Keywords
Modern sports history, hockey, russian mafia, sports fans reactions, professional sports leagues' response, sports scandals
Abstract
Professional sports leagues in North America have seen scandals, controversies, and tragedies. There is, however, a forgotten scandal that happened in the 1990s: the Russian Mafia came dangerously close to the National Hockey League. This thesis explores the alleged Mafia connections by examining newspaper and magazine articles and documentaries focused on the issue. The limited public response to allegations of Russian Mafia involvement is contrasted with other professional sports controversies that were met with an immediate response by the leagues and fans. How North Americans viewed Russians during the post-Soviet era is also explored in this paper. This thesis examines why evident Mafia involvement with National Hockey League players did not provoke attention and sanctions by the league nor an outcry from the fans. This study will conclude the League did not react to the allegations because it felt as if the games were not harmed directly. Also, hockey fans did not find the allegations surprising because of the media's constant reports of corruption within Russia's borders, especially involving organized crime. Perhaps the lack of reaction by the National Hockey League and its fans suggests why this particular scandal is forgotten a mere 20 years later.
Notes
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Graduation Date
2014
Semester
Fall
Advisor
Crepeau, Richard
Degree
Master of Arts (M.A.)
College
College of Arts and Humanities
Department
History
Degree Program
History
Format
application/pdf
Identifier
CFE0005488
URL
http://purl.fcla.edu/fcla/etd/CFE0005488
Language
English
Release Date
December 2014
Length of Campus-only Access
None
Access Status
Masters Thesis (Open Access)
Subjects
Arts and Humanities -- Dissertations, Academic; Dissertations, Academic -- Arts and Humanities
STARS Citation
Ennion, Kayla, "Invisible in Plain Sight: The Troubling Connections Between the National Hockey League and the Russian Mafia" (2014). Electronic Theses and Dissertations. 4580.
https://stars.library.ucf.edu/etd/4580