Will Canada success in soccer and basketball have even more detrimental effect on hockey ?

[ViD]

Canada just placed top 4 in the Copa America becoming the best North American team in the tournament.

Canada also just went undefeated in the Olympics basketball round robin tournament and has good chances at winning medals.

I don’t recall if Canada was ever this successful in these sports before and therefore this brings a question - will this even more decrease the popularity of hockey and number of children playing it?

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[CanadienShark]

No.

 

[Three On Zero]

Success? No.

The fact soccer and basketball are far more accessible to the average household probably will though. Hockey is not an affordable sport for the average family.

 

[Mirka the Turka]

The United States will take over hockey soon. The US mens hockey team is already the most stacked team in the world.

 

[Brodeur]

I wish I could remember the source, but I vaguely recall something about Sweden having a soccer boom in the 80's and a lot of top young athletes went that direction instead of hockey. The Peter Forsberg-led gold medal in 1994 sparked a renaissance and perhaps not coincidentally Sweden started producing more top talent born in mid-late 90's.

Not sure how big the overlap between high level hockey and basketball prospects would be, then again I suppose there wouldn't be as big a size discrepancy at earlier ages. My buddy got to do a practice with some NHLers during the 2004-05 lockout in Phoenix and Steve Nash showed up to take a few shots on Sean Burke. Nash was a small-ish point guard in the NBA but would have been an above average 6'3 hockey player.

But I wouldn't anticipate a mass drop off in hockey talent even if there is higher interest/participation in basketball/soccer.

 

[Zenos]

Not sure how big the overlap between high level hockey and basketball prospects would be, then again I suppose there wouldn't be as big a size discrepancy at earlier ages. My buddy got to do a practice with some NHLers during the 2004-05 lockout in Phoenix and Steve Nash showed up to take a few shots on Sean Burke. Nash was a small-ish point guard in the NBA but would have been an above average 6'3 hockey player.

I think there's a decent overlap for many sports. It's cool you mention Steve Nash - he was a bit of a multi-talent, playing several sports as a kid (including soccer, hockey, lacrosse). His father was a soccer player in ZA before moving to Canada and his brother played soccer professionaly and on the Canadian national squad. It's not hard to imagine Steve excelling at a different sport if he hadn't chosen to focus on basketball.

Similarly, another family I can think of is Darnel Nurse's. Dad played pro Canadian Football, while his sister Kia is a member of the Canadian national basketball team and plays in the WNBA.

Soccer and Basketball have both been growing for decades in Canada at the youth / amateur level. They're only now making strides on the professional / olympic stage on the men's side. I could definitely see this attracting some of the top athletes who traditionally would have chosen to focus on hockey to instead pursue one of those sports.

 

[Bixby Snyder]

I hope so. Canada is a basketball country now, SGA is a bigger and better role model than Connor McDavid.

 

[joelef]

With increase immigration levels then yea

 

[JianYang]

Canada just placed top 4 in the Copa America becoming the best North American team in the tournament.

Canada also just went undefeated in the Olympics basketball round robin tournament and has good chances at winning medals.

I don’t recall if Canada was ever this successful in these sports before and therefore this brings a question - will this even more decrease the popularity of hockey and number of children playing it?

This is just a reflection of Canada's evolving demographics which has been shifting for several decades now.

The canadian city centers are very multi cultural and so you are going to have a variety of cultures and sporting preferences.

Hockey will continue to have it's base, but regardless of the accessibility issues; it's just not going to be the first love for many people with different ethnic backgrounds.

I live in an aera where you see all sorts of backgrounds but the top two are Indians and Chinese. I've slowly seen baseball fields at the local parks turn into cricket pitches. The park closest to me has a lacrosse box, which I used to see used as a place to play roller hockey. Now, that has also been taken over by cricketers.

 

[Ghost of Murph]

I doubt success of those two sports will be detrimental to hockey. Changing demographics are partially responsible for the continuing uptick in popularity of basketball and soccer. High price of playing hockey has the biggest impact on kids playing hockey. Canada will still keep producing an abundance of great hockey players. It will also continue to develop more and more soccer and basketball talent at the same time.

 

[Nineteen67]

Far too many mothers in Canada didn’t let their sons play or practice hockey during Covid and I think that will have a bigger impact.

Also I fear there’s public outcry coming. I know it won’t happen anytime soon, but if it did, and the Leafs got in position to advance to a Cup final there will be media cracks crying about violence and how barbaric the sport is (keep in mind someone on the Leafs would have to do something similar to what Bennett did to Marchand in order to win) and that is a bigger threat, imo.

 

[JianYang]

I hope so. Canada is a basketball country now, SGA is a bigger and better role model than Connor

NBA expansion particularly in toronto and the subsequent "Vinsanity" really kickstarted things.

I know Steve Nash is a Hall of famer and has 2 mvps, but it really seems to me that it's Vince Carter who made a bigger footprint on the next generation in Canada, as it seems a disproportionate amount of talent is specifically coming from that part of the nation.

There a ton of people in toronto who could care less about hockey, and Carter was a figurehead for the basketball subset of that group.

 

[End on a Hinote]

Why do so many people have this black and white mindset with Canada being either only good at hockey or good at other sports at the expense of hockey?

The country isn't getting any smaller, its at 41 million and counting. Some immigrants and their kids will stick to their traditional sports, others will adapt to ours.

