Why is hockey not a big sport in the US ?

[Chaotic42]

Originally posted by: neilm
It cannot be more boring than baseball, surely....

No, no, no. Don't get me wrong. Only soccer is more boring than baseball. I don't dislike hockey, I just don't like it. I'm neutral. 🙂

 

[LAUST]

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: neilm
It cannot be more boring than baseball, surely....

No, no, no. Don't get me wrong. Only soccer is more boring than baseball. I don't dislike hockey, I just don't like it. I'm neutral. 🙂

You know they count GOLF as a sport right 😛

 

[Kev]

Originally posted by: LAUST

Originally posted by: Chaotic42

Originally posted by: neilm
It cannot be more boring than baseball, surely....

No, no, no. Don't get me wrong. Only soccer is more boring than baseball. I don't dislike hockey, I just don't like it. I'm neutral. 🙂

You know they count GOLF as a sport right 😛

well they also count curling as a sport, so what does that tell you

 

[Cfour]

Originally posted by: Kev
My problem with hockey is that I don't see as much skill in it. I know its there, I just don't see it. When they score a goal it always seems like a fluke lucky shot. Basketball and Football are much more skillfull (and high scoring).

I still watch some regular season Flyers games and in the playoffs though. It's just fun to watch guys really go at it.

I agree. If there is a sweet play-making goal, it is really an unbelievable thing right now. Refs do not consistently call obstruciton holding and stuff like that. Many of the great players in the game now complain of it all, and IMO its ruining the game (many have threatened to quit, too.)

Who should be up for elimination? Phoenix for sure I think. Florida?

 

[Cfour]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Hockey is going down the drain for 1 reason: Greed. (other sports take notice)

Ticket prices are sky-rocketing
Player egos come before teams, with players insisting they get traded, etc.
There are no more "TEAMS", only collections of players
The majority of teams make the playoffs, making the regular season of 1230 games almost meaningless.

I don't know what NHL team is around you, but tickets are NOT unreasonable. I live in Minneapolis, and I can goto a Wild game for $12 and sit upper deck right behind the net, two rows up at the beautiful Excel Engery Center, which was voted like the #1 sports complex in sports last year by ESPN I believe. There isn't a bad seat in that whole arena. I can't goto a Vikings, T-Wolves, or any other sporting even around here where I can enjoy myself in such a nice facility for $12.

But, I will agree about the player egos.. but the NHL playoffs are awesome IMO. Yes, 16 teams total do make it, but I watch every series every year.

 

[jurzdevil]

Originally posted by: Cfour

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Hockey is going down the drain for 1 reason: Greed. (other sports take notice)

Ticket prices are sky-rocketing
Player egos come before teams, with players insisting they get traded, etc.
There are no more "TEAMS", only collections of players
The majority of teams make the playoffs, making the regular season of 1230 games almost meaningless.

I don't know what NHL team is around you, but tickets are NOT unreasonable. I live in Minneapolis, and I can goto a Wild game for $12 and sit upper deck right behind the net, two rows up at the beautiful Excel Engery Center, which was voted like the #1 sports complex in sports last year by ESPN I believe. There isn't a bad seat in that whole arena. I can't goto a Vikings, T-Wolves, or any other sporting even around here where I can enjoy myself in such a nice facility for $12.

But, I will agree about the player egos.. but the NHL playoffs are awesome IMO. Yes, 16 teams total do make it, but I watch every series every year.

upper deck corner seats for a devils game are 20$ those are the cheapest and they are way up there. just below them is 30 or 40. its 10$ for parking so im better off paying to parjk and watch it on tv

 

[LiQiCE]

I don't quite see how people can say hockey requires no skill ... Personally from someone who's played hockey before, and watched a lot of hockey too ... I can say that hockey definitely requires skill. For one, being able to skate is not exactly skill less ... Second, there are some really beautiful and purposely setup plays in hockey ... not to mention there are some really sweet breakaways and shots that are just amazing in terms of aim and sometimes for deflections. Alot of what you may see as the puck just luckily going into the net is a lot of times a shot thats going literally 100 mph at the net and then being deflected by a player at the net angled so that it goes right into the net. If you consider being able to hit a 100+mph baseball with a bat skillfull, then I'd imagine being able to hit the puck and deflect it into the goal is a skill as well.

As far as watching hockey on TV, I think its not so much about watching where the puck is but rather watching where the action is. If you pay attention to the players, you'll be able to figure out where the puck is, because almost all of the action is centered around where the puck is. I've been watching hockey on TV for awhile now (about 10 years or so), and I've gotten pretty good at being able to figure out whats going on ... Those of you who have trouble watching it might have trouble figuring out where the baseball is too if its your first time watching it on TV. Most people grew up watching baseball and other sports so it maybe 2nd nature for them to know whats going on ... If you didn't do the same with hockey, it may seem confusing, but you just have to get used to it.

I'm not sure where the boring part comes from either ... Perhaps its people who have trouble watching and understanding whats going on in hockey and therefore they think its boring. Personally, I find hockey more exciting than any other sport I've watched. But perhaps I find it exciting because I know what its like to be on the ice and I know what its like to feel the adrenaline rush from playing hockey and what it feels like to score a goal.

