JonT minor hockey needs to improve, need to show more hockey rather than local teams; and marketing. Marketing is a big deal, that’s what I think Arizona’s big problem is. I went down there last year for Christmas vacation and man I couldn’t find anything coyotes related whether it was merchandise or just advertisements unless you were inside their arena. It was sad
stadium in phoenix is in a lousy location. should have built in the east side of the city. but , who knows how long the coyotes will last in Arizona and gets moved back to Canada.
Wrong, wrong, wrong a thousand times wrong. Hockey isn't popular in America for one simple reason...accessibility. The cost, lack of rinks and weather make hockey inaccessible for a vast majority of Americans. Stop fooling yourselves by saying that Americans don't understand the game. It's not complicated.
@@eriklakeland3857 It's about donating your old equipment, too many people throw that away. That's makes it better, but ya, it's still expensive and time consuming.
Jake Trae that's a good point. A hockey stick is more expensive than baseball equipment and basketball equipment combined and hockey sticks break far more often than baseball and basketball equipment.
Jake A lot of players back in the O6 days grew up poor, a ton of hockey players grew up on farms too. But like Wayne Gretzky said it's gotten too expensive for those kids. If he was growing up today he probably wouldn't even be in the NHL.
It's insanely expensive, plus for most of the country it's not part of the cultural climate. In Canada, when it starts to get cold and the leaves start to turn, people say 'hockey's in the air'. The farther south you go, the less of that you see. In America, when it starts to get warm, football's in the air. It's cool to acknowledge what's happened in terms of development in Phoenix and Nashville and California but it takes a very long time.
Been in ontario canada my whole life and have never heard someone say when tge leaves turn "hockey is in the air". What a fool you are. Dumbest thing i heard in a while.
exactly, if ESPN covered hockey more it would be on more people's radar. But ESPN pretends like the NHL doesn't exist, therefore the average American sports fan tuning into ESPN won't be exposed to it.
@@tedrickjohnson3565 Didn’t age well. How about the state of the NBA and NFL today??? They don’t want Hockey because they can’t manipulate the demographic, unlike nba fanatics
The NHL should not need to shut down their season. The Olympics can move hockey to the summer. The Olympics don't force the NBA to shut down their season.
Joe Washinski Olympics don't allow NBA to shut down because the NBA postseason usually ends weeks before the Olympics. If NHL players want to compete in the Olympics, let them. Just call up some guys from the AHL for that period.
Actually he is wrong about San Jose. San Jose has the biggest beer league hockey league in the United States close to 500 teams. But I think the reason it hasn't taken off in the us is because there isn't a lot of ice available, and also it's a big commitment of funds to get kids into the sport. Probably close $500 worth of gear to get started to play and the kid may not even like it. It's very expensive for league fees for adults and kids. Around $34 per game for beer league here in Northern California. Usa hockey needs to provide more free/loaner gear to kids who want try before they buy.
Marketing. Investment. Marketing. Investment. MARKETING. Take away the NHL from NBC and find a network who is willing to push it and market it as hard as TSN does. NBCSN NEGLECTS hockey so hard even though they have national distribution rights.
The next time someone wants to talk about how they aren't happy the Final is in Nashville and how hockey is loved more in Canada, I just wish they would open their eyes first. You have a sold out stadium all year long in Nashville. You have sold out crazy games with them getting noticed nationally during the playoffs. You have thousands of people at watch parties outside the stadium and in parks in Nashville cheering the Preds on. To say that Nashville isn't now a good hockey market is total bullshit and this guy needs to be called out on it.
Robert Kippes I agree. Years ago, the question was when will the Preds move to Canada. Now the question for Preds games are: is it a all-seater sell out or a standing room only sell out?
Sorry, but Nashville has an NFL team and Nashville still cares about hockey. Was just awarded a MLS team and Nashville will still love hockey. When Nashville was first awarded an NHL franchise in 1998; there was no hockey being played in Nashville except on the lone rink that existed in the city at that time. You not only see many youth leagues and some high school teams but it is also being played in some of the colleges and universities. It is a younger generation but they have grown up with hockey and it is now very much an accepted and beloved part of Nashville's very rich and diverse fabric. Hockey is in Nashville to stay whether the Predators remain in Nashville or not. The sport has taken root and grown by leaps and bounds since 1998.
