Outdoor rinks ?

dempsey_k* · 12-12-2003, 09:37 PM

I've never been to France myself, and I've only been to Germany an extremely long time ago, so forgive my ignorance, but does weather permit the building of outdoor rinks anywhere in France in winter (other than near Switzerland) ? I'd be interested, as it's a fun proposition to get more countries converted to the much more noble sport of hockey.

merci

Evilo · 12-12-2003, 11:33 PM

There are a lot of outdoor rinks in the Alpes for instance (went to a lot myself).
But I've never heard of a pro hockey game being played outdoor though.

dempsey_k* · 12-13-2003, 12:16 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Evilo

There are a lot of outdoor rinks in the Alpes for instance (went to a lot myself).
But I've never heard of a pro hockey game being played outdoor though.

It's a grass-roots thing. Hockey won't catch on completely in all of America because most places you can't have out-door rinks for kids to play on, but in Canada, Russia and the northern US, the cold winters allow outdoor rinks to play shinny hockey on. I was wondering if France's weather allowed room for such development.

I've always wondered why England, France, Germany etc. never took to ice hockey like Scandinavia and Russia, could it be weather ?

Evilo · 12-13-2003, 10:52 AM

Well sure the weather is part of it.
Also, there's NO place in the media (except in the Olympics) for FRENCH hockey. Not NHL, french hockey.
No TV equals no publicity equals no youngsters (or too few).
Germany though has gotten better in hockey. And their league is solid.
Ours has been a mess for years.

Dans · 12-18-2003, 05:48 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dempsey_k

It's a grass-roots thing. Hockey won't catch on completely in all of America because most places you can't have out-door rinks for kids to play on, but in Canada, Russia and the northern US, the cold winters allow outdoor rinks to play shinny hockey on. I was wondering if France's weather allowed room for such development.

I've always wondered why England, France, Germany etc. never took to ice hockey like Scandinavia and Russia, could it be weather ?

Ice hockey is quite big in Germany these days. If there's a lock out next season it will become even bigger as some NHL stars seek to play the year over in Europe. And quite a players from the DEL are making it over to the NHL now so helping the popularity of ice hockey. It isn't cold enough this far south though (south of Sweden), although as your man mentioned previously, in the Alpine regions it is, but still in those regions they play on indoor rinks I believe.

In the UK, hockey is a minor sport and as in France it is up against the traditional sports football and rugby. It's just not cold enough in most of the UK to play outside and where it is cold enough there are generally very small local populations. We don't have a big enough pro league to generate enough interest. I suspect hockey will never take off over in the UK, not to the extent that it has in Germany anyway.

12-19-2003, 03:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dempsey_k

It's a grass-roots thing. Hockey won't catch on completely in all of America because most places you can't have out-door rinks for kids to play on, but in Canada, Russia and the northern US, the cold winters allow outdoor rinks to play shinny hockey on. I was wondering if France's weather allowed room for such development.

I've always wondered why England, France, Germany etc. never took to ice hockey like Scandinavia and Russia, could it be weather ?

What I am wondering is what happened to Belgium?? Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Russia were the first countries (apart from parts of great britain) in Europe where hockey culture first flourished and while Czech, Slovakia and Russia maintained the culture, Belgium seems to have lost it...

Dans · 01-02-2004, 12:34 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiffy

What I am wondering is what happened to Belgium?? Belgium, Czechoslovakia and Russia were the first countries (apart from parts of great britain) in Europe where hockey culture first flourished and while Czech, Slovakia and Russia maintained the culture, Belgium seems to have lost it...

Belgium lost everything bar chips and chocolate.......

Belgian Fan · 01-04-2004, 08:40 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Spiffy

Belgium seems to have lost it...

We still have a league and stuff like that, but the level of play is pretty poor. Our league is really on the lowest level in Europe, as was proven recently when the best Belgian team went to play in Holland (wich is another very poor league) and got trashed twice with huge scores.

The problem is about the same as Evilo described for France, there's simple no media coverage of the sport, except for a once a year broadcast of the 'Cup Final'. Sixty minutes of hockey on TV every year really isn't enough to encourage youngsters to take part in it...

If you compare that to an average of 130 days of live cycling every year on Belgian television...

And the NHL gets no coverage either. In Flandres (where I live) it's impossible to get it on your TV, in Wallonia (the French speaking, southern part) there's the possibility of getting Canal Digital, wich broadcasts one or two games every week.

It's sad but true

Quote:

Originally Posted by Dans

Belgium lost everything bar chips and chocolate.......

Hey, we've still got beer and waffles too. :p