2025 WJC

[bustamente]

Aren’t they still dominating? Not to same degree, but, more than half the best young players in nhl are Canadian. Celebrity, stankoven. Bédard.
Would team be the best in tournament if Celebrini was still playing?

Talking strictly tournaments like the Junior and up coming 4 Nations , World Cup and Olympic Spengler and whatever else they may dream up

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I think Canada's reign as a dominant hockey country is officially over.

This is what happens when middle class Canadian families can barely afford food...

Nevermind the cost of having kids or enrolling their kids in hockey.

Total number of registered ice hockey players in Canada from 2013/14 to 2022/23

View attachment 953151

Thanks Govt...

You're blaming the gov't for making hockey so expensive? Really? SMH.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Hockey is soooo expensive.... I know for our team lots of the cost is ice time... At $265 per hour being on the ice for 5.5 hours a week between practices and games adds up from October to the end of March.... That's over 2k per player just in ice time. No refs uniform tournaments equipment.
When I was a kid our games were indoor but 75% of our practices were outside. That would not fly with parents today lol

When I was kid 99.9% of our games were outside. I played indoors once. It was a tournament.

 

[Gm0ney]

This team is embarrassingly bad. I can't recall a Canadian junior team this bad. That powerplay is a sin against hockey.

The powerplay is so bad, I was looking for Brad Lauer on the bench...

 

[sipowicz]

You're blaming the gov't for making hockey so expensive? Really? SMH.

Taxing the S out of every working person doesn't exactly help.

Sadly hockey is no longer a middle class sport!~

 

[Gm0ney]

Taxing the S out of every working person doesn't exactly help.

Sadly hockey is no longer a middle class sport!~

Canada's tax revenues as a share of GDP are around OECD average. Far less than the Scandinavian countries who seem to still be able to produce hockey players. We're higher than the US, of course...

The only reason Canada was dominant for so long is because we were the largest country that gave a shit about hockey. Now that the US gives half a shit, they're basically at par with us.

It also doesn't hurt that the USNDTP builds for success, while Team Canada is trying to build checking lines and stay-at-home defense pairings for a best-on-best tournament. Someone tell Latvia to bring more grinders!

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

Taxing the S out of every working person doesn't exactly help.

Sadly hockey is no longer a middle class sport!~

Taxation is another discussion altogether and gets way to political in a hurry.

That is not what made recreation for kids so expensive. Parents did that.

 

[Buffdog]

You're blaming the gov't for making hockey so expensive? Really? SMH.

They've managed to create as much national debt in their tenure as all other governments in the history of the country combined

I won't get into whether all that spending is right or wrong, because I don't want this post to be political - it's economic

That will drive inflation, which makes EVERYTHING more expensive. Nothing wrong with running deficits as long as they're smaller than the grwowh of the economy. That hasn't happened

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

They've managed to create as much national debt in their tenure as all other governments in the history of the country combined

I won't get into whether all that spending is right or wrong, because I don't want this post to be political - it's economic

That will drive inflation, which makes EVERYTHING more expensive. Nothing wrong with running deficits as long as they're smaller than the grwowh of the economy. That hasn't happened

You're already becoming too political.

None of that has anything to do with the issue of kids hockey having become so expensive. That has been going on for 40-50 years.

There were a lot of things wrong with kids hockey in my day, but it was inexpensive. Almost every family could afford it, even the poor ones. It was like soccer is today. All you needed was a pair of skates and a stick both of which were cheap.

Every fall the schools hosted a skate exchange. Used skates were acceptable. I got 1 stick per year. If it broke, I kept on using it. That was common. If it became unusable I had a problem. Collect enough pop bottles to buy a new one.

I don't want to turn this into a story about walking 5 miles to school everyday, uphill both ways, in a blizzard. Like I said, there were a lot of things wrong with the way it was then. But cost wasn't one of them, and all of the kids played. We played for fun, not for hockey scholarships or pro careers.

 

[Buffdog]

You're already becoming too political.

None of that has anything to do with the issue of kids hockey having become so expensive. That has been going on for 40-50 years.

There were a lot of things wrong with kids hockey in my day, but it was inexpensive. Almost every family could afford it, even the poor ones. It was like soccer is today. All you needed was a pair of skates and a stick both of which were cheap.

Every fall the schools hosted a skate exchange. Used skates were acceptable. I got 1 stick per year. If it broke, I kept on using it. That was common. If it became unusable I had a problem. Collect enough pop bottles to buy a new one.

I don't want to turn this into a story about walking 5 miles to school everyday, uphill both ways, in a blizzard. Like I said, there were a lot of things wrong with the way it was then. But cost wasn't one of them, and all of the kids played. We played for fun, not for hockey scholarships or pro careers.

I agree with all of that, and I wasn't saying that inflation is the only reason why hockey has become more expensive. But it's played a role

If anyone is interested, there's a book called "Selling the Dream" that is about this very topic. Every hockey parent should read it

I'll also say that all three of my kids played minor hockey. My middle kid played prep (very expensive) and earned a scholarship. Ironically, it would have been far cheaper to have her play A2 hockey and just pay for university out of my pocket lol. But there's something about supporting your kid when they're chasing excellence in an activity that they love

I've had the conversation with tons of parents about why they do it. In Manitoba, there are 8 AAA U18 female teams and 4 prep teams - that's about 250 15-17 year old girls, all paying thousands of dollars to play (in addition to offseason costs). 12-15 per year will end up in NCAA or Usport

I can't speak to the boys side because my son wasn't elite... but he's now playing beer league - which is where everybody ends up anyway

I'm curious as to why you found my post political, unless you're conflating politics and economics (which are apolitical by nature)

 

[cbcwpg]

Today could be a bad day for the red and white.

