It is a cold January evening somewhere in Ontario. You are sitting in an arena with thousands of other fans. You have paid good money for tickets, for popcorn, hot dogs and maybe even a beer. A large number of the crowd bought and paid for sweaters, toques, ball caps, and scarves bearing the colours and logo of their chosen team. You (and the thousands of others) have paid a pretty penny, but it is all worth it - you get to see the fastest team sport on earth, the owners and coaches and other team staff are making a good living, and the players are living their dream and are surely earning a good wage – I mean we all know how much high-level athletes earn right?
That last part may be true at the highest levels of professional hockey but, in this scenario, you happen to be watching a game at the elite level of Junior Hockey in Ontario – one of the traditional stepping stones to pro hockey. There are millions of dollars being spent by the fans, so those young men, aged 16 to 20 must be sharing the wealth, right? Well, maybe not to the degree that you might think.