The Cost Of Playing Hockey At The Elite Level

For many decades, writers and authors have accused the American influence on Canada as one of the reasons why Canada is losing its heritage, with one major aspect being the game of hockey. The institutionalization of American Culture began to take root in Canada during the late 1920’s and 1930s as technological advances, specifically the invention of the radio, allowed Canadians to enjoy American entertainment. American stations were much more reliable than Canadian ones, causing American sporting stations such as NBC and CBS to become extremely popular in Canada (Gruneau et al, 1993). As Canada was becoming intertwined with the United States (U.S.), it was becoming less of a satellite of Britain, which made it tremendously difficult for Canada’s elite to protect British ideals such as self-improvement and participating in sport for the game’s sake. (Gruneau et al, 1993). In the early 1940’s, after the great depression forced many franchises to dismantle, the National Hockey League (NHL) was left with six teams, which made up the famous “original six.” At this time, America had a strong influence on the game, as four of the original six teams were based in the United States, and all of the players in league were paid in American dollars (Gruneau et al, 1993). By the early 1960’s, televised sports were emerging in North America, and NHL players were becoming mainstream stars. Inspired by this, along with the threat of the NHL losing its television contract to the Western

Are professional athletes overpaid? This topic has been argued for some time now. It is said that pro athletes are paid way too much money for playing a sport. On the other side, there are the ones that say that the money is fairly deserved because of their hard work to get to where they are. Should pro athletes ' salaries drop or stay as is? Do the top athletes deserve their pay?

Number ONE on this list was affordability. Not willingness to play, not safety concerns, but affordability is the biggest barrier to entry. This is an extremely alarming stat because hockey has never been about who can pay the costs, but rather if you want to play the sport, then you are able to play. The direction it's trending towards is more about who can pay, and not so much about everyone being able to play. Just as the GTHL president John Gardner said “The game has changed in this respect: It used to be that you had a right to play, now it's can you afford to pay” (Mirtle, 2014). The alarming stats don't stop there. The average household pays $1500 per season, just for equipment. The average cost for a player(non goalie) is $750 per season, once again just for equipment. Not only are these costs extremely high but they increase when a player plays goalie, with just the goalie pads ranging anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $1300 for top of the line pads. Comparing these costs to other sports, it's easy to see why some parents are opting for their kids to play other sports rather than hockey. For basketball, the cost for equipment is a measly $325 per

It is also perhaps the most important part of the sport. NFL, MLB and NBA are always going to be #1, #2, and #3 in America. One of the few ways hockey players can differentiate themselves from other professional athletes is by the physicality in their game says thesportster.com. (Andrew Maggio) The physical aspect of hockey still needs to be policed. To put it another way, enforcers are a backup regulation system to the referees. It is important to realize the enforcer’s role is to prevent injuries, not cause them. Thesportster.com also states the alternative to allowing fighting in professional hockey is even more vicious than the fighting itself. (Andrew Maggio). The most vulnerable players on the ice are often the goal scorers. As a result, skilled players feel protected and can do their job of scoring goals more effectively when fighting is allowed within reason. Under these circumstances, skilled players have room to move and perform to the best of their ability because their opponents are afraid of the consequence of taking a cheap shot. “The simple reason fighting takes place in the NHL is to create space for the offence” says Darren Pang, a former NHL goaltender, when interviewed for the book: The Code. (Pang) While some may consider fighting in the NHL barbaric, one could argue it has a place on the simple statistical fact that players had less concussions and major

When I was eleven years old, I started playing field hockey for a simple reason: all of my friends were playing. Everyone else had quit playing soccer, so I decided that I wanted to play both. One season later, the soccer practices disappeared from my schedule. I started to play hockey year-round, and I fell in love with the sport by complete accident. I learned to dodge, pass, and shoot, and I got to run around and laugh at practice a few nights every week. Middle school recreational leagues turned into the high school varsity team in the fall and a club team for the rest of the year. Many of my friends stopped playing when we got to college, choosing to devote their free time to other organizations. I, on the other hand, could not let it

Why is it that when I picture Canada I am able to see snow falling, the night setting, with teenagers, children, and adults walking towards a rink with their the laces of their skates tied together and thrown over their shoulders, all getting ready to play the great Canadian game. What is it that makes hockey so profoundly important to Canadian identity, and a representative of our country? To start off, all across the country, on frozen backyard ponds, community rinks and state-of-the-art arenas Canadians are playing hockey which is Canada’s national sport. I believe that hockey is a representation of Canada because, the maple leaf, a familiar Canadian emblem, is found on Canadian hockey jerseys, and major chains selling our favourite food, donuts, were started by hockey greats Tim Horton and Eddie Shack.

