to provide both equipment, and money for facility use and training, making the sport more affordable. And it is at the youngest levels that this investment will have the most impact, as the more kids participate, the more chance there will be for kids (be they children of immigrants or not) who have a natural talent in the sport to develop that talent, be identified as particularly talented, and gain further support in their teenage years. It doesn't matter if 90% of the kids who play organized hockey as little kids stop when they're 11 or 12 (or decide to play cheaper, less organized forms, just for fun) as long as the ones who really have a shot to play professionally keep going (should they choose to). As for the popularity of the sport as an entertainment product, that concerns me a bit more, because the NHL has been consistently clueless as to how they can better market this product. They swing between sticking their heads in the sand (doubling down on strategies that will only appeal to the most diehard of existing fans), and embracing truly nutty ideas that might cause a handful of total n00bs to pay attention (for a little while at least) while totally alienating their actual fanbase. Personally, I think that hockey in Canada used to rely on its cultural ubiquity to maintain its popularity - there wasn't anything else to care about, and so the sport basically sold itself. Now, there is a massive selection of entertainment options to choose from. I am no expert, but I think that a good start to gaining and keeping fans is making it WAY easier for anyone, anywhere, to follow one specific team. For example, it is nigh-on impossible at present for a person in Calgary to (legally) watch every single Carolina Hurricanes game (for example), unless they buy a subscription that includes access to EVERY NHL game (at a premium price). This is RIDICULOUS. How hard would it be to partner with one of the many streaming services, allowing any subscriber to automatically gain free access to a NHL team of their choice's entire season as part of their subscription? That would drive up subscription numbers for that service, and it would also enable non-hockey fans, no matter where they are in the world, to pick a team to follow (most won't, but some will!). Also, some networks still enforce local blackouts, because teams feel that a game that is accessible on television locally will not sell as many tickets. But the NHL needs to realize that the in-person, live product they're selling is VERY different to the televised version, and make the extra experience of the live event worth the cost, while still understanding that it's not an either-or scenario...most of the people watching the game on television would NEVER have bought a ticket. All they're doing in blacking out a game is screwing over fans, and losing potential fans. These are just a couple of the ways the NHL is shooting itself in the foot, ones that are obvious to anyone who is even peripherally aware of the situation.
@@Rolie- Immigration is the #1 reason for this downfall and yes, he failed to mention this. 1 million new Canadians replacing the population and almost all from India. Nobody in India plays hockey. Also, the Americanization of hockey has made the game much less interesting than it was prior to 2000. There is no character, no intensity anymore. It's all homogenous and boring.
As a canadian interested in hockey myself, i think more and more people are actually playing the sports in beer leagues tho...and the canadian teams in the NHL in the east having a hard time too...doesnt help. But yeah A LOT more kids are playing soccer these days...it's cheaper, easier to get in etc.
Soccer is not only a cheaper sport but its availability has also exploded much thanks to the semi-pro league 1 doubling in size in Ontario to 25 teams over the last few years plus also expanding to BC and Alberta, which allows many more Canadians to keep playing the game beyond youth level.
A Canadian team must win the Stanley Cup to turn the tide...this has not happened in 20+ yrs. Title-runs create heroes & interest in the sport, and Canadians are starved of this in NHL vs the older generations...
That’s going to be a really tough task, there is a highly unfair disadvantage to playing in Canada, our weather is brutal, and our taxes make the cap space unrealistic, $12 million in Canada is like 8 1/2 in Florida, so you can’t compare And this is an issue that nobody seems to address, not to mention with the ever-growing number of players that are not born in Canada, none of them want to play in Canada so it’s already hard enough to sign people
That's the truth. Basketball has been growing for a while, but the Raptors winning the 2019 Championship inspired SO MANY kids to take up the sport. When our teams are associated with losing, it's hard to bring people in.
As a new immigrant, I want to put my kids into hockey, but there are challenges from finances to lack of programs altogether, not to mention I'd have to spend half my paycheck to take my family to a Canucks game.
As an American, I think that this video is straight up and I think that in the future America will be able to compete if not beat Canada, and that’s great, that being said it makes me sad to imagine a world where Canada is not the heart of hockey because so much of the best times I’ve ever seen have come from Canadian players, and it’s heartbreaking to imagine that it wouldn’t be the sport that Country is most known for. Canada = hockey.
A Russian here. This is sad, guys, Canada is a hockey trailblazer and even thinking about decline if hockey in Canada is kind of depressing. And yes, it is a very expensive sport. I wish my parents could afford it as my hometown Cherepovets has a decent professional team Severstal
your child is not going to make it to the nhl. ... now that that is out of the way, what are you willing to spend on them having fun and learning about team work.
100% support this point. Spend more to make kids well rounded, instead of just glorifying a rubber disc going into a net. I say this as a man who loves hockey but couldn't afford to play until i was in my 20s and had a job to afford to play .
Similar in other sports, my kid might not make the Olympics but will be on a university/college team. The real cost in other sports is coaching & travel.
@@BSimpson-oh8mmand usports is a joke compared to NCAA. Universities can't properly sponsor their teams, just google the arenas American uni teams have and what Canadian university teams have and compare the scale, fuck, playing for hockey team won't even cover your college tuition no matter how good you are
Plenty of reasons for this. Where do we start? No more street hockey? Horrible commercial messages in between games? Boards that advertise and flash and change during game play? Fights over who is worth what? Overpriced tickets? Stupid adds directed at minorities? Cell phone zombies? I could go on and on if I think about it but my head is hurting at this point from just the short list I have above. I would encourage you to go and see house league games played by normal people at regular rinks for free. This is where the heart of it is. Forget product. Its not about that at all its about enjoyment. If your not enjoying the game itself then why bother. Get out to your regular rink and just go for a skate or play pick up.
Sports is a form as entertainment for corporate profit. When stadiums increases ticket prices and TV sports packages then they blackout local tv sports channels is bad business.
@@chickenalaking1319 Until we end up becoming India West and have a billion people. Then, it's goodbye fresh water and hello to millions dying of air pollution.
gotta say no mention of the Kyle beach situation and what happened in 2018 at the world juniors is kind of wild. that deeply impacted the image of hockey Canada and many parents have said no in response to these situations. I would really recommend looking into it
I have seen on UA-cam and elsewhere online a lot of Canadians indicating that the country is becoming what you said, or some other similar words. I'd it that true? Here in America, things have declined, but it seems more a case of far left cities more than anything.
@@willp.8120 sadly our whole country is a far left city. Government taxes us to death in the name of “climate change,” and sends all our money to Ukraine
Another factor that could contribute to the decline is the sexual abuse scandal within Hockey Canada, which really cracked the trust from the public...
It is so sad seeing this way!!! IT'S A CRADLE OF ICE HOCKEY!!! AS A KID IN 1960'and 70s in czechoslovakia I loved watching Czechoslovakia vs Canada!! They were great teams!! I hope Canada hockey will rise to where it should be!!! LOVE from CZECHIA and SLOVAKIA ❤😊
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse. Look at auto racing in Brazil. They used to take home all the F1 trophies before the mid 90s. Now they are not represented at all on the world stage for a long time. Why? Simply put, economy tanked. And while hockey is certainly nowhere near as expensive, with our financial climate, I do feel as if hockey will dwindle in its popularity just as auto racing did in Brazil due to its out of reach affordability. Also kids, mainly immigrant kids, don't really care for hockey. They would rather play basketball or soccer due to media and ties with former countries. It's also infinitely cheaper of course.
Sticks $250 skates $400 gloves $150 Helmet $75 then the rest of equipment Ticket games prices ridiculous It’s too expensive playing and watching it live.
hockey decided about 20, 25 years ago to just go after the 1%. Don't believe me? Go check out the parking lots of ice arenas and tell me what cars you see. Couple that with how boring and unimaginative the NHL is nowadays and this is what you get. Love hockey, hate the NHL.
Recently the Quebec government has set aside money to try and encourage more youth to take up hockey. This is unbelievable. During the era of the Canadien dynasties, you couldn't see a youth in Quebec who didn't play hockey or wear a Montreal sweater. The fact that youth need to be encouraged to take up hockey today is an indication of how far interest in the sport in Quebec has fallen
This is a problem everywhere in the US as well, outside of Minnesota. Their participation numbers continue to grow steadily. I believe that is because they embrace the community based model. Unlike pretty much everywhere else that has gone to the private AAA model, in MN the rinks are almost all owned by the cities they are in. This keeps the ice time cost down, they still put up ODRs that are free to use. The community based associations are non-profit and run by volunteers so they can keep registration costs down. Many association provide the equipment for free until the kids reach 10U(squirts) some associations don't even charge registration fees for kids until they reach 8U or even 10U and pretty much all of them provide financial assistance or scholarships to families that need help. If Canada and the rest of the US want to continue to grow the sport, which directly leads to more fans, they need to get on board with this style of community based non-profit hockey. The NHL and manufactures would be wise to also embrace this and do what they can to help encourage this growth and development. Kind of like MLB did a while back where they started build ball fields around the US.
My mom escaped communist China in the late 70s and had me in Hong Kong. In 1991 as most Hong Kongers are preparing to flee from the Commies again, we flew to Toronto where we would spend most of our lives in. The year was 1993 I was 9. Not knowing much about the Canadian culture at the time, my single mother had to work so I was mostly alone with the TV. I remember this one time the TV showed a clip of Doug Gilmour warp around on Curtis Joesph I was awe by it. I've became the biggest Leaf fan ever since. I'm 46 now and my son is 2. I plan to start hockey for him soon until I saw your video. Back in the 90s, we used to be able to play a lot of great Hockey games like NHL93 on Genesis and NHL96 on the SNES. Those were great fucking games. But ever since I became a PC gamer myself I have completely lost touch with consoles so I don't have access to any NHL games anymore. This is another problem. Sports games has to be more accessible to a wider Audience. None of the EA sports titles ever get released on the PC due to piracy and that fucking sucks. If you want to engage with the younger Audience you gotta include the games.
This was an excellent watch, right on the money especially regarding the media aspect. Hockey Night In Canada has been long overdue for an overhaul of their format. As a diehard fan, ex player Canadian and journalist who works in hockey I would also just add two other things with respect. 1. Parents are less inclined to put their kids in sports like hockey and gridiron football due to the concerns of long term health surrounding head injuries. 2. Hockey players have developed an awful reputation in rural areas especially but throughout the country and dating back to my high school year I've noticed the fall in attendance for local junior teams. The general public is no longer interested in the sport and stories like the recent 2018 team Canada world junior scandal are at the forefront of that phenomena.
