Question for people who don't ever watch NHL Hockey

What do you dislike about the sport?

If you are one of those who consider Baseball, Basketball, Football or Soccer (or all) way above Hockey, I am curious as to your answer.

It is you huge sports fans who love most of the primary sports and always ignore hockey who epitomize the reason why the ratings for NHL games are so low on TV. So I have asked the question to get down to the root of the problem.

I will answer the opposite question because Hockey is my #1 sport...

It is the best because:
-- 60 minutes of gameplay
-- Ends quicker than Basketball, Baseball and Football because of less stops in play. Example: The Detroit Pistons and Red Wings were both on at 7pm one night. The Wings game was over 15-20 minutes earlier than the Pistons because b-ball has more stops in play.
-- Checking
-- The idea of a powerplay (5v4, 4v3, 5v3)
-- Raw gameplay - it's a free for all for the puck and no team has possession of it
-- Hard to score, gotta come up with wicked plays to score

So what do you dislike about it -- the reasons why you don't watch?

Jam it back in, in the dark.

I live in the very heart of hockey country and it's the only major sport I can't bring myself to watch. I don't know why. It's just not interesting in the slightest to me.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Can you gather your thoughts as to why that is? You are also a great example of a non-watcher. Take some time to answer if needed.

Tear the sport apart if you want, too. Give it to me completely straight - I won't be offended because it's not like I created it or something.

Also: Which sports do you like then? Everyone that replies to this thread please mention that -- thanks!

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Hockey live is pretty fun, but I don't enjoy it much on TV, because a lot of the excitement doesn't carry over for me. Let's be honest, the biggest draw for most people who go to a live hockey game is the fighting - and the fighting just isn't as cool on tv. That said, there are other reasons I personally don't enjoy watching hockey. While the concept of power plays is cool, it's another thing that doesn't carry over as well for me.

The free-for-all aspect is a deterrant for me, and I think it would be for most non-watchers as well. It's a little bit too chaotic and it's hard to see the patterns and strategy unless you follow pretty closely. It mostly looks like a bunch of guys flying into each other repeatedly with little to no strategy or gameplan in mind. Then there's the fact that it's typically low-scoring and hard to tell who's really got the edge, and the casual observer no longer feels too involved.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

There is plenty of strategy that teams try to formulate and execute -- but the difference between a strategy in, say, Hockey VS Basketball is that you are moving so fast in Hockey that you have to be precise when you fly down the ice and pass it to teamates. It's definitely a fast sport. In B-ball you can dribble down fairly slow and stop and start to pass to people.

The "low scoring" argument seems pretty over used by non-watchers. Plenty of games end in 6 goals or higher in total. How about I do you guys a favor and say that each goal should be worth 7 points meaning that if the score is 2-1, it is really 14 to 7 like on Football. Are you happy that the number is higher now? I can make the argument that Football is low scoring too, because most games end in only 2-3 touchdowns being scored. The only difference is the higher value of "6" for a touchdown.

Then there are soccer lovers... now there's a sport with very low scoring and minimal shots on goal.

To me, Hockey is a shot on goal sport. Games usually average 60 shots on goal which means there are 60 counts of excitement: *Deep inhale* "will it go in???!!"

Basketball is too high scoring. To me, the best part to watch of any game is the last few minutes because the rest of it is just playing catch up.

Keep the comments coming -- and be brutal!

I was speaking idiomatically.

Hey, everyone has the sports they like to watch. Obviously any professional sport is going to involve strategy - it's just hard to follow in hockey unless you watch a lot, like I said. I'm not bashing a lack of strategy there.

The draw for football for me is the strategy, not the 'high scores', plus the heavier involvement of multiple players.

I don't like watching soccer or baseball. Too slow. Basketball is fun for me again from a strategy aspect, but also the pure skill aspect - you get more standouts in basketball than most other sports because there's more provision for talent to shine out. There are the standout hockey players, but they're still foiled by good goalies more often than not.

