Electronic Thesis and Dissertation Repository

Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Master of Arts

Program

Kinesiology

Supervisor

Ali, Adam E.

Abstract

This thesis undertook an interpretivist historical analysis of the publicly available Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA) meeting minutes from 1936 to 1952. A Foucauldian lens of disciplinary power was used to answer the research question: how was the National Hockey League (NHL) able to develop a professional sponsorship system within the CAHA following World War II, and what effects did this have on Canadian minor hockey. The results found that following the signing of the CAHA/NHL agreement, the NHL exercised its disciplinary power over the CAHA members to instill in them what Foucault termed ‘docility.’ The birth of the professional sponsorship system following WWII was a result of this disciplining and docility. Through this system, the NHL brought its disciplinary technologies directly to bear on Canadian minor hockey and gained the ability to control players rights from ages as young as twelve years old.

Summary for Lay Audience

Beginning in the late 1940s, the National Hockey League (NHL) operated a system in which they sponsored amateur hockey teams in the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association (CAHA). This research project undertook a historical analysis of publicly available meeting minutes from the CAHA to develop a better understanding of how this system was created, and the effects that it had on minor hockey players in Canada. Using the theories of French philosopher Michel Foucault, this research project found that following an agreement signed between the NHL and the CAHA in 1936, the NHL was able to create a system which encouraged the CAHA officers to refrain from taking actions against NHL interest. This, along with changes brought about by WWII, allowed the NHL to build its professional sponsorship system following the end of WWII. Through this system, the NHL was able to gain control over Canadian hockey players’ playing right from the time they were twelve years old, as well as shape their development as players through their influence on team officials and their control of the CAHA’s playing rules. This ensured a continually renewing labour force for the NHL to select players from, which were already trained in the NHL’s style of play and values.

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