You know ever since my Canucks played the Preds in 2011, I was very impressed with their fanbase. During that cup run, Canucks fans almost outnumbered other fans in the other team's buildning, but not in Nashville. They were able to sell out without the help of the other team. They have been such an amazing town for this NHL franchise.
It's popular in the cities where it's played, but even so, there are a couple of exceptions. The markets it excels best in are Boston, Pittsburgh, Philadelphia, Minnesota, Chicago, St Louis, Detroit, New York, Buffalo, etc. The NHL doesn't understand how to get joe blow from Arkansas to want to tune in to watch a hockey game as opposed to him watching LeBron vs Curry again.
Brett Nesbitt All those cities except St. Louis are considered the North and they do get decent winters every year. This means that people there are used to ice and that means more opportunities to hockey.
Evan Atwell we have had the pens since 1967 and were run by terrible owners in the early days. Then the pens did get better and had a good owner when DeBartolo came in. Then the rough times came again in 1983 but then Mario came in and did save the team and people started to came and see good hockey and then the pens won the cup in 1991 and 1992. Then Howard Baldwin came in and didn’t invest any money at all and almost bankrupted the team by the late 90s. Then Mario came and the pens are were they are now. Pittsburghers still follow their teams very good and go when they feel like it’s worthy paying money to see them and putting out to good product. Mario helped grow the game a ton in Pittsburgh and that is what made Pittsburgh a hockey market now. Sidney has helped now with the current young generation. Every team has ups and downs but Mario saved the team and realized that Pittsburgh was a hockey town if they had the right people running it it would be great and now look at them now. The Pirates ownership and management is 10 times worse than what the Penguins had with no money in the late 90s. However the pirates have a ton of money and are not investing in the team.
I think most kids that play hockey had parents and siblings that played it. It's hard for a kid to get a first experience with the sport if they have no gear. Parents probably need to have an own interest in the sport if they'll take their child's interest seriously and buy the gear they need. And if you haven't played the sport as a child, you won't understand it enough to grow an interest to watch it. Here, in Europe, the most common sport is soccer. What do you need to get a first experience with soccer? A ball and some friends. Piece of cake.
right even as Canadian it's so expensive i can't play none of my parents family members have ever really played sports outside of school nonetheless hockey, i personally play volleyball because i find it more interesting that baseball, basketball, soccer etc but it's the same concept the only equipment you need is a ball, and you can practice for days
hockey is pretty expensive in canada, im glad my parents were able to get me in the game, although i never always had the best hockey equipment as some other kids i was still able to play
hffutyreeehjg in terms of youth hockey, only behind Minnesota high school hockey, chicago is the center of the country. I play in chicago and the number of players that go on to d1 and pro hockey is incredicble. One team i play against at the u16 level has three players going to the ntdp and like 10 commited to d1 schools.
Because ESPN is owned by Disney... Disney owns ABC. Not much hockey on ABC. It has sponsorships with the MLB. and partnerships with TNT and Turner Broadcast Co. Disney and Ted Turner showcase their products (MLB & NBA), and do their best to block out its competition. It's business.
The Miguelodon Honestly the most annoying thing I hear from casual fans say about hockey is "I only watch it for the fights". The game is just so much deeper than just the fights.
Shawn White It's one of the things where you usually have to grow up with it to "fully" enjoy it. But I started watching 2 years ago and it's honestly the best sport ever.
The Miguelodon Honestly I only watch hockey, and sometimes baseball. Can't really see myself enjoying basketball or football but honestly haven't really cared to watch those sports.
The Miguelodon we love the fights and the hits. We go nuts for that. 10 year olds live for seeing that guy on the ground with blood dripping down his face after they made a hit
He's right about the state of Texas. The Stars have done a really great job of investing into the community & growing the game. Just this year, a high school team & a 16-under team (both from Dallas) won national championships.
1. It takes so much time and money to learn how to play - you don't grow up playing it→you are less into it. 2. Hockey is naturally confined to colder places(all of Canada and the northern US states), so in most of America, kids don't grow up playing it. 3. Ticket prices are high. While it's true that, in general, the really high prices are in the avid fanbases and the less popular teams do charge less, they still charge more than baseball or basketball. 4. The other sports in USA mean it's harder for one sport to stick out as most popular, unlike in Canada.
