It's like any sport, the more exposure to it the more possibility of professional tier capability.
Vastly more children in Canada are exposed to ice hockey, whereas in the United States people have to go out of their way to expose their kids to it.
This becomes really apparent when you look at Professional Motorsports where its essentially just made up of rich kids.
Eh. There are rinks all over the place. There was a time it was rare and required going way out of your way for it. Not anymore. There's an Ice Hockey rink not 2 miles from me. I live in the desert.
Ice Hockey was a slow grower. Started out in the northern midwest states and the northeast. It sort of exploded back in the 90's when California got involved and started dropping millions in it.
These days, we're the best. Because we invest in the best. Honestly, I think it's sad. If Canada would simply invest in their players like we do, they'd stay, and Canada could still be best. Which would be preferable. Look at the CFL. They take our undrafted and NFL rejects and are a B league. Still a professional football league, put on a good show. But not comparable to the NFL. That's what the US idea of Ice Hockey should be. Secondary league, substandard teams, but OURS. Instead, Canadians expect their professional athletes to play for peanuts and national pride and not much else, so they suck now.
This post was edited by InsaneBobb on Feb 19 2025 08:55pm