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Almost all players, coaches and scouts in the NHL are schooled thru the Canadian junior system - even the younger European and Russian players. They start their career in one of the 3 biggies of junior hockey - the International Hockey League, The Quebec Minor Leagues or the Ontario Minor Leagues.
Some American colleges, especially in the Boston area are starting to catch up with first rate programs of their own, but they still have a long way to go yet.
The reason that so many Canadian players play in the US is simply because there are so many more teams in the US. The reason for that is twofold.
First it has to do with the business of hockey. In Canada the prime time hockey night is Saturday night when the game is on the CBC which is the Canadian Broadcast Corporation, a crown company that couldn't give a flying fuck about paying the league proper money to broadcast the games, so the tv revenues for Canadian and even US teams is not that great. There is also the problems of the tax situation in Canada. In the US a player or owner can claim and deduct much more than he can in Canada, a problem that has been refused to be addressed by Bob Goodenov who claims to represent the players best interests.
The second major reason is the population base in Canada cannot support so many teams. The majority of Canada lives in the south east - primarily in the area from Toronto to Montreal. This is a situation that not only affects Canadian hockey but all of Pro sport in Canada - witness the slow and iminent demise of the Montreal Expos.
Its a situation that some owners use to their advantage by making threats to leave in hopes of pressuring the local government for some sort of a tax break or other incentives to stick around, the latest case being the Ottawa Senators, you cant blame the owners since it is a business for them and they want to get as much out of it as possible.
Canada does not have that much - we are a very large country with a small population - around 30 million - pushed as far south as the border will allow - got to get away from the cold North. We have long miserable winters with great summers that are far too short - no time for football, baseball, swimming etc, but we do have lots of time for hockey. It is such an ingrained part of Canadian culture that it trancends sport. I imagine it is the same way with soccer in many other parts of the world.
If you are a hockey fan you loved the game today - if nothing else it showed the world the dominance of the North American style of hockey.
Wether any other Canadians want to admit it or not we all know that the US really rules the world and we are secretly glad about that - it could be a lot worse - however this is a great day for Canada, let us enjoy it.
paulW
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