Pennsylvania High School Hockey League Discourages Singing of National Anthem for "Time Constraints"

It’s a financial decision, OK? From WHDH:

"PIHL commissioner Ed Sam sent out an email to the 183 high school teams in the central and western part of the state saying that the singing of the national anthem was not permitted. “The national anthem should not be played only because of the time constraints. It’s not that we’re not patriotic, that’s the furthest from the truth,” said Sam. High school hockey must rent the ice time, so every game is carefully timed to get in as many in as possible in the shortest amount of time. “Ice is very, very hard to get, okay? And it’s not cheap. We’re talking $300 an hour sometimes,” said Sam."

How long does it take to belt out the National Anthem, 120 seconds? [News 7 via Fang’s Bites]