Enough with trying to make hockey "popular". Popular is a euphemism for making the owners more money and has no relation to making the game better. I am sure you could add a few more zeros to a financial spreadsheet if Lady Ga-Ga bungee jumped out of the rafters of Joe Louis Arena, but I'd rather let that sort of audience watch something else while we hockey fans get to keep our game unadulterated. And if that means the owners only get to be muti-millionaires instead of billionaires so be it.
Knew the Pens would win? 2OT in game 7 isn't exactly decisive. I live here. Fact is Ottawa is a young team, the passionate fans here are young. We can't afford to go to more than one game when nosebleed seats are $160 (not to mention a trip to and from Kanata).
I may be a bit late but I think I can speak for many Americans when I say this, The Reason that Hockey is not as popular as Basketball, Football, or Baseball is because there is no High School or Middle School Hockey...And Unlike the NBA and NHL, You cant expect to flip your gym from basketball to hockey at your local High School so easily, Bottom Line the reason Americans have no interest in hockey is because its hard for them to get interested, and if its going down to Basketball or Hockey in a High School, its gonna be Basketball because that's what the kid were raised to know...Either get High School Hockey in America or it will never be as popular as basketball, football, or baseball. EDIT: Ok now maybe schools don't have to build a Hockey Rink if a local Rink will let them play games there, The only problem is that even then there isnt even enough local rinks either like your trying to tell me if Cletus decides he wants to get off the farm and play hockey in the small town of 400 kids he is gonna find a local hockey rink? Hell No.
Hockey is the most beautiful sport. So much things that are cool about it. Amazing saves, Cool goals (accurate shots or dangles, passes), Huge hits and so much more little details that you could pay attention to.
TopThrillAnthony That too. I could've told you Cavs and Warriors were gonna be in the Finals AGAIN before the season started. Probably gonna be next season too.
It's no more expensive than football. You can get fully suited for around $300 if you shop past year equipment and are honest about what you need. Very few people play enough to need a $600+ pair of skates and a $300 stick is not going to perform any better than a $25 stick for most people.
@@glenndsouza5447 Unless you live in an area where lakes and ponds freeze you will need some equipment to practice. All the rinks I know won't let you into stick & puck without some equipment and roller doesn't feel the same. I am aware of the free equipment programs when you take learn to play hockey class as a kid. If you aren't a kid, skates and helmet are going to be the bigger ticket items, but still not that expensive. League fees can be a different story.
Most Americans have never played the sport which is probably the biggest reason they don't understand it hence don't care much for it. Hopefully the movement to introduce kids to it helps to increase its popularity but like many have said here, its expensive - equipment, ice time, coaching and lessons, learning how to skate, etc.
As a hockey fan in Houston, it is hard to watch it consistently with no team, but I watch nearly every national broadcast game, and a majority of the playoffs
They missed the main reason. It helps massively to have played the game at an early age. That's when I and many who played all the major sports realize hockey is the best of them.
I have been a casual hockey fan for years. Every year the Stanley cup playoffs are far better than the NBA of NFL. I have become a big hockey fan. It took me awhile to understand and get it. But here in America there are hurdles. Understanding it is huge. But today the political climate is going to go against it. Because the hip cool political and social trend is anti-white racism. The culture sees hockey as not being diverse, "white man's sport". Racist. Boring. Lame because it's not promoted with hip hop music. Ps. Go Ducks
They don't understand it. What an arrogant "Hockey Guy" thing you say. No one in the states cares about it is because it's accessibility and expenses. Not everyone can afford ice time. Especially when the game is considered the worst sport out of the major 4. And I say that because non of the players in hockey are polarising enough. People in the states can look up to and relate to a Jordan, Brady, Kobe, Jeter, Lebron etc no one cares about McDavid and Crosby two upper middle class kids no young kid can relate to and they are boring. This old guy is out of touch.
Luke Lampie Pittsburgh only recently became a hockey city. How much you wanna bet when crosby retires the team will go back to Stanley droughts and the fan base will shrink
While football is my favorite sport, hockey is a close 2nd. I especially love watching the playoffs. I think marketing is the biggest factor. If you saw guys like Alex Ovechkin and Sidney Crosby being marketed the way Lebron James, Peyton Manning and others are, that would certainly help.
