Just curious as to everyones thoughts on the state of the lockout in the NHL. I don’t know enough about the situation to know if its the owners or players (or both equally) who are at fault.
I can say that in Philadelphia, which I would consider one of the bigger hockey towns in the US along with Boston, Detriot and Colorado, it has been almost abesent in the news. I have yet to see any coverage over it.
No one seems to be concerend or even care. Here is the question, is this lockout going to have any lasting effects on Hockey in the US. If I am correct I think TV viewership was declining before the lockout occured. From what I heard the WNBA had higher ratings than hockey.
Will this lockout make things worse, better or the same? My guess is that at least in the US, its only hurting the game. The indicator of this is the lack of news coverage.
depends on where you are. hockey is popular in particular places and will continue to hold a high interest there. in michigan, hockey is very wide spread and very popular, everyone guy i have ever met and all of my guy cousins and their guy friends play or have played hockey, as well as follow it avidly. As far as the lockout, I have no clue, I could ask and find out, but I dont think denise or sam would want to discuss the business portion. Oh yes and remember the name Jake Goldburg, in 3 years you will know his name if you are a hockey fan. For example at a north american competion(Canada and USA), his team lost to the eventual champions(92’) by a score of 10-5. How many goals did he have? 5…
Here in the state of Hockey (Minnesota) it is a very big deal that there is no NHL going on. People are pissed about it. Ever since we have gotten the Wild every game has been sold out since. The NHL lockout hurts a lot of local bussines though in St. Paul. The home town of the Wild. Hockey is still incredably popular here though. We still have the all the college teams here including the Golden Gophers college hockey team that will just get a lot more attention. People also are very interested in high school hockey too.
Hockey ratings around the USA have been hurting. I dont think that the WNBA has higher ratings, if they do I am embarresed. When the lockout is over and the new bargain agreements are met with players and owners hockey is going to have to make a comeback. Meaning, it will have to work hard at getting a lot of its fans back into the game. Hopefully it will and hockey will be a bigger deal to people than it has been over the last couple years.
I know the lockout has hurt the local economy in Philly. Many of the people who are employed to support the games in various ways are out of work. I guess the litte guy is forgotten in these cases.
Each area of the country is obviously different. I think hockey definitly took a hit in my area. No one seems to care. Hopefully they resolve it quickly, as my own business can be impacted negatively. If kids in my area do not see hockey as a viable option, the need for private training goes down.
The statics regarding viewership of the NHL versus WNBA was reported in the Philadelphia Inquirer. Not sure if they are completely accurate?
I’m sure a lot of cities in the 'states aren’t really missing NHL hockey. Why should they? There are many other sports out there to watch, that are much more exciting than an NHL game.
Don’t get me wrong I love hockey, and played the game nearly all my life. But it’s become a boring defensive game, and players have to play so many games they can’t give everything they have, they have to pace themselves.
Pace themselves? Screw that! That’s not what hockey’s about! Hockey’s about big hit, high speeds, crazy stick handling and cat-like goaltending, and that’s a little hard to do with an 82 game schedule.
I am constantly amused by the mainstream sports media who keep pointing out the fact that no one is missing hockey. Well, when there was an NHL, these guys didn’t talk about it anyway, so what’s the difference? 99% of sports journalists (excluding hockey writers) don’t know anything about hockey and that’s why it’s not discussed.