Hockey Night in Canada's such a joke. Ron threw Don cherry under the bus over a vague comment.... for what? so he can protect his job when he's a mediocre tv personality? he's decent as an interviewer but anyone could of filled his role during coaches corner with cherry. Ron should pack it in and find something else to do honestly... its time for some new blood.
Ya first Ron agreed with him and then after Cherry got canned Ron did a 180 on his opinion. He’s a CBC puppet. The only reason the little pipsqeak had a job was because of Don.
@@skinnflint that’s all you got to fall back on,use the race theory,so old school!Cherry,did only speak the truth,and you younger people can’t handle it!Thin skinned whiners!!!
When I was a teenager the NHL, run by a bunch of Americans, moved my team from Winnipeg to Phoenix. This happened just as we were starting to get live European soccer on TV so I just became a soccer fan instead. Now that Winnipeg is back I've been trying to get into it again, but it's honestly kinda boring. No atmosphere in the stands (compared to soccer) and the broadcasters are for the most part incredibly dull. Also, the NHL's antiquated broadcast system means that the vast majority of your team's games will be blacked out if you don't live in the same region as your team, even if you pay for cable. The Jets are broadcast on TSN3 and I have TSN3 but I can't watch the Jets because I live out of region, it's pretty insane.
In my opinion as a Canadian the popularity of other sports comes as more and more people immigrate here. If you go to a certain area, the sport kids are playing and watching is highly dependent on the ethnic majority in that area. If you target that Anglo-Franco-Canadian community, the numbers haven’t gone down. But with an immigrant population increase over time, this raises the overall percentages for sport fans while necessarily changing the percentage proportions for each sport. 8:57 yes hockey players are reserved in public. And we believe strongly in this. Good character image is integral to influence our youth. This is a non negotiable. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it. I guess you have to be a Canadian to understand…we don’t want “Hollywood” in our game. That type of stuff is seen as superficial and superfluous. This is a well talked about issue in Canada. It’s why Americans love the “lazer puck” yet no Canadian broadcast will use it. We hate it. You have to understand, we don’t see any need to water the presentation of our game down with frivolities. Our game has a lot of meaning to us that goes far beyond simple entertainment. Let the US have all that stuff if it will help them get with the game. I do believe it is the NHL’s mission to do what it must to sell hockey in the US, and that’s all to the good. But suggesting that we do the same is like injecting an idea into a conversation that’s already been going on for ten years, only you had no idea. Just saying. Canada needs nothing to keep hockey healthy at this point. These stats are a paper tiger. Stats don’t always tell you the truth, be careful how they are interpreted. BTW, congrats to my Nephew Jackson, his team just won their U13 championship 🎉🎉🎉
As an Upstate NYer, I know it cost me $400 to get one kid in to house league hockey pre COVID. Now, I have 3 kids looking to play and dues have more than doubled. I've also seen goalie discount and sibling discounts disappear. The worst part for my area is that the "cheap" house teams are getting smaller as they keep making more "travel" teams. This way they can charge more for the higher completive teams. None of the kids in this area are going anywhere, yet they prey on parents nativity. this isn't including the equipment has gotten more expensive. Equipment that has gotten flimsier so I struggle to find second hand equipment for them as it all falls apart after a couple of seasons.
The majority of the Canadian youth now is becoming non-white. Which is why hockey is on the decline with most young people. Other cultures do not favor hockey as their primary sport of choice.
This is a layman’s answer. There are several factors. 10 years ago even if we had the same amount of immigration, it wouldn’t have lead to a decline in hockey. What’s happening is that with social media, and smart phones it’s easier to follow non localized sports. In other words, people aren’t forced to just have TSN and SN as an option when it comes to sports coverage , where Hockey is king.
@@AndroidAndroidNumberexactly and they use their smart devices to stay connected to their homelands and NOT assimilate to Canadian culture, like hockey.
With the Canadian population being replaced with 1 million immigrants every year, mostly from India, what did you expect? Also, I will say that since hockey spread to the US and they've tried to make it more "American", the game is just plain "boring" now. It's still better than baseball or basketball, but a Stanley Cup final game now has less intensity and physicality now than a regular season game on a Saturday night in December back in 1980. Games no longer have any character. I used to get so excited for the World Juniors every Christmas time... it was as big in Canada as bowl games are in the US. But now, the games also have no intensity, no physicality, no hitting and very little character. The Canadian team can be swapped out for almost any other team and you wouldn't know the difference. It's all homogeneous and bland.
There’s like an aura of elitism in Hockey I feel as well. Every Canadian kid knows that one stuck up Hockey guy who thinks he’s better than anyone because they play Rep and think they’re NHL bound.
I decided WAY,WAY,WAY back in 1970 that the Leafs were going to be my team. I'm 62. I would LOVE to see them FINALLY win another Cup but years ago stopped taking this as seriously as I once did. It simply isn't much of a big deal to me anymore. On here I usually watch tapes of games from the 70s,80s,90s and early to mid 2000s. Great memories. Today's game doesn't grab me much. How do kids' parents afford to stick their kids into the game? I think it may be healthy if its fanbase has shrunk. When I was a kid I was ALWAYS out playing ball hockey,baseball touch football,etc.. I don't see ANYWHERE NEAR as many kids doing this anymore. Video games,I think,have had a big part in this drop in numbers. Ken Dryden claimed in his first book that hockey was more important to Canadians than baseball was to Americans(my Dad disagreed). At the time I agreed with Dryden. Today,I don't. The country's population has a somewhat different mix of nationalities. I think this is a factor as well. It seems that more and more of the younger fans who can legally gamble on games do. Lots of others don't really have a favorite team(I've been around them). I'm done. lol
The father of my boss got 100 years, then my boss (his family live in Toronto since the day of York) Dad you may not see the Maple Leaf win and other cup. He said yes my son but you will not see it the same for your kid and grand kid.
How about this. Bring Don Cherry back. Stop with the blackouts. Make life affordable in Canada again. Stop with every night being "woke theme" night. Get a new NHL commissioner who isn't against Canada. And quit changing the rules so darn much, 3 on 3 overtime for 5 minutes is just dumb. These changes alone would make people interested again.
It's got nothing to do with "woke". From a German-Canadian who had relatives that served in the Wehrmacht in WW2, you're preaching to a Conservative Capitalist system of billionaires, which is responsible for all of the BS and unaffordable living, and such. Blaming "woke" is literally playing the game these billionaires want you to, It's literally what Hitler did to fuel his regime, because a divided people at war with each other because some politician told you to hate some group of people, and you believed that politician's insanity instead of saying "The Nazis told people to hate and persecute minority groups and that it'd make people's lives better because all they needed was to make other's lives worse, and look what happened there!" A middle class that is getting poorer and poorer can't stand against billionaires who covet the money in the treasury. A lesson from the Criminals of the Papal State, Nazis and every other Fascist regime, Capitalism and Conservatism are the biggest weapons the billionaires use against us every day, and you ignore it entirely. Learn about how the Classical Mayan era collapsed, because those were a people who showed what gets done by the people when they realize that it's not left vs right, it's not diversity or immigration or any of that which is the problem, it's the people at the top, telling them "XYZ group is the problem". If you don't want to delve into the history, the civilians essentially made the Royal Families, their soldiers, the priests were all hunted down and killed. The Italians also destroyed European theocracy when they realized that the Papal State was the problem, and not the people the state was torturing to death. And the list goes on.
7:59 I wish hockey players and staff would express themselves more. The coach Tortorella is a league favorite because he always has an attitude and strong personality. Being a Rangers fan, I love watching the player Lafreniere because he has shown to have a fun personality. Through dancing, quirky moves, and making weird faces his personality has hooked many fans. I love the Rangers because the players goof around and have fun with each other. A greater connection to the players is a greater connection to the team.
@@jusnridemey3516 Soccer is huge and an everyman game but it doesn’t have the complications of hockey nor does it require the skill level at professional level. Having said that, Messi is a most creative and exciting player and a huge asset for soccer.
We have a kinda similar situation here in Sweden right now (If not even more severe). Even though Sweden performed relatively well in the last IIHF World Championships the issues here in Sweden are now more visible than ever. Just like Canada and USA kids of middle and low income are getting totally alienated. Also, ice hockey itself here in Sweden in some part has also started to become a predominantly "White upper class sport". Compared to other sports here in Sweden I can go as far as to say that Ice Hockey here in Sweden is the least demographically diverse one. The rate of non-white and non-ethnically Swedish/Scandinavian players are extremely low compared to other sports. Elite clubs in Sweden themselves has admitted that this has started to become a serious problem for them. One person from Malmö Redhawks said that if they fail to recruit youths from low income areas predominantly with parents from "Non-skiing southern warmer countries" in a Sweden that has become more ethnically diverse than ever... The problems will become unimaginable. He's kinda right. Kids from low income and high rate of diaspora community areas tend to choose sports such as Football (Soccer as U guys call it on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean) or Basketball which their parents countries tends to be good at too. I would like to give Turkey, Greece, Republics of the former Yugoslavia (North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia & Slovenia) and Spain as an example here. They're all countries with kinda large populations and have large diaspora communities in "Ice Hockey & Skiing" countries such as Canada, USA, Germany and Sweden. All these southern countries have performed kinda well in Football/Soccer and extremely well in other global sports such as Basketball and Volleyball. Considering that that these last years... Teams from Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Spain have been the dominant ones in European Volleyball and Basketball on both club and national team levels. That probably made Ice Hockey even less attractive to people from "Non-skiing warmer countries" diaspora communities in Canada, USA and Sweden beside the extremely high cost for an Ice Hockey career. Another problem in Sweden is the poor performance from teams from larger cities which has started to cause issues regarding the status value of the Swedish Hockey. In Sweden today... Frölunda is the only team from a large city (Gothenburg) that has performed well in the SHL (The top tier in Sweden) where as Malmö Redhawks continues to struggle in relegation zone battles. All the teams from capital Stockholm are since 2022 in the 2nd tier and has been far from gaining a promotion back to the top tier from the 2nd tier. Those factors has also accelerated the downgrade of Swedish Hockey when the closest top flight team to Stockholm were 200 kilometers away. It's sad but understandable when it's pretty much impossible to manage a hockey team in Stockholm on a sustainable level due to insanely high rent costs for hockey teams even if 30% of the junior hockey in Sweden are played in Stockholm. So yes, this is not a problem only for Canada and USA now. The situation has only got worse here in Sweden these last years :-(.
