Larry wrote in part:
>  Again
>just look at the demographics of who plays north and south of the 49th
>parallel. In the US it is strictly a middle class and above sport and the
>opposite is true in Canada.


This is really no longer true in Canada and is a bit off base.  The
distinction was rural / urban not really class based.  In the old days (say
20 plus years ago) all the best Canadian players came from the far north in
small towns where natural ice was available for many months.  Most of the
population of Canada lives in the south in urban areas very near the US
border.  The advent of widely available artificial ice changed the rural /
urban mix of Canadian hockey and it is probably very similar to US hockey
(in northern states) now.

NHL rosters used to be full of Canadian players from tiny towns some with
very colorful names.  Now you see the names of suburbs and cities.

Yes US hockey is in many places a middle class sport but there are
certainly many "Joe Lunch Pail" families with limited means that sacrifice
significantly to keep there kids in hockey in my neck of the woods. I know
and like these people who put their children first.  If you want to
christen a sport as middle class and above in the US I would vote for
lacrosse or soccer.

If we focus back on college hockey I do not perceive any class differences
between Canadian and US born hockey players.  I suppose if a teams roster
is full of prep school players it might seem a little different.

By the way; the youngest player on the US Junior team was from Ithaca and
helped the high school to 2 state high school championship before going
Major Junior as a sophomore--he played on varsity in 8th and 9th grade.

--Steve
 From Ithaca in Upstate NY