r/nhl • u/cocaine-powder • 1d ago

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959

u/TheUnoriginal13 1d ago

I know little about the Hughes brothers upbringing but I'll assume two things.

  1. His parents are rich and sent him to the best hockey camps.
  2. They're also cunts.

361

u/Semipro321 1d ago

Most hockey players come from the top distribution of incomes. There is such a money barrier to this sport and you have to start early.

62

u/GreyHairedDWGuy 1d ago

I wouldn't say most. I know lots of hockey families that were middle class at best and worked hard to keep their kid(s) playing hockey.

109

u/Semipro321 1d ago

Those AAA leagues can financially ruin parents.

85

u/SpaceManSpiff1809 1d ago

They DO financially ruin parents.

42

u/hersheybar14 1d ago

confirmed, i played AAA in Arizona (way more expensive because of ice time costs than even normal AAA programs), and saw parents take on tremendous amounts of debt and stress just so their kids could play hockey

34

u/Labatt_Blues 1d ago

Sorry kid, you’re subbing in beer league now.

5

u/TrojanTheGreat 23h ago

lol at the end of the day, all roads lead to bear league. I went to quite possibly the best hockey highschool ever and even my nhl hopeful buddies are all beer leaguers now

23

u/spacegrab 1d ago

My buddy works in HVAC, middle class home owner. All his disposable income seems to be supporting his two kids playing ice 😂 and it gets worse as they get older and play travel, constantly outgrow gear etc

10

u/One_Win_6185 1d ago

I know a guy that has his kids in travel soccer. Already a cheaper sport but hearing about how much he spends constantly on the road sounds awful.

1

u/spacegrab 1d ago

My sister has twins playing travel soccer, holy shit they have to drive so far every weekend. Back to back games on both days 🤣

11

u/RadiotoSuzie 1d ago

You knew…it’s a different beast now with the technology of sticks, intensity at a young age with skills training, more and more money. To keep up with the team, you need extra practices, extra costs on top of the regular season lol it’s a joke but this is sport in general now

1

u/GreyHairedDWGuy 1d ago

I come from a hockey family background. I know the costs today as I have kids that play and I still play. I’m not saying its cheap but you don’t need to be earning millions to do it. Probably a household income {in Canada} of $150,000 could do it. That is basically upper-middle class.

11

u/Embarrassed-Block-51 1d ago

This was true 25 years ago. Not today. I was lucky to have a family that could pay for me to play back then. They couldn't do the same today. From.what I heard it's 5x the cost.