HOCKEY IS ALREADY diverse enough in North America, plenty of ex-Yu, asians(roberson), Latin(Matthews/Montoya. Immigrants in EU tend to come from the lowest of their communities compared to the much stronger financial/educated strong immigrants in North America.
It is the same in the USA with other sports as well as hockey. The costs make it prohibitive for most families and the owners of professional teams have priced out most fans to see games. If you disinterest the young fans and participants you create something that only the well off and wealthy can be part of. As someone who grew up with the Original Six NHL teams I appreciated how these players of working class origins were able to make to the NHL.
Uh yeah, almost $4000 for top tier gear. Ever one parent has to earn 70K+ a year to afford real hockey training. And 😅 plays a huge part. Plus other sports like basketball, MMA and working out are way cheaper than hockey. Drop the damn price, Bauer, CCM and other brands. Basically he covered it all. If i ever had kids, I'd never put them in serious hockey. Time, travel and price is too much just for a recreational sport. Basketball is massive here. Side note: I've played hockey forever and am 46. Hockeys just too expensive.
There are a lot of factors that go into it. Hockey has always been the most popular sport here followed by Baseball. I do think Canadian teams not winning a Stanley Cup in almost 30 years has some of it. The sport has gotten more expensive whether it be playing or watching. I mean everything has gotten more expensive due to inflation so hopefully thinks go back to normal soon. US development programs are also better than Canadian ones atm.
For comparison: The state of Georgia has 11,029,227 people, and had the NHL for 20 years. As of 2020 Georgia had 2,078 hockey players enrolled. The least populated province Prince Edward Island has 154,331 people - but has 5,557 hockey players enrolled. The least populated state Wyoming has 576,851 people - but has 2,195 hockey players enrolled. Both more than Georgia. - Georgia has less hockey players enrolled than every province in Canada, even the least populated province - Georgia has less hockey players enrolled than all the least populated states in America (less than WY, VT, MT, ME, SD, ND, AK) If hockey is "dying" in Canada, then it is dead period. America CANNOT save hockey. The most diehard hockey state Minnesota has a FRACTION of the hockey players that Canadian provinces have.
You cherry picked a southern state notorious for not supporting an NHL team twice. Of course New England states, upper Midwest and Alaska have more hockey players, because that’s where hockey is most popular.
Good breakdown - it’s multi faceted. I’m a US parent with a kid playing hockey and the biggest headache is definitely cost but my kid loves it so we definitely forgo some things to make it happen. The immigration argument also makes sense - in the short term. The flip side of this is that since hockey is woven into the fabric of Canadian society it may just be hitting an adjustment period. Give it a generation and I can guarantee you’ll start to see some exciting 2nd generation immigrant hockey players come out of Canada - it’s takes time for folks to settle in and I would put money down that you’re going to be surprised at some of the kids who come up 15, 20, 30 years from now out of Canadian hockey. It’s actually a massive opportunity for the sport to grow globally with Canada showcasing players whose parents may have immigrated from non hockey markets. It’s one of the things I enjoy when taking my kid to tournaments in Canada - folks are welcoming and I think this will translate to future hockey growth via expanded demographic exposure as Canada inhales folks from all over the globe.
My teens have no interest, and I've had less and less. Today's NHL is tough to watch, with the elimination of physicality and the increased focus on making the game as fast as possible...it's become a video game version of itself. I often find myself wondering why players are so passive on defense. The game has become riddled with head down toe drags, michigan attempts and awful slow gliding shootouts.
I watched a bit of a game the other day. A forward and defenseman went into the corner and the d man let the other guy have the puck without touching him, which eventually led to a goal. But the d man was back out there in the next shift. I couldn't believe it. I used to be a huge hockey fan, but I can't watch more than 5 minutes now.
No, Bettman and the U.S. television execs/bastards would like nothing better than to turn the NHL into hockey's answer to the NFL ..an all-American League.
The Sunbelt expansion is a hit or miss, sad to say! Vegas is a hit (and it being a very popular vacation destination will ensure there will always be asses in seats at T-Mobile Arena even when the Knights undergo an inevitable rebuild at some point in the future), Phoenix was an unmitigated disaster and am glad the BOG finally put their foot down with Gary Buttman regarding that!
@@mrconfusion87 Phoenix gave Auston Matthews so it’s not a complete failure. Phoenix can work but you need Shane Doan to own the team instead who knows both the area and the game.
Hockey has probably just reached peak saturation of Canadians. The drop off can probably be explained by an increase in population. Look around a lot of canadian cities look like little new delhi or new islamabad, they dont play or care about hockey.
There was a big South Asian Canadian gathering for the Canucks in Surrey so at least they care. Granted they may have been living in Canada for years or are second generation and grew up watching the Canucks.
@@gbalph4 Those are grown up fans who started watching hockey after arriving at Canada, none of them plays hockey and it's likely that none of their kids will, those guys are more into soccer and cricket
Its very interesting to watch the hockey perspective viewed from Canada. Here in Europe we struggle with the same problems only they are magnified in many ways. Here in Oslo,Norway hockey used to be a winter sport for the working class. The unfathomable cost involved entering kids into hockey these days are slowly but surely killing the sport. In a not so resourceful home a kid with 2 fresh legs can enter a football club with affordable dents to the household economy. The choice is simple. My country always sucked in hockey, but in 20 years I would be surprised if we still enter the ice hockey world championships, which we have done with the original hockey nations since its beginning. Hockey is dying here, simple as that
Hockey is in an odd place, theres a disconnect between old time hockey fans, who enjoy the tougher, grittier game of the past, and younger fans who have embraced the flashy, highly skillful, and fast-paced game of today. This also extends to the insiders, media, players, and alumni themselves. This could also be said about the demographics, its been better but the NHL hasn't been the most diverse. The past few years have seen many initiatives (and scandals) that have pushed diversity and inclusion forward, but the NHL really isn't doing itself any favours with how they've handled some of it. The broadcast personalities have gotten better but like you said the ones more popular with younger fans are still relegated to the internet or podcasts. For example, I don't understand why TSN doesn't have its Bardown crew frequently appear on broadcasts as they've got some great content. The regional blackout garbage and how there really isn't an easy, centralized way to stream games definitely hurts the broadcast side of it too. The NHL just doesn't know how to market its players as well and their attempts can get kinda cringey. Tbh, I don't see it getting better until Bettman is gone.
Every facet of hockey is becoming more and more unaffordable to the middle class. How does this surprise anyone when everyone from the equipment manufacturers, to ticketing operators, to Fanatics and the NHL itself, treat the sport as a short term cash grab?
agreed
Welcome to capitalism.
America is a short term cash grab.
@@volh1volh195 govt controlled "capitalism" vs a laissez faire economy
capitalism means external competition in which companies compete for the loyalty of customers. Now they all own each other and are given lucrative government grants. Go to Tim Hortons or Popeyes, $ goes to the same people
Hockey, like baseball, used to be a working-class sport. Now it costs an arm & a leg just to attend games.
Baseball is way more expensive now. When I was young I only had to bring a glove and cup. My kids played last year and they had to buy everything themselves. It's hard to justify trying a sport your kid might not even like if you have to spend hundreds on gear for a 2 month season.
Preach
Had season Tix for 15 yrs can’t afford to go to 1 game now…. Fricking sad. Cause I love me some hockey, playoffs for sure
Even worse, Hockey these days costs an Arm & Leg just to participate.
Correct. Its now Elitist. Like mobile games lol
Its simply too expensive. Only rich kids make it. There are exceptions, but it takes dedicated parents who will mortgage years of their lives on the chance their child makes it.
In 1990 AAA in gta was an upper middle class sport. It’s always been this way.
@@F40-c4i not like today when rents are sky high and cost of living is unsustainable for most.
It's FUBU > For Us By us.
Working class need not apply.
@@F40-c4inah, everything was cheaper and more affordable and the culture/bullying was way less imo.
also there's less families being had and more immigrants with less money
and soccer is exploding.
You didn’t include how Canadian teams haven’t won a cup in 3 decades. And that when you watch hockey it’s all ads about gambling. Those are real things.
Good point
He just mentioned it in his latest short.
Well, it's certainly not because Canadian players have lost their quality or level of play. Every NHL roster is like the U.N. nowadays.
The addition of nothing but teams in the U.S. inevitably lowers the possibility of a non-American team winning the Cup.
There are other factors at work, including speculated preferential officiating on behalf of the American teams and specifically those in the sun belt.
Agreed.
@@FischerFanthe teams are still majority Canadian, if you’re trying to say they aren’t. Yes there’s a little more diversity in nationality but it’s still a Canadian league with teams in America
Promoting street hockey at local levels could help capture youth interest, since it's the affordable option.
For sure. Street hockey/ball hockey is a great way to get into the sport, even if just casually.
Street hockey is how I got into hockey. It's a good option to get people introduced.
I don't see anyone playing street hockey
They tried it in the early 200’s and it didn’t work.
With property values and interest rates where they're at I guarantee one ball cross over a property line and the cops are showing up for a vandalism call. Canada is over, many people are just starting to cope with that.
When you purchase the NHL package and half of your teams' games are blacked out, it's quite frustrating.
Also, 80% of the ads have something to do with gambling.
just like the NBA, MLB and MLS and NLL.
I agree ☝️ regular cable T.V. Which very few can afford any longer offers very little NHL content. Sports in general is doomed with the failing economy.
...meanwhile on streaming sites.... bypass EVERY single blackout for the cost of an ISP plan...
@@Matanumi the value proposition of the Bally sports player is so sooo awful. my team is detroit and i live in the UK so i have to do some serious ninja work to even get the legit games because you have to live in the state (WTF!!) to access their site and then the games are only online for 3 days.. and the player tells you annoying stuff like how long the game is which lets you know that the game either is or isnt going to overtime (kills close games!) compare all that to how someone like me could just stream it off a site for free.
