There’s a recently created word that accurately describes how things are just getting a little worse all the time. It perfectly encapsulates what a hockey fan, or just the average person, is experiencing over the years.

Enshittification.

Thank a Canadian for that word, as Cory Doctorow coined it back in 2022 to describe the phenomenon of a product initially being good to its users and then abusing those users so the owners reap all the rewards.

It even has its own Wikipedia page, and the American Dialect Society voted it word of the year in 2023.

Now, in the big 2026, the average hockey fan is dealing with the enshittification of their favourite product, watching their nickels squeezed until the beaver squeals.

This isn’t inherently unique to hockey, obviously.

Whether it’s our tech overlords making apps designed to ruin our attention, the architecture and home decor in our communities being monochromatic and lifeless, or streaming options becoming more expensive, providing less content, and inputting more ads to interrupt our shows — it seems everything is getting a little worse all the time for you, the little guy.

Hockey jerseys were never going to have ads on them until they were. And if you don’t like that, don’t worry, because the manufacturers at Fanatics will make you hate the jersey itself for how bad the quality is.

The beers at Rogers Place get a little more expensive, the fan experience just a tad worse with every passing game, and the exorbitant salaries for grown men playing a child’s game are arrows pointed up.

What’s one more digital ad on the glass or around the boards for the television audience?

All while you get more for less ad infinitum.

Enshittification.

Rogers is now the be-all, end-all in Canadian hockey broadcasting by re-upping their broadcasting rights with the NHL, and they’ve spent little time wielding that power to continue operating.

First, Hockey Night in Canada is over.

A once-proud institution that had grown stale was put out to pasture. After 70 years, the free offering on CBC comes to an end, and a cultural touchstone becomes the past. The romantic connection that made many love the game as a kid comes to a close, and Saturday nights are just another night on the hockey calendar.

Rogers continues with shutting down sports talk stations in Calgary and Vancouver. The routines of many listeners are disrupted as they adjust to the new way of doing things in sports talk. The Calgary Flames, partnered with The Fan 960 as the radio rights holder for the Flames broadcasts, were........

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