National Hockey League

This chapter examines thirty-three articles about the National Hockey League (NHL) published in academic journals and scholarly publications between 1969 and 2004. Articles written in languages other than English and publications on amateur, collegiate, or minor league hockey are not included in this survey. Jones indicated the interests of NHL franchises are protected through league rules that allow each team to reserve its rights to players as well as protect specific players from being acquired by another club. The most vigorously debated issue in the hockey literature concerns discriminatory practices against Canadian Francophone players, particularly the Quebecois. A more sophisticated examination of player salaries is Jones and Walsh, who investigated the impact on player salaries due to the presence of a rival league. Subsidization of sports facilities is an important public policy issue that has drawn considerable attention from economists.