Why is hockey so unimportant in the USA? - Miracle (2004) Discussion

[–] moylan_14 17 years ago

It's too difficul for your average american to play it. They can't quite wrap their heads around it.

_____________
There is a peace in Death...
That I could not give you in Life.

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[–] blackhawkswincup2010 15 years ago

So how did you get involved?

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[–] gobears19872 11 years ago

The big reason hockey has trouble catching on is that it requires hundreds of dollars to properly equip a player for competitive hockey. If you don't have the money, your only hope of playing is to live in a place like Minnesota where the ponds freeze with a thick enough layer of ice for you to play with just a stick and skates.

Toews pushed it wide! Two seconds and one! THE BLACKHAWKS ARE STANLEY CUP CHAMPIONS! - Doc Emrick

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[–] baran_erik 10 years ago

Because most of the nation doesn't have cold enough winters to support hockey and the more northern states aren't as populated. The same reason why Sweden, Russia and other northern European countries play a lot of hockey, but Greece Italy and Spain don't. The northern most border of the continental US is farther south than the northern border of France.

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[–] esaping 17 years ago

It's sure as hell not unimportant here in Minnesota. Hockey, especially high school hockey is HUGE. It's a way of life.

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[–] aadams_22 17 years ago

It's very expensive to play compared to the other sports here in the USA to play. You need hundreds of dollars worth of equipment in order to play hockey. However, a basketball costs $15, a football costs $15, a soccer ball costs $15, and you can get a cheap bat, glove, and baseball for around $50 total. Also hockey is really centralized in the cities that have NHL teams. You don't really find it in rural areas.

States like Minnesota, Michigan, Wisconsin, Massachusetts, Maine, Vermont, New Hampshire are big into hockey because it gets cold in those places and STAYS cold, so they have the opportunity to play on a pond a good 3-4 months out of the year. The rest of the country isn't that lucky.

One final reason that the USA isn't really into hockey is that Gary Bettman is a moron when it comes to promoting the game.

Personally I love hockey, but I'm a fish out of water when it comes to most people around where I live.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] simplyshiny 17 years ago

A team in Saskatchewan would be an awesome draw, its so flat (you mean topographically?) Las Vegas would be ridiculous. Detroit isnt selling out anymore,I though....and Dallas is? Pittsburgh sells out nearly every game too...I remember once being able to go to the gate an hour at most in advance and get good seats for Student Rush ($20), now you go 4 hours in advance and get Standing Room Only :P. I say Lets bring back the Seals or the Jets!

as for your question, I think Bettman is doing a terrible job at promoting the NHL, but mostly I think it's Americans love getting drunk while watching sports. football (not gonna lie, my first love) has many more replays and easier for a drunk to watch

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[–] aadams_22 17 years ago

Don't forget St. Louis...with the exception of last years (after the sell off) I can tell you first hand that getting a St. Louis Blues ticket is nearly impossible.

Also, I don't think Vegas would be that bad of an idea, but I'd rather see a team that doesn't draw well (Panthers, Thrashers, Hurricanes, Predators, etc.) and relocate one of those teams.

I also support putting more teams into Canada. Winnipeg, Saskatoon, Hamilton, London, Quebec City would be great draws for an NHL franchise.

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] Mr_Megalomaneac 17 years ago

"Also, I don't think Vegas would be that bad of an idea, but I'd rather see a team that doesn't draw well (Panthers, Thrashers, Hurricanes, Predators, etc.) and relocate one of those teams."

I have so little here in Ga. Don't even joke about the Thrashers leaving. Hockey love is almost kind of starting to come around here.

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[–] kobie173 17 years ago

It's pretty big across upstate New York as well.

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[–] asm610 16 years ago

College hockey is pretty big in New England, too, especially in metro Boston with 4 or 5 D1 teams. Go BU!

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[–] UW21UCLA16 17 years ago

University of Wisconsin sells out a 17,000 seat arena for Hockey. But if your not in New York or L. A you just don't count. North Dakota and Boston college get big crowds but outside of these pockets no one follows college hockey.

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[–] trapped_poet 17 years ago

Minnesotans follow college hockey.

And pro hockey. And high school hockey.

