When did the decline of hockey in canada happen?

When did the decline of hockey in Canada happen?

  • The 1972 Canada Cup series

    Votes: 2 14.3%
  • The 1980 USA winning the Olympics over the USSR

    Votes: 1 7.1%
  • The 1988 Gretzky trade to Los Angeles

    Votes: 3 21.4%
  • Hiring of Gary Bettman

    Votes: 6 42.9%
  • The 1996 World Cup

    Votes: 4 28.6%

  • Total voters
    14

Mr Positive

Cap Crunch Incoming
Nov 20, 2013
38,382
19,338
Imo the golden age of the NBA in the 90s and early 2000s. Exciting stuff while the NHL went into the dead puck era. A lot of young people turned to basketball
 
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the valiant effort

settle down, bud
Apr 17, 2017
5,117
6,280
- Economics obviously
- Urban demographic shifts
- Declining entertainment value with the attempted phase-out of CTE
- General aura of corniness in hockey media that used to be restricted to Saturday nights but now blasts 24/7
 

BraveCanadian

Registered User
Jun 30, 2010
15,489
4,859
I don’t think there is any one moment but the early to mid 90s was likely the peak and it has been downhill for the most part since.

The closest option is the 96 WC where it is a bit obvious based on the age of some players on the roster that something was up.

There are long term issues like an aging less homogeneous population, rising costs and exclusivity, declining birth rates etc.
 
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JianYang

Registered User
Sep 29, 2017
19,772
19,342
I don't know about a certain decline. But the roster today does not look as great as the one in 2014 particularly on defense and especially in goal.

Perhaps a blip on the radar rather than a permanent decline?
 

Luigi Lemieux

Registered User
Sep 26, 2003
22,405
11,251
Other countries are getting better and it's obscenely expensive to play. But they still produce the most NHLers by a good margin
 

John Mandalorian

2022 Avs: The First Dance
Nov 29, 2018
11,888
7,655
- Economics obviously
- Urban demographic shifts
- Declining entertainment value with the attempted phase-out of CTE
- General aura of corniness in hockey media that used to be restricted to Saturday nights but now blasts 24/7

”General aura of corniness” should be a slogan on license plates...the question is, which province?
 
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WayTooCold

Canada for gold
Jun 9, 2023
198
164
Never happened. The NHL is majority Canadian players. The KHL Canadians are the 2nd biggest group. Hockey is our game.
 

Breakfast of Champs

Registered User
Apr 15, 2007
3,089
3,227
It's 2 fold because it got so expensive but also other countries are playing and the Internet gives the game global exposure.

Just 20 years ago kids outside of NA could only read about nhl players for the most part now you have youtube highlights of every star. I can't remember which player but I remember one Swedish player saying he had never seen a wayne gretzky highlight or anything and the first time he ever saw him play was when he got to the NHL and played against him. Imagine kids in sweden never seeing McDavid until they made the nhl, you could never attempt to emulate what doesn't exist to you.

It's not that different from usa and basketball where they absolutely demolished everyone but now the games are close. Much like canada, they still win most best on best tournaments but they aren't steamrolling everyone anymore.
 

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