ReggErving

Sorry fans...but I'm from Indiana and hockey isn't a big deal here. We grow up with a basketball, so I'm asking for a response of what makes hockey so appealing. This isn't a sarcastic thread bashing hockey, just really curious because I watch it sometime when I am flipping through channels and don't see the excitment.

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Tempboy

well, what's the appeal in basketball?
why do you find it exciting? You just... DO.

In any case, for me, it's because it's a fast-paced sport, lots of nifty stickhandling and deking, the occasional fight..

feelgood

And the fact that's a CANADIAN sport Need I say more for those Canadians out there?

Oh, we invented Basketball too...not to rub it in

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Spartak

Hockey's cool.

The speed, the hits, the goals. It's all there imo.

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BulletCatcher

Hockey is poetry in motion. The fluid pace matched with punishing physical play can be a beautiful thing to witness for those who understand the talent involved. You cannot just pick up a stick and lace up a pair of skates and expect to be able to play hockey.

To me, this is a big reason why hockey remains a mystery to a lot of people. Unlike Basketball where all you need is a ball, hoop (both readily available for little or nothing anywhere in the U.S.) and a little bit of hand eye coordination to play the basic game, hockey takes a substantial investment in money (even basic equipment isn't cheap), time (most towns/cities don't even have ice rinks and those that do require you to reserve ice time to do more than skate), and talent (Learning to skate is a chore in itself. Skating alone is one thing, skating while being pushed, poked and checked quite another).

These factors put the game out of reach for most people to expirence for themselves. It's much easier to appreciate something if you have first hand knowledge of it. For someone who's played basketball personally, watching a basketball player drive to the net and make a reverse lay-up is exciting because you've done it yourself and know what it takes. I'm not saying everyone has to play a game to like a game but it helps. You have a built in understanding if you've done it yourself. Most schools teach basketball/baseball/football in gym class thus creating a built-in audience for these sports. Hockey is taught in realitivly few schools in the U.S.

absorbentishe

I grew up playing/watching Basketball, and just watching Hockey when it was on. Slowly, all my attention has turned to hockey. Any more, I don't see the appeal of basketball, high scoring, low scoring, I don't see it. I'll watch now and then, but only college, and not a whole game.
Now Hockey on the other hand, the speed, finesse, hits, etc! I love it. Yes there are fights, but that's only part of the game, and not why I watch. If you could sit down and really digest the game, first by actually going to a game, you would see it's appeal. Watching on TV is <I>definately not</I> the same as going to a game live. I would choose to go to every game I could, if I had the money, but have to settle for TV.

streak_56

Its the truth.

Anyways I can say the same for Basketball, its not that I don't hate it I just don't see how exciting it can be. Sportscenter has shown me that I have no idea what goes on in a b-ball game. I just can't understand it. I know the basics and I have played it but to me its not that fun. Hockey on the other hand is fun. You have to basically have to learn another way of motion.

He speaks the truth.


The times where I have argued with my dad or the money it takes to get new equipment are numerous. It takes time, money and a little instinct. I have been playing for most my life and I will never grow tired of it.


Hockey to me is a sport of the GODS.

Zesty

Hockey is the greatest sport to play, watch or even talk about.

BonesCPA

I used to use this comparison:

Football - Large (weight) athletes fighting their way to the end zone against egually large athletes, one play at a time with many subsitutions.

Basketball - Large (tall) athletes working up and down the court putting as many points on the board as possible, with very few interruptions and substitutions.

Soccer - Small(er) athletes working in unison to score (at all), with no breaks and minimal substituion.

Hockey - Average (for sports) sized athletes working in unison (soccer), up and down the ice (basketball), substituting frequently and hitting the opponents hard (football).

I see it as being the best of all the other sports combined, on ice, and you usually get to see a fight - which is only half-heartedly frowned upon.

My opinion anyway.

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Back into hibernation.

ledhead

all i have to say is, just go see a game live.

for an especially good game, go see one towards the end of the season, with two teams battling for playoff spots.

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streak_56

Damn Straight

BigGov

One bad thing about hockey, it translates very, very poorly to TV. The best way to watch it is live. It might be better if directors learned a thing or two about hockey, but instead they decide to switch camera angles left and right. ([quickrant]WHAT EVER HAPPENED TO THE GLOWING PUCK?!? The ONE good innovation, and they just dump it.[/quickrant])

Widescreen HDTV does give potential to hockey on television, a shame the NHL won't last past next year.

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Tempboy

the glowing puck sucked ASS... oh maan.. I cannot stress how much I hate that thing.

splck

Glowing puck? good? Give me a break, that thing was the dumbest idea. The idea is to watch the players deal with the puck rather than watching the puck itself. That said, it's not hard to see the puck, at least I don't have a problem with it.


Maybe you've been watching the Wild playing the trap, then I could understand not seeing the excitment.

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nice line eh?

