Hockey is awesome live, but my own son would have to play for me to really enjoy it on TV.
Soccer is similar. My daughter, age 8, plays soccer, and before her games, while she's warming up with her team, I watch some local adult league play on an adjoining field. They're pretty good, and I'm telling you, it's a lot of action. Speed, hard hits, it's really very intense.
The combination of having my daughter play soccer, which I really get into of course, and watching these guys from close up has given me a whole new appreciation for the sport. Like anything else, you need to have an emotional "in"...so to speak.
Still, I have trouble with college sports because there's just so many teams and players--I just can't get that emotional "in."
So many sports, so little time....