The Politics of Canadian Participation in the 1978 IIHF World Championships: Alan Eagleson and the NHL Tighten Their Grip

This article critically examines the material interests and political struggles that shaped the participation of the Canadian men’s national hockey team in the 1978 International Ice Hockey Federation’s (IIHF) World Championships and beyond in international hockey. The analysis is drawn from extensive archival sources, enabling a fresh understanding of the quickly changing international hockey landscape in this era, and of Canada’s role in it, thus extending the existing historiography. The participation of an ad hoc team of Canadian National Hockey League (NHL) players in the IIHF World Championships for the second year in a row marked a firmer alliance between the IIHF, the NHL, and the NHL Players’ Association, with Alan Eagleson as the key intermediary and main beneficiary. Crucially, the alignment of these material interests and the concentration of power in Eagleson’s hands were countenanced by the Government of Canada—despite credible accusations of Eagleson’s impropriety—furthering the erosion of amateurism and the influence of the Canadian Amateur Hockey Association.