Not sure how you can say that the NHL doesn't get it's fair shake in the media. With the NHLN and NBCSN, it has the most amount of coverage it's ever had.
The ESPN topic has been talked about ad naseum, you should use the search feature to dig up one of those countless threads.
Statistics show that interest in the game is growing every year...
That's pretty sad considering NY has the population of Canada as a whole lol. Imagine a Canadian city having the population of NY? It would be mayhem and every rink in the NHL would be invaded by fans from said city.
Well, that sums it up right there - the US population is soooooo much more than Canada's, and there are just so many more options for your US entertainment dollars.
So many Americans are from somewhere else, and hockey was likely not their interest in their previous country.
Jack Kent Cooke was likely correct when the Kings didn't draw much interest when they started when he said "All the Canadians that don't like hockey have moved to the US."
I look at it as one at a time: I took a coworker & her husband to their first Kings game last year. They got season seats this year. Now we're up to 4 hockey fans out of 140 coworkers.
I just think its hilarious that americans rather watch basketball, 'steriod-old-guys-baseball', 'handeggball-rugby-but-with-armour-and-commercial', and 'watching-cars-go round and round-in circles-NASCAR'
It is popular in some parts of the US. It may not be on par with the NFL or MLB, but I think it's doing better than the NBA ratings wise. I think in towns like Philly, Boston, Detroit, Minny and maybe New York (not sure with the football and basketball there). In some places it is very popular.
Not sure how you can say that the NHL doesn't get it's fair shake in the media. With the NHLN and NBCSN, it has the most amount of coverage it's ever had.
The ESPN topic has been talked about ad naseum, you should use the search feature to dig up one of those countless threads.
Statistics show that interest in the game is growing every year...
Until NHLn & NBCSN get moved to have channel numbers adjacent to the ESPN channels, and it becomes part of BASIC cable packages (& available in all hotel rooms) across the US, it will always be viewed as second tier in US sports broadcasting.
The only people watching the NHL on those channels are hockey fans seeking them out, no one is bumping into NHLn (471) or NBCSN (469) when ESPN is in the 420s.
The thing is in America most kids do not ice skate very much let alone get to the point of spending $1000 on hockey equipment on top of that. It's just not ingrained into the culture like it is in Canada where every other kid is on skates by age 5.
I don't think you can "get" hockey as quickly if you've never skated before. Certainly it's possible, but I think it always is going to have a bit of a disconnect to people who don't ice skate. I think you kinda have to look at it from the POV of a person who's never seen a hockey game before ... mixing ice skating + a goal scoring sport (ala soccer) is kinda strange.
Just my take on it though.
Beach volleyball isn't very popular in Canada either, probably due in large part to us not having any friggin' beaches, lol.
The thing is in America most kids do not ice skate very much let alone get to the point of spending $1000 on hockey equipment on top of that. It's just not ingrained into the culture like it is in Canada where every other kid is on skates by age 5.
I don't think you can "understand" hockey as quickly if you've never skated before. Certainly it's possible, but I think it always is going to have a bit of a disconnect to people who don't ice skate.
Just my take on it though.
Beach volleyball isn't very popular in Canada either, probably due in large part to us not having any friggin' beaches, lol.
I don't know how to skate and I've never played hockey. I'm obsessed with the NHL though and I spend almost every night from 7-12:30 watching hockey lol. I debunked your theory.
Well, that sums it up right there - the US population is soooooo much more than Canada's, and there are just so many more options for your US entertainment dollars.
So many Americans are from somewhere else, and hockey was likely not their interest in their previous country.
I'm not sure how this sums it up. In terms of professional sports teams, for sure the US has way more. But it's not like paying to go to hockey games is the only thing to do in Canada.
Your second point doesn't work either considering the population of Canada has a higher percentage of people that are foreign-born: according to wikipedia, 18.76% vs. 12.81%.
Until NHLn & NBCSN get moved to have channel numbers adjacent to the ESPN channels, and it becomes part of BASIC cable packages (& available in all hotel rooms) across the US, it will always be viewed as second tier in US sports broadcasting.
The only people watching the NHL on those channels are hockey fans seeking them out, no one is bumping into NHLn (471) or NBCSN (469) when ESPN is in the 420s.
The NHLN is part of the basic cable packages around my area, and NBCSN is roughly 15 or so channels away from ESPN. While this obviously isn't true for every sector of the US, I get the point that you're trying to make.
Any sports channel other than ESPN will be viewed as second tier in US, however the point I was trying to make is that the coverage is there.
I'm perfectly fine with it being a niche sport - as long as the league generates enough revenue and profit to be sustainable - it makes me feel special.
I do wish hockey was known more around the world, its the only sport that actually is joyful to watch and exciting.. Been to Baseball,football,basketball,tfc game and never really enjoyed it, but when i go to a hockey game, its like christmas! best atmosphere!! i just wish i can soon go to a leafs playoff game lol..
The thing is in America most kids do not ice skate very much let alone get to the point of spending $1000 on hockey equipment on top of that. It's just not ingrained into the culture like it is in Canada where every other kid is on skates by age 5.
I don't think you can "get" hockey as quickly if you've never skated before. Certainly it's possible, but I think it always is going to have a bit of a disconnect to people who don't ice skate. I think you kinda have to look at it from the POV of a person who's never seen a hockey game before ... mixing ice skating + a goal scoring sport (ala soccer) is kinda strange.
Just my take on it though.
Beach volleyball isn't very popular in Canada either, probably due in large part to us not having any friggin' beaches, lol.
I didn't start hockey skating (don't want to include skating in circles with friends at a public session) until about 17 or 18, started playing competitively at 20. Now I play in leagues year round.
But prior to skating, I was always a die-hard NHL and Blues fan.
The top players make millions of dollars, it's easily accessible to watch, and it's in the olympics. It gets covered in the news, and we can talk hockey on this very forum if we so choose.
What's the problem here? Do you get upset when someone isn't the same religion as you?
Nope. Couldn't care less. Actually I would like to see them contract the league by a couple of teams. 30 is too many and they never should've gone that big to begin with.
Meh let them have their Miley Cyrus and Justin Beiber and eat their cake....or er, pie.
Yes, Miley is American, but Justin? Blame Canada!
Hockey isn't more popular in the States because most Americans have not been exposed to the sport. Most people become huge hockey fans once they have had the chance to see the game live.
It kinda bugs me simply because hockey is the sport that provides the most action and entertainment. It is the fastest paced, the physical game is more exciting than footballs and the scoring is perfect. I can't watch soccer because the score ends up being 1-0 or 2-1 and nothing is happening most of the time. I cant watch football because well over half the game is just picking plays and nothing going on. While basketball has constant flow like hockey it doesn't entertain me and its embarrassing seeing people 7 feet tall embellishing everything. Sometimes I watch baseball but there isn't too much action in the games. Sorry if it seemed like I was making fun of a sport you like, but these are just my personal opinions. I live in Canada so I grew up with hockey.
