Connor McDavid is rewriting the assist record book, but paywalls are keeping plenty of Canadian fans from watching it happen.
Connor McDavid is putting together a historic start to the season, and a lot of Canadian hockey fans can't see it live. The Edmonton Oilers captain has 31 assists through 16 games, the fastest anyone has reached that mark in any NHL season. Yet when the Oilers fell to the Detroit Red Wings on 26 October, some Edmonton supporters, including patrons at a local bar, couldn't watch him add another helper.
The reason is a shift in how games are shown. Each Canadian NHL team now has a handful of matchups, nine for the Oilers this season, that are exclusive to Sportsnet+, a streaming service that costs $12.99 a month. It is owned by Rogers Communications, the telecom giant that also owns the Toronto Maple Leafs. Switching on the regular TV package is no longer enough.
Sportsnet+ isn't the only barrier. The NHL has also widened its deal with Amazon, so when Edmonton faced the Calgary Flames two nights after the Detroit game, only Amazon Prime subscribers could tune in. McDavid, as usual, picked up two assists. Fans without the right subscription missed the whole thing.
Hockey has long been one of the things Canadians share, from living rooms to neighbourhood bars. As the best games get split across more platforms and more monthly fees, that common experience gets harder to keep. For a league with a generational talent putting up record numbers, the question is how many people actually get to watch.