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[–] laxchickk 17 years ago

yeah im from massachusetts and we are hugee on hockey. ive grown up with hockey, i have three older brothers and they all play hockey, my twin brother just commited to BU. anddd we love the beanpot

you know you love me

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[–] Maserati7777 17 years ago

Hockey rings are expensive

When I was in high school the mandatory sports in Gym were baseball, basketball, football, soccer, swimming, square dancing

I live in Detroit so Hockey is huge here *cough* Red Wings *cough*

Do I CAUSE YOUR DEATH? Just like you caused Erin's?
Maserati777

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[–] 17 years ago

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[–] red_ruddy 17 years ago

no1 really has an idea it just kinda started in canada
i mean it seems like its not important
but there are people who are absolutely
OBSESSED with hockey

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[–] KDinCT 17 years ago

The answer is easier than the simpleton insults from most here.

It isn't a big sport nationally because much of the USA is in a WARM CLIMATE. It's like asking why hockey isn't a big sport in Spain or Italy. Or why track and field isn't a big deal in Norway. Because the USA is geographically so large and the climate is diverse, sports and other activities tend to be much more regional to match the climate. As a result very few sports are popular nationwide. But if you go to northern cities like Detroit, Buffalo and Boston hockey is a VERY big sport for young kids and in high school/college.

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[–] bangarang19 17 years ago

The NHL doesn't have great marketing and they have way too many teams. Also it'd hard for the average fan to get into hockey when the majority of your players are from europe. I live in New Jersey but I know I speak for Maryland and New York too
when I say lacrosse rules here. Also college hockey is really only big in the hot beds. I don't think any college in New Jersey has D1 hockey.

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[–] xxsickxsadxworldxx 17 years ago

I agree. Usa is a warm climate, and what with global warming i doubt it's gonna get colder. Being from texas, i am aware that we have a team in dallas and in houston, but no one really cares. The big thing down here is FOOTBALL, come on it's TEXAS. that's like asking if football is big i ALABAMA. NOOOOOO. come one, hockey? where it's 100 F almost all year long, and on the coast we get like... three months of winter then straight to summer. yeah, how come a sport that's played on ice doesn't work here again?... oh yeah, there's ice involved. guys seriously.

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[–] NobodymournstheWicked 17 years ago

Wish I can tell you why it is, but it could be bcause it can be violent.

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[–] collyflowerpower 17 years ago

USA hockey will never be what Canadian hockey is, but it is growing strongly. Even here in California we have had a guy go in the first round last year, and another to go next year. The NCAA prospects and junior prospects are also immensely growing. There will be a huge surge in American hockey in the years to come with all the young stars coming into the NHL.

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[–] reikun86 17 years ago

I take beginner's hockey at San Jose State. The rink is just next to Spartan Stadium. Beginners is the only level the school has, but I know what class I'm taking till graduation that's for sure! Hahaha : D

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[–] crimson_knight247 17 years ago

I honestly have a deep fear of falling and being decapitated by a passing player

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[–] jw24 17 years ago

Hockey is a pure Canadian game. It always has and it always will. Obviously, the Great Lakes and the Northeast have a huge passion for the game of hockey in the United States. I'm from New Jersey, where we have the Devils and my school has a hockey team but they're not one of the top teams in the state, though. I understand that with the expansion of American teams, hockey has grown in the Sun Belt states. But I do think teams such as Coyotes, Panthers and Predators should be relocated because they have the lowest attendances in the NHL and are horrible hockey markets. On the other hand, Tampa Bay, San Jose and Dallas have high average attendances and are among the top 15 in total attendance.

Gary Bettman is truly the one to blame because after the lockout, he has *beep* up the NHL in numerous ways that it makes me want to hurl! One of the main problems is that the NHL has showcased miniscule exposure in the United States. First of all, the games are on Versus, a channel where practically 7 million Americans don't have. In addition, NBC's coverage is subpar because they show limited teams on their telecasts. (i.e, Pittsburgh, NY Rangers, Detroit, Phildelphia) while leaving out other teams such as San Jose and Minnesota. The game itself is probably the biggest problem and yes, Bettman is at fault for that. I like a few rules like the two-line pass and the shootouts after OT but rules such as having that useless trapezoid and limited fighting are reasons why people are turning away from hockey games.