As population continually increases in the Southern states, the NHL is moving teams into large Southern cities. In an effort to increase profits and popularity, the NHL has increased the number of teams in the league and moved into Southern cities that have never had hockey teams before. The problem is that hockey is not as popular in the South as it is in the North. This expansion in the South has lead to huge monetary losses to Southern teams and very low attendance numbers. The NHL should not have expanded the league into Southern cities and should keep NHL teams farther North.

Sometimes it is easy to forget the game played on frozen ponds and backyard rinks, and get lost in the overwhelming professional sport known as hockey. However, we strive to remember that hockey became Canada's game because it made our never-ending winter months more bearable . The game gradually became a sport, then an entertainment industry. It seems like the lockout was one of the biggest news stories of the year. Part of the amazing nature of the game is that it's origins are fairly vague. However, we always remember that hockey is our game. It may not be our official sport, like lacrosse is, but hockey is what Canada seems to be most well-known for, and it continues to have immense influence on our free society, with its unique style

high ticket prices to go to hockey games are the ones in the middle to upper class who

Maurice Richard’s historical significance in Canada was due to his importance as a hockey player in Montreal from 1942 to 1960. This was because hockey is “closer to a religion than a simple sporting pastime” in Canada. It was “a unifying force” in a nation where one state wanted to separate from the rest of Canada. Nevertheless hockey has had a major impact on the social, economic, cultural and political realms of Canada.For example: in the 2014 winter Olympics, bars across the country remained open past their legal closing times for the gold medal game. Maurice was “credited with raising the National Hockey League to major sport status”, he simply “sold the game” to French Canadians post great depression. He stopped the National Hockey league

There is no sporting event that brings an explosion quite like that of an ice hockey fight. Ice hockey has always been stereotyped as brutal and unnecessarily violent, a game full of players who are nothing but “goons”. Fighting in hockey is a form of sanctioned violence, as it has deemed acceptable in hockey since the introduction of the National Hockey League in 1917. The league did note even penalize it until the 1922 NHL season (Brandon 2013). A recent political uproar has taken place within the hockey world as more people are pushing to have fighting completely removed from the game. As a hockey player for over 25 years, I have

As a result of the effect that it has on the Canadian economy, hockey should be named Canada’s true national sport. Accounting for roughly one-third of the National Hockey Leagues ticket sale revenue, the seven Canadian hockey teams have a much larger market than the 23 American teams. Not including the newly added Winnipeg Jets, the six Canadian teams account for 31% of the $1.2 billion (U.S) sales ticket revenue of the NHL. This means that $341,000,000.00 (U.S) is contributing to the Canadian economy annually. The Toronto Maple Leafs has the largest franchise revenue at an estimated $119,000,000.00. The ticket revenue of the Toronto Maple Leafs is the highest in the NHL at $1.5 million per game. This is an astonishing amount in comparison to the Dallas Stars at $660,000. The construction of sport facilities could cost upwards to over $1 billion (U.S). With this in mind, Canadian hockey facilities (e.g.: the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario) revenue millions of dollars annually and creates thousands of jobs. Costing $265 million to build, the Air Canada Centre generates revenue of nearly $23 million annually. Additionally, large Canadian sponsors such as Air Canada, Molson Canadian, and Tim Hortons

Yes, I did bring both of these issues up at appropeate times but to my knowledge nothing has changed, drinking is still happening on the hockey buses/ tournament hotels and heaven forbid if a parent disagrees with the Nationals or other hockey associations if you hope for your son/daughter to make the team the next year. Yes, everyone says these things in the privacy of their homes or in the smoking area of the local arena but never can this be said out loud, WELL I HOPE someone can hear what I am saying.!

Are elite athletes/sports men or women being paid too much if not how are there high salaries justified, if so, why, and how could there money be put to better use?

Ice hockey has in the last hundred years evolved to become international. Canada is in jeopardy of losing its six teams. Tradition run deep in all of the cities and also professional hockey teams create thousands of jobs and help out in the communities. Teams in the Canadian market are having trouble keeping their programs in the black because of higher taxes and a weaker Canadian dollar. In order for professional hockey teams in Canada not to relocate to United States, it is necessary for Ottawa to provide tax cuts for them.