BadgerBruce
Registered User
- Aug 8, 2013
- 1,561
- 2,197
Making the NHL today requires an absolutely mind-boggling financial investment by parents.
A few years ago Patrick Kane’s parents revealed that they spent well over $250K just on skill development training during the boy’s youth. Auston Matthews hardly played any organized youth hockey at all, and was instead privately trained by a well-paid, live-in skills coach. I cannot imagine the price tag on that. Even OV’s mom used her power and authority within the Russian sports bureaucracy to operate what amounted to a private hockey factory for her son. Imagine having the power to order former Soviet national team stars to hit the ice each day for hours and hours to train your child. How much would that cost in North America or Western Europe?
Carey Price was flown by helicopter to youth games. Zach Hyman’s father controlled 90 minor hockey teams to help fund the junior team he owned and operated for his son. Bernie McBain created an entire league and training program, Minnesota Made Hockey, from scratch to provide every conceivable opportunity for his son, Jamie McBain.
The point I’m getting at here is that the kind of “passion” Big Phil misses today didn’t disappear because rivalries were killed by league schedulers or because salaries exploded. To my mind, the NHL today is filled with players who come from remarkably similar socio-economic backgrounds. Their families fit into that subset American researcher Charles Tilley calls “opportunity hoarders,” which is a too kind way of saying “poor people not wanted.”
Does this mean that an NHL player who comes from the opportunity hoarding class cannot play the game with passion and intensity? Of course not. But when the league is absolutely dominated by players who come from just one socio-economic class and nearly all others are excluded, don’t be surprised when the on-ice play mirrors the ethos of this dominant class.
Compare the socio-economic backgrounds of today’s top stars with those of the past. Consider Richard, Howe and Hull:
The Rocket was the oldest of 8 children. His father, a carpenter by trade who eventually worked for CP Railway, was unemployed for 6 straight years (1930-36) and Maurice dropped out of school at age 16 to help his family make ends meet. Yet, the Babe Ruth of Hockey overcame a string of serious injuries to reach the NHL level at age 23.
Mr. Hockey? Big Gordie was 1 of 9 siblings, and his father worked as a construction labourer to (barely) keep food on the table. Like the Rocket, Howe left school early to help his family make ends meet. He sat out his entire 16 year old junior season in Galt because of CAHA residency restrictions and took a day job as a labourer to help support himself and his family back home.
The Golden Jet? Bobby Hull was the oldest of 11 children, raised in a rough and tough company town setup by the Canada Cement Company, where his father worked. He sometimes had to walk all the way to Belleville to practice and play and he also quit school to play junior B hockey in southwestern Ontario at age 15.
The passion vanished when the league became a private air strip reserved for a select group of players with parents from an equally select class.
A few years ago Patrick Kane’s parents revealed that they spent well over $250K just on skill development training during the boy’s youth. Auston Matthews hardly played any organized youth hockey at all, and was instead privately trained by a well-paid, live-in skills coach. I cannot imagine the price tag on that. Even OV’s mom used her power and authority within the Russian sports bureaucracy to operate what amounted to a private hockey factory for her son. Imagine having the power to order former Soviet national team stars to hit the ice each day for hours and hours to train your child. How much would that cost in North America or Western Europe?
Carey Price was flown by helicopter to youth games. Zach Hyman’s father controlled 90 minor hockey teams to help fund the junior team he owned and operated for his son. Bernie McBain created an entire league and training program, Minnesota Made Hockey, from scratch to provide every conceivable opportunity for his son, Jamie McBain.
The point I’m getting at here is that the kind of “passion” Big Phil misses today didn’t disappear because rivalries were killed by league schedulers or because salaries exploded. To my mind, the NHL today is filled with players who come from remarkably similar socio-economic backgrounds. Their families fit into that subset American researcher Charles Tilley calls “opportunity hoarders,” which is a too kind way of saying “poor people not wanted.”
Does this mean that an NHL player who comes from the opportunity hoarding class cannot play the game with passion and intensity? Of course not. But when the league is absolutely dominated by players who come from just one socio-economic class and nearly all others are excluded, don’t be surprised when the on-ice play mirrors the ethos of this dominant class.
Compare the socio-economic backgrounds of today’s top stars with those of the past. Consider Richard, Howe and Hull:
The Rocket was the oldest of 8 children. His father, a carpenter by trade who eventually worked for CP Railway, was unemployed for 6 straight years (1930-36) and Maurice dropped out of school at age 16 to help his family make ends meet. Yet, the Babe Ruth of Hockey overcame a string of serious injuries to reach the NHL level at age 23.
Mr. Hockey? Big Gordie was 1 of 9 siblings, and his father worked as a construction labourer to (barely) keep food on the table. Like the Rocket, Howe left school early to help his family make ends meet. He sat out his entire 16 year old junior season in Galt because of CAHA residency restrictions and took a day job as a labourer to help support himself and his family back home.
The Golden Jet? Bobby Hull was the oldest of 11 children, raised in a rough and tough company town setup by the Canada Cement Company, where his father worked. He sometimes had to walk all the way to Belleville to practice and play and he also quit school to play junior B hockey in southwestern Ontario at age 15.
The passion vanished when the league became a private air strip reserved for a select group of players with parents from an equally select class.
