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Around The League: Summer 2026

Sad….another soon to be welfare team

Instead of solidifying the already existing welfare teams, they wanna add more (talking about Atlanta)
 
I wonder how many of these welfare teams had full arenas (or at least 75% full) when their team sucked? That’s usually the sign of a good healthy fanbase….

Unlike Florida that only started to « find » fans when the team started winning….
 
My friend lives in Raleigh….he easily got tickets for the Finals without paying crazy prices

it’s not a hockey market….hockey is maybe 5th in that market

That’s why hockey doesn’t work in the US….
 
Horseshit. If hockey doesn’t work in the states team values wouldn’t skyrocket. That's a pretty ludicrous take.
 
hockey is too expensive to work mainstream in the States....only rich kids can hope to make it....

if kids cannot play the game, they won't grow up to watch it

Soccer/football at least has a fighting chance.....
 
Krustchev said:
Hockey is working fine in the U.S. from what I can see. It will always be bigger in northern areas because, you know, ice and cold.
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It’s also easier to play baseball, football, basketball growing up….even soccer….hockey requires too much equipment cost

Heck, even when we were playing street hockey growing up in Montreal, we had to have 2 nets, multiple sticks, balls, two sets of goalie pads/glove/blocker…..just for us to have a neighborhood street game on the street

When we played baseball, 1 bat that everyone shared, we all shared gloves between teams, 1-2 balls….basketball you need 1 ball….football you need 1 ball….inexpensive sports

That’s why it’s a hard sell for parents…even here in Quebec, parents don’t rush to put their kids in hockey anymore
 
Rolex said:
It’s also easier to play baseball, football, basketball growing up….even soccer….hockey requires too much equipment cost

Heck, even when we were playing street hockey growing up in Montreal, we had to have 2 nets, multiple sticks, balls, two sets of goalie pads/glove/blocker…..just for us to have a neighborhood street game on the street

When we played baseball, 1 bat that everyone shared, we all shared gloves between teams, 1-2 balls….basketball you need 1 ball….football you need 1 ball….inexpensive sports

That’s why it’s a hard sell for parents…even here in Quebec, parents don’t rush to put their kids in hockey anymore
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US has 10x Canada’s population and almost same ratio of high net worth (maybe more) .. see all the NHL elite talent coming from non traditional locales. Matthews, Robertson, Keller, Cooley, potentially Fowler etc.

I do agree w cost being too prohibitive missing out on top end athletes from inner cities who end up in NBA, NFL & MLB

BTW - every kids activity has become incredibly specialized, the avg 10yr old skill level in every sport or activity is far superior to their counterpart just from 15yrs ago

Skill level of today’s avg youth hockey player is so much superior vs previous generations

Georges Laracque could barely skate…that was 15yrs ago.. and there were many similarly players at that time - the avg 4th liner in today’s game is equivalent to a 2nd / top end 3rd liner from that same time frame
 
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Private equity has its clutches in US hockey it seems. That would only make increase scarcity and exclude people.

Anyway, it looks like “Tiger” > “Roger” re: athletic development of kiddos, likely due to money and peer effects. Too bad.
 
Rolex said:
My friend lives in Raleigh….he easily got tickets for the Finals without paying crazy prices

it’s not a hockey market….hockey is maybe 5th in that market

That’s why hockey doesn’t work in the US….
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Non-traditional markets just need a winning team to build their fan base. Almost all failed markets had terrible management and terrible teams.
 
Rolex said:
We are all the exception here (most here probably do well in life)…all our kids can afford hockey….but go ask 300M Americans if they can afford it
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We don't need to ask them. The U.S. is, relatively speaking, "killing it" at the international level recently. USA Hockey has developed a highly successful model to produce elite level players even with modest numbers participating. And the Olympic gold will lead to more kids playing, despite the cost, because some of the more who will now want to play, can afford it.
 
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Would also add the vast majority of Div I rosters (let alone Div III) are stacked w players from 🇨🇦

US is producing elite level talent, but 🇨🇦 continues to outproduce in volume

Personal Observation: elite 🇨🇦 players on the whole still seem to (for lack of a better word) outperform 🇺🇸 players in NHL playoffs.
 
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Sal_Butera said:
US has 10x Canada’s population and almost same ratio of high net worth (maybe more) .. see all the NHL elite talent coming from non traditional locales. Matthews, Robertson, Keller, Cooley, potentially Fowler etc.

I do agree w cost being too prohibitive missing out on top end athletes from inner cities who end up in NBA, NFL & MLB

BTW - every kids activity has become incredibly specialized, the avg 10yr old skill level in every sport or activity is far superior to their counterpart just from 15yrs ago

Skill level of today’s avg youth hockey player is so much superior vs previous generations

Georges Laracque could barely skate…that was 15yrs ago.. and there were many similarly players at that time - the avg 4th liner in today’s game is equivalent to a 2nd / top end 3rd liner from that same time frame
Click to expand...
The average 4rth liner may have more skill than 15-20 years ago but many players are trash with no role to play as a tweener
 
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