Soccer teams across the world have gambling sites plastered on their jerseys as sponsors, it's not affecting their popularity. It simply has to do with finances. Hockey is like polo, it's a sport for rich people only. For soccer all you need is a field and a ball, you can play it in the poorest countries on the planet easily. That's why its popular around the world, your family's wealth has nothing to do with your accessibility to the sport.
I grew up in the 90s in a lower middle class family. I played hockey every year until I was 15. My school had an ODR that I spent my evenings and weekends on through the winter. The custodian would come in early and flood the rink every morning.
Some of my best memories are on that rink. Playing against the big kids, laying out some big hits, fake fights, my feet being so cold that I had to crawl home. So many good times.
My son has no interest in watching or playing hockey but is obsessed with basketball. At first, I felt a lot of disappointment that he won't have the same experience.
Now I see it as a blessing - he still is passionate about a sport and we don't face the financial burdens that come with playing hockey in the modern era.
It's become a game for kids of the Elites to watch and play.
For now is Basketball but in the future it will be football (soccer). I know because I am part of that generation. You can't match the experience of a game with 45,000 people chanting their hearts out and feeling a sense of community with watching a basketball game, which isnnonlonger that much about the game.
Also, with soccer, if you make it, you do it in the global stage. You do became a supper star. You could play in a team with more fans than people in the USA or Canada. It's just another magnitud.
Thank your lucky stars because it's $40000 a year now on the low end
Now extrapolate that information to analyze how a working class family's kids would have fared while you were able to enjoy that small luxury. Organized hockey has always been expensive, but in the last decade, like many other commodities, has become unattainable (not just unaffordable) for most.
It’s too many grown adults trying to make a living off the sport. Plain and simple
It’s not just the high cost, it’s the culture. It’s become something for rich snobs spoiled children. Poor kids are often bullied, shunned or cut from the team. The hockey set has become a country club. What’s really sad is the fact that so many super talented kids quit for these reasons long before they’ve realized their potential.
It's toxic and douchey essentially.
Yeah but the high cost directly affects the culture, as you said the snobs are really the only ones that can afford to go and play, and the politics are just brutal
Preach
100 percent correct. Well said, well thought. I don’t watch the stupid nhl anymore because that “rich kid” culture is palpable in the way the game is played. Hockey has not been a working man’s game in decades
I saw this in the eighties. Richer parents would promise team uniforms, sticks equipment etc. I used to shovel driveways and cut lawns so I could purchase leaf tickets. Last time at the gardens, they wanted a weeks salary for the privilege of sitting in the nosebleed section.
What about TV rights and being hard to see your favorite team? Just look at r/NHL people complain about blackouts. It's as bad as being an MLB fan in Iowa.
NBA has blackouts aswell. this guy is just a snobby rich tosser
I'm here reserved to watching hockey on a legally questionable site. The only time I pay for a subscription is come playoff season because I can guarantee all of those matches will be shown
@@NoCluYTnot for me in czechia!
Hell, I have this problem in Baltimore cos the Orioles have games exclusively on MASN, which isn't available on any streaming services.
My only chance to watch 'em live is on FOX
@@MarloSoBalJr hello fellow Marylander! This is a problem that the MLB just doesn't understand.
It's sad honestly. I'm a 20-year-old hockey fan and sometimes it feels like I'm the only person my age passionate about this sport. I'm playing hockey in Spain now and the best part is seeing that there are people here who love hockey too
Where do you play?
Hockey in Spain? Brother, where do I sign up?
@@marcussorensen5549 yeah same question 😂 are you in Spain too?
@@lmenus I’m in Spain without the S. Jokes aside, Swedish with some Spanish ancestry. I long for warm weather and siesta, miss playing puck too
What leagues do Spanish fans follow?
I was born and raised just outside Toronto. This is true, as kids and teens the world revolved around the Leafs, how they were doing. Constant topic of convo every day. Now, it’s fallen out of the mainstream, where you only know what’s going on if you are a true support. even in the downtown core you may not even be aware the leafs are playing a big playoff game. The Big Hockey supporters when I was young now have kids that are obsessed with soccer, and they have started to get drawn to the sport also. Soccer was once in the fringe and now it is definitely a top 3 in my opinion. Raptors winning in 2019 also increased the popularity of basketball in the city like crazy. Much more parents prefer to put their kids in soccer than hockey as it’s cheaper and seen as safer
Its all kids in the square outside the ACC...and they all have current player sweaters...you seldom see an Iafrate (like I have) or a Salming, or Sittler anymore..even Gilmour (babysitter) and Sundins are rare.
Us older fans have had enough of the wretched Leaves...
Go Bruins!
As Canada imports more of the third world, expect other sports like soccer and terrorists attacks to continue to grow.
As an American that is a huge hockey fan I was shocked when I started visiting Canada every summer and figured out that most people there don't watch hockey. More fans than the US, but out of my about 6 or 7 friends I've made only 1 watches hockey.
Wrong part of Canada then over 30 Million People watch Hockey in Canada.
@@yourmother1631there’s only 37 million people in Canada. you’re saying only 7 million Canadians don’t watch hockey??
Yes only @@youngsvph7573
All other Sports are irrelevant@@youngsvph7573
Except for Lacrosse@@youngsvph7573
The 2004-2005 NHL lockout also threw hockey’s growth back by at least a decade. It could be a lot higher than where it is now.
And Bettman somehow still has a job after all of these years.
@@ninersdd21 He works for the owners and they have made monumental amounts of money in his 30 year tenure...
It left this fan forever jaded towards the NHL from 12 onwards!
the lockout was the players fault. not the owners
Its the cost of playing .
im from near detroit, grew up in the 80s 90s, love the red wings , always wanted to play hockey, my parents are fairly well off too, but even they didnt want to pay for me and my brothers to play hockey, expensive equipment and ice time, travel, 6 am practices... its too bad its such an expensive sport to play cuz its def the best team sport
If you want expensive try downhill skiing.
As a Canadian, in my neighborhood. Basketball and soccer are the favorites.
Whats the demographic of your neighborhood?
@@brentmac6342 Mostly Indian
@@Evan-hockputerbingo
@@asliketheson Well, I don't mostly see them play cricket.
@@Evan-hockputertry going to brampton.. crickets the main sport there
I have a theory that Wayne Gretzky's aww shucks modesty had a huge effect on how interesting players can be. In the 70s and 80s you had a lot of guys with huge personalities but it plummeted by the late 90s and 2000s. Now if someone even dares to wear the number 66 it's somehow insulting to greats of the past.
A necessary but significant change was making helmets mandatory. Players look a lot more homogenous than the days of guys with huge hairdos flapping in the wind and crazy facial hair. The Minnesota high school all hockey hair team is one of the more consistently viral videos in the modern age.
yeah that’s true. Hockey players just don’t stand out and most of them are every boring. the NBA is very famous because it’s a league full of superstars. even if you don’t watch basketball you still know about Lebron James, Steph Curry, Kyrie Irving, Kawhi Leonard, Giannis and other players. but the majority of people who don’t watch hockey can’t name a single player except for Gretzky. and some young people don’t even know who Gretzky is cuz they weren’t alive when he was playing.
@@youngsvph7573 NHL players are boring AF.
NHL players arent fake tho. They are not boring at all. As said by Perlini on his YT channel, he said that McDavid was actually very funny irl and had dry humor. Which is not the things you see in media.
@@milanek1527 Maybe but most don't see that.
When I think of big personalities, I think of guys like Patrick Roy, Jeremy Roenick and Brett Hull. Guys who talked big and could back it up. NHL players now are normally really modest, but somewhat bland in personality.
Hockey in Canada is becoming unaffordable, highly unpopular and other stuff. Bettman doesn’t try to promote the game here yet it’s still better known in Canada then the us
Canada has officially priced itself out of its own game, I went to buy a stick just the other week, I couldn’t find one for under $180, that’s insane, not to mention in southern Ontario we don’t get the winters that we used to so you don’t even get free ice in the winter anymore Forcing you to have to pay to play, plus how Canada handled Covid also really hurt, you basically didn’t have hockey for a year or two, that had a big affect especially to a kid growing up wanting to play and had to choose different sports
5030s are $40 at sportchek!
...in southcoast BC we just played roller or street hockey instead
Lets face it. Newcomers to Canada and also most, not all, p o c are not into hockey. They would rather identify with a game that is more universal or common from their home land.
@@gangstadrz9326 what is a poc?
I remember sticks used to be $20 -$30. I still use wood.
Not a single Canadian NHL team has won the Stanley Cup since the 1992-93 Canadiens, which cemented its decline.
I'm Canadian and I'm a Boston Bruins fan. Lots of Canadians are U.S. based teams fans.
@@johnbrowne2170 a canadian Bruins fan ? So edgy ! How fkup and confused of a human beeing can you be ?
It is because Bettman was brought in to GROW the game business wise for the NHL
across the 🇺🇸 USA, and NOT further in 🇨🇦 . It has gotten worse every year since Bettman got into office. Pro sports are corrupted just like Boxing now sadly.
Canadian teams face an ever greater financial hardship competing against American 🇺🇸 hockey teams in many ways.
For example, if an American boy (USA team) & Canadian boy (Canadian team) play a boardgame in a best-of-seven games against each other,
and the Banker (Bettman & NHL) give the American player between $2000- $3000 in monopoly money per game to start with, and only $500-$900 to the Canadian player per game to begin with, then the odds of the Canadian boy winning a best of seven game series of monopoly against the American drops to almost NIL.
The business side has overtaken the sports side and Canadians pay for overpriced tickets to Canadian teams that play against American team markets, with a 30-40% US-Cdn dollar exchange rate, etc.
They need to change things quick or it will get worse.
Oddly enough, that was the year commissioner Gary Bettman entered the league. Coincidence?
@@johnbrowne2170 you're a peace of spit
Grew up playing some aaa but mostly aa, in Saskatchewan with my single dad paying every single year. I’m now 28, don’t have a degree, pretty middle class job, solid relationship, not a chance my future kid is playing hockey, and it breaks my heart. Just so expensive on top of everything else in this country rn.
My grandfather told me stories of the 1950s when hockey practices were played on frozen lakes and a league cost $12 per season to play, plus skates and a stick. Only the final tournaments would be held in an indoor ice rink, and the city only had ONE single indoor ice sheet at the time (located on and shared with the military base, now long gone). Fast-forward to the present where fees are $5000 per year plus much more equipment than was used back then. No outdoor games are played anymore, and that same city now has 12 indoor ice surfaces.
