Russians don't care for the NHL?

[Dynamo81]

I don't think it's the main reason. No connection isn't stopping soccer fans to cheer for teams outside Russia

Although Russia is spoiled for choice in terms of watching foreign leagues the RPL is still a lot more popular. RPL attendances have steadily grown since the 90's and I do believe once more teams finish building their own purpose built stadiums attendances will continue to rise. Russia has some beautiful football stadiums currently under construction

 

[Jussi]

Slightly off topic but oh well, here is some useless information for you

I spent the majority of my life in Australia before moving to Moscow to chase some $. So I can speak about Australia. The majority of those fans singing YNWA were likely to be Melbourne Victory fans Football in Australia is not very popular (Behind Rugby League, AFL, slightly behind Rugby Union) but it has a strong presence which is ever growing. The domestic league is quite popular (Average attendance was close to 13k last season), the Melbourne derby normally sells out, The West Sydney Wanderers sold all the season tickets that are available, they are guaranteed sold out matches all season. Sydney FC got big crowds last season due to Del Piero. A lot of people support an A-League and EPL team.

The Australian National Team (Socceroos) are more popular than the Rugby Union and Cricket national teams which was not the case ten years ago.

I saw the video and pictures, unfortunately there were more red jerseys at the stadium than the home teams.

 

[Zine]

As a North American sports fan, I find the idea that there could be a pro hockey fan that wouldn't follow the NHL to be very strange. North America is a different climate because here, if a sport is popular, in almost all cases, the best league of that sport is also here (NBA is the best basketball league, MLB best baseball league, NHL best hockey league... NFL the ONLY football league).

The ONE exception in which a sport is fairly popular in North America but the dominant league does not play here, is soccer. And if you're a soccer fan in North America it's pretty much a GUARANTEE you follow a European club. European clubs are more popular here than North American ones. I literally can't picture someone in North America being a hardcore MLS fan and not caring about any team in Europe... I don't think that is very common at all.

Right, but MLS sucks.

If MLS was 2nd best league in the world (like KHL) you'd see far less americans paying attention to football in europe.

 

[Dynamo81]

I saw the video and pictures, unfortunately there were more red jerseys at the stadium than the home teams.

You did not understand my point, a lot of them were Melbourne Victory fans but also fans of Liverpool. People were taking the piss out of them for weeks because they were supporting Liverpool over the side they support week in week out - The ultimate definition of a plastic in Australia. The rest of the Liverpool fans came from interstate obviously.

 

[Siberian]

Interest in the NHL is at its lowest in Russia. This is what a head of one major TV sports channel said several months ago. Number of people willing to watch NHL games in Russia can be counted in hundreds. A lot of hockey fans only follow the scores and top Russian players via online media. For example Voinov, who is pretty much Russian top defenceman in the NHL now is virtually unknown among casual hockey fans in Russia simply because he never played for Russian NT even though he is now known really well in North America.

 

[Acallabeth]

1.90% of hockey fans I know follow the NHL in one way or another.
2.There are casual fans. They indeed have even very little knowledge about the NHL. But we're talking about hockey fans here I think. Ppl who would ask you if Bure were still playing don't count.

I disagree, but we probably have vastly different pool of fans we know. There are a lot of fans who are hardly casual, but they don't follow the N at all. Like when I was talking to my buddy in MNk arena about Bobrovsky's great season - several people overheard and started asking, and they were quite surprised Bob had made the NHL (they thought he quit playing or smth). These were not some men off the street, they actually had season tickets. People just don't see a reason to follow the NHL.

Now, that is complete nonsense. Hockey is in the news every day, not only when Russia wins something like other winter sports or sports in general. Pppl play hockey in winter, ppl follow leagues. I don't know where this kind of perception can come from. The bold is a bad joke. It's not even worth a debate.

Just check the discussion in any biathlon news during the World Cup. FS is more of the casual's thing because of all the "ice shows" etc., but biathlon WC easily gains more interest than the KHL season does. It's awesomely exciting and it has the top athletes competing every stage. I'd even say it may be ahead of some soccer NT matches.

Really? How? No quest I would be aware of. Btw I'm watching a KHL game at Rossiya2 right now. So check your facts.

1st in 5 days? There used to be a match nearly every day on R2, this is why i added "essentially". And I don't see how you can argue about our sports media being nearly dead.

