Why did hockey never take off in Ukraine?

[AintLifeGrand]

Why is this?

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[Firsov99]

Why is this?

Because the Ukrainian hockey had Russian roots. From the early 60s up until the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, the Ukrainian hockey relied very heavily on infusion of Russia-born players and coaches. Ukraine did start producing some quality home-grown talent by the mid 80s, but the dissolution of the USSR and the ensuing economic collapse in the 90s have stopped the influx of Russian-born players and basically killed the local budding program.