I would argue the rise of streaming impacts television viewership. In addition, COVID played a major part in decline in sport participation in general. Soccer, for instance, once was the king of child participation. Registration has declined rapidly since COVID. From what I've observed, hockey is very expensive and families are participating. However, most clubs provide equipment, registration and resources for those in lower incomes. It's more than a trend.
everything you said is 100% true
Hockey: Entertaining
Hockey people: Lame
It's a rich people sport, the culture is offputting, insanely boring players/broadcasters/personalities, everyone in hockey is old, the references they make are old, the music they play is old, everything is just OLD, the NHL's presence on the internet is zero, no Canadian teams winning/worth talking about, hockey isn't viewed as "cool" like basketball or European soccer leagues are, cost of play is insane, most people are blocked out of the sport by the cost alone, and the NHL are the worst marketers in the world.
bingo
Reminds me of the 94 playoff ad campaigns that featured the slogan "cup crazy", which was a play on words over a ten year old Prince song. 🤦♂️
Why isn’t it considered cool?
Self hating white liberal??
So if that's the case. Why aren't the rich middle class immigrant communities so enthusiastic about hockey ?
As a guy who has played hockey since he was 4 in St. Paul. I grew up in a middle/lower class family and I never had the newest gear and it was always a struggle for my family to afford it. It was really bad when I played goalie in middle school and really really bad in high school. And things just get more and more expensive and kids want the newest gear every time so I think that might be a reason and also the NHL marketing is absolutely horrendous. Plus there’s a massive stigma about health concerns which idk if most are true and people just get so very afraid of it. My parents didn’t really care they just wanted me to have fun and from my experience most kids nowadays don’t want to play a sport anymore and rather game or anything else lol
Well please don’t get sucked in the play in the house stuff. Street Hockey is still big where I’m at. And I’m 57…. The kids call me Coffee cause I wear a Paul Coffee Sweater from red wing days. I have a blast
Concussions are no joke. I've had more than my fair share just living life. It's hard to measure how such things can hold a person back in life, but considering what we know now, it seems there are better ways to exercise and nurture teamwork. Plus, that money could be used more constructively.
Our demographics are changing. The new Canadian kids don't relate to hockey players and prefer the NBA instead. The hockey league in Scarborough shut down over 30 years sgo because if a lack if players.
Yep, basketball and soccer. Then you have lobby groups led by people like Kim Davis who insist the NHL has a 'lack of diversity problem'. It doesn't. It was created to showcase the best hockey players in the world. The day the NHL has quotas imposed on its player pool is the day the league collapses.
the demographics changing is not the important part, the existing hockey culture and how exclusive it is towards 'good ol whiteboy' Canadians was the greatest mistake of hockey culture. Don cherry (i dont even hate the guy and i dont think he should have lost his job) was championed as one of the main respected voices of the sport yet he was notoriously xenophobic, he was consistently rewarded and celebrated for that. all the kids before practice would talk about don cherry, laugh at what he said and admire his takes. things like that among other things have encouraged + perpetuated the rich, stuck up, pompous attitude of hockey culture; which immigrant kids will never feel connected to as something more grassroots like soccer or basketball.
@@FischerFan dont be ridiculous, no one is arguing for a diversity quota in hockey and they certainly arent talking about changing meritocracy or reducing the skill of the league. they are being politically correct and really they are stating that only a certain type of rich white folk play the sport and maybe if there was outreach to less fortunate minorities, the sport might become more popular with different groups. the 'lack of diversity' has pigeon holed the sport into a niche community of rich white folk. if you want to keep your sport exclusive and homogenous then dont complain about any of the sports short comings because you did it to yourselves.
@@VojvodaSloboda Don wasn't just racist against non white folks, you could argue he's been way more racist towards french canadians if anything.
@@TokyoBalletReprisenot to mention he hates almost every euro player
For the cheapest ticket to see the leafs play is $120. That's in the nose bleed section. Better off staying home and watching it on tv. For the same price you can get lower bowl seat to watch the red wings play. Nose bleed is $50..
I don’t know about that. I payed 100 a tix last wings game I went to…. Last yr
They should pay people to watch fhe Leafs not vice versa
$120.00 Canadian?
I remember the 2003/2004 world junior finals. I was in high school and all classes were put on hold and the entire school piled into the cafeteria and they broadcasted the game onto a projector. I wonder if Canadian high schools would do the same today?
No lol
not a god damn chance- you have to seak it on your own.
ESPICALLY if Canada is NOT in the Finals....
I'd be shocked if schools would pause for the Olympics now.
@@Matanumi schools don’t even pause for the wc
if canada was in the gold medal game in the olympics they would watch it
The 2004 World Junior gold medal game? That was the game in which Marc-Andre Fleury pulled a Steve Smith, was it not? The only difference is, the roles were reversed!
What an amazing video. The research that went into this and the data you shared is incredible and eye opening. I love how you including the path other sports leagues have gone to make efforts to attract fans to their sport. When intermission comes on during an NHL telecast I find something else to do for those 15 mins. It’s dull and you showcased that in a polite way. Well put together video. Very insightful stuff. Thank you.
For Canadian kids. Their only hope growing up to be a successful sports player was hockey. They got all the recognition on TV and were super successful. Now, Canadians are producing good basketball players. The Canadian basketball team took third place in the FIBA World Cup. I say in the next 15 years Soccer will take over the most popular sport over Hockey. The young Canadian superstar all young Canadians look up to is Alphonso Davies. He went from playing MLS soccer with the Vancouver Whitecaps to playing on one of the greatest soccer teams in the world, Bayern Munich. This shows Candian kids that you can make it in other sports. You can be the next Alphonso Davies. I see the CanMNT being super competitive in Concacaf and qualifying for World Cups. Maybe the next biggest Concacaf rivalry will be the USA vs. Canada.
Underrated comment.
It will be a tri-national rivalry between Canada, USA, and Mexico! 🤣⚽️
You hit the nail on the head + 1 of 3 MVP candidates in the NBA SGA is Canadian, Canada seems like a really underrated country full of talanted athletes who probably would lift hockey to higher heights if it weren't for the cost of playing.
@@alexanderjohansson6928 yes. you're missing out on top tier talent cause rich white people are the only ones that can afford this game
I came from Mexico and I support Canadian soccer every time I can. I think the national team advanced a lot the last few years and now is competitive I'm sure Canada will perform well in the next "Copa America"... I already have my Canadian jersey
This is not a new issue. The proportion of Canadians in the NHL hasn't been a majority for a pretty long time (and it used to be over 90%, back before the league expanded to 12 teams from 6). It is in the low 40% range now, and will likely continue to decrease. Canadians still make up the plurality of NHL players, and that is not likely to change for a long time, if ever. But the counter-argument is that other nations have correspondingly seen investment in hockey pay off - places like Germany, Latvia and Austria consistently compete at the top level of the international adult game, and they even win the occasional medal (which was unheard of twenty years ago)...their contribution of players to the NHL continues to increase. So at the highest level, the sport is becoming more international, and I think this is, on balance, fairly positive, as it means that as the popularity of ice hockey waxes and wanes in any particular country, there are other nations picking up the slack and sustaining it.
But make no mistake, hockey is still the sport that most Canadian youth watch above all others, and while adult immigrants may not be ready to embrace a new sport, their children (who want to fit in and become culturally Canadian) will. These kids may not immediately want to PLAY hockey, but if they show curiosity for the sport, the cost of skating lessons is still relatively affordable (plus it's good exercise, and can be a family activity!), and those who show aptitude for skating can be supported by the community in taking up hockey. For example, there are initiatives involving current and former NHL players to provide both equipment, and money for facility use and training, making the sport more affordable. And it is at the youngest levels that this investment will have the most impact, as the more kids participate, the more chance there will be for kids (be they children of immigrants or not) who have a natural talent in the sport to develop that talent, be identified as particularly talented, and gain further support in their teenage years. It doesn't matter if 90% of the kids who play organized hockey as little kids stop when they're 11 or 12 (or decide to play cheaper, less organized forms, just for fun) as long as the ones who really have a shot to play professionally keep going (should they choose to).
As for the popularity of the sport as an entertainment product, that concerns me a bit more, because the NHL has been consistently clueless as to how they can better market this product. They swing between sticking their heads in the sand (doubling down on strategies that will only appeal to the most diehard of existing fans), and embracing truly nutty ideas that might cause a handful of total n00bs to pay attention (for a little while at least) while totally alienating their actual fanbase. Personally, I think that hockey in Canada used to rely on its cultural ubiquity to maintain its popularity - there wasn't anything else to care about, and so the sport basically sold itself. Now, there is a massive selection of entertainment options to choose from.
I am no expert, but I think that a good start to gaining and keeping fans is making it WAY easier for anyone, anywhere, to follow one specific team. For example, it is nigh-on impossible at present for a person in Calgary to (legally) watch every single Carolina Hurricanes game (for example), unless they buy a subscription that includes access to EVERY NHL game (at a premium price). This is RIDICULOUS. How hard would it be to partner with one of the many streaming services, allowing any subscriber to automatically gain free access to a NHL team of their choice's entire season as part of their subscription? That would drive up subscription numbers for that service, and it would also enable non-hockey fans, no matter where they are in the world, to pick a team to follow (most won't, but some will!). Also, some networks still enforce local blackouts, because teams feel that a game that is accessible on television locally will not sell as many tickets. But the NHL needs to realize that the in-person, live product they're selling is VERY different to the televised version, and make the extra experience of the live event worth the cost, while still understanding that it's not an either-or scenario...most of the people watching the game on television would NEVER have bought a ticket. All they're doing in blacking out a game is screwing over fans, and losing potential fans. These are just a couple of the ways the NHL is shooting itself in the foot, ones that are obvious to anyone who is even peripherally aware of the situation.
Cost and changing demographics/immigration. Surprised you had the courage to mention that!
Canadians voted to replace themselves. They get no sympathy from me.
Bingo
@@Rolie- Immigration is the #1 reason for this downfall and yes, he failed to mention this. 1 million new Canadians replacing the population and almost all from India. Nobody in India plays hockey.
Also, the Americanization of hockey has made the game much less interesting than it was prior to 2000. There is no character, no intensity anymore. It's all homogenous and boring.
@@77dris💯
except soccer is even worse run than hockey. the NHL is the NFL compared to MLS.
