Despite publishing evidence about the relative age effect in 'Outliers' in 2008, and the subsequent public attention to the problem, Canadian junior hockey (and youth sports systems generally) have made no changes to address the bias 15 years later, with the 2022 Canadian junior hockey roster showing the same birth-month distribution problem as pre-2008.
factualpending
Speaker
Malcolm GladwellEvidence Quote
“I wrote my book in 2008...there was a lot of kind of public attention to this particular um uh relative age effect...I decided I would look at the 2022 Canadian junior hockey roster...they have learned nothing right nothing they haven't done a single thing to fix the problem”
Created: 8/13/2026, 7:47:10 AM
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