Nikilidstrom

OMG!!! You can't be serious about the glowing puck. That was the worst idea ever invented. If you need a glowing puck to be able to follow the game, and a cute little streak across the screen to let you know somebody took a shot, then go play a video game. And the only crap photograpghy directors are the ones at ESPN. They think they are "spicing" up the game with all their camera angles, but they are only succeeding in giving me a headache.

The thing that makes hockey the greatest sport ever is the fact that, and I've said on these boards before, the players leave every ounce of their being out there on the ice just to get 1 goal. Scoring actually means something in this sport, unlike the endless coast to coast of basketball, or the run upon run of modern baseball. While hockey is slowly going the way of other pro sports, with overpaid babies, giving out halfass efforts. whining and crying after every game, at least for now, hockey players are real people giving everything they've got for a game they love to play.

BigBlueWrecking

Hockey has it's problems too though. I love it, but is becoming like baseball in the fact that you can buy teams.

Also, a strike or lockout this year will kill the sport in the USA. They need the USA's money to keeo the NHL alive.

Nikilidstrom

Thats not very true. The only team that has been able to put together high priced talent and be successful is Detroit. Dallas has problems, and New York is just as bad as they have been for the past 8 years. While Colorado did get some talent over the summer, they didn't pay much for it. Even Anaheim has tried to buy a team, and its not working for them either.

Then you've got the teams like New Jersey, Vancouver, Calgary, Atlanta, Nashville, and others with low budgets, but are having alot of success, at least recently. Even look at Anaheim and Minnesota last year, both low budget teams, both went very far into the playoffs.

And with Detroit, if they didnt have the low priced grind line, they wouldn't have won any of those cups. Detroit has just kinda accumulated the talent over time, rather than go out and get it all in one summer.

I do agree however that a lockout will end the NHL. Some other league may take over in its place at some point in time, but the current structure will be over.

Tirian

You have to have played it to understand in my opinion. The game is a work of art.

I've played (at a low level of course) ball (soft), b-ball, football (flag), and hockey. These are the only team sports I've tried. And I will say that all are fun for me to play, but hockey is the funnest!

Of course it may be argued that a rec-league player like me has not experienced the games at a level sufficiently high enough to qualify to have an opinion, and that may be.

I'm just saying that I have the most fun doing hockey... And hockey does NOT have to be expensive. Yes organised legaue hockey played indoors with all the pads on his expensive to get into, but I have played and continue to play on ponds, lakes, outdoor community rinks with my skates and $10.00 stick and a pair of boots for the net. (I play goalie sometimes, so I know that equipment is pricey !!!!) Outdoor games over the holidays is the one possibly good thing about X-mas in my experience.

I'ts still a lot of fun, and equates to the American pastime of playing b-ball on outdoor courts. Anyone who watched the heritage classic in Edmonton this year has now seen the outdoor experience....only we don't have heat at the benches (or even benches) where I play. :-)

I even have a small rink in the backyard for the kids to play.

archer2371

Yeah, when you watch hockey, avoid the Minnesota and New Jersey games, you'll be straight bored out of your mind and may even end up with a 0-0 tie. Watch any of the five West Superpowers (yes I count Dallas still, leave me alone, they're my team) play each other and you'll see the fire that these guys bring to the game when they play, Detroit, Colorado, Dallas, St. Louis, and Vancouver, man, those guys can score and they have quite a bit of skill.

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"This ain't no Ice Cream Social!"

"Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it."

"I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif."

BulletCatcher

Well that is the law in Canada right?

Tirian

It's a local by-law - varies by City....

ha ha good one.

leo_cote

hockey to me IS the best game in the world i play it once or twice a week and last nite went to my first game in person montreal against boston hard hitting action till the end, many fights one in overtime but it ended in a draw...but it was great.

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Hockey is my drug, Go Habs Go !!!

kiwiman

I love hockey, yet i would find it much more interesting and exciting if the NHL adopted my idea.

Instead of blades on your feet, you have blocks of ice, and instead of ice on the ground, you have rows of interspersed blades. Players would be a lot more careful, and the fights would really mean something as the first player to fall not only loses, but gets considerabe lacerations.

Either that or remove the red line.

silent_jay

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Hanxter

my suggestion is go to a college game then a minor league game then a pro game - you'll feel it!!! they always do!!!

fienna

you're obviously upset that the stanley cup champions happen to be the devils... i'm sorry for you.

ps - don't compair the wild to the devils - they aren't even in the same world. remember how the devils played the stanley cup finals? three 3-0 shutouts of the ducks, one 6-3 win - that's not a low scoring, terrible offence there - remember, the red wings couldn't win ONE GAME...

truth is, a 0-0 game can be and often is much more exciting then a 5-4 shootout. it's the kind of game where your heart's in your throat knowing that ANY play on the puck, any wrong move, any crack in the defense could spell doom or victory... it's intense pressure that everyone feels. now, on the other hand, if it's a 0-0 game because both teams are incompetant and pathetic, i'd be sleeping in my chair.

and i agree - get your hands on some hockey tickets - go to the game. take a few minutes to learn the basic rules and you'll be fine. it also helps to have a home team to root for.

