Connor Lowden

[Topher Scott @HockeyThinkTank]

Thoughts on Team Canada at World Juniors:

There's been a lot of discourse today about Canada's performance after bowing out to Czechia again. I've read a lot about roster construction, team toughness, how players were used during the tournament, and other things related to the team's inability to get the job done.

These things may have been an issue, but reality is the problem runs way deeper.

Here is the biggest thing that people aren't talking about:

Canada has WAY fewer youth boys playing hockey than it did a decade ago.

Looking at Hockey Canada registration and membership data, it's mind-boggling to see the numbers.

And the numbers in the biggest provinces (Ontario and Quebec) are especially egregious.

So why is this happening? Hockey is Canada's sport. It shouldn't be like this.

It's what we hear every day from families all over North America:

Costs are too high. It's professionalized at too young of an age. The stress of the youth hockey experience is too much for kids and families.

Community programs have been replaced by for-profit entities leading to higher costs and more pressure. Development has been replaced by super teams and rogue/outlaw leagues outside of Hockey Canada even before kids are 8 years old. At the older ages, hockey academies have become what families believe is the only way their kids will make it - shelling out INSANE amounts of money to send their kids to do so.

Ontario just got rid of residency rules which will only lead to less accountability and more club-hopping than there already was in the nation's craziest and biggest youth hockey market.

The reason why Canada was the hockey superpower for so long is because it was part of the fabric of the country. There was such a pride and passion for the game and what the game meant to the flag. There was such a sense of playing the game for something bigger than yourself.

Now rather than playing for the love of the game, hockey in Canada is like a job for many of these kids in the environment they're being put in. It's less about pride and passion and more about the path to making it. When in all honesty, it's the pride and passion for the game that is the biggest consistency in the kids that do end up making it.

If Canada wants to restore its hockey dominance, it better take a long look in the mirror at the grassroots and what is going on in youth hockey. If you have tens of thousands of fewer boys playing the game, you should probably look at that first. The bigger your pool of athletes, the more elite athletes you can develop.

"As many as possible, for as long as possible, in the best environment possible". That has to be the guiding principle.

There's a lot of great people in Canada doing incredible things for the game, but the system itself is fundamentally broken. If Hockey Canada is serious about getting back to the top, it has to start at the bottom.

[Paul Bissonnette @BizNasty2point0]

🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

[Connor Lowden @Clow_99]

@J_Swish24 If I’m Ken Holland Zack kassian is getting the call and I want him showing up to the rink on the Harley no bucket leather cut on like ur Jax teller and you got 1 job

[Ari Meirov @MySportsUpdate]

Keon Coleman’s NFL Combine interview with the #Bills:

Question: What do you do outside football?

Coleman: Chill at the house. Golf.

“You golf?

Coleman: “I'm Tiger WishHeCould. I'm not Tiger Woods.”

This guy is the best 😂😂😂

(via @BuffaloBills)

[New Jersey Devils @NJDevils]

#NEWS: We have recalled F Shane Bowers from Utica (AHL).

[Colby Armstrong @armdog]

Jacob Newcombe, diagnosed with cancer this summer, makes his return to play in his first game tonight after beating cancer. Congrats Jacob. 💜 Welcome back. Couple snaps 🫰 🫰 @mattmurley19 @spittinchiclets

[KHL @khl_eng]

We have a fight at #KHLAllStar Game! 🤭

Nikolai Goldobin vs Cameron Lee

[Emily Kaplan @emilymkaplan]

Maybe my favorite ESPN feature this season: The Erik Johnson story. One of the game’s true beauties.

[Missin Curfew @MissinCurfew]

SOUND WAY 🆙⬆️

Big Tuna just got caught on the 🔥 mic absolutely putting Timo Meier in a body bag 💀💀💀

[Frank Seravalli @frank_seravalli]

#Avs acquire G Keith Kinkaid from #NHLBruins for Shane Bowers.

[Spittin' Chiclets @spittinchiclets]

“Connor Bedard is a Bad Boy’”

Halifax has officially adopted Bedard as their own.

🎥: jacobstockley/IG
https://t.co/ydP7LZIN36

[Colorado Avalanche @Avalanche]

Ahead of his NHL Debut...

Shane Bowers | Number 15

#GoAvsGo

[Peter Baugh @Peter_Baugh]

Shane Bowers, NHLer

[Jon Scott @JonScottTV]

How tough is Jordan Poyer?

The #Bills safety was not medically cleared to fly because of rib injury, so he drove 15 hours to Kansas City and back to play in this game.

[²³ @SpeakContext]

“He learned to stop giving a fu** - I hope LeBron gets the respect he deserves at the end of his career”

- David Fizdale

(via - AllTheSmoke)

[Murls @mattmurley19]

Fedorov pulls goalie once again in OT for a 4 on 3 and wins the game. Who will be the 1st NHL coach to try this!? @spittinchiclets @NHL @NHL_On_TNT @bigdealbrew @pinkwhitney

[br_betting @br_betting]

The dog days of summer are almost over...

Throwback to 2020 when we were betting on the weather 😂

(via aristotle_gold/IG) https://t.co/RP3fL58C00

[Spittin' Chiclets @spittinchiclets]

Heartbreaking news. RIP Ben.

[Tristen Kuhn @KuhnTristen]

NFL suspensions:
Calvin Ridley: 17 games, betting
Vontaze Burfict: 12 games, targeting
DeAndre Hopkins: 6 games, PED
Martavis Bryant: Indefinitely, Weed
Josh Gordon: 25+ games, Weed
Darren Waller: 16 games, substance abuse

DeShaun Watson: 6 games, 25 SV accusations