As a American yes the NFL is my favorite sport but the NHL is my number two well over Basketball and Baseball. I think the biggest reason is Basketball they just see Basketball as a fast free flowing game with more consistent scoring. It does not help that Hockey is not played as much as other sports but most kids in the US only play one or two sports anymore but watch more then that. Not enough people see the game like I do in that there is no other game on earth like it because it is played on ice at full speed. Americans do understand the game but unfortunately for those of us who love Hockey they prefer Basketball but at the same time who cares the NHL is still one of the top five grossing sports leagues on earth.
Hockey ratings go way up when big market teams are winning. See Rangers in 94, and like mentioned in the video, the Blackhawks. The league somewhat needs the original 6 teams to be good, with exceptions of course. Anyone know why Wisconsin doesn't have a team? They love hockey, but only have the college team to support.
What's big deal. Nobody complain about New Zealand, Australia, Japan or India not watching hockey. Do ever heard New Zealanders or South African complain that Rugby not popular not in Canada or U.S. No.
In my living room watching with my dad in Arizona... family is from Pennsylvania... I had to explain what a penalty kill is... people don't understand the rules and things... personally taught myself how to watch hockey by listening to podcast playing NHL watching hockey...
As a first generation American born and raised in South Florida of latino parents, baseball was my first love, then basketball. Never caught the football fever, though I do understand why Americans love it so much. I only became a hockey fan this year, but I already love the sport so much, and sounds of the skates and the puck being passed around for a great offensive play, the potential heroic save or the surprising breakaway, and yes the fights. It’s a damn shame that this sport (outside of Canada and the northern US) doesn’t get much media love.
Ok, it's annoying honestly when people say America doesnt care. Its apart of our big 4. it's considered a major sport. Its just that the other leagues get 10x more attention. The right question is, WHY ISNT HOCKEY *MORE* POPULAR IN AMERICA
Regular season hockey is unwatcahable. Hockey is good when it's intense and the teams are going all out. The 82 game season is far too long for the players to go all-out and maintain their health. Therefore, players take the vast majority of the season off, going through the motions. The playoffs are a different story: the players go full-force, and it's a pleasure to watch.
texan here. texans love hockey. dallas got it right. admittedly it took me a while but now im hooked. amazing sport that borrows aspects of other sports, the action of football, speed of basketball, and the precision of baseball.
There are Americans that love hockey. That is the only sport for me, I understand the game very well and look forward to it. I am a lightning fan who's team has missed the playoff this year and can't stand not having hockey for as long as we have not had it.
Ive been getting into hockey these past 6 months of my life and speaking objectivley, I’ve noticed a particular culture of territoriality, there is also a very dry sense of humor in hockey until you are officially let in, part of the club so to speak, this may play into it also. It may not be like that everywhere but is like that in the US.
I live in Detroit and hockey is insanely popular. The problem is simple. There’s very few games on tv. How can you grow a sport when you can’t easily watch it? NHL’s website is terrible as well. But here’s the thing, these guys trying to break down why hockey isn’t popular in America are ignoring the obvious. There’s 4 times as many teams in America as there is in Canada. Canadian teams have attendance issues too. Winnipeg built the smallest arena (seats 15,000) in the league for a reason. Ottawa is your capital and attendance is so bad they tarred over seats during the Stanley cup conference final. Your capital city couldn’t fill an arena during a Cup conference final but a team in Tennessee was sold out at the same time. Maybe look in the mirror Canada.
Florida checking in. We have some hockey here. However, its difficult to find gear for my 7 year old son. We're lucky to have two rinks within an hour of us. Butttttttt one is lucky to have gear in stock. The other is very proud of their prices. Play it again sports is the only other alternative and that's if you can find the right size. Online is always an option, but sizing the gear is best done in person, at least for the first fitting. Believe it or not I consider us lucky. Most of the country there just are no chances for kids to enter the sport. So I would say is assessment of Hockey in the U.S. Is fair.
I know exactly the two rinks your talking about without mentioning here, a year later nothings changed with that, have to rely online just hate wasting time exchanging because of sizing
Naturally, it's not a sport you can easily emulate. It's played on ice, which much of America can *get but not much of America can *use. We're a snowboarding country; we play with snow, not ice. Marketing is a problem, yes. ESPN not having a hand in the sport, considering the hype it created for NFL/NBA/College, is also an issue - but NBC does well centering hockey coverage. The players hardly speak up nowadays, far less than they did when I was a kid (personality matters). Diversity, and the costs of drawing a diverse interest in hockey and the ability for those groups to afford the sport, matters too. But when it comes down to it, outside of specific Eastern and Midwestern markets, it's far too easy to emulate an NFL, MLB, NBA or even soccer player and play that sport readily.