Although Russia is spoiled for choice in terms of watching foreign leagues the RPL is still a lot more popular. RPL attendances have steadily grown since the 90's and I do believe once more teams finish building their own purpose built stadiums attendances will continue to rise. Russia has some beautiful football stadiums currently under construction

RFPL has been growing itself, and also it's such a hilarious entertaining thing that following it is a fun volcano I'm actually a rare fan that doesn't care a lot about foreign leagues, but man, RFPL is more fun than pro wrestling.

 

[ozo]

...but man, RFPL is more fun than pro wrestling.

That's one way how to loose any credibility.

 

[obskyr]

Interest in the NHL is at its lowest in Russia. This is what a head of one major TV sports channel said several months ago. Number of people willing to watch NHL games in Russia can be counted in hundreds. A lot of hockey fans only follow the scores and top Russian players via online media. For example Voinov, who is pretty much Russian top defenceman in the NHL now is virtually unknown among casual hockey fans in Russia simply because he never played for Russian NT even though he is now known really well in North America.

It's not even remotely that low. The reason why there's no NHL on cable atm is not about the popularity, it's about the broadcasting rights negotiations going into nowhere. I mean, Russian cable channels show AHL and NFL, comparing the interest to them ("hundreds" for that matter would be the number of AF players in Russia) to NHL in any way would be absolutely ridiculous, I'm not sure that even most of those crazy NHL-bashing sectarians (like ult itt) really believe in that.

And I also have a hard time to believe that a hockey fan who can name the teams that played in the KHL playoffs last year wouldn't be familiar with Voynov. Someone who watches only Olympics and the IIHF championships sure wouldn't, but that kind of people wouldn't know a half of the KHL stars either.

 

[Acallabeth]

That's one way how to loose any credibility.

Oh damn! but seriously, it has the same hilariousness except way more.

And I also have a hard time to believe that a hockey fan who can name the teams that played in the KHL playoffs last year wouldn't be familiar with Voynov. Someone who watches only Olympics and the IIHF championships sure wouldn't, but that kind of people wouldn't know a half of the KHL stars either.

Being familiar with a player isn't the same as watching him regularly, knowing his pros and cons etc.
And yeah, a lot of very vocal keyboard warriors hardly know not-so-famous KHL top players.

 

[ult]

I'm not sure that even most of those crazy NHL-bashing sectarians (like ult itt) really believe in that.

[mod]Guess it's hard for you to comprehend the fact that I don't give a flying f about the nhl. At all. I don't watch it, don't follow the scores, don't read nhl news and don't visit nhl threads. And let alone I do not bother posting any comments about it, to bash it or not. Guess that's not enough to not be called crazy NHL-bashing sectarian and just be left alone. [mod].

 

[brec7]

From a Finnish point of view, networks tend to pimp the sports they have broadcasting rights to or access to footage.

This probably happens in all countries, with all networks. You see it in Canada with baseball all the time. The Blue Jays are WAYYYY out of playoff contention but they lead the headlines if the network carries games.

Portland Timber and Seattle Sounders fans might disagree on that. I've seen videos on Youtube, the atmosphere is almost like in European leagues.

I'm not saying MLS doesn't have supporters, in fact the passion of those supporters is underrated (I'm glad you know about this as a lot of European football fans don't.) What I mean is all those people you see among Timber & Sounder fans probably also follow European soccer too. They may be Portland & Seattle fans first, but they probably almost all have a favourite Euro team or perhaps follow Americans/their team's former players playing in Europe. This is what I mean regarding the KHL..... I don't at all find it odd a Russian hockey fan would be more into the KHL than the NHL, but I find it weird they wouldn't be into the NHL at all.

Right, but MLS sucks.

If MLS was 2nd best league in the world (like KHL) you'd see far less americans paying attention to football in europe.

This is an apples and oranges comparison. Yes, if you were to rank leagues in each sport, the KHL would be a clear #2 and MLS would be lucky to crack the top 10 in soccer. But the NHL has a near monopoly on the world's best players, where as no league in soccer even comes close to that. I think a great MLS team would have just as good, if not better, chance of beating a bottom EPL/Serie A/La Liga/Bundesliga team as a great KHL team would at beating a bottom NHL team.

