The NHL and why it sucks

[D-FENS]

1. They're all just Canadians, eh?
http://www.quanthockey.com/TS/TS_Pla...ionalities.php
Though the amount of Americans and other nationalities are increasing, this is still a sport that is dominated by Canadians.

If we consider there to be 690 active players, 23 active players per team (I had to Google this) x by 30 teams (really? 30 teams?).
So an approximate breakdown would be:

Canada has 399 NHL players and a male population of 17,150,000
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00002326531

United States has 154 NHL players and a male population of 150,720,000
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00000049045

Europe has 159 NHL players and a male population of 173,376,000*
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00000044020
*I only added the populations of European countries that have an active NHL player

If you're a Canadian you are 23 times more likely than an American to be an NHL player, and 25 times more likely than a Euro to be an NHL player.

Why is this?


2. Hockey participation
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-.../c-g10-eng.htm
In 2005, approximately 26% of Canadian males were active in hockey.

In 1998, approximately 1.4% of American males were active in hockey.


3. Climate
All of Canada is cold as f*ck and there's nothing to do in winter but slip around on ice. Might as well put skates on.
The US has a range of climates, and people have more options available to them year round.


4. Availability
- Hockey is damn expensive. Only the middle class to wealthy can afford enough ice time for their kids to be successful.
- Basketball and football (soccer) only require a ball and a hoop or even a wall. You can also play by yourself very easily. Socio-economic status has nothing to do with your chances of being a professional.


To sum up, no one other than Canadians and US people living in cold states really give a f*ck. I have a lot of experience in Toronto, and I can picture a city that in 50 years time has even more immigrants that are too poor to afford ice time. These kids come from football (soccer) and basketball loving countries. I can see the Raptors being more popular than the Maple Leafs in 50 years time.

Personally, I can't stand the sport. All the players are stupid white jocks between 5'11" and 6'4" - it's impossible to see the puck, and it's only loved because there's nothing else to do in Canada.

Share your hockey thoughts in here.

P.S. I didn't watch the hockey game today - I have seen about 3 games in my life.

[MMM]

dunno about basketball overtaking hockey in Toronto. Lot of the ethnic groups love hockey btw cus it is all they show on Canadian sports programing. ****ing **** even canceled court surfing

[MightyWhitey]

1. They're all just Canadians, eh?
http://www.quanthockey.com/TS/TS_Pla...ionalities.php
Though the amount of Americans and other nationalities are increasing, this is still a sport that is dominated by Canadians.

If we consider there to be 690 active players, 23 active players per team (I had to Google this) x by 30 teams (really? 30 teams?).
So an approximate breakdown would be:

Canada has 399 NHL players and a male population of 17,150,000
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00002326531

United States has 154 NHL players and a male population of 150,720,000
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00000049045

Europe has 159 NHL players and a male population of 173,376,000*
Likelihood of becoming an NHL player 0.00000044020
*I only added the populations of European countries that have an active NHL player

If you're a Canadian you are 23 times more likely than an American to be an NHL player, and 25 times more likely than a Euro to be an NHL player.

Why is this?


2. Hockey participation
http://www.statcan.gc.ca/pub/81-595-.../c-g10-eng.htm
In 2005, approximately 26% of Canadian males were active in hockey.

In 1998, approximately 1.4% of American males were active in hockey.


3. Climate
All of Canada is cold as f*ck and there's nothing to do in winter but slip around on ice. Might as well put skates on.
The US has a range of climates, and people have more options available to them year round.


4. Availability
- Hockey is damn expensive. Only the middle class to wealthy can afford enough ice time for their kids to be successful.
- Basketball and football (soccer) only require a ball and a hoop or even a wall. You can also play by yourself very easily. Socio-economic status has nothing to do with your chances of being a professional.


To sum up, no one other than Canadians and US people living in cold states really give a f*ck. I have a lot of experience in Toronto, and I can picture a city that in 50 years time has even more immigrants that are too poor to afford ice time. These kids come from football (soccer) and basketball loving countries. I can see the Raptors being more popular than the Maple Leafs in 50 years time.

Personally, I can't stand the sport. All the players are stupid white jocks between 5'11" and 6'4" - it's impossible to see the puck, and it's only loved because there's nothing else to do in Canada.

Share your hockey thoughts in here.

P.S. I didn't watch the hockey game today - I have seen about 3 games in my life.

I am certainly going to share your racist thread with the ish admins. Stupid white Jocks? Really? Nazim Kadri, PK Subban, Spencer,,,they're not white. But it's ok. I'll make sure your topic is read by the admins.