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streak_56

The excitement in a game depends on what teams are playing if Rivals are playing (ie; original six teams, calgary vs edmonton, toronto vs. ottawa... etc.) It depend on different things too; playoff position, general hate between two teams, revenge... etc.

And to the person who said the glowing puck was a good idea.
W T F are you taling about, the glowing puck was used so that hillbillies could follow the puck. What you couldn't see a black puck against a white background. Please give me a break. It was the biggest joke in the NHL. They never really used in Canada mostly in the USA.

archer2371

I've got no problem with New Jersey being the Stanley Cup Champions, they rightfully deserved it. They play their game and they win, it's kinda boring (but then again, so was Dallas Stars hockey) anyways, I was merely pointing out with his love for scoring that he should go see one of the scoring powerhouses play. I agree a 0-0 game is pretty damn nerve racking, I remember that triple ot game between Dallas and NJ back in 2000 that was 0-0 until my boy Mike Modano scored. I in no way intended to slight the NJ Devils.

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"This ain't no Ice Cream Social!"

"Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it."

"I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif."

Hanxter

the yellow trail was so the newbs could follow it on the boob...

heheheheheh - "the puck that farts"

BigBlueWrecking

If could change one thing it would be this....if the goalie leaves the crease he is fair game.

Scoring is down and the league is trying all of this stuff to increase it....do that. Broduer is a champ at playing the puck behind the net, but if he gets checked a couple of times....we will see how he likes it. Same goes for all goaltenders. Stay in the crease or get hit....that simple!

Hanxter

it's always been that way

Nikilidstrom

No its not. When the goalie is out of the crease, you can make light contact with him, in an attempt to poke check the puck, but you cannot check the goalie. Dominic Hasek is notorious for making light contact outside the crease look like a big hit, costing the other team 2 min in the sin bin. Could you imagine if that really was the way it was? You would either see goaltenders completely stop playing the puck, or the backup goalie would quickly become the most important player on every team.

archer2371

Yeah, I'm not a fan of allowing hits on the goalie (being a former one myself). Just the sentimental part of it I guess, I know how hard it is just to stop a piece of rubber flying at you in excess of 75 mph, I don't need 200 lb bodies flying at me at speeds of 30+ mph. Niklidstrom is right, the backup would become the most important player, and you would see a lot more forfeits because of the goalies getting hurt.

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"This ain't no Ice Cream Social!"

"Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it."

"I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif."

BigBlueWrecking

It would keep them in the net where they could not get hit is what it would do. That is where they should be. I know they have a tough job, but they should not be allowed out of the net and to roam free. Did you guys realize that if a goalie covers the puck without his skates in the crease it is supposed to be a penalty....it is never called. I see goalies nowhere near the crease covering the damn puck, it is ridiculous. I say if they leave the crease make them fair game....if they can't take it....stay in the damn crease (or play golf)

BulletCatcher

That's not entirerly true.

Rule 59(b) of the Official NHL Rulebook
A goalie is allowed to handle the puck anywhere inside the defensive zone as long as he doesn't break the above rule which as it states, is at the referee's discretion to call.

Other parts of Rule 59 cover specific instances (i.e. the goalie holding the puck for more than 3 seconds without an immediate offensive threat) but no where does it mention a puck can only be handled in the crease.

archer2371

Dang, BulletCatcher beat me to it. Good call man. Anyways, that call deals more with delay of game rather than playing the puck. Trust me, I played the puck a lot, and I never got called for it (the refs and I didn't have too good of a relationship) so you'd figure they'd at least call me for that since they don't like me . But seriously, the goalie being allowed to wander adds a dimension to the game that the opposition need to deal with, just like teams needed to deal with the trap back when the Canadiens started playing it back in the 70s. Staying on topic here, the goalie wandering adds excitement to the game as well, you don't know if he's gonna gaff it a la Patrick Roy or go Brodeur/Turco on the other team's ass and make 'em look like idiots. Also, if the goalie weren't allowed to wander, the flow of the game would actually be impeded, more icing calls, which leads to more faceoffs and stoppages of play, let 'em wander and deal with it. Calling them fair game is just too much and whole schemes would be based on intentionally hurting a really good goalie that likes to wander, i.e. Marty Brodeur, Marty Turco and others in order to get an advantage that would be unfair. That to me is against the spirit of what hockey is and I think it would get too out of hand if open season were called on goalies.

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"This ain't no Ice Cream Social!"

"Hey Grif, Chupathingy...how bout that? I like it...got a ring to it."

"I have no earthly idea what it is I just saw, or what this place is, or where in the hell O'Malley is! My only choice is to blame Grif for coming up with such a flawed plan. Stupid, stupid Grif."