And aren't the last few minutes of almost any game the best because you have freak-out mode in one or both of the teams?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

The last minutes of any game are best, of course, but in b-ball i'd rather only watch the last bunch of minutes. In other sports I'd want to watch a lot more.

EDIT: I wanna throw in that low scoring is GOOD. Not extremely low scoring though (like Soccer where things take forever and shots on goal are small). Low scoring makes for a more dramatic sport (excluding the last few minutes of any sport where they are all exciting). B-ball seems to be the only high scoring one. I mean, in an average football game we see a few touchdowns, a few field goals, etc. In baseball the scores are around the same as hockey, and in soccer its very low.

FELIPE NO

I'm from Los Angeles, and I have to say the number one reason I don't like hockey is my lack of exposure to it. When I was growing up, I spent my weekends playing baseball, basketball, football and soccer. Nowadays I watch the first three (plus poker on ESPN, I'm sucked into the boom like everyone else), and I only watch soccer when the world cup comes along and gets tons of coverage here in the US.

There's not much coverage of hockey in my area on TV or radio. I think for the past month, it's either been USC and College Football BCS, NFL, Lakers or Clippers issues being discussed on the local ESPN radio show. Not one mention about hockey besides a score. Even baseball gets more attention in it's off season. It's difficult to start caring about a sport that gets next to zero broadcast time, and no players I can name besides a retired Wayne Gretzky. The only news I can recall about hockey is that the Anaheim Mighty Ducks were considering changing their Disney-based namesake.

As for the game itself, Drex nailed it for my basically. The game seems too fast paced and chaotic. It was hard to notice differences in athleticism and talent in the few games I watched.

Borg, you said it's a shots-on-goal sport. I feel this is why I enjoy soccer, because creating that shot-on-goal in itself is a magnificent feat to behold, an amazing sequence of plays that makes you want to stand up in anticipation to cheer for the rare shot-on-goal as you watch the decision making and athleticism of the goal keeper. In soccer you only need a handfull of these to win the game, but with hockey it seems like throwing rings at a carnival. All the exciting action leading up to the 60 shots happens within one or two seconds. A little break in the defense allows an opening, the shot is taken, and with a little flip of the arm, the goal is defended. Again, I know there are subtleties I miss, but this is the gist of the sport I get after watching a few games and highlights.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

The reason why Soccer is last on my list (but above boring shit like Golf, Tennis, Bowling on Television) is because of how long it takes for anything exciting to happen. You mentioned rare shots on goal. At least with hockey, the playing arena is smaller than a soccer field and you know when there is a charge at the goal and an eventual shot on goal, anything could happen. Get's exciting.

Edit: But I don't recommend Hockey for you, pansy, yet, because look at the LA Kings record: 9-13 and 4 overtime losses (totaling 17 losses). lol.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

Ok, here it comes.
Hockey is pretty good, but i find it to be extremely overrated from where i live (vancouver island, bc). It's what everyone knows, or cares about, and people just seem to look over everything else that happens like basketball and lacrosse. I don't know why the majority of people watch hockey that don't usually watch sports in general. I think it's because it's the "popular" sport to watch at my school. All the popular kids are tuned in with it.

Secondly, I know it's rough, goals can be nice, and fights can be epic. Hey, i admit, i like it and watch the Canucks most of the time, but to be honest, it bores me somtimes. They always have to set up plays and then if they screw up, they just shoot it in the opposite zone and change/ or chase it and always lose the battle, so the other team just shoots it back, and it's a constant chasing motion. Most of the time, hockey players in my opinion seem to skate slowly. I don't know if the fact that they earn millions of dollars yearly has an effect on the effort they put in to the game, but slow hockey is not my favorite to spend my time watching. Finally, if they screw up, they have to cirlce back, cause on ice, you can't really stop in your tracks and make quick turns. In lacrosse for example, you can just stop running and turn on a dime, and get bigger hits, because you can adapt to the place where people move. Lacrosse is far rougher, faster and more exciting for that reason. No ice to cope with. So after playing and watching lacrosse for a few years, my respect to the gameplay of hockey has declined greatly.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

I wouldn't ever refer to hockey as "slow hockey". It's a way faster moving sport than the major sports on TV.

