NHL players who have grew up with adversity?

[LokiDog]

Pretty much this. Hockey is extremely expensive and those that make it to high levels come from wealth outside of a very small minority. It's a niche sport.

In the states. Guys like Panarin and Jagr and especially previous generation Eastern Europeans weren’t coming from great wealth.

 

[LokiDog]

Didn't Datsyuk grow up in poverty? Kuznetsov also, I believe.

Exactly the point I’m making in my posts above.

 

[North Cole]

Bobby Ryan?? Dude had to change his name. Colby Cave had a real hard time getting into the NHL, I would classify any players that ran the minor league circuits making peanuts for years, before hitting the league for extended periods of times, as being through some adversity. People act like anyone coming from a more well off background is immune to adversity, it's not true. If you want to only look at family income, 3rd world conditions are far more adverse than 99% of the communities in developed countries. Adversity is all relative, we point at the NBA and NFL as facing more adversity but it probably doesn't compare very well to what Brazilian football kids face in the favela's. More posts than I expected just saying - "they're white dudes, what adversity?"

 

[CanadienShark]

Bobby Ryan was the first that came to mind. Artemi Panarin is another.

 

[Sol]

Jordin Tootoo

 

[Sol]

This is anecdotal so take this as you will. In my line of work I talk to all types of people and families. I've noticed the wealthier families there are the more disfunction there is within the family. Drug abuse, power struggles, expectations, a ton of mental abuse from people who hold the wealth onto their children. The more wealthy I've noticed the more and more disfunctional the family is. The more poor a family is the closer the families are in my experience because they have to rely on one another for their own well being which in my opinion creates a bond.


I think living in a poor area is physically dangerous because of the area you're in. The wealthier you are the more you're under the spotlight and deal with immense stress from disfunction in family. A lot of abandonment...


I think adversity comes in all forms. It's not tied to money necessarily. Money just changes the forms of adversity people face. And each person handles it differently.


Money doesn't stop you from facing adversity at all. Like the only thing I can think of is that living in a richer area your neighborhood is more safe. That's about it.

 

[Jarey Curry]

They can develop the skills, but they still can't afford the equipment or the registration fees to play on a rink. It's not like a basketball court, where every high school has them. Hockey rink rental rates are through the roof, which makes team registration fees in the thousands of dollars just for house league teams. No scouts are looking around schoolyard road hockey games or on outdoor rinks for the diamond in the rough that can't afford to play organized hockey.

well said, poor mans versions of Sidney Crosbys exist somewhere

 

[Man Bear Pig]

Patrick O'Sullivan as well

Always wondered how good he coulda been had his dad not been one of those crazy sports parents living vicariously through their kid.

 

[dalewood12]

They weren’t dirt poor, but the Tanev brothers grew up pretty working class.

 

[smokes lets go]

A recent example is samuel girard. His parents coudnt afford to put both him and his brother through rep hockey.

 

[Hatfield]

Hockey is a rich white guys sport, these guys don’t grow up with the same circumstances/in the same neighborhoods as many ball players. Much easier to stay out of trouble when you aren’t living in an environment that breeds it...

Ignorant response.

 

[Matty Sundin]

I played hockey and my family wasnt filthy rich like some people claim is the only way you can play hockey lol

 

[AD1066]

What are the stories with Datsyuk and Kuznetsov?

Datsyuk is the son of a truck driver and lost his mother to cancer as a teenager. Almost gave up hockey after her death.

IN HIS OWN WORDS … » Mitch Albom

 

[Perfect_Drug]

I played hockey and my family wasnt filthy rich like some people claim is the only way you can play hockey lol

You made it to the NHL? Cool


BTW All winter sports are predominantly for rich white kids, not just hockey.
Yes there are exceptions here n there, but aside from the fall of the iron curtain, Money spent has been directly correlated to better training.
Especially for the NHL:
https://www.cbc.ca/news/business/nh...mes-private-school-education-hockey-1.5437356


Shaun White used to get heli-lifted into mountains, and they'd drop in dynamite for him to skate in a bowl.
Snowboarder Shaun White Invents New Tricks to Stay Ahead of Competition | Duluth News Tribune

Yes, people of all social classes can compete in snowboarding, but guess who won all of the world championships and the golds and such.

 

[Terry Yake]

good read on glen metropolit and the road he took to the NHL

https://www.cbc.ca/sportslongform/entry/glen-metropolits-unexpected-rise-from-torontos-mean-streets

 

[hypereconomist]

Michael Ferland has a nice feel-good story about adversity (raised by a single mom in the middle of nowhere Manitoba).

 

[MaxV]

Does NHL or other organizations do something to help poor kids get into hockey?

 

[Monsieur Miz]

Les frères Stastny.

 

[majormajor]

Datsyuk is the son of a truck driver and lost his mother to cancer as a teenager. Almost gave up hockey after her death.

IN HIS OWN WORDS … » Mitch Albom

Just read it. That is indeed a wild life. Certainly Datsyuk had his share of adversity.

Just to clarify though, someone mentioned Datsyuk as one of the Russians who grew up in poverty, and there was no mention of any poverty in this story. Both of his parents had good jobs.

 

[Pavel Buchnevich]

Not the worst adversity you’ll see, but this is some.

K'Andre Miller's unique path to becoming a top Rangers blue-line prospect

Another one with some adversity, although not terrible adversity.

How Rangers prospect Zac Jones worked his way from Virginia to center stage at the world juniors

 

[Kaiden Ghoul]

Al McInnis ?

 

[PlayersLtd]

Pretty much this. Hockey is extremely expensive and those that make it to high levels come from wealth outside of a very small minority. It's a niche sport.

I'm not sure how this is true in Canada considering the number of players that come from rural communities. I'm not denying that there is a disproportionate number of privileged kids that get into hockey compared to other mainstream sports but to say 'outside of a very small minority' is a false statement, from my experience anyway, not sure what yours is.

I played competitive most of my life in Ontario and there were no rich kids on my team and I can't think of one team we played against that was full of rich kids. That was especially true when we played the rural teams. That was A and B level mind you and yes, at the AAA level there is likely more wealth but the lower levels make up the majority of players and by 14 or so many of the kids that are dominating A or B are finding their way onto the AAA teams whether they have money or not.

I would say that younger AAA or AA teams are dominated by wealthy kids but it balances out by Midget as the cream begins to rise and better less privileged players and their families find ways to make it work.

Now, if the statement was that there aren't many POOR kids playing I wouldn't argue with that. But I'm sure the middle class is very well represented in minor hockey circles so no, I don't think hockey is reserved for the uber wealthy the way this thread makes it sound.

 

[GlassesJacketShirt]

There are two kinds of people in this thread:

a) Individuals who answer the thread question
b) People who like feeling good about their virtues

I'll go ahead and echo Bobby Ryan as an intriguing case, having to play under the nose of a criminal father while on the run is definitely out of the ordinary.

Those who defected from the Soviet Union are also a great example, talk about a case of heightened adversity.

 

[Future GOAT]

Conor Garland and Elias Petterson.

Both grew up with freakishly long necks and were undoubtedly mocked relentlessly throughout their childhood.

 

[roflstomper]

All of them in one way or another.