Due to horrifying performances last season, Canucks, scoring only 73 points, were ranked 26th in the National Hockey League. The organization believes that their terrible performance on the road was due to Fortnite, an extremely popular and addictive video game with “around 45 million active players across all platforms,” according to an NBC report.
On the road last season the Canucks had a record of 15-22-4, making it a sub-.500 team. The Canucks might not be wrong about Fortnite. They are more worried about the effects on the players. They stay up late and it affects them in their games and practices.
Even Jake Gardiner of the Toronto Maple Leafs would not mind a ban, arguing that “video games get out of control. You’re on the road to spend time with teammates.”
A Washington Post article from July stated that organizations in the league are worried about Fortnite addictions while scouting. For example, Brady Tkachuk admitted that even though video games bring teams together, it doesn’t increase their skills on the ice. Also, teams in the OHL chose not to pick him in the 1st overall draft because he played multiple hours of Fortnite a week.
The diminishment of athletic performance due to Fortnite gaming is even spreading to other sports, such as baseball. We’ve been reminded of Red Sox pitcher David Price’s bout with controller-induced carpal tunnel syndrome. In 2018 here are his stats:
W-L ERA WHIP K/9 BB/9
With Fortnite: 2-4 5.11 1.41 7.8 3.9
Post Fortnite: 9-2 3.45 1.14 9.2 2.3
What do you think? Was the ban a bad move making players leave their teams or a smart decision to increase their skills on the ice?