Rising costs of hockey

 Every hockey fan knows hockey isn't cheap. Now, there's no real solution, but in Canada it's pretty expensive compared to the United States. I personally dislike it, also hockey isn't the highest paid sport in the world and it takes more work than any other sport. It requires lots of dedication, and I mean A LOT. So much so you can't take a single day off from working out. If you're like Phil Kessel and be given a god-given gift of being good at hockey while just living a life you please, then you're unstoppable and your only kryptonite is not getting a contract, like a lot of hockey players. 

But if I had a solution, I think the price of hockey should be decreased. But you can't just decrease it, what needs to be understood is that there should be opportunities given to kids and families who can't afford hockey. Some can argue in Canada that you just take a hose and build your own rink. But what bothers me is how it's all rich kids and the kids of ex-NHLers who only made it because of their parents getting them in the door -- luckily not all. One example is Macklin Celebrini, whose father worked for the Golden State Warriors. The parents also have really good jobs to keep their kids in high-tier hockey, but I find the issue here is I find is Canada probably has a superstar that isn't known or had never been given the opportunity to play hockey. Now it's a huge lose-lose because that player could've been one of the greats. But you have families with money and being sent to hockey camps where they enter the NHL only knowing a life of consistent assistance. 

But I also look at the talent, and the players aren't as strong as they used to be. I knew the NHL hard to make, and still kind of is, but I can almost look at the stats and know who is or isn't. I shouldn't be able to do that, because I keep saying how a player can be talented. Rob Schremp was a talented hockey player, but he didn't entirely have what it took to play in the NHL. Then you have a guy like Alexandre Burrows who nobody knew about, worked hard and managed to stay in the NHL for over ten seasons -- I personally disliked Burrows as a player. It's all about if you can play in the NHL, not so much if you're a good hockey player or not. And I think if there was solution, the final solution would be to have assistance such as a scholarship from a credited school for hockey which would be tax funding, where the players are balanced in education and sports. Similar to Notre Dame in Saskatchewan or Shattuck St. Mary's in Minnesota. But for kids, the NHL players have been helping by sponsoring kids sport, most notably Mark Scheifele and Jarome Iginla.