I'm surprised that NHL fans don't yell "Fire Bettman" whenever they have the chance. He's a disgrace to humanity in the hockey world.

I'll have spent one day out there.

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[–] scubadude44 17 years ago

I'm from Minneapolis, Minnesota. And I agree with the Bettman detractors, he has done his best to kill a game he's never played. He's a New York lawyer, that's all.

The Minnesota Wild have sold out every single game they have played in the Xcel Energy center. That includes pre-season games. The only tickets I have been able to get are 3 sets from a dead season ticket holder, and 2 sets of "standing at the rail" for $60/each. The University of Minnesota hockey team has been selling out games forever; in 30 years, I've been unable to get a ticket I can afford. In every park in the metro area, boards go up in the soccer and baseball fields in late fall in anticipation of 3-4 months of hockey. And the state nearly closes for the high school hockey tourney in March every year. So to say hockey is unimportant in the USA is not true, and the canucks here that say Americans don't love the game need to GET BENT!

In this movie, Herb asks the guys who they are, and who the play for. If you listen to the answers, 90% of them played in MA, or MN. The further north you go from the Mason-Dixon line, the more fans of the game you find. When the Lighting won the Cup, I died at little inside. The cup went to the jungles of Florida...that's just WRONG.

I've used this analogy many times...To find a Minnesotan that can't skate, and has never played at least some pond hockey is like trying to find a Hawaiian that can't swim, and has never tried to surf....ABSURD! They don't exist.

By the way, the review here that asks why Kurt Russell is using a "Polish" accent is a sad, sad person. That's not a "Polish" accent, he's trying to recreate a "South Saint Paul" accent which is where Herb grew up. To hear folks talk like he did is fairly common.

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[–] K_Holly 17 years ago

Not only does the climate in the USA make I think affect hockey but you have to look at which cities have Ice Skating rinks in the area. Most school systems don't have money to operate one in the United States. If a school does have hockey, they probably travel to an arena that has ice.

Also, the NHL does not nearly do the marketing in the United States as the NFL, NBA, or MLB.

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[–] lowedown98 16 years ago

I agree with some of the assessments people have made, Bettman, climate and even the slow style of the game itself certainly are major factors. I think two big things have been overlooked.
First, the game is rather complex and most people don't make the effort to understand it. When I tell people I'm a hockey fan, do you know what almost all of them ask me? "What is icing the puck?" Seriously, I've been asked that so much in my life, I've considered making a website explaining the basics of the game and calling it icing the puck. I've freaked a lot of people out, because I'll answer the question before the ask it. Now, I know what you're thinking baseball and football are complex, possibly more so, yet the average American sports fan understands them just fine. The difference? Most Americans grow up with baseball, and to a lesser extent football. How many Americans grow up with hockey? As many have pointed out, those in the colder climes. That excludes a lot of the country.
Second, the season is long and is covered by other more popular sports in the States. After all, when it starts baseball is gearing up for the post-season and football is getting underway. Football coverage eats most of the first half. Then after the Super Bowl, its only a month until March Madness, and yes I know there's the Frozen Four, but again not people outside the colder climes follow that. Once that's over, Spring Training begins.
Is it any one of these things? Of course not, the problem is an amalgamation of all its minor points. The real question to my mind is, what can be done to fix it?

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[–] Rockhound6165 16 years ago

Growing up in South Jersey I can tell you that hockey used to be huge here. When I was growing up, the Flyers were winning their 2 Stanley Cups and the area loved them. We used to play street hockey 12 months a year. Now, I don't see kids playing street hockey anymore. And it isn't that expensive to play. All you need is a stick, blades(plastic street hockey blades), and a street hockey ball.

Also, to be honest, hockey doesn't need to be in Florida, North Carolina, Georgia, or any other non-traditional city. I lived in NC and people didn't give a flip about the Hurricanes until they reached the finals in 2002. Then in 2003 when they went back to last place, nobody cared again.

When you steal from Peter and give to Paul, you will always have the support of Paul.

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