which attracts some of Ontario’s best young players.

And some the worst parents.

I don’t have kids but I have lots of siblings that do … and I have a few friends in southern Ontario who have their own kids.

Hockey parents are the worst, especially in small town rural southern and northern Ontario. They all believe that their four year son (specifically boys) are all going to grow up to become a multi million dollar NHL all star by the time they turn 18.

The format is all the same with them. The kid has lots of potential when they are four, nurture the sport into them and they’ll become great. By the time they’re six, they haven’t shown promise but there’s still time. By the time they’re eight, signs are starting to point that they aren’t that athletic, but we can still try. By the time they’re ten, they are definitely not raw talent, but we can still hope. By the time they’re 12, they are an average player in the little leagues but the kid is just lazy and not motivated enough at this point. By 14, we’re starting to blame the kid for not making it. By 16, they are being blamed for not doing enough or working hard enough. At this point, the parents give up and they forever live with a disappointment of a son who never made it to the NHL like they wanted. At 18, the kid is in the beer leagues and doesn’t like playing hockey any more but loves to talk about it.

Not all parents are like this … but I’ve seen about half my friends with kids go through either all or part of this scenario.

I got to know two players from northern Ontario that made it to the OHL and QMJHL, basically one step away from the NHL. Both players were natural athletes with huge muscular forms and they could run/skate/train like an olympic athlete. They trained 365 days a year and spent mornings at the rink, the days at they gym, and evenings with more training. They did this from the time they were about 12 or 14! And even with all that and years and years of hard work … they didn’t make it to the NHL and their hockey careers dried up and the best thing they got out of it was a university education.

The estimate I’ve heard is that each little hockey player out there has about a 1 in 100,000 chance of making it to a league that might give them a chance at the NHL … and that’s if the parents dump tens of thousands of dollars into the kid every year for about ten years … and that’s if the kid has natural raw talent and the genes of an olympic athlete. It is about a 1 in a million chance for them to make it to become a highly paid professional athlete.

I’ve seen far more kids being destroyed by organized hockey than I’ve seen any make it.

Hockey parents are the absolute worst.

You run into shitty parents in any sport, but hockey attracts the frustrated assholes living vicariously through their poor kids. How many stories per year do we see about brawls or assaults at kids’ games? Too damned many.

Gymnastics isn’t as violent, but the parents are almost as bad. Usually the actual abuse is directed at their own kids.

Most ‘fringe’ sports have a strong, supportive community. It’s possible, but the culture of hockey is rooted in toxicity.

hockey game between seven and eight-year-olds

If you’re the type of parent who gets into fights at a hockey game for young kids, just stay at home.

I can’t even imagine the hell that those kids go through having to live with parents like that 24/7.

Just a reminder here about how strict these leagues’ social media policies are. My wife was reduced to tears when called by a furious board member (or some kind of management or head coach) over her tame comments online about being disappointed after a practice. My wife was told that we would be sent to tribunal over the matter.