…The players for Canadians teams are paid in U.S. dollars, even though most of the teams' revenues are earned in Canadian dollars.

"Through the 1980s and well into the 90s, it really became a U.S.-based currency-based league," says Bob Stellick, a sports marketing expert. "The league expanded dramatically south of the border. There were more trades and the players and their agents really said, 'let's do everything in U.S. dollars. It's a level playing field and we'll go from there'."