As far as fixing hockey is concerned, I have no idea what can be done to fix it ... If they are doing poorly, I hope something seriously changes next season to fix it. With a lot of people sounding like they don't like hockey after having only watched it once or twice, I can only guess that better marketing for youngsters and perhaps strides to make it more watchable for the public (like with Fox's blue puck highlighting)... But it may be too late for a lot of people who already think that they don't like hockey.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: Kev
My problem with hockey is that I don't see as much skill in it. I know its there, I just don't see it. When they score a goal it always seems like a fluke lucky shot. Basketball and Football are much more skillfull (and high scoring).

I still watch some regular season Flyers games and in the playoffs though. It's just fun to watch guys really go at it.

PIT @ WSH:

On the man advantage, Lang takes the puck up the left wing boards and back-hands the puck through the legs of the defender to Gonchar at the left point position. Within a half second, seeing Bondra race in toward the net from his right point, Gonchar slap-passes the puck toward him and from an impossible one-timer angle, Bondra puts it past the goalie with zero luck involved.

I can name about 15 different skills put to use on that play that took 5 seconds to evolve. It was a thing of beauty. I'll even link it for you tomorrow on nhl.com.

 

[silverpig]

Originally posted by: Kev
My problem with hockey is that I don't see as much skill in it. I know its there, I just don't see it. When they score a goal it always seems like a fluke lucky shot. Basketball and Football are much more skillfull (and high scoring).

I still watch some regular season Flyers games and in the playoffs though. It's just fun to watch guys really go at it.

Football isn't any higher scoring than hockey. It just seems that way because scores are worth 3 and 7(6+1) points. Take a typical 28-21 game. That's basically a 4-3 score.

Basketball sucks because it's way too easy to score.

I'd argue that hockey takes more skill than football for sure with the exception of quarterback. The Vancouver Canucks could field a decent football team, but I bet at least half the Tampa Bay Bucs can't skate.

 

[rh71]

Sandy McCarthy took on a professional football player in a bar a few years back because they said hockey players aren't as tough. The football player got his @$$ beat. Fighting on the ice is a lot tougher than you imagine. Doing it in a bar was cake I'd say.

 

[Squisher]

Originally posted by: DrPizza
Hockey is going down the drain for 1 reason: Greed. (other sports take notice)

Ticket prices are sky-rocketing
Player egos come before teams, with players insisting they get traded, etc.
There are no more "TEAMS", only collections of players
The majority of teams make the playoffs, making the regular season of 1230 games almost meaningless.

Money paid out to the players accounts for a higher percentage in hockey than in any other sport, by far (80% if I remember correctly). If there is any greed going on it is by the players.

I would have to say that all-in-all hockey players have the smallest egos of any of the major sports.

Hockey has always had a lot of movement of players from one team to another. Although in earlier times it was all initiated by the team management and not by the players through free agency.

Yes the season is long and allot of teams make the playoffs, but this is the way it has always been and to change it would certainly be a big change that would essentially cause all statistics kept up to that point to be frozen in time.

 

[murphy55d]

I'm a die-hard hockey fan, and there's so many problems with the league right now. many of them have been touched upon, lack of obstruction calls, too much clutching and grabbing, the trap, too many teams, tickets cost way too much(for a family of 4, it would probably cost well over $100 to go to a game in most markets, for LOUSY seats), the list goes on. it's a shame.

BTW, for those of you who think it's boring, do you honestly understand the game, and are able to follow it? It baffles me that people would think it's boring. Sure, sometimes you get the NJ-MIN games who have 15 combined shots, but that's the exception. It's fine if you don't like it and have given it a chance, but if you don't understand the game and just label it as boring, then I think you're missing out.

Everyone should see a live game before they judge it. it's a totally different experience. 🙂

 

[Regs]

Hockey is not a big sport in the US? Man, times must of changed since last week.

 

[kenshorin]

Originally posted by: TheBoyBlunder
I think hockey went downhill with the spread of the trap and massive expansion. Well, that and the refs not calling obstruction enough.

^^^ BINGO!

I also think telecasts need to be spiced up. I think a Skycam-like thing would be great in hockey, get some close in shots of players from a half court angle, rather than the boring side-to-side view for 9/10ths of a game, with the occasional against the glass view for .2 seconds.

 

[rh71]

Originally posted by: rh71

Originally posted by: Kev
My problem with hockey is that I don't see as much skill in it. I know its there, I just don't see it. When they score a goal it always seems like a fluke lucky shot. Basketball and Football are much more skillfull (and high scoring).

I still watch some regular season Flyers games and in the playoffs though. It's just fun to watch guys really go at it.

PIT @ WSH:

On the man advantage, Lang takes the puck up the left wing boards and back-hands the puck through the legs of the defender to Gonchar at the left point position. Within a half second, seeing Bondra race in toward the net from his right point, Gonchar slap-passes the puck toward him and from an impossible one-timer angle, Bondra puts it past the goalie with zero luck involved.