[mr.big35]

Hockey is popular in cold states like minnesota. no one wants to talk about the red wings here in detroit

[Gabi]

Everything you said in this thread can be replaced with basket instead of hockey and Americans instead of Canadians.

[Gabi]

Hockey is popular in cold states like minnesota. no one wants to talk about the red wings here in detroit

Red Wings are more popular than the Pistons if I am not mistaken. Red Wings has one of the highest attendance for the last years.

[NuggetsFan]

To sum up, no one other than Canadians and US people living in cold states really give a f*ck. I have a lot of experience in Toronto, and I can picture a city that in 50 years time has even more immigrants that are too poor to afford ice time. These kids come from football (soccer) and basketball loving countries. I can see the Raptors being more popular than the Maple Leafs in 50 years time.

Popularity seems to be increasing. It's more popular worldwide than football obviously and hangs with basketball. Finland, Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic etc. Tons of countries have there own leagues from Norway to Germany. Obviously nowhere near the NHL but the KHL is really popular in Russia.

People care about it. As for the Leafs/Raptors shows your lack of knowledge. Leafs are probably the most popular NHL team. That's like saying the Ducks are going to be more popular than the Lakers. Even if there terrible everybody in T.O still watches and follows them.

Personally, I can't stand the sport. All the players are stupid white jocks between 5'11" and 6'4" - it's impossible to see the puck, and it's only loved because there's nothing else to do in Canada.

Which is interesting because the amount of off ice trouble vs the NBA/NFL is insane. Hockey players make far less money, don't get into anywhere the same amount of trouble. They seem far more like regular people than NBA stars. As for stupid I don't really know, NBA players are placed above normal people more so coming up.

Share your hockey thoughts in here.

Some of what you said is true. Hockey is climate based and expensive to play which holds it back. However aren't NHL selling out more arenas than the NBA recently? Hockey's on the up an up. I probably like basketball better but in terms of leagues like how the NHL isn't as individually marketed. The fast paced, physical nature is exciting too.

That being said I argue for basketball/NBA vs NHL/hockey fans. Don't know why people can't enjoy the sport for what they are. I don't like baseball so I don't concern myself with it.

[D-FENS]

Everything you said in this thread can be replaced with basket instead of hockey and Americans instead of Canadians.

And no hockey does not suck just because America is the best in the sport.

That's BS. Look at the list of nationalities in the NBA. Look at how basketball is played around the world globally.

[NuggetsFan]

Hockey is popular in cold states like minnesota. no one wants to talk about the red wings here in detroit

Which is weird because Detroit has been deemed "Hockey Town" as it's nickname and suppose to have a rapid fanbase. People go to more hockey games than basketball as well

[NuggetsFan]

That's BS. Look at the list of nationalities in the NBA. Look at how basketball is played around the world globally.

Finland
Sweden
Russia
France
Italy
Norway
Slovakia
Switzerland
Ukraine
UK

All have professional leagues. Finland, Russia, Sweden having pretty popular ones. NHL has more Russians, Swedes, Fins for example than the NBA would.

[NuggetsFan]

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-pu...0461--nhl.html

Where I read about attendance. Not sure how accurate it is, just skimmed. Kinda surprising tho.

[Rake2204]

Hockey is popular in cold states like minnesota. no one wants to talk about the red wings here in detroit

Hmm, that's not the feel I've gotten over the years. Detroit fans loved the Pistons when they were making their title runs in the mid-2000's, but the Red Wings seem to have a status amongst fanatics and casual followers alike. Supporting the Tigers and Red Wings is a "cool" thing to do around my way.

Conversely, casual fans seem to be fed up with the Pistons, with each online update of their game results usually being met with a stream of comments all saying something along the lines of, "Who cares?" Of course, if the Pistons began winning again, I trust that bandwagon would open right up, but their dips seem to go lower than the Wings and Tigers.

[ImKobe]

Never been a much of a hockey fan, though I used to practice playing it when I was younger, but it never stuck with me, didn't have the passion for it.

[ROCSteady]

I love the NBA but the NHL is better in many ways including game day experience, intensity in both regular season AND playoffs.

[NuggetsFan]

12-13 for the NBA had a record tying 84 national players on the opening day rosters.

http://www.nba.com/2012/news/10/30/i...night-rosters/

The same season for the NHL had 63 players from Sweden. 44 from the Czech Republic, 29 from Russia, 30 from Finland, 12 from Slovakia and than almost 30 more players from countries like Germany, Denmark, Switzerland, Austria, Belarus, Ukraine, Kazakhstan, France, Lithuania, Norway, Latvia. Also had 218 US players compared to the what like 8 players from Canada in the NBA.

Obviously more roster sports so can't take those numbers too literal but the NBA is dominated by America much like Canada dominates the NHL.