DANKOCHIK’S DRAFTINGS: My biggest hockey confusion

There is something unique in hockey and specifically in the NHL I have yet to figure out a good explanation for.

Why do the best players hate playing in the most high-profile markets?

This isn’t a thing in basketball, this isn’t a thing in football and this certainly isn’t a thing in soccer. Imagine if a prime Messi or Ronaldo decided to play for Toronto FC because they didn’t like the pressure of trying to win championships in Barcelona/Manchester United.

This isn’t even a thing in baseball, the sport most similar to hockey in a lot of ways. Since the beginning of time players have flocked to New York to play for the Yankees, under the brightest lights in America.

The “run away from the spotlight,” mentality from NHL players is so ingrained into the culture, it impacts draft decisions.

In Doug MacLean’s Draft Day book he recounted the Montreal Canadiens surprise selection of Slovakian Juraj Slafkovsky in the 2022 NHL draft. MacLean guessed one of the reasons they picked him over Shane Wright or another player was he had the “mental resilience to play in the Montreal market.”

It’s just assumed as a fact a hockey superstar will hate playing in the NHL in a high-profile hockey market. I don’t even think that’s the case for junior A or major junior hockey. I think places like Steinbach, Dauphin, Portage, Winkler and now Niverville in the Manitoba Junior Hockey League have an advantage because they have a strong fanbase and are more prominent in the community.

They also have new buildings with pressure to perform, yet junior players in this province still flock to those organizations over the current anonymity of the Winnipeg market. To quote Niverville Nighthawks head coach Dwight Hirst, “pressure is a privilege.” It sure seems most NHL players don’t see it that way.

Maybe it’s just the weather.