I can name about 15 different skills put to use on that play that took 5 seconds to evolve. It was a thing of beauty. I'll even link it for you tomorrow on nhl.com.

link (WMP9 req'd) - referring to washington's 3rd goal about 1:12 into the video ... take out http://

I can compare this to the difficulty of hitting a 97mph fastball. Except here you need to keep your balance and aim it at the same time.

 

[CraigRT]

I don't know why it's not big in the U.S. but it's big in Canada and that's all that matters to me 😀

 

[ThaPerculator]

I'm a die-hard hockey fan, and there's so many problems with the league right now. many of them have been touched upon, lack of obstruction calls, too much clutching and grabbing, the trap, too many teams, tickets cost way too much(for a family of 4, it would probably cost well over $100 to go to a game in most markets, for LOUSY seats), the list goes on. it's a shame.

Word. I think it's ridiculous that Schneider gets a 2 game suspension for accidentally high-sticking his good buddy in the face and apologizing to him right afterwards, while Roenick gets a 1-game for throwing a waterbottle at the ref. Nice job at keeping things standardized, NHL.

People say theres a lack of talent with new hockey players... What the hell are you smoking?? Being a wings fan from Detroit, the 1st obvious name that comes to mind is Pavel Datsyuk... watch a wings game and look at some of the 1-on-1 moves this guy can pull off while in a crowd and its jaw-dropping... Not to mention his line makes some of the best set-ups I've seen in recent years. They could make the equivalent of an And1 mixtape just based on what he has pulled off this season alone.

Besides the wings, there is a ton of young talent around... Look at Ilya Kovalchuk, or Trent Hunter, or Jason King, just to name a few. Dany Heatley should be coming back within a month or so, and hopefully he will be as amazing as he was last season.

The main problem with Hockey is all of these teams who are more concerned about money then winning, and don't care about playing as a team while on the ice. These teams are forced to play the trap because nobody trusts anybody else, and it gets boring as all hell. I swear to god if it wasnt for Scott Stevens, the defense on New Jersey would be dreadful to watch. Also, look at the Rangers, with an insane lineup and payroll, yet they still horribly suck because everybody has their own on-ice ego.

Hockey is definately the sport with the most emotion on the tv, but most people don't understand what is going on, or how players are reacting to what happens. Most people only understand breakaways, powerplays, fights, and scoring and have no clue what is going on when it comes down to the actual sport. Even most powerplays will look boring to the uneducated viewer, unless the team is playing straight-up crash the net and is skating at full speed back and forth.

As for having a hard time seeing the puck... huh???? Even when I was like 7 years old I could watch the puck just fine... Not to mention, the game isn't all about watching the puck, its about knowing where the puck is, and what is happening with it (how people deal with different setups, etc.). You sure as hell miss a lot of the game of football if all you do is watch where the ball is, and not what is happening around the ball.

tickets cost way too much(for a family of 4, it would probably cost well over $100 to go to a game in most markets, for LOUSY seats),

Definately. Here in Detroit, you can't expect to get anything better than standing room for like $45 a seat. And if you get seats for $45, they are absolutely horrible. Spending ~$60 a seat, plus hot dogs, drinks, etc. for a family of 4 would be at least $250 total for a night out... who the hell thought of that idea. .

 

[Thump553]

I'm a former big hockey fan. I attribute the decline of NHL hockey to:

(1) far too much WWF type fighting. A good hockey game is like a high speed ballet on ice with some football style action thrown in. A bad hockey game is repeatedly interrupted by fights and standing around. These days, I watch far more college hockey than pro hockey for this very reason. Its better hockey and more interesting.

(2) The southern mitigration strategy. The NHL cut the heart out of lots of Northern cities by moving their teams south. I'm frankly thrilled the Carolina Hurricanes are hurting financially after the job they did to their Hartrford fan fanbase.

(3) Ticket prices. As the article indicated, hockey is very gate-driven. The ticket prices are out of reach for anyone that is not fanatic or wealthy. All US pro sports have this problem, but hockey needs the gate money more.

 

[rh71]

For the non-fans... watch these highlights (especially the Edmonton vs. Columbus game) and tell me it's boring or skill-less. Of course it's tough to follow the puck with the video compression the way it is, but you get the gist of how great the game really is.

http://nhl.com/intheslot/watch/video/index.html

The creative plays mid-page are even better.

 

[murphy55d]

Here's another clip for you "no skill" people. It is of the above mentioned Pavel datsyuk...please don't hurt my servers. 🙁

http://www.psychopuck.com/datsyuk.mpeg

Uploading now..should be available in 5 mins.

 

[NesuD]

Bulletin From hockeytown:
It is very popular in some parts of the country. Lets face the facts though. It is tough for the kids to find an ice pond to play on in the winter time in most of the US which could account for why it isn't as popular as the other 3 major sports which can easily be played outdoors anywhere in the country at various times of year. I think it is all traceable back to what sports we played as kids to a great extent.

I also agree that moving NHL teams south was pretty stupid for the league to do. If you can't play an outdoor game sometime during the year on natural ice than you don't have the right climate for a hockey team.