The NHL has a PR problem....

[sabremike]

And? Everybody knows soccer has a racism problem in Europe and has called out FIFA for their spineless lack of reprimands.

The game is the most popular sport on Earth and doesn't require you to be affluent to play at a grassroots level though which enables anyone to play.

The problem is that while racism is a problem you are attributing the lack of minorities in hockey to that when the second thing (prohibitive cost of playing the sport) is by far the biggest impediment. In fact, it's the biggest obstacle for the growth of the sport period regardless of race.

 

[Ncit3]

Also, why watch the NHL when you can watch the NBA and see two, maybe three teams at the most, have any shot at all at the championship since the beginning of the season.

Reading some of these whining threads on this site, you'd think that's what a lot of people want. Makes me sad.

 

[sabremike]

Also to piggyback on my prior post: when my nephew was in high school a few years back he got into hockey and wanted to start playing it. Unfortunately my sister and his stepfather (who would be categorized as lower middle class) could in no way afford it. Cost of participation is the biggest problem the sport faces.

 

[ZeroPucksGiven]

Remember when the NHL had a contract with Outdoor Life Network?
Good times...