I grew up playing hockey in the 80's, which was expensive then, it's even more expensive now. Just playing the game is a prohibitive factor. If kids are not playing the game as much, they ain't watching it as much either. That doesn't just apply to the US but Canada as well
Hockey favors the people who can afford buying ice skates. Football (soccer), basketball, and baseball are relatively cheap and don't take a toll on our wallets.
Not all people in the United States plays ice hockey, ice hockey is less popular in the United States because the United States was a roller hockey nation.
I'm from the States. I've been a hockey fan for fifty years. It's a great, fast and periodically brutal game. It takes patience and close attention to appreciate. The NHL rulemakers have done well with rule and rink changes to eliminate some of the more blatant hits. However, garbage like eliminating offsides from behind a team's defending blueline, just to facilitate offense, is indicative of desperation, incompetence and pandering governance.
For what it's worth, the American public gets basketball shoved down their throats almost constantly. High school basketball, college basketball, the NBA.....every American city gets basketball coverage constantly. It is a struggle to see the NHL get more coverage in the sports media. ESPN HATES hockey and runs basketball down everyone's throats. I really can't stand basketball anymore. My sons play hockey and I really hope they never play any hoops. A part of it is how much are the owners of NHL teams willing to grow the sport in their markets. Since Mario and Company took over the Penguins the youth hockey scene has grown by leaps and bounds in Western Pennsylvania. 25 years ago there was no Division 1 college hockey and today Robert Morris and Penn State both play at the highest level. There are junior teams, travel teams, high school teams, etc. It isn't just Massachusetts, Michigan and Minnesota anymore. Washington, Tampa, Dallas, San Jose and the LA Kings (and now Nashville) have shown that hockey can succeed in warm weather markets. Carolina and Florida have struggled, but that's because the teams haven't been very good. The US doesn't have enough indoor rinks. Even around Pittsburgh, we don't have enough rinks.
Like others have said, it’s not because we don’t understand it but the other major sports are marketed wayyyy more. Also, hockey isn’t nearly as accessible in the states. It’s a shame because hockey is such an awesome sport.
The Stanley Cup Finals might get more TV viewers in the U.S. if NBC were to put the entire Stanley Cup Finals on it's broadcast network. Having the entire Finals on one network would increase viewership since people would no longer ask "What channel is the game on?".
If you come to Canada, you will see rinks everywhere, people playing street hockey and ice hockey during the winter. I went to Florida for the draft. I was shocked at the amount of baseball fields that I saw. Like every park in Florida had like 3 baseball fields.
Ice Hockey did not take a long time to become wicked popular in Massachusetts, Minnesota and New York; the game was taken there by Canadian immigrants 120 years ago.
Culture has a lot to do with it. In Canada, every person you know is into hockey. Your grandpa played. Your dad played. Your brother plays. Your cousin plays. Your best friend plays. In America, no one's grandpa ever played or even watched hockey. No one's dad grew up with hockey or ever played the game. Your friends don't play or care. Your school doesn't offer it. There's no local rink. The climate doesn't facilitate frozen ponds. And even for kids who like hockey, it's a ridiculously expensive sport to play. Even cheap equipment isn't affordable to a lot of families, and unlike in Canada, you're not just going to waltz into the garage and find several generations worth of sticks, skates, helmets, pads, pucks, nets, etc. The poorest kid in the world can walk to their local park and jump into a basketball or football game. All you need to play baseball is a glove. I got into hockey when I was around 11 or 12, and thankfully my cousins were really into hockey along with several kids they went to school with, and we would go play on foot with a ball on whatever basketball or tennis court was available. We bought all our "gear" at Toys R Us. Cheap sticks with plastic blades, using a baseball glove as a goalie mitt, playing with cheap PVC pipe nets from the toy store as well. There were about 12-16 of us that would play. But even some of those that played with us didn't really "love" hockey and didn't follow it much. I'm an enormous fan and I go to as many games a year as I can, I have a closet full of jerseys I wear regularly, I watch tons of games on tv, and I have a garage with a line of sticks and other gear, and my 2 kids couldn't care less about hockey despite all that. Mostly because their friends don't care about it, their school doesn't offer it, and the closest rink to actually try to learn to skate is at least an hour away. I think hockey is the greatest sport on earth, and I laugh at people who try to tell me other sports require more skill. I don't know what it would take for the rest of the country to fall in love with it, but I hope it happens.
