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NHL discussion thread

Steve007

By Steve007
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Steve007

Steve007

Posted
Posted

I'm hoping they'll be a few other hockey fans on this forum. None of my friends watch ice hockey and it would be good to find some like minded people to have a natter throughout the season.

For the first time ever, the NHL comes to England on the 29th & 30th of September at the O2 Arena. The two games are fully fledged games and not just exhibition games. I managed to get tickets for the Sunday so I'm well chuffed. I've seen quite a few NHL games whilst I've been in the US & Canada so it will seem rather bizarre to see the season start on my doorstep!

There's quite a few websites that I use to keep upto date with news and stuff, the best is probably the ESPN website, although the official NHL website is very good.

If people want to actually watch the games, then you'll need NASN, which you get with the Setanta pack. Due to the time differences, NASN show regular 'Match of the Day' type shows offering extended highlights & delayed live games. The delayed live games are actually very good as they cut out all the 2 min stops in play for TV breaks that you have to put up with when watching it live. Midweek live games can often start at 11pm-2am our time & weekend games typically start at 6pm our time.

So, are there any other ice hockey fans on this forum?? :D

p.s. Whilst I'm on the subject of ice hockey, EA's NHL 08 is out on Friday :D

Edit: Changed thread title to make it more relevant!!

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larrydavidsanger

larrydavidsanger

Posted
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Are there no games on Channel 5 anymore then? I used to be a huge NHL fan a few years ago but I haven't really been keeping track recently since that season that they skipped or boycotted or whatever happened. I think the american sports are pretty clever recently bringing the game over to Europe for a few league games, certainly gets them a lot more attention. Didn't NFL bring a few games over too recently?

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Rex Grossman

Rex Grossman

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Are there no games on Channel 5 anymore then? I used to be a huge NHL fan a few years ago but I haven't really been keeping track recently since that season that they skipped or boycotted or whatever happened. I think the american sports are pretty clever recently bringing the game over to Europe for a few league games, certainly gets them a lot more attention. Didn't NFL bring a few games over too recently?

NFL coming to London in October. A million ticket applications.

NBA coming in a few weeks. Sold out.

NHL coming very soon. Plenty of tickets still left.

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Rex Grossman

Rex Grossman

Posted
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I'm hoping they'll be a few other hockey fans on this forum. None of my friends watch ice hockey and it would be good to find some like minded people to have a natter throughout the season.

For the first time ever, the NHL comes to England on the 29th & 30th of September at the O2 Arena. The two games are fully fledged games and not just exhibition games. I managed to get tickets for the Sunday so I'm well chuffed. I've seen quite a few NHL games whilst I've been in the US & Canada so it will seem rather bizarre to see the season start on my doorstep!

There's quite a few websites that I use to keep upto date with news and stuff, the best is probably the ESPN website, although the official NHL website is very good.

If people want to actually watch the games, then you'll need NASN, which you get with the Setanta pack. Due to the time differences, NASN show regular 'Match of the Day' type shows offering extended highlights & delayed live games. The delayed live games are actually very good as they cut out all the 2 min stops in play for TV breaks that you have to put up with when watching it live. Midweek live games can often start at 11pm-2am our time & weekend games typically start at 6pm our time.

So, are there any other ice hockey fans on this forum?? :D

p.s. Whilst I'm on the subject of ice hockey, EA's NHL 08 is out on Friday :D

NASN has the games for FREE!

http://www.nasn.com/content/nasn/portal.ns...remierelondon07

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roadkill

roadkill

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NHL coming very soon. Plenty of tickets still left.

To watch a Los Angeles area game displaced a few thousand miles. Waste of time.

From my Canadian journeying i've concluded NHL full stop is a waste of time. There is simply no point in actually watching the games at all, since everything is so random. You get more satisfaction from watching people at slot machines. If you actually "watch" a match with people there they spend more time doing anything except actually following the game - it's just the national excuse to drink and then have a mini-riot.

I was led to believe that much of Canada is rapidly losing interest in the game, as levels of income tax mean most of the best players end up in the US. As a result teams like the Canadien's are simply not really competitive anymore. Watching a Montreal supporter during a Montreal vs New Jersey game is to see a conflicted person, since they all think NJ's keeper is brilliant, but he chooses to play there and not Montreal.

Still, at least it's not the CFL, which is the NFL made even more tedious.

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Rex Grossman

Rex Grossman

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To watch a Los Angeles area game displaced a few thousand miles. Waste of time.

From my Canadian journeying i've concluded NHL full stop is a waste of time. There is simply no point in actually watching the games at all, since everything is so random. You get more satisfaction from watching people at slot machines. If you actually "watch" a match with people there they spend more time doing anything except actually following the game - it's just the national excuse to drink and then have a mini-riot.

I was led to believe that much of Canada is rapidly losing interest in the game, as levels of income tax mean most of the best players end up in the US. As a result teams like the Canadien's are simply not really competitive anymore. Watching a Montreal supporter during a Montreal vs New Jersey game is to see a conflicted person, since they all think NJ's keeper is brilliant, but he chooses to play there and not Montreal.

Still, at least it's not the CFL, which is the NFL made even more tedious.

