With the NHL lockout still ongoing, Canadians apparently don't have nearly as many excuses to drink beer. Molson Coors Brewing Co. says beer sales are down across Canada thanks to the lockout, the Winnipeg Free Press reports. The CEO of the company, which makes Coors Light and Molson Canadian, explains: People aren't drinking beer at hockey arenas; they're not drinking beer at the bars while watching hockey games; and they're not drinking beer at home while hosting hockey parties.
"All of those occasions have disappeared off the map and you just can't replicate them," Peter Swinburn says. No word yet on just how much the lockout has hurt sales, but Swinburn says the company—which is a hockey league sponsor—will seek some sort of compensation from the NHL. (More National Hockey League stories.)