The hilarious hockey video on Esther's got me thinking: I can hardly watch hockey on TV, seems slow despite being a supposedly fast game. I try and watch playoff games every year, but it isn't a passion or anything. I also went with some co-workers to a few Ice Bats games (the local minor league team), and it was kind of meh. It was still pretty slow and plodding, and the atmosphere stunk. But something tells me ice hockey is cool, despite my less-than-great experiences. Should I try and attend some NHL games? Am I missing something?
Well, everyone I ask about hockey says, "oh, it's so fast." "It's a fast sport." "It's exciting and fast." On TV, it doesn't look all that fast, but maybe that's just TV. I mean, pitches and steals on televised baseball look slower than in person. VY looked pretty fast on TV, but looked otherworldly in person. And maybe it's just the minors, but there were very few breakaways at the games I have attended and I guess "fast" isn't the word I would use to describe the games. Does that make sense?
NHL is definitely a fast game, but I think the thing to remember about hockey is that you don't follow the puck as much as watch the ice. That might sound stupid, but compared to football, basketball, and baseball in a good hockey game there is a great deal of movement back and forth. It is in that movement, the co-ordination of the players, and free flow of play that produces a great game to watch if you don't try to follow just the puck.
I've enjoyed watching the Stars on tv over the years. I finally made it to a game this year. It bored me to tears almost. Granted, they lost 3-0, but the game never had a flow. They'd skate around for 3 minutes, then break so some girls in tights could skate around and sweep the ice. I do like watching their playoff games though. Not too much more anxiety-filled than watching NHL playoff overtime.
Go back to 1998 and get on board when hockey was big. I really started to like it more when I caught a couple of Ice Bats games. A lot more when I was lucky enough to get great seats to Stars games.
numbereleven, There are indeed multiple similarities between hockey soccer. For example there are some set plays (soccer -corners and in/direct kicks hocky -power plays) but play is predominantly free flowing, often times the most important player is away from the ball or puck but ends up being the one that scores, variations in playing surface size does exist and definitely impacts play, both have offside rules, and unfortunately coaching tactics slow down the free flow of play. Obviously the smaller surface and faster speed of the players results in changing the direction of play more frequent, changing of lines can impact play for hockey teams that lack depth, and hockey s more physical.
Learn the blue line rule. It is the most important in learning how the game is played. There is more action in 5 minutes of an NHL playoff game than the entire NBA season and playoffs combined.
11, go to a lower level game for fun. Hit up Chaparral Ice Rink for an adult league game sometime. It is a beer league so don't expect much. It is very slow and they make a lot of mistakes but they have fun. I suggest this because then you can get an idea of strategy, set up and an appreciation of how fast the NHL really is. If you can, stick around for a youth leage game and/or a HS game (yes, local HS's here have teams). These kids are freaking awesome!!! So fun to watch. Then when you watch the NHL on tv you can appreciate it more and maybe understand more. And watching away from the puck often is a good idea. There is so much that goes on.
i absolutely love NHL hockey. growing up in dallas i obviously have been attached to the stars. been watching them for over a decade now. NHL playoffs if one of my fav. times of the year. so intense. they actually show quite a bit of stars game here in austin so i can survive throughout the season.
big stars fan before the strike. after the strike, i've lost track of hockey. dumbasses. and i was a big fan.