As a canadian interested in hockey myself, i think more and more people are actually playing the sports in beer leagues tho...and the canadian teams in the NHL in the east having a hard time too...doesnt help. But yeah A LOT more kids are playing soccer these days...it's cheaper, easier to get in etc.
Soccer is not only a cheaper sport but its availability has also exploded much thanks to the semi-pro league 1 doubling in size in Ontario to 25 teams over the last few years plus also expanding to BC and Alberta, which allows many more Canadians to keep playing the game beyond youth level.
Also, not having a Canadian team winning the cup for 3 decades will also make Canadians become disinterested.
A Canadian team must win the Stanley Cup to turn the tide...this has not happened in 20+ yrs. Title-runs create heroes & interest in the sport, and Canadians are starved of this in NHL vs the older generations...
30 years now.
That’s going to be a really tough task, there is a highly unfair disadvantage to playing in Canada, our weather is brutal, and our taxes make the cap space unrealistic, $12 million in Canada is like 8 1/2 in Florida, so you can’t compare And this is an issue that nobody seems to address, not to mention with the ever-growing number of players that are not born in Canada, none of them want to play in Canada so it’s already hard enough to sign people
That's the truth. Basketball has been growing for a while, but the Raptors winning the 2019 Championship inspired SO MANY kids to take up the sport. When our teams are associated with losing, it's hard to bring people in.
@@chrislaverick6413 In a just universe the NHL would be Canadian and extend into the US slowly...unfortunately, that'll never be the case lol
@@dunnowy123 yeah man, like imagine playing in winnipeg? worst weather, high crime, and high taxes? i rather play in arizona
Those red/white graphics are pretty confusing
Don Cherry being fired and the cRaptors winning the championship is the main reasons why.
Go Woke Go Broke.
I doubt younger viewers were interested in watching Don Cherry's intermission program.
@@edlawn5481 Yep, just like Disney!
As a new immigrant, I want to put my kids into hockey, but there are challenges from finances to lack of programs altogether, not to mention I'd have to spend half my paycheck to take my family to a Canucks game.
I think that lack of success aof Canadian NHL teams is also a factor.
As an American, I think that this video is straight up and I think that in the future America will be able to compete if not beat Canada, and that’s great, that being said it makes me sad to imagine a world where Canada is not the heart of hockey because so much of the best times I’ve ever seen have come from Canadian players, and it’s heartbreaking to imagine that it wouldn’t be the sport that Country is most known for. Canada = hockey.
A Russian here. This is sad, guys, Canada is a hockey trailblazer and even thinking about decline if hockey in Canada is kind of depressing.
And yes, it is a very expensive sport. I wish my parents could afford it as my hometown Cherepovets has a decent professional team Severstal
your child is not going to make it to the nhl. ... now that that is out of the way, what are you willing to spend on them having fun and learning about team work.
100% support this point. Spend more to make kids well rounded, instead of just glorifying a rubber disc going into a net. I say this as a man who loves hockey but couldn't afford to play until i was in my 20s and had a job to afford to play .
Similar in other sports, my kid might not make the Olympics but will be on a university/college team.
The real cost in other sports is coaching & travel.
@@BSimpson-oh8mmand usports is a joke compared to NCAA. Universities can't properly sponsor their teams, just google the arenas American uni teams have and what Canadian university teams have and compare the scale, fuck, playing for hockey team won't even cover your college tuition no matter how good you are
This is 100% true.
My nephew plays AAA in Guelph. It costs 16k a year to play.
Americans don't even know who Connor McDavid is , great job Gary 👍
I'm american...and I do ...and I love this sport ...and if you don't like that ...Kiss my ass.
Seeing how you named him McJesus, then promote him on the religious networks here.
What the heck does "Teenagers vs Today" mean in terms of time frame / demographics?
Plenty of reasons for this. Where do we start? No more street hockey? Horrible commercial messages in between games? Boards that advertise and flash and change during game play? Fights over who is worth what? Overpriced tickets? Stupid adds directed at minorities? Cell phone zombies? I could go on and on if I think about it but my head is hurting at this point from just the short list I have above. I would encourage you to go and see house league games played by normal people at regular rinks for free. This is where the heart of it is. Forget product. Its not about that at all its about enjoyment. If your not enjoying the game itself then why bother. Get out to your regular rink and just go for a skate or play pick up.
Yep. Gretzky and Mc D pushing online gambling at every break is sickening.
Just couldn’t hide your racism, huh?
Couldn’t hide your racism, huh? It’s people like YOU why it’s dying.
@@Beefsupreme63 oh well that's just sportsbetting getting out of hand.
Well said.
Sports is a form as entertainment for corporate profit. When stadiums increases ticket prices and TV sports packages then they blackout local tv sports channels is bad business.
Next video: “Is Canada becoming a cricket powerhouse?”
@Hadc577Hahah!! cricket is fastest growing sport in Canada, cricket is going to become national sport of Canada
@Hadc577 fastest growing sport in Canada too hahahahahahah
When you decide to turn your country into an Indian colony, that's what happens.
Don't be a doomer, it's not so bad. Just remember, the good guys won in 45'.
@@chickenalaking1319 Until we end up becoming India West and have a billion people. Then, it's goodbye fresh water and hello to millions dying of air pollution.
gotta say no mention of the Kyle beach situation and what happened in 2018 at the world juniors is kind of wild. that deeply impacted the image of hockey Canada and many parents have said no in response to these situations. I would really recommend looking into it
I can’t afford to take my kids to McDonald’s let alone enrol them in hockey. This country is 💩
I have seen on UA-cam and elsewhere online a lot of Canadians indicating that the country is becoming what you said, or some other similar words. I'd it that true? Here in America, things have declined, but it seems more a case of far left cities more than anything.
@@willp.8120 sadly our whole country is a far left city. Government taxes us to death in the name of “climate change,” and sends all our money to Ukraine
@@willp.8120 ya all canada been messed up after 8 years of liberal party and trudeau
Welcome to Canuckistan
Another factor that could contribute to the decline is the sexual abuse scandal within Hockey Canada, which really cracked the trust from the public...
That's like blaming the school when a kid is bullied. Blame the kids, or MAYBE the teachers.
@@nicko9046 The thing is that Hockey Canada paid off the victims to keep them quiet and avoid bad publicity.
It is so sad seeing this way!!! IT'S A CRADLE OF ICE HOCKEY!!! AS A KID IN 1960'and 70s in czechoslovakia I loved watching Czechoslovakia vs Canada!! They were great teams!! I hope Canada hockey will rise to where it should be!!! LOVE from CZECHIA and SLOVAKIA ❤😊
I wouldn't be surprised if it gets worse. Look at auto racing in Brazil. They used to take home all the F1 trophies before the mid 90s. Now they are not represented at all on the world stage for a long time. Why? Simply put, economy tanked. And while hockey is certainly nowhere near as expensive, with our financial climate, I do feel as if hockey will dwindle in its popularity just as auto racing did in Brazil due to its out of reach affordability. Also kids, mainly immigrant kids, don't really care for hockey. They would rather play basketball or soccer due to media and ties with former countries. It's also infinitely cheaper of course.
This isn't just hockey. It's every sport, it's every movie, it's every video game, every car, every meal. Either it sucks, is too expensive, or both.
Sticks $250 skates $400 gloves $150
Helmet $75 then the rest of equipment
Ticket games prices ridiculous
It’s too expensive playing and watching it live.
hockey decided about 20, 25 years ago to just go after the 1%. Don't believe me? Go check out the parking lots of ice arenas and tell me what cars you see. Couple that with how boring and unimaginative the NHL is nowadays and this is what you get. Love hockey, hate the NHL.
Recently the Quebec government has set aside money to try and encourage more youth to take up hockey. This is unbelievable. During the era of the Canadien dynasties, you couldn't see a youth in Quebec who didn't play hockey or wear a Montreal sweater. The fact that youth need to be encouraged to take up hockey today is an indication of how far interest in the sport in Quebec has fallen
This is a problem everywhere in the US as well, outside of Minnesota. Their participation numbers continue to grow steadily. I believe that is because they embrace the community based model. Unlike pretty much everywhere else that has gone to the private AAA model, in MN the rinks are almost all owned by the cities they are in. This keeps the ice time cost down, they still put up ODRs that are free to use. The community based associations are non-profit and run by volunteers so they can keep registration costs down. Many association provide the equipment for free until the kids reach 10U(squirts) some associations don't even charge registration fees for kids until they reach 8U or even 10U and pretty much all of them provide financial assistance or scholarships to families that need help. If Canada and the rest of the US want to continue to grow the sport, which directly leads to more fans, they need to get on board with this style of community based non-profit hockey. The NHL and manufactures would be wise to also embrace this and do what they can to help encourage this growth and development. Kind of like MLB did a while back where they started build ball fields around the US.
I do not watch or go to any baseball or football games any more and have no use for basketball, but I still follow hockey.
My mom escaped communist China in the late 70s and had me in Hong Kong. In 1991 as most Hong Kongers are preparing to flee from the Commies again, we flew to Toronto where we would spend most of our lives in.
The year was 1993 I was 9. Not knowing much about the Canadian culture at the time, my single mother had to work so I was mostly alone with the TV. I remember this one time the TV showed a clip of Doug Gilmour warp around on Curtis Joesph I was awe by it. I've became the biggest Leaf fan ever since.
I'm 46 now and my son is 2. I plan to start hockey for him soon until I saw your video.
Back in the 90s, we used to be able to play a lot of great Hockey games like NHL93 on Genesis and NHL96 on the SNES. Those were great fucking games. But ever since I became a PC gamer myself I have completely lost touch with consoles so I don't have access to any NHL games anymore.
This is another problem. Sports games has to be more accessible to a wider Audience. None of the EA sports titles ever get released on the PC due to piracy and that fucking sucks. If you want to engage with the younger Audience you gotta include the games.
Now China looks like a country that is building towards the future while the Western countries look run down, cracked and decaying.
This was an excellent watch, right on the money especially regarding the media aspect. Hockey Night In Canada has been long overdue for an overhaul of their format. As a diehard fan, ex player Canadian and journalist who works in hockey I would also just add two other things with respect.
1. Parents are less inclined to put their kids in sports like hockey and gridiron football due to the concerns of long term health surrounding head injuries.
