by Brett Jamieson

Created on: January 20, 2009

Hockey: the most popular sport in Canada. But when you ask other countries, the best it does is second...fourth or fifth in the USA, the country where the richest hockey players in the world play on a nightly basis from October to June every year.

Why is hockey a less popular sport that others?

The most popular sport in any land comes from the opportunity to play it. I am not talking about the opportunity a kid has for their parents to enroll them in a minor league through the city or town they live in. On the contrary, the love of a sport grows in the back yard, or the local park, even the street in front of the house.

To illustrate this point, turn the question around: Why is soccer (or football, as in most of the world) the most popular sport?

Simple, really. Everyone can play it. Anywhere. Anytime. With anyone. Many times, and in many countries, you see a group of kids playing soccer, but they are using a crumpled up piece of paper, a piece of garbage, or whatever they can get their hands, or feet, on. Weather plays a huge role in this, as well. If you consider most of the countries where soccer is the most popular sport, they are also the countries where the temperature stays mild to warm through the winter months, making it possible to play year-round. And this love for the game becomes a national tradition, passed on through the generations, building a stronger, more passionate love for the game with every passing generation.

Comparing this to the USA, where football (American), baseball, and basketball all take a front seat to hockey. The same theory could apply here. Playing the weather card, you have about half of the population not even experiencing snow, let alone temperatures cold enough to skate on ice. I know what you are thinking: "Ice can be made in the summer, too". Yes there are ice machines that we use now to make ice for rinks year-round. But that wasn't available fifty to a hundred years ago, when the traditions of hockey were being established.

Speaking of traditions, this is also a big reason why hockey is a secondary sport in the US. Due to the weather, people played more outdoor sports that didn't require ice. It also shows a very close relationship to the British origins of the country. Baseball is very similar to cricket, football to rugby. Of course, you do have the hockey tradition in the north east of the US, because of its proximity to Quebec, the originating area of hockey, but this just didn't spread south. With no ice, you don't have ice hockey!

Now, hockey may well be the most exciting sport in the world. That is another debate. But until there is a huge Canadian exodus south of the border, hockey has about as much chance of becoming the most popular sport as hurling does.

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