Hockey isn't popular in American because it's not on a TV channel nation wide, that is on non tiered paid TV. The NHL screwed up when they didn't take ESPN's offer back in the 90's! ESPN with their access to every every cable/paid TV in America. The BS that hockey equipment costs too much, hockey equipment is expensive, but that's not a reason. Soccer cost next to nothing to play, cleats and shin guards, tons of kids play but soccer isn't popular in the US!
To illustrate the knowledge of the featured guest, John Shannon, I give you the following quote from him which was published on RU-vid on May 26, 2017. "I'll tell you what, Tim. It's worked in Nashville for the hardcore hockey fan but I'll bet you that club has never made money." So, this was spoken by Shannon in 2017 during the Preds playoff run, presumably. Now you can Google this article published by the Nashville Business Journal which is citing statistics gathered by Forbes. The article is titled; "Forbes: Predators Now A Profitable NHL Team" published Dec.1, 2014 with revenue statistics taken from the 2013 season.
Mr. Shannon is absolutely correct at 3:02 of this video. USA Hockey has done a terrible job of promoting the game in the States. I have been a "non-traditional" hockey fan my entire life and USA Hockey has been a complete non factor in that journey. I understand that player development is their primary task. However, wouldn't that task be easier if they also worked to create a bigger pool of people who had interest in and access to hockey in the first place? It seems that their only focus is on the parts of the US that already have lots of hockey players/fans already. How does that grow the game?.....It doesn't! It appears that USA Hockey is content to let the NHL and American minor league hockey do all the promotion and fan development.
It's one of the Big 4 sports in America (for now). MMA will replace either baseball or hockey soon. Don't get me wrong, hockey is great. It's just that a lot of Americans would rather watch MMA, NFL, WWE, MLB and the NBA. I really love and respect the passion Canadians have for hockey.
Because hockey also cost way to much for most kids to play or even try. The equipment and rink time is way to expensive for most. Then you add on that other sports like basketball, football or even soccer. 2 kids if not even just 1 can grab just a ball and go out in the yard and play or toss the ball around. Just to skate around or play hockey you also need an expensive surface of some sort. All that added together. Most people just dont have experience or have been around hockey in their lives. So they just dont follow it as they get older. Not even mentioning the in game, on ice confusion. Of people simply not being able to follow the puck or able to know what's going on in a game, as well as the rules. If more people had access and experience to hockey. I beleive it would be the most popular sport in the world. It has absolutely everything a fan could desire..... Amazing individual skill and game changing.... Toughness..... Hitting.... Team play.... 1 player can win it for you, 1 player can lose it for you.... The grace of basketball.... Strategy... Amazing group of people and hard working culture... 1 shot can win it all, like a walk off homerun in baseball.... It's an amazing sport.
I grew up in Minnesota and hockey is super popular. It is easy to find a place to play the sport. Plus you can find used skates just to play pond hockey. Hockey is very part of the culture in Minnesota. I went to college in Iowa and lot of Iowans and Illinois thought I was weird for liking Iowa. The Blackhawks started winning several people jumped on the bandwagon. Now I live in Southern California where everyone things I am biggest Minnesota stereotype for liking hockey. It is hard to find hockey finds out here. One of the biggest fans I met moved here from Michigan so he really doesn't count. I met two people one is from the Bay who got into hockey by watching the sharks. The other likes AHL Gulls in San Diego. I met some people in some bars watching hockey games and they loved that I am from Minnesota and always ask me questions about what was it like to play hockey up there. I live in San Diego and I know of a couple of handful of rinks in the San Diego metro. NHL should be using money to build rinks and youth teams up in nontraditional hockey markets
That makes total sense. Like you can see the puck, but the actual excitement is watching to see what the puck carrier can do. Same thing with like basketball...you don't watch the basketball, you watch the player who's dribbling it.
