Why don't American's like Hockey?

[SportSavant]

disclaimer: I am aware this is a gross generalization.


But nonethelss, if you are out there, & you love hoops, foots & bases but you dont like pucks....Id' love to hear why...Figures don't lie & the attendence in the NHL is pitiful & the TV contracts are worth pennies.

Any thoughts or opinions appreciated, even if you love the pucks I would love to hear why you think it is?

[This message was edited by SportSavant on March 01, 2004 at 10:42 PM.]

 

[DarrylParsons]

I think it has something to do with the avg. temperature in the US vs. Canada and the fact that hockey requires ice.

 

[UWinSports]

Having played bases,football,basketball and hockey I would say because its the least funnest to play.

 

[UWinSports]

Plus your looks when you grow up mean alot. Anybody got a picture of Dallas Drake before he got his false teeth?

 

[wilheim]

Hockey has geographic hotbeds in the US. New England, and the upper-midwest are the most notable. Minnesota is is very big on hockey.


wil.

 

[Banned4Life]

Because hockey is a stupid and boring "sport". A bunch of glorified figure skaters who skate around in circles for an hour chasing a puck around and when no one scores they get all frustrated and start beating the shit out of each other.

 

[Java]

1) Boring, low score game, with puck passed back and forth a million times (gee, sounds like the problem with soccer).

2) It not only requires a lot of specialized equipment, but a specialized environment (ICE!) that is not readily available.

3) Some years back, they forced all the players to wear helmets (this really cut down on the blood).

4) More US kids grow up playing baseball, basketball and football (even if football is touch, not tackle) than play hockey.

 

[WildBill]

Hockey is very much loved, but only by the segments that follow it. It is very much a love it or leave it thing. NBA is sort of the same, not that much bigger of a base. When Jordan was playing as well as the Magic/Bird years they got a lot of casual fans that drove the ratings. That is why the NBA ratings suck so much now, not that much better than hockey really. Arena football is outdrawing the NBA. Still though in spite of the supposedly low support the stadiums in most cities are pretty full even though many upper-level tickets are near $50 and a good seat is in the triple figures in many places. The NHL does a great job of drawing a strong demographic, people that love the game and pay dearly to see it. The NBA is doing worse drawing crowds despite charging lower prices per average ticket.

 

[Jazz]

Hockey bores me to tears, and the season and playoffs are endless. I now tune in only to the Stanley Cup finals, where I can get my annual fill of it, but even then it can be mind-numbingly boring to me. If I want to watch a fight, I'll watch boxing. While I can appreciate a great player, trying to watch games where the puck carooms randomly quite a bit and you can't follow it is not my idea of a good time. Hell, I can't even watch tennis matches any longer where the opponents are strong-to-great servers, because it is incredibly boring to watch a match determined by who gets the most aces, and where serve-and-volley are rarely seen, and the only strategy is smashing the ball on the serve. Screw that, I'd rather be fishing in both cases.

 

[jerseymike111]

It's a very bad sport to watch on TV.
Low scoring..Slow moving. If they rid of the off side penalty,the game would be better!

Baseball you can say the same thing ,but summer time you want to be layed back and enjoy the weather and have a couple of dogs. Also 90% of american boys played baseball when they were kids.

 

[soccerbob]

I have always been a big hockey fan and still enjoy it but the game stinks today. The rink needs to be widened. The red line needs to go and the goaltender's equipment is way too big. What has hurt hockey far more than anything else is the constant clutching, grabbing, hooking and stick work that players use. It slows the game down and takes all the flow out of it.

 

[WildBill]

I agree Bob.

If I was in charge, 5 things I would do right now:

1. Widen the rink. Definitely. The players are just much bigger now that space is at such a premium. I went and watched a game last night in San Jose, 1 frickin goal! It was because both teams never gave up clean entries into the zone. They both used size and proper spacing and the other team couldn't get in. I do know though this is next to impossible, the rinks are the size they are because of stadium constraints. Maybe 4 on 4 is the only way it can work.

2. Do something about the red line. Maybe get rid of it, but certainly get rid of the two-line pass that is just a simple clear out. Too many stoppages caused by a guy one step behind the line to a guy just barely across the red. Breakouts are so hard to get when you constantly have to keep your forwards cycling backwards.

3. Get rid of the clear the zone rule before clearing up a delayed offside. I know they wanted to stress stick-handling versus dump-ins, but it isn't working because of the size factors. The guys are still dumping it in, just from further out. If they had a rule where offside was only called on possession by the team while carrying the puck in the forecheck would become much more common and a lot more action would happen in offensive zones, not between the blue lines.

4. Simple one really, but stop wasting time on the chase-ins for an icing. In the minors and in the international game icing is called the second it crosses the goal line, do that for the NHL. Once in about 20 times does the offensive player "beat" the opponent, why not just get on with it and have the face off right away? Not to mention if you got rid of the red line then icing would be much less common.

5. This one would need some experimenting, but maybe have fewer face-offs and more "free" pucks kind of like they have in soccer. Ref blows the whistle and immediately the puck gets put in a spot, say where the face off circle is. The team that gets the puck then puts it back into play quickly. The tussles for face-offs are lousy and rarely yield scoring chances. A team could make a quick restart and have a scoring opportunity with just a good pass or two.

 

[TEASERGURU]

Net too small, goalies too big = borrrrrrrrrring. Fix a few things and the sport could be great from a spectator standpoint.

 

[Fezzik]

Soccer on ice, except you cannot see the ball. You can only score in increments of 1. Forget about grand slams, three point shots or TDs.

Of course, some woman like it since it is the only spot that is simple enough that a complete novice can follow.

You cannot see the players faces, so tough to even get personal with the game.

No cheerleaders, no unique ballparks, all the rinks look identical.

ZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZZz

Go on strike. PLEASE!!!

 

[Amitightornot]

Fezzik,
do you bet NHL? why not?

 

[TheFunkMonkey]

WildBill, I was gonna say the same thing about the NBA. During the week, some NBA teams only have a few thousand people in the arena.

It looks like the NBA will be fine, thanks to the new crop of rookies, especially LeBron. Other than LeBron, how many NBA players can really sell tickets and get TV ratings?

Shaq can do it. But he is getting old.

Kobe can do it. But how will his legal issues affect his popularity/marketability?

Iverson can do it. However:

1) Iverson is a "thug". Some fans/advertisers like this, but some don't.
2) Iverson is a great player because of his superior speed/quickness. These will fade over the next couple years. Even worse, Iverson hasn't exactly done a good job of taking care of his body.
3) Sixers are no longer a title contender. How can the NBA market Iverson if the Sixers don't even make the playoffs?

If it wasn't for LeBron, the NBA would've been REALLY hurting in 2-3 years. Other than Shaq/Kobe/Iverson, not many players can make a ticket/ratings difference (KG is almost there, but Minny needs to win some playoff games!). Ron Artest and Ben Wallace are All-Stars, but people don't pay $90 to watch them play.

 

[Highdaddy]

its the worst of the major 4 sports for gambling...the officiating is horrible...and too many foreigners.

 

[Dante]

I like hockey....and I like coaching kids at it...roller hockey or Ice...both a blast IMO..

 

[Fishhead]

I actually feel sorry for people that do not appreciate and enjoy hockey.

Playoffs in one month!!!

 

[SportSavant]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR> I actually feel sorry for people that do not appreciate and enjoy hockey.

Playoffs in one month!!! <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

me too, the excitement of one playoff series can be overwhelming with rivalries that eclipse other sports...