In this country, the domestic league are putting games on at the same time the NHL is here. Hardcore fans will watch their local teams.

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Senorchris

Senorchris

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I'm a huge ice hockey fan, and a lifetime (well, 10+ years) New York Rangers fan. I'll be going to the Saturday game at the O2 (tickets have been sold out for months - if there were some available a couple of weeks ago, it'll be re-release of returns) sporting a NYR Jagr jersey.

I fully intend to subscribe to Setanta when the season starts, but you may want to check out www.myp2p.eu - they have a hell of a lot of games that won't be on NASN. They're all streamed from north americans' cable boxes, but are usually fairly decent quality streams.

From my Canadian journeying i've concluded NHL full stop is a waste of time. There is simply no point in actually watching the games at all, since everything is so random. You get more satisfaction from watching people at slot machines. If you actually "watch" a match with people there they spend more time doing anything except actually following the game - it's just the national excuse to drink and then have a mini-riot.

I was led to believe that much of Canada is rapidly losing interest in the game, as levels of income tax mean most of the best players end up in the US. As a result teams like the Canadien's are simply not really competitive anymore. Watching a Montreal supporter during a Montreal vs New Jersey game is to see a conflicted person, since they all think NJ's keeper is brilliant, but he chooses to play there and not Montreal.

Admittedly I've only ever seen games in the US (San Jose, and New York), but I 100% disagree with this; the NHL games I've been to has seen people glued to their seats, never late back from a period, whereas the NFL/MLB games I've been to has been an excuse to drink beer and spend half the game queuing to buy hot dogs.

The Canadian interest in hockey has never been stronger - Toronto make the most revenue & have the biggest fan base, Ottawa have (arguably) the best team in the league next season, and the other Canadian clubs will at least be semi-decent. Tax and player salaries is generally a non-factor - Florida (one of the 0% income tax states) has a notoriously poor record at attracting top class free agents; Martin Brodeur (the NJ goalie you speak of) is a Devil 'fo life' - he was drafted by them, and took a home team discount to stay in Jersey. Montreal would no doubt love to have him (he's the best goalie in the league), but he'll retire a Devil.

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Plissken

Plissken

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Posted
From my Canadian journeying i've concluded NHL full stop is a waste of time. There is simply no point in actually watching the games at all, since everything is so random.

You haven't the first clue what is involved in the sport, have you?

I was led to believe that much of Canada is rapidly losing interest in the game

Interest in the NHL in Canada is at its highest for a decade or so.

I got my tickets the moment they went on sale - the Stanley Cup is coming over (undoubtedly the coolest trophy in any sport). Unfortunately, many domestic games were scheduled at the same time but thems the breaks.

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Rex Grossman

Rex Grossman

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Unfortunately, many domestic games were scheduled at the same time but thems the breaks.

It's weird how the NBA and NFL have opened UK offices and worked with the British governing bodies to promote their sports and the NHL has done the opposite.

Yet, the NHL is playing the first game of the season here and using the Stnaley Cup winner. More impressive than the NFL (two bad teams) and the NBA (it's only a preseason game), but nowhere near as much attention in mainstream Britain.

I think ice hockey has shot itself in the foot.

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  • 2 years later...
bradigor

bradigor

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I've been trying to follow it but it's not exactly on at the best of times for me. Is there anywhere I can watch highlights do you know?

Kinda rooting for the Flyers :angry:

Yahoo tend to do highlight as they run the fantasy hockey :D

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bradigor

bradigor

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It's weird how the NBA and NFL have opened UK offices and worked with the British governing bodies to promote their sports and the NHL has done the opposite.

Yet, the NHL is playing the first game of the season here and using the Stnaley Cup winner. More impressive than the NFL (two bad teams) and the NBA (it's only a preseason game), but nowhere near as much attention in mainstream Britain.

I think ice hockey has shot itself in the foot.

It is crying shame that Hockey doesn't get more attention in the UK, especially considering the origins of the Stanley Cup. I love the Red Wings and they have a tradition, a history and a stability that many football clubs here would love to even come close to. It is fast paced and extremely skillful once you begin to understand the differing strategies. The rules are simple enough to follow too unlike the much more popular American Football.

UK Ice Hockey is shit, that I will admit, the skill levels are shocking, however you can't expect much else when it isn't promoted enough. There looked to be a boom in the mid to late nineties. My local team 'Romford Raiders' were on the verge of making it into the top league, support was there for the team, funding was being prepared to develop the Ice Rink and all was good. However, we missed out late in the season and everything fell apart, interest died down the the rink is a dump. However, it seems that the Raiders are attempting to get things going again after an excellent run at the end of last season. Offering free tickets to new fans is a good start and has been getting some decent crowds. So hopefully we are on the way up. A 100% losing record so far this season could see history repeat itself. The Elite league seems too to be losing attention despite coverage on Sky Sports.

I have never understood why Hockey isn't a bigger deal over here. :angry:

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bradigor

bradigor

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I used to go and watch Manchester Storm when they played at the Nynex (!), what the frig happened to them, now they are the Phoenix and playing in some tiny stadium...

I actually missed the Elite League last year, I don't know what happened. They are now in the EPIHL with Romford. Are they still playing in Altrincham?

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