I completely agree with the lack of youth hockey in the US as a reason for lack of fans. Secondly, hockey is a complete team sport and American kids are raised to embrace individual accomplishments instead of the team concept that Canadian kids seem to embrace, . I personally love the game and have been watching the Oilers, and playing (ball, roller, and ice) since 1981 and I hail from the states. Love your show, although i have to watch on youtube, but always worth the wait. Thank you gentlemen
I think they're are 2 main reasons. 1. There really isn't a #1 all power American Hockey player that everyone recognizes. Ok there's Patrick Kane and Phil Kessel and Jonathan Quick, BUT the "average" American probably couldn't recognize those names. I say Steph Curry or LeBron James, everyone in America knows those names. There isn't enough "sports media" coverage in America of hockey, ESPN talks about it for 30 seconds and that's about it. 2. 4 teams and 1 state have hogged hockey this entire decade and some of the last. Chicago, Pittsburgh, Boston, and Los Angeles along with California have been spoiled with success and it's hurting the growth of other markets. Why should I support the Panthers or Coyotes or Hurricanes when they have no chance against those marquee teams? And I'm not joking when I tell you that the only success hockey is really gaining in America is from those franchises. I went to a Bolts-Hawks game this year, at Amalie, I was outnumbered 3-1 as a Bolts fan... and I mean our franchise has gone to 2 straight ECFs and a Cup Final appearance, yet we still get outnumbered 3 people to 1 in our own arena... ridiculous.
if the best athletes in the US played hockey instead of football and basketball, even baseball, from a young age, guess which country would be the best in hockey...i've never understood how that never comes up in conversation.
other countries have different sports as well. In sweden (10 million people), football is the most popular. In the Czech Republic (10 million) most popular is also football, yet both countries have superior hockey athletes
I feel like these guys are pretty dumb here. I wouldn't necessarily blame Americans for not liking hockey. The only way you can watch hockey is in a sports package through Comcast, Verizon, DLP, or local cable. The NHL has made some ridiculous rule changes to the sport over the years (coaches's challenge, less fighting). The NHL has banned players going to the Olympics. Also, the NHL has teams located in states that haven't seen snow since the last Ice Age lol. Arizona doesn't even care about it's sports teams. The Cardinals and Dimondbacks can barely fill their stadiums. And saying people in the US favor Subban more than people in Canada is pretty stupid. Who doesn't like Subban? He's the only player with a personality in the NHL. He actually gives his opinion unlike others who are bland.
Nfl predictable did you predict that the Eagles would win the Superbowl with their backup quarterback yeah I didn't think so. Don't get me wrong I love hockey too but come on.
Hockey isn't popular because it isn't on national tv very often. I have to stream games during the regular season. Even sports bars don't have a lot of the games. Want to make it more popular have more ads for it and have it on more channels across the country more often than just the playoffs.
Two big reasons: the speed of the game makes it hard to learn the rules. A person who's watched and played since childhood will notice the offsides or slash that happens and understand why play stopped. Someone just starting to watch as a teen or 20 something is going to get frustrated not understanding why play has stopped. Second is the lockout that made espn drop hockey was hugely detrimental to its popularity here in the states.
OneTimer I would agree but I grew up watching hockey and found baseball incredibly boring, just never played too expensive. Honestly when I try and teach others they love it but it's also too complicated as you learn the rules as you go, at least that's how I did it but I was also a kid
Maybe if Canada stoped referring to hockey as “Our Game” making it seem secular it wouldn’t run Americans the wrong way. Canada - Nah nah nah nah nah we won at Hockey again. We invented it and it’s OURS no one else can win especially you USA hahaha Also Canada - Hey USA, why don’t you like us?
Another issue that the league is unwilling to adapt to changing times. The players are bigger faster and more talented, get rid of the goons, make the pads smaller and make the nets bigger. Allow players to play, get rid of the clutching and holding and head shots and the game will grow incredibly fast.
a lot of what you say could be achieved simply by making the rinks Olympic size to accomadate the size and speed of todays players, with bigger rinks it would be nearly impossible to clutch and grab and even minimize cheap shots because you would have enough room and time to see and evade an oncoming hitman
It’s not about that it’s about why it’s not popular and he’s right not many play the sport as a whole. I talk about it in a long comment that nobody will see how to fix that problem.