2. Hockey players have developed an awful reputation in rural areas especially but throughout the country and dating back to my high school year I've noticed the fall in attendance for local junior teams. The general public is no longer interested in the sport and stories like the recent 2018 team Canada world junior scandal are at the forefront of that phenomena.
Hockey Night in Canada's such a joke. Ron threw Don cherry under the bus over a vague comment.... for what? so he can protect his job when he's a mediocre tv personality? he's decent as an interviewer but anyone could of filled his role during coaches corner with cherry.
Ron should pack it in and find something else to do honestly... its time for some new blood.
Ya first Ron agreed with him and then after Cherry got canned Ron did a 180 on his opinion. He’s a CBC puppet. The only reason the little pipsqeak had a job was because of Don.
Don Cherry racist dinosaur
@@skinnflint that’s all you got to fall back on,use the race theory,so old school!Cherry,did only speak the truth,and you younger people can’t handle it!Thin skinned whiners!!!
@@skinnflint Only to the politically correct and the CBC minions.
@@skinnflint Don Cherry speaks truths that hurt liberal ideology.
When I was a teenager the NHL, run by a bunch of Americans, moved my team from Winnipeg to Phoenix. This happened just as we were starting to get live European soccer on TV so I just became a soccer fan instead. Now that Winnipeg is back I've been trying to get into it again, but it's honestly kinda boring. No atmosphere in the stands (compared to soccer) and the broadcasters are for the most part incredibly dull. Also, the NHL's antiquated broadcast system means that the vast majority of your team's games will be blacked out if you don't live in the same region as your team, even if you pay for cable. The Jets are broadcast on TSN3 and I have TSN3 but I can't watch the Jets because I live out of region, it's pretty insane.
Hockey sucks now. Gotta take out a loan just to go to a game. Total crap
It's cheaper to go to Disneyland
In my opinion as a Canadian the popularity of other sports comes as more and more people immigrate here.
If you go to a certain area, the sport kids are playing and watching is highly dependent on the ethnic majority in that area.
If you target that Anglo-Franco-Canadian community, the numbers haven’t gone down.
But with an immigrant population increase over time, this raises the overall percentages for sport fans while necessarily changing the percentage proportions for each sport.
8:57 yes hockey players are reserved in public. And we believe strongly in this. Good character image is integral to influence our youth. This is a non negotiable. If you don’t get it, you don’t get it.
I guess you have to be
a Canadian to understand…we don’t want “Hollywood” in our game. That type of stuff is seen as superficial and superfluous. This is a well talked about issue in Canada. It’s why Americans love the “lazer puck” yet no Canadian broadcast will use it. We hate it.
You have to understand, we don’t see any need to water the presentation of our game down with frivolities. Our game has a lot of meaning to us that goes far beyond simple entertainment.
Let the US have all that stuff if it will help them get with the game. I do believe it is the NHL’s mission to do what it must to sell hockey in the US, and that’s all to the good. But suggesting that we do the same is like injecting an idea into a conversation that’s already been going on for ten years, only you had no idea. Just saying.
Canada needs nothing to keep hockey healthy at this point. These stats are a paper tiger. Stats don’t always tell you the truth, be careful how they are interpreted.
BTW, congrats to my Nephew Jackson, his team just won their U13 championship 🎉🎉🎉
1.4 birth rate that’s why
USA isn't much better. 1.6
South Korea is at 0.5.
#kalergi
As an Upstate NYer, I know it cost me $400 to get one kid in to house league hockey pre COVID. Now, I have 3 kids looking to play and dues have more than doubled. I've also seen goalie discount and sibling discounts disappear. The worst part for my area is that the "cheap" house teams are getting smaller as they keep making more "travel" teams. This way they can charge more for the higher completive teams. None of the kids in this area are going anywhere, yet they prey on parents nativity.
this isn't including the equipment has gotten more expensive. Equipment that has gotten flimsier so I struggle to find second hand equipment for them as it all falls apart after a couple of seasons.
Might have something to do with the population being rapidly replaced by people who are not hockey fans? Geniuses.
Oy gevalt, stop noticing!!!
I dont know man, hockey is way too expensive for me to play it lol
The majority of the Canadian youth now is becoming non-white. Which is why hockey is on the decline with most young people. Other cultures do not favor hockey as their primary sport of choice.
You are 100% correct, Canada is done
This is a layman’s answer. There are several factors. 10 years ago even if we had the same amount of immigration, it wouldn’t have lead to a decline in hockey. What’s happening is that with social media, and smart phones it’s easier to follow non localized sports. In other words, people aren’t forced to just have TSN and SN as an option when it comes to sports coverage , where Hockey is king.
They are already struggling to produce NHL quality goaltenders.
@@AndroidAndroidNumberexactly and they use their smart devices to stay connected to their homelands and NOT assimilate to Canadian culture, like hockey.
@@tkkapego cry in a corner, bigot
We’re too broke. We can barely afford our groceries. Hockey is ridiculously expensive. Soccer/baseball is way cheaper.
You are also becoming the minority in your own country like many other white countries
With the Canadian population being replaced with 1 million immigrants every year, mostly from India, what did you expect? Also, I will say that since hockey spread to the US and they've tried to make it more "American", the game is just plain "boring" now. It's still better than baseball or basketball, but a Stanley Cup final game now has less intensity and physicality now than a regular season game on a Saturday night in December back in 1980. Games no longer have any character.
I used to get so excited for the World Juniors every Christmas time... it was as big in Canada as bowl games are in the US. But now, the games also have no intensity, no physicality, no hitting and very little character. The Canadian team can be swapped out for almost any other team and you wouldn't know the difference. It's all homogeneous and bland.
There’s like an aura of elitism in Hockey I feel as well. Every Canadian kid knows that one stuck up Hockey guy who thinks he’s better than anyone because they play Rep and think they’re NHL bound.
Only kids who can afford to play are the children of retired stars like Keith Tkachuk.
@@chickenalaking1319cricket 🏏
I decided WAY,WAY,WAY back in 1970 that the Leafs were going to be my team. I'm 62. I would LOVE to see them FINALLY win another Cup but years ago stopped taking this as seriously as I once did. It simply isn't much of a big deal to me anymore. On here I usually watch tapes of games from the 70s,80s,90s and early to mid 2000s. Great memories. Today's game doesn't grab me much. How do kids' parents afford to stick their kids into the game? I think it may be healthy if its fanbase has shrunk. When I was a kid I was ALWAYS out playing ball hockey,baseball touch football,etc.. I don't see ANYWHERE NEAR as many kids doing this anymore. Video games,I think,have had a big part in this drop in numbers. Ken Dryden claimed in his first book that hockey was more important to Canadians than baseball was to Americans(my Dad disagreed). At the time I agreed with Dryden. Today,I don't. The country's population has a somewhat different mix of nationalities. I think this is a factor as well. It seems that more and more of the younger fans who can legally gamble on games do. Lots of others don't really have a favorite team(I've been around them). I'm done. lol
The father of my boss got 100 years, then my boss (his family live in Toronto since the day of York) Dad you may not see the Maple Leaf win and other cup. He said yes my son but you will not see it the same for your kid and grand kid.
Very possible. Yes. The Cubs waited 109 years for another World Series title;however,this doesn't mean it's the Leafs' ''turn.''
How about this. Bring Don Cherry back. Stop with the blackouts. Make life affordable in Canada again. Stop with every night being "woke theme" night. Get a new NHL commissioner who isn't against Canada. And quit changing the rules so darn much, 3 on 3 overtime for 5 minutes is just dumb.
These changes alone would make people interested again.
@@wuhx7 Says you.
@@wuhx7 It will bring back true hockey fans. We just need to defund the CBC first.
It's got nothing to do with "woke". From a German-Canadian who had relatives that served in the Wehrmacht in WW2, you're preaching to a Conservative Capitalist system of billionaires, which is responsible for all of the BS and unaffordable living, and such. Blaming "woke" is literally playing the game these billionaires want you to, It's literally what Hitler did to fuel his regime, because a divided people at war with each other because some politician told you to hate some group of people, and you believed that politician's insanity instead of saying "The Nazis told people to hate and persecute minority groups and that it'd make people's lives better because all they needed was to make other's lives worse, and look what happened there!" A middle class that is getting poorer and poorer can't stand against billionaires who covet the money in the treasury.
A lesson from the Criminals of the Papal State, Nazis and every other Fascist regime, Capitalism and Conservatism are the biggest weapons the billionaires use against us every day, and you ignore it entirely. Learn about how the Classical Mayan era collapsed, because those were a people who showed what gets done by the people when they realize that it's not left vs right, it's not diversity or immigration or any of that which is the problem, it's the people at the top, telling them "XYZ group is the problem". If you don't want to delve into the history, the civilians essentially made the Royal Families, their soldiers, the priests were all hunted down and killed. The Italians also destroyed European theocracy when they realized that the Papal State was the problem, and not the people the state was torturing to death. And the list goes on.
The "Woke" theme thing is one of the biggest things here. People are sick of politics being injected into their sports
If Cherry wasn't 90, I'd agree. Bret Hart would be epic in Cherry's old spot.
7:59 I wish hockey players and staff would express themselves more. The coach Tortorella is a league favorite because he always has an attitude and strong personality. Being a Rangers fan, I love watching the player Lafreniere because he has shown to have a fun personality. Through dancing, quirky moves, and making weird faces his personality has hooked many fans. I love the Rangers because the players goof around and have fun with each other. A greater connection to the players is a greater connection to the team.
What does Taylor Swift and Canadian hockey have in common?
OVEREXPOSURE 🤦♂️
Hockey really is the best team sport and im not Canadian
Yes sir, nothing really compares.
Real football is better. It literally the world’s game
@@jusnridemey3516 Soccer is huge and an everyman game but it doesn’t have the complications of hockey nor does it require the skill level at professional level. Having said that, Messi is a most creative and exciting player and a huge asset for soccer.
We have a kinda similar situation here in Sweden right now (If not even more severe).
