why is the NHL no longer popular in the US?

[blinky]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

[Earl1972]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

it being a canadien sport doesn't help, it's not ours

it doesn't translate as well to tv as other sports do

they don't market the game and their players well and don't always enforce the rules

also hardly anybody in the US grows up playing hockey, people watch what they played as a kid

E

[benchmstr]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

i think it has something to do with them not making any more "mighty ducks" movies

i dont know shit about hockey,where i live in texas it doesnt get cold enough to play it anyway, unless you play indoors.

bench

[RUDE BUOY]

because there is no line behind the puck to show were it is on tv 

[pumpster]

because there is no line behind the puck to show were it is on tv 

Actually Fox came up with something that helped with that some years ago.

It's not naturally popular in the US; it has always been borderline.

[bmacsys]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

There are people who are just as crazy about hockey in the states in certain areas. Its in certain pockets of the country- in Boston for sure, college hockey is huge and the Bruins have always been more popular than the Celtics, hardcore Ranger fans in the tri-state area, in Minnesota hockey is huge. College hockey especially. Detroit. Rhode Island is a tiny state that loves hockey.

The NHL has too many eastern European players. These guys maybe be great, flashy, offensive talents. You can't even pronounce their names. Way too many teams. Teams in California and Florida? Doesn't seem right. Hockey players tend to be low-key without much charisma. Too many guys sport early-1980's mullets. Its not great on tv though big screen high-def tv's are changing that. Main thing is tv coverage in the states sucks. If we had a "Hockey Night in America" type show here it would be cool.

[bmacsys]

i think it has something to do with them not making any more "mighty ducks" movies

i dont know shit about hockey,where i live in texas it doesnt get cold enough to play it anyway, unless you play indoors.

bench

Yeah, actually founding a team too SUPPORT a stupid movie looks really, really like a desperation move.

[bmacsys]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

Blinky, you have to ditch Bettman and get a really hockey man as commisioner.

[CalvinH]

They need some big city teams to get to the finals
NY
Boston
Phili
Detroit
this would help with tv exposure

[bmacsys]

They need some big city teams to get to the finals
NY
Boston
Phili
Detroit
this would help with tv exposure

Detroit has been there in recent years and thats about it.

[Old_Rooster]

just wondering why you people think the NHL is losing popularity every year?

i live in canada where its a religion so i dont know what you guys think down there.

why do you personally not like it(if you dont) and what do you think needs to be done to make it popular again down there.

Psssssst, we have never given a crap about that silly game called hockey here in the states.  Dog shows get higher ratings.
I'd rather watch Emirl cook than watch a hockey game.
When we want to see fights we watch ultimate fighting instead of hockey.

[Tre]

The problem was your lockout, which was based on greed, nothing else.

Prior to the lockout, you had a reasonable following in the U.S. (about as well as could be expected), but during the lockout, no one even cared that hockey was gone.  I'm a fan, but not a hardcore fan, and I'm perfectly content playing NHL 'xx on my PC. 

It's going to take at least a few more seasons to win back the blue-collar fanbase here in the States. 

Good luck with that.

[Earl1972]

it being a canadien sport doesn't help, it's not ours

it doesn't translate as well to tv as other sports do

they don't market the game and their players well and don't always enforce the rules

also hardly anybody in the US grows up playing hockey, people watch what they played as a kid

E

all the answers are here

E

[bmacsys]

I don't know about in Canada but the USA has too much to competition sports-wise for hockey to be huge. Whats hockey's competition in Canada? The CFL?

[Earl1972]

I don't know about in Canada but the USA has too much to competition sports-wise for hockey to be huge. Whats hockey's competition in Canada? The CFL?

that has nothing to do with it

all people have been doing is bitching about how these nba finals suck, including all the "experts" on espn

read my post above all the reasons are there

E

[canadian_husker]

hockey will never be more than a regional sport in the US. the sooner the morons running the NHL figure this out the better

i heard rumblings today that the guy who bought Nashville is making a play to move them to Hamilton. that's one step in the right direction.

Now if we can just move Phoenix back to Winnipeg and contract one of the teams in California and one or both of the teams in Florida that would be another step towards making the product a little less watered down.

since the first expansion from 21 to 23 teams they have added 9 teams total. that's 162 skaters that weren't good enough to be in the league 15(?) years ago. that's basically the 4th line from every team and their 5th and 6th D man.

now if those guys weren't in the league every team's checking line (which is usually their 3rd line) would become the 4th line and teams would then add in a new 3rd line made up of players that can actually put the puck in the net.

that probably wouldn't help with tv ratings or interest in the States, but it would sure improve the product for the real fans

[Earl1972]

winnipeg couldn't handle the franchise they had

they probably need to contract

E

[RUDE BUOY]

winnipeg couldn't handle the franchise they had

they probably need to contract

E

sorry earl hate to disagree with you the peq had a strong fan base

[bmacsys]

sorry earl hate to disagree with you the peq had a strong fan base

They drew real well. They just got a sweetheart deal to move to Pheonix.

[Tre]

hockey will never be more than a regional sport in the US. the sooner the morons running the NHL figure this out the better

i heard rumblings today that the guy who bought Nashville is making a play to move them to Hamilton. that's one step in the right direction.

Now if we can just move Phoenix back to Winnipeg and contract one of the teams in California and one or both of the teams in Florida that would be another step towards making the product a little less watered down.

since the first expansion from 21 to 23 teams they have added 9 teams total. that's 162 skaters that weren't good enough to be in the league 15(?) years ago. that's basically the 4th line from every team and their 5th and 6th D man.

now if those guys weren't in the league every team's checking line (which is usually their 3rd line) would become the 4th line and teams would then add in a new 3rd line made up of players that can actually put the puck in the net.

that probably wouldn't help with tv ratings or interest in the States, but it would sure improve the product for the real fans

Won't happen. 

The players union isn't willing to lose an entire roster's worth of salaries.

[canadian_husker]

Won't happen. 

The players union isn't willing to lose an entire roster's worth of salaries.

i highly doubt that any of the players union in any of the 4 major north american sports leagues would ever let contraction happen, but in the NHL it is sorely needed

[bmacsys]

that has nothing to do with it

all people have been doing is bitching about how these nba finals suck, including all the "experts" on espn

read my post above all the reasons are there

E

It has nothing to do with it "in your opinion" When a college football game is on, or the NFL, or college hoops or even the weak NBA- who in the USA except in a few small pockets is going to watch the NHL? So no, it has nothing to do withy "competition"

[bmacsys]

winnipeg couldn't handle the franchise they had

they probably need to contract

E

Earl, you have no clue about hockey bro. Winnipeg had a packed arena every night since the WHA days.

[Earl1972]

Earl, you have no clue about hockey bro. Winnipeg had a packed arena every night since the WHA days.

well they didn't pack it enough to keep the team there and they won't be getting a new team EVER

E

[Earl1972]

It has nothing to do with it "in your opinion" When a college football game is on, or the NFL, or college hoops or even the weak NBA- who in the USA except in a few small pockets is going to watch the NHL? So no, it has nothing to do withy "competition"

if they learned to translate it better to tv, marketed the league and players better, and ALWAYS enforced the rules to create more scoring opportunities they would've watched it moreso than the nba playoffs

E