I know I wouldn't put money on Canada to win tonight.

 

[Gm0ney]

They've managed to create as much national debt in their tenure as all other governments in the history of the country combined

I won't get into whether all that spending is right or wrong, because I don't want this post to be political - it's economic

That will drive inflation, which makes EVERYTHING more expensive. Nothing wrong with running deficits as long as they're smaller than the grwowh of the economy. That hasn't happened

These figures are always a couple of years behind so it's only up to 2022 but it looks like the federal government held the line from 2009 to 2020 in terms of the debt to GDP ratio. Then there was a sharp spike during the pandemic (due to both increased spending and decreased GDP). Things look to be settling down, but there are all kinds of shenanigans happening as the current regime is in its death throes.

 

[gojetsgo]

it's funny because if you put bedard/celebrini on canada they would dominate this tournament and nobody would be talking about other countries catching up, the biggest issue with canada seems to be the management/coaching

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I agree with all of that, and I wasn't saying that inflation is the only reason why hockey has become more expensive. But it's played a role

If anyone is interested, there's a book called "Selling the Dream" that is about this very topic. Every hockey parent should read it

I'll also say that all three of my kids played minor hockey. My middle kid played prep (very expensive) and earned a scholarship. Ironically, it would have been far cheaper to have her play A2 hockey and just pay for university out of my pocket lol. But there's something about supporting your kid when they're chasing excellence in an activity that they love

I've had the conversation with tons of parents about why they do it. In Manitoba, there are 8 AAA U18 female teams and 4 prep teams - that's about 250 15-17 year old girls, all paying thousands of dollars to play (in addition to offseason costs). 12-15 per year will end up in NCAA or Usport

I can't speak to the boys side because my son wasn't elite... but he's now playing beer league - which is where everybody ends up anyway

I'm curious as to why you found my post political, unless you're conflating politics and economics (which are apolitical by nature)

Economics are as political as you can get. All kinds of issues get brought up in elections but the vote goes primarily according to peoples beliefs about the economy.

 

[Buffdog]

Economics are as political as you can get. All kinds of issues get brought up in elections but the vote goes primarily according to peoples beliefs about the economy.

And lots of conservative governments have run deficits and lots of liberal governments have run balanced budgets (that was part of Wab Kinew's platform in the last election). There's a time and place for both, which is why I specifically stated in my post that I wasn't going to comment on whether the governments decisions were right or wrong. They just were.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

And lots of conservative governments have run deficits and lots of liberal governments have run balanced budgets (that was part of Wab Kinew's platform in the last election). There's a time and place for both, which is why I specifically stated in my post that I wasn't going to comment on whether the governments decisions were right or wrong. They just were.

Yup. You were treading a fine line there.

Getting political in a discussion isn't simply a matter of partisanship. It is the issues that are political, regardless of partisanship, IMO.

 

[BarnabyJones PI]

Economics are as political as you can get. All kinds of issues get brought up in elections but the vote goes primarily according to peoples beliefs about the economy.

I wouldn't second guess your understanding of economics. I can recognize by your avatar, that you work for RBC.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

I wouldn't second guess your understanding of economics. I can recognize by your avatar, that you work for RBC.

That's the Ukrainian coat of Arms. But it is kind of similar to the RBC logo.

I said nothing about economics except that the subject is political.

 

[tbcwpg]

Economics are as political as you can get. All kinds of issues get brought up in elections but the vote goes primarily according to peoples beliefs about the economy.

As an econ major, economic theory in itself isn't political. And most people's beliefs about the economy is inaccurate anyway.

As for tonight's game, I don't hate the Americans like most seem to. Hoping for a Canada win obviously but it's nowhere near the Canada-Russia stuff. I guess it depends on how old you are.

 

[Mortimer Snerd]

As an econ major, economic theory in itself isn't political. And most people's beliefs about the economy is inaccurate anyway.

As for tonight's game, I don't hate the Americans like most seem to. Hoping for a Canada win obviously but it's nowhere near the Canada-Russia stuff. I guess it depends on how old you are.

No economic theory is not political. But the economy is very political. People vote their beliefs, right or wrong.

 

[Gil Fisher]

That's the Ukrainian coat of Arms. But it is kind of similar to the RBC logo.

I said nothing about economics except that the subject is political.

So what rate can you get me on a mortgage?

 

[None]

Might be one of the most undisciplined Canadian teams. Dickinson in particular seems dumber than a brick.

 

[None]

I think it's worth repeating. The Canadian team is undisciplined and f***ing stupid. That boarding call was blatant and in front of an official.

 

[Aggie204]

Easton Cowan looks like his face is a skin mask he put together.

 

[Jet]

Taxing the S out of every working person doesn't exactly help.

Sadly hockey is no longer a middle class sport!~

Yeah, I guess all the services the government provides should be funded by Santa Claus.

I pay 17% for fed taxes here in the US and even with my $200 a month health insurance bill i still paid $4000 out of pocket wren I got appendicitis and that's without an appendectomy.

I can't believe people are so gullible as to belive what the wealthy are feeding them -- that it's the government's fault.

Take a look at c suite Execs salaries, shareholder dividends, corporate profits and the astronomically growing gap between the top 5% and the rest of the population.

These are all facts and hard data, they cannot be argued.

Yes, the government should be more efficient and less wasteful, but the reason practically every developed economy in the world is a shit show for average citizens is greed.

Eat the rich.