Even though Sweden performed relatively well in the last IIHF World Championships the issues here in Sweden are now more visible than ever. Just like Canada and USA kids of middle and low income are getting totally alienated. Also, ice hockey itself here in Sweden in some part has also started to become a predominantly "White upper class sport". Compared to other sports here in Sweden I can go as far as to say that Ice Hockey here in Sweden is the least demographically diverse one. The rate of non-white and non-ethnically Swedish/Scandinavian players are extremely low compared to other sports. Elite clubs in Sweden themselves has admitted that this has started to become a serious problem for them. One person from Malmö Redhawks said that if they fail to recruit youths from low income areas predominantly with parents from "Non-skiing southern warmer countries" in a Sweden that has become more ethnically diverse than ever... The problems will become unimaginable. He's kinda right. Kids from low income and high rate of diaspora community areas tend to choose sports such as Football (Soccer as U guys call it on the other side of the Atlantic Ocean) or Basketball which their parents countries tends to be good at too. I would like to give Turkey, Greece, Republics of the former Yugoslavia (North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia & Hercegovina, Croatia & Slovenia) and Spain as an example here. They're all countries with kinda large populations and have large diaspora communities in "Ice Hockey & Skiing" countries such as Canada, USA, Germany and Sweden. All these southern countries have performed kinda well in Football/Soccer and extremely well in other global sports such as Basketball and Volleyball. Considering that that these last years... Teams from Turkey, Greece, Serbia and Spain have been the dominant ones in European Volleyball and Basketball on both club and national team levels. That probably made Ice Hockey even less attractive to people from "Non-skiing warmer countries" diaspora communities in Canada, USA and Sweden beside the extremely high cost for an Ice Hockey career.
Another problem in Sweden is the poor performance from teams from larger cities which has started to cause issues regarding the status value of the Swedish Hockey. In Sweden today... Frölunda is the only team from a large city (Gothenburg) that has performed well in the SHL (The top tier in Sweden) where as Malmö Redhawks continues to struggle in relegation zone battles. All the teams from capital Stockholm are since 2022 in the 2nd tier and has been far from gaining a promotion back to the top tier from the 2nd tier. Those factors has also accelerated the downgrade of Swedish Hockey when the closest top flight team to Stockholm were 200 kilometers away. It's sad but understandable when it's pretty much impossible to manage a hockey team in Stockholm on a sustainable level due to insanely high rent costs for hockey teams even if 30% of the junior hockey in Sweden are played in Stockholm.
So yes, this is not a problem only for Canada and USA now. The situation has only got worse here in Sweden these last years :-(.
HOCKEY IS ALREADY diverse enough in North America, plenty of ex-Yu, asians(roberson), Latin(Matthews/Montoya.
Immigrants in EU tend to come from the lowest of their communities compared to the much stronger financial/educated strong immigrants in North America.
I believe Barbara Lerner Spectre was operating out of Sweden for a time.
I was in Calgary in June of 19 and the Stanley Cup Finals seemed like an after thought.
Hockey must adapt to the times if it's to maintain is stance as a dominant sport in it's own country.
"Hockey must adapt to the times"
go on...can you provide ANY suggestions? Or clarification?
Affordability. Maybe lowering the cost of equipment, that’s a start.
It is the same in the USA with other sports as well as hockey. The costs make it prohibitive for most families and the owners of professional teams have priced out most fans to see games.
If you disinterest the young fans and participants you create something that only the well off and wealthy can be part of. As someone who grew up with the Original Six NHL teams I appreciated how these players of working class origins were able to make to the NHL.
Uh yeah, almost $4000 for top tier gear. Ever one parent has to earn 70K+ a year to afford real hockey training. And 😅 plays a huge part. Plus other sports like basketball, MMA and working out are way cheaper than hockey. Drop the damn price, Bauer, CCM and other brands. Basically he covered it all. If i ever had kids, I'd never put them in serious hockey. Time, travel and price is too much just for a recreational sport. Basketball is massive here. Side note: I've played hockey forever and am 46. Hockeys just too expensive.
What if the kid hates every sport but hockey?
I'm a millennial and played hockey growing up. Now I don't even want to buy a stick due to the $400 price tag.
Funny how reducing the fighting in hockey reduces the interest. Safety Karens ruin everything.
Current year NHL is like
the future in Demolition Man.
There are a lot of factors that go into it. Hockey has always been the most popular sport here followed by Baseball. I do think Canadian teams not winning a Stanley Cup in almost 30 years has some of it. The sport has gotten more expensive whether it be playing or watching. I mean everything has gotten more expensive due to inflation so hopefully thinks go back to normal soon. US development programs are also better than Canadian ones atm.
For comparison:
The state of Georgia has 11,029,227 people, and had the NHL for 20 years.
As of 2020 Georgia had 2,078 hockey players enrolled.
The least populated province Prince Edward Island has 154,331 people - but has 5,557 hockey players enrolled.
The least populated state Wyoming has 576,851 people - but has 2,195 hockey players enrolled.
Both more than Georgia.
- Georgia has less hockey players enrolled than every province in Canada, even the least populated province
- Georgia has less hockey players enrolled than all the least populated states in America (less than WY, VT, MT, ME, SD, ND, AK)
If hockey is "dying" in Canada, then it is dead period. America CANNOT save hockey.
The most diehard hockey state Minnesota has a FRACTION of the hockey players that Canadian provinces have.
That's interesting
You cherry picked a southern state notorious for not supporting an NHL team twice. Of course New England states, upper Midwest and Alaska have more hockey players, because that’s where hockey is most popular.
Minnesota has more registered players (~58,000) than every province but Alberta(~62,000) and Ontario(~122,000).
@@JWarrior_81 I picked the worst state for hockey lol
Shout out to Arizona!
@@sollamander2206and also a higher population bruh
Such a great take, I wonder how hockey will begin to evolve with society? Where will it be in 20 years?
I know more people that watch NBA than NHL and I live in Alberta.
Good breakdown - it’s multi faceted. I’m a US parent with a kid playing hockey and the biggest headache is definitely cost but my kid loves it so we definitely forgo some things to make it happen. The immigration argument also makes sense - in the short term. The flip side of this is that since hockey is woven into the fabric of Canadian society it may just be hitting an adjustment period. Give it a generation and I can guarantee you’ll start to see some exciting 2nd generation immigrant hockey players come out of Canada - it’s takes time for folks to settle in and I would put money down that you’re going to be surprised at some of the kids who come up 15, 20, 30 years from now out of Canadian hockey. It’s actually a massive opportunity for the sport to grow globally with Canada showcasing players whose parents may have immigrated from non hockey markets. It’s one of the things I enjoy when taking my kid to tournaments in Canada - folks are welcoming and I think this will translate to future hockey growth via expanded demographic exposure as Canada inhales folks from all over the globe.
Your southern neighbors will try to pick up some of the slack!
This is why football and rugby are taking over worldwide (or already have)
You just need a ball, a field, and a couple of lads
My teens have no interest, and I've had less and less. Today's NHL is tough to watch, with the elimination of physicality and the increased focus on making the game as fast as possible...it's become a video game version of itself. I often find myself wondering why players are so passive on defense. The game has become riddled with head down toe drags, michigan attempts and awful slow gliding shootouts.
I watched a bit of a game the other day. A forward and defenseman went into the corner and the d man let the other guy have the puck without touching him, which eventually led to a goal. But the d man was back out there in the next shift. I couldn't believe it. I used to be a huge hockey fan, but I can't watch more than 5 minutes now.
It's the same in pro wrestling, fast paced high spots and no selling. Like a video game.
This is possibly why the NHL is trying to get to the Sun Belt. They have the money to keep the game alive and it will flow back to Canada.
No, Bettman and the U.S. television execs/bastards would like nothing better than to turn the NHL into hockey's answer to the NFL
..an all-American League.
The Sunbelt expansion is a hit or miss, sad to say!
Vegas is a hit (and it being a very popular vacation destination will ensure there will always be asses in seats at T-Mobile Arena even when the Knights undergo an inevitable rebuild at some point in the future), Phoenix was an unmitigated disaster and am glad the BOG finally put their foot down with Gary Buttman regarding that!
@@mrconfusion87 Phoenix gave Auston Matthews so it’s not a complete failure. Phoenix can work but you need Shane Doan to own the team instead who knows both the area and the game.
Hockey has probably just reached peak saturation of Canadians. The drop off can probably be explained by an increase in population. Look around a lot of canadian cities look like little new delhi or new islamabad, they dont play or care about hockey.
There was a big South Asian Canadian gathering for the Canucks in Surrey so at least they care. Granted they may have been living in Canada for years or are second generation and grew up watching the Canucks.
@@gbalph4 Those are grown up fans who started watching hockey after arriving at Canada, none of them plays hockey and it's likely that none of their kids will, those guys are more into soccer and cricket
Hockey is the problem. Immigrating people have no issue with basketball or soccer because they aren’t problematic
@@gbalph4they were there to pose for the cameras.
Canadiens are grappling with a high cost of living worser than in the U.S. Survival is more important than a hockey game.
Sports in Canada suck. They just can’t compete with the product Americans can deliver
Okay american
America isn't much better these days.
Its very interesting to watch the hockey perspective viewed from Canada. Here in Europe we struggle with the same problems only they are magnified in many ways. Here in Oslo,Norway hockey used to be a winter sport for the working class. The unfathomable cost involved entering kids into hockey these days are slowly but surely killing the sport. In a not so resourceful home a kid with 2 fresh legs can enter a football club with affordable
dents to the household economy. The choice is simple. My country always sucked in hockey, but in 20 years I would be surprised if we still enter the ice hockey world championships, which we have done with the original hockey nations since its beginning. Hockey is dying here, simple as that
Hockey is in an odd place, theres a disconnect between old time hockey fans, who enjoy the tougher, grittier game of the past, and younger fans who have embraced the flashy, highly skillful, and fast-paced game of today. This also extends to the insiders, media, players, and alumni themselves.
This could also be said about the demographics, its been better but the NHL hasn't been the most diverse. The past few years have seen many initiatives (and scandals) that have pushed diversity and inclusion forward, but the NHL really isn't doing itself any favours with how they've handled some of it.
The broadcast personalities have gotten better but like you said the ones more popular with younger fans are still relegated to the internet or podcasts. For example, I don't understand why TSN doesn't have its Bardown crew frequently appear on broadcasts as they've got some great content. The regional blackout garbage and how there really isn't an easy, centralized way to stream games definitely hurts the broadcast side of it too.
The NHL just doesn't know how to market its players as well and their attempts can get kinda cringey. Tbh, I don't see it getting better until Bettman is gone.
I thought the Bedard/Wembanyana videos were a cool way to market both future stars.