Canada will always be a hockey country (19 of the 32 first rounders this year were Canadian, but yeah, we're really losing our footing alright!), and Canada will continue to get better in other sports.

Yes, even "irrelevant little arctic wasteland Canada" is fully capable of succeeding in both hockey as well was basketball, soccer, etc.


Sorry if that upsets the abundance of anti-Canada xenophobes that occupy these boards, that wish nothing more than to see our country suffer and fail, but it's true. Get over yourselves.

 

[I Hate Blake Coleman]

Hockey is responsible for the loss of interest in hockey.

 

[Kshahdoo]

Why doesn't Canadian government have any program to help young kids to play hockey, especially kids from poor families?

 

[Rcknrollkillnmachine]

Like in Finland No. Also the flopping is so off putting along with the ego maniacs it's a sport for casuals.

 

[John Mandalorian]

Why do so many people have this black and white mindset with Canada being either only good at hockey or good at other sports at the expense of hockey?

The country isn't getting any smaller, its at 41 million and counting. Some immigrants and their kids will stick to their traditional sports, others will adapt to ours.

Canada will always be a hockey country (19 of the 32 first rounders this year were Canadian, but yeah, we're really losing our footing alright!), and Canada will continue to get better in other sports.

Yes, even "irrelevant little arctic wasteland Canada" is fully capable of succeeding in both hockey as well was basketball, soccer, etc.


Sorry if that upsets the abundance of anti-Canada xenophobes that occupy these boards, that wish nothing more than to see our country suffer and fail, but it's true. Get over yourselves.

Not sure if I’ve ever seen the words “anti-Canada xenophobes” used in that combination before. People in the US often see Canadians as being nicer and more wholesome. The US is so dog eat dog that often times people in the US look at each other (but not always) as being up to no good. So take that as a compliment.

Furthermore, this is a hockey focused website. If you take every persons favorite NHL team, it’s a safe bet that at least one of the best players all time on that franchise are/were Canadian.

So why would people have such an issue with Canadians? This victim complex is a little confusing.

 

[ps241]

Success? No.

The fact soccer and basketball are far more accessible to the average household probably will though. Hockey is not an affordable sport for the average family.

As a father of two kids in the thick of it my experience has been hockey is affordable as long as you kid is not good.

If your kid is good at any sport, or actively, you are f***ed including soccer and basketball .

They have all been turned into for profit 10-12 month a year ventures. My buddies 13 year old daughter was good at fastball (pitcher) and even in Winterpeg they have the kids practicing indoors all winter. $12,000 before parents travel for 13 year old girls elite fastball.

When I hear the average parents that keep their kid out hockey its not about the money its about the safety (Head injuries), and or its about the reputation of hockey culture. I have had both my son and daughter in hockey (their choice) and lots of other sports too. Gymnastics for my daughter is 5 times more expensive than hockey was and she’s not elite at Gymnastics she is just “competitive”. (What a racket)

Canada was 20 million population back in 1967 when hockey was the only game in town. Now we are at 40 million population and much of it through immigration. All sports seem to be growing and I think that is a really good thing. Hockey isn’t going away, parents are just as f***ing crazy now as they have ever been about their kids making the show .

 

[Golden_Jet]

Canada just placed top 4 in the Copa America becoming the best North American team in the tournament.

Canada also just went undefeated in the Olympics basketball round robin tournament and has good chances at winning medals.

I don’t recall if Canada was ever this successful in these sports before and therefore this brings a question - will this even more decrease the popularity of hockey and number of children playing it?

Ya they been improving at both.
Women’s soccer has medaled the last 3 Olympics , gold being the most recent.

To answer the question, no, not one shred.
Do other sports in the US, become a detriment to football.
Weird thread.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Far too many mothers in Canada didn’t let their sons play or practice hockey during Covid and I think that will have a bigger impact.

Also I fear there’s public outcry coming. I know it won’t happen anytime soon, but

if it did, and the Leafs got in position to advance to a Cup final there will be media cracks crying about violence and how barbaric the sport is (keep in mind someone on the Leafs would have to do something similar to what Bennett did to Marchand in order to win) and that is a bigger threat, imo.

What lol.
There was no hockey during Covid,
The leaf comment is funny as hell.
Is that an AI post by chance.

 

[Golden_Jet]

Why doesn't Canadian government have any program to help young kids to play hockey, especially kids from poor families?

Why single out Canada, why not all the hockey nations?
There are tax deductions for kids signing up for sports programs.

 

[Cloned]

Probably not.

What’s the average height for a hockey player, like 6’0”?

Basketball players tend to be much taller and soccer players tend to be shorter.

 

[Nineteen67]

What lol.
There was no hockey during Covid,
The leaf comment is funny as hell.
Is that an AI post by chance.

We started baseball in May of 2020 and football started when they went back to school in August. My son’s workout group didn't take a day off, in fact they increased their numbers because schools shut down in April and they had to continue hit and throw.

 

[Golden_Jet]

We started baseball in May of 2020 and football started when they went back to school in August. My son’s workout group didn't take a day off, in fact they increased their numbers because schools shut down in April and they had to continue hit and throw.

Yes we all know what that outdoor activities were allowed, indoor activities weren’t.

 

[Nineteen67]

Yes we all know what that outdoor activities were allowed, indoor activities weren’t.

They worked out indoors and they held classes indoors. Most kids had it by the end of the summer so they didn’t worry about.