In the early and mid 1980s I was an AHAUS (forerunner to Hockey USA) mid
atlantic delegate and active in youth hockey in New Jersey. We were paying
over $200 per hour for ice and one rink after another was going out of
business. I had access to every American and Canadian study on hockey and was
appalled to find out that hockey interest was waning in Canada and that
Canadian studies found that hockey was not even a good bang for the buck from
a PE perspective. We all thought the 1980 Olympic team would bring a wave of
interest. Hockey is expensive and unless it thinks outside the NHL box
(fighting) it will never be more than a regional niche sport in the US. Any
introspective Canadian/Canadien perspective would be alarmed at the loss of
participants. Tthank goodness for womens' hockey.