Thread: Any Hockey Fans Out There????

I grew up in Toronto during the era of the original 6 team league and watched many of the greats of hockey history play in Maple Leaf Gardens. I knew every player in the league and could probably have recognized them on the street if they walked by me.

The Gardens are gone - only a facade of the original building remains. The Leafs haven’t won a Stanley Cup since 1967. I have a lot of nostalgia for that time when hockey seemed much more personal for me.

The current crop of NHLers is probably faster, stronger and more highly skilled than my heroes of the past, but I feel there are too many teams and player trades move them around too often for me to create an emotional connection.

I do admit that if the Maple Leafs ever appear to be real contenders for the Stanley Cup, I might start watching again. That’s the curse of being a Leaf fan - hope never dies, but frustration and disappointment keep returning.

Yea, also watched it when they had the original 6 teams but gave up after the expansions began. Now the season is too long with too many games to care about. Watched it go from a sport where the players were under paid to now when they are overpaid. For Pete's sake they are not doctors. Then again you could say that about any pro sport today.

Bob

Originally Posted by BobH

Yea, also watched it when they had the original 6 teams but gave up after the expansions began. Now the season is too long with too many games to care about. Watched it go from a sport where the players were under paid to now when they are overpaid. For Pete's sake they are not doctors. Then again you could say that about any pro sport today.

Bob

You know, I agree Bob on the salaries but I also love to watch hockey and without the players there are no games to watch. Also just think of the revenue that is produced by these teams, the broadcasters, the venues, the vendors... Everybody involved is making money hand over fist. Without the players there is none of that. It's true that some of these players sign 8.5 to 10 million dollar dealswhich is just an unfathomable amount of money for a kid playing a game that I would play for free but you also have to remember that one injury can put them out forever.
I think the thing, or one thing at least that I really love about hockey is that the season is so long that you just never know where it's going to go. Everyone preseason thought the Lightning was going to sweep everyone. Then they came out and lost a few games and everyone threw them on the tracks. Now they're the best thing since bottled beer again. So much can change in a season and 82 games is a lot to play.
You're right that it is a lot of money. I just think if I were watching the owners and everyone else make all that money I would want a fair piece of it also. You think the players make a lot of money. The owners are the ones really making the money.

Originally Posted by PaulFLUS

I just think if I were watching the owners and everyone else make all that money I would want a fair piece of it also. You think the players make a lot of money. The owners are the ones really making the money.

That is true. All made possible by the fans voluntarily paying for it. Too bad other more important things can't get the same kind of voluntary funding and support.

Bob

I'll give you an," amen brother" on that. I love hockey but I am aware that it is only a game and I spend what time and money I have available for it. Here in "Gator country" you see a lot of priorities WAY out of whack. The one that kills me are these people that live 350 to 400 miles away that have $400,000 -$500,000 RVs that they use exclusively to drive to Gainesville to sit in a parking lot to watch the game on television. That is beyond my comprehension.
Don't get me wrong. I like hockey as much as the next guy but there comes a point in time when you have to say to yourself, "This is a little out of whack. "

I sure used to be a hockey fan. Grew up in Winnipeg in the 70s, so I was able to be a Habs fan in the NHL and a Jets fan in the WHA. Then, when the Jets joined the NHL, I became a die-hard fan. I knew all the players, went to a bunch of games, and absolutely loved it. Morris Lukowich was my hero, then later Hawerchuk, then of course Teemu - still one of the classiest guys to play the game. For a couple of years my hockey coach was the president of the Jets' booster club, so he got us in to tons of games for free in return for handing out things at the door and doing other small jobs. I got to know the old Winnipeg Arena inside and out. It was a dump, but it was *our* dump, you know? So yeah, I can honestly say I *was* a hockey fan.

Then our crook of an owner sold the Jets to Phoenix of all places (no offence to anyone in AZ here. It just doesn't make sense that Winnipeg and Quebec didn't have teams while Phoenix did!). So I developed a hatred of the NHL and the bastard who ran (and still runs) it. And although a new Jets team has arrived back in my hometown, I just can't get behind the league any more. People back home lost their minds when they got a team again, jumped straight on the bandwagon, and didn't give a thought to the Atlanta fans who felt just as screwed over as we had not too long earlier. I went to a couple of games in Ottawa when the Jets came to town but just couldn't get back into it. Way too expensive, the arena is in a gawdawful location, far too many TV time outs... etc., and so on.

So unfortunately I have absolutely no faith in the NHL, no interest in watching it, and no real skin in the game. I guess I'd be happy if the Habs won the cup again, and I have plenty of friends who would be delighted if the Jets managed to win it some day. But sadly I really couldn't care less.

I do enjoy Junior and Olympic hockey and will watch it if it's on. But that's about it.

Well, that turned out a bit more curmudgeonly that I had originally intended.

Wow! That was a lot to process. I hear these things from people about a lot of sports. I guess I get it too because I used to watch boxing but the last fight I watched was the one where Mike Tyson bit Evander Holyfield's ear off. Somehow it just wasn't the same anymore. I watched the thriller in Manila, I watched the fight between Boom Boom Mancini and Duk ku Kim but I could see a change in it over time which I didn't really like. Maybe I'm fortunate that I didn't experience that with hockey. Hell I just love to watch the game. It is beautiful to me and graceful in a very masculine kind of way. It's actually two sports in one. The hockey part is hard enough but the way those guys skate is just so amazing. I'd give anything to be able to skate like that. Some of you may remember my last venture onto the ice where I split my head open and got five staples. Maybe I'm lucky that I haven't been a fan since I was a kid. I don't know.

I always thought that Olympic hockey was a better game to watch. It seems smoother, faster and has less of the unnecessary body contact the NHL has allowed more of over the years.

Bob

That's quite an impressive record.

Sad day in sports news