I guess one thing you don't get is how incredibly tired players get after a shift. That's why each shift has to be a minute, then rest on the bench, then go back out when told for another minute.

See interviews right after games with players? The players are panting in and out and trying to talk about the game during the interview.

So if players move slow it's because they get tired as hell.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

One thing I've never heard hockey described as is "slow". Maybe if you've never played it or attended a game in person it might seem that way, but you have to remember that the arenas they're skating in are two hundred feet long. Those guys go pretty damn fast.

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

Originally Posted by Rita the Carpet Cleaner

I've been put off from most sports. Overpaid nonsense.

Hockey is highly underpaid in comparison. The average rate is under a million for a full season.

I was speaking idiomatically.

Quote:

The average rate is under a million for a full season.

Australia's highest paid local sportsmen, AFL footballers, average $300,000 AUS. Chris Judd is the highest paid player in the league getting a flat million.

I don't watch NHL mostly because it isn't on tv here.

But I have other problems with the sport.
Apparent absense of rules.
Wimpy players who feel the need to don armour before playing.
More players on the bench than on the field.
Organ music.
Complete absense of skill when compared to real hockey: Hitting edge of the stick is longer than earth, allowed to use both sides of the stick, running around the goalie etc.

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

I would like you to ask someone to hit you with a small rubber disk that is moving at over 100 miles per hour, and then determine whether or not "armour" is necessary.

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Yet somehow real hockey players manage to play with just a mouthguard and shin pads to protect themselves from a faster moving, hard plastic ball.

The goalie can wear armour, that's fair enough. Other players have no excuse.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

What other players?

You mentioned absence of rules. Untrue.

You also mentioned going behind the goalie as if it was bad. If you actually watch one game you'd see how important it is to leave a few feet behind the net. It's for passing mainly.

Jam it back in, in the dark.

It's a lot harder to follow a puck than a basketball or football.

There's nowhere I can't reach.

Other players, you know the one's who aren't goalies. They shouldn't have to wear armour.

Maybe you could explain some of the rules to me. It seems to be, don't pickup the puck with your hands.

Going behind the goalie? I dunno. I suppose it's the nature of a game played on ice but I find it bizarre to have the field of play extend so far. You don't see this in other games.

This thing is sticky, and I don't like it. I don't appreciate it.

Originally Posted by Sir VG

It's a lot harder to follow a puck than a basketball or football.

I'm sure you've GONE to a hockey game, right?

I am a dolphin, do you want me on your body?

I remember in the 90's they used to put a purple blob on the puck on television so it could be followed perfectly for the newbs. Now TV quality is great and HDTV is out.

I was speaking idiomatically.

The lack of fighting as of late. Thats what I don't like about it.

And umm... I'm not really sure. Whats wrong with "it just doesn't spike my interest,"?

What kind of toxic man-thing is happening now?

Originally Posted by RABicle

Other players, you know the one's who aren't goalies. They shouldn't have to wear armour.

Perhaps they wear armour because they're playing a sport where it's not against the rules to raise the puck/ball/whatever off the ground when other players are around. Or a sport where slamming into another player and attempting to knock him silly is not only not a penalty, but encouraged.

FELIPE NO

Originally Posted by FAGicle

Australia's highest paid local sportsmen, AFL footballers, average $300,000 AUS. Chris Judd is the highest paid player in the league getting a flat million.

I don't watch NHL mostly because it isn't on tv here.

But I have other problems with the sport.
Apparent absense of rules.
Wimpy players who feel the need to don armour before playing.
More players on the bench than on the field.
Organ music.
Complete absense of skill when compared to real hockey: Hitting edge of the stick is longer than earth, allowed to use both sides of the stick, running around the goalie etc.

I'd love to see RAB throw on a pair of skates and go out there with just a t-shirt and jeans on.

What, you don't want my bikini-clad body?

No armor + puck flying at face/chest + ice skates flailing everywhere + hockey sticks + ramming into walls = recipe for disaster

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