 

[alce*]

This is an apples and oranges comparison. Yes, if you were to rank leagues in each sport, the KHL would be a clear #2 and MLS would be lucky to crack the top 10 in soccer. But the NHL has a near monopoly on the world's best players, where as no league in soccer even comes close to that. I think a great MLS team would have just as good, if not better, chance of beating a bottom EPL/Serie A/La Liga/Bundesliga team as a great KHL team would at beating a bottom NHL team.

What a strange argument. Anybody could beat bottom EPL,Serie A or La Liga teams. Those teams are just a piece of ... Differences in class between top and bottom football teams in European leagues are gigantic. Real task is to beat a top team. And I am totally sure that top KHL teams, like Dynamo M or SKA have much better chance to win a game with top NHL teams than any top MLS team to win a game against Bayern or Barcelona.

 

[Jussi]

Oh damn! but seriously, it has the same hilariousness except way more.

Are the matches as easily predictable? Do the refs get bumped/miss calls as much? Does the management/league always favor one team over the other?

 

[habsrule4eva3089]

If there was a KHL game on at the same time as an NHL game live in a Russian city, say between Washington and Pittsburgh (Ovechkin, Malkin), I'm sure fans would be more intrigued by the NHL game. Product is on a whole new level and the fans would realize that right away if they had the benefit of watching NHL Hockey. NHL should open up their season with their Premier games sometime in Russia, would be interesting to see a Caps Pens matchup and how the atmosphere would be. Shame reading some posters don't even watch NHL Hockey, that's like being a Footy fan and not watching Barcelona and Real Madrid games.

 

[brec7]

What a strange argument. Anybody could beat bottom EPL,Serie A or La Liga teams. Those teams are just a piece of ... Differences in class between top and bottom football teams in European leagues are gigantic. Real task is to beat a top team. And I am totally sure that top KHL teams, like Dynamo M or SKA have much better chance to win a game with top NHL teams than any top MLS team to win a game against Bayern or Barcelona.

I'm trying to compare... you know, comparables. Which is what you do when one league is clearly ahead of another. When you get to a certain level, any team can beat any team in a one off (which is why you see 3rd level English teams win in the FA Cup against powerhouses)... if you gave them enough chances the worst team in the KHL will beat the best team in the NHL eventually. But that doesn't mean they are better.

You can make arguments on strength by saying that the Seattle Sounders are a legitimately better soccer team than Westham, or that SKA is a legitimately better hockey team than the Florida Panthers.... I don't know how much of a selling point it is to say, "Hey, KHL is better than MLS because Ak Bars would beat the Bruins 4 times out of 20, and the New York Red Bulls would only beat Napoli 3 times out of 20!" And I'm not necessarily even buying that the top teams in MLS are further off from top end European teams than the KHL vs. the NHL. The KHL has more guys close to top end talent than MLS but the top end Euro soccer clubs are spreading star power over multiple leagues. And of course that talent in the KHL is spread out over more teams than in MLS.

 

[malkinfan]

Im not even Russian and I can't stand the NHL anymore. The game has gotten so boring. I do what probably most Russian guys do. I track all of the Russian guys in the boxscores and watch the goal highlights, that's about it. As for watching an entire game, just not worth the time...

I go to DRW games because I get free exec suite tickets. Datsyuk is on the ice about every 3 shifts or so. I mind as well go to sleep when he is not on the ice. There are a few guys who show exceptional skill and make nice risky plays like Nyquist (minors somehow) and Kindl, but other than that - total snoozfest.... watch the game, see how many guys have the puck on the stick for more than 2 seconds at a time. Hardly anyone, the game is north - south, breakout pass, over the red line, dump and chase...BORING. I cant fathom thinking guys like Bertuzzi, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Emmerton etc. are even remotely close to better than anyone on SKA's forward lines from a skillset point of view.

Most KHL teams have some individually gifted guy on almost any given line, so when fourth line is out, you may see a spectacular move or something interesting (Burdasov ex.).. That is not so in the NHL, when 1st/2nd line is not out - don't ever expect anything interesting.

 

[Dynamo81]

Are the matches as easily predictable? Do the refs get bumped/miss calls as much? Does the management/league always favor one team over the other?

RPL matches are quite unpredictable as the big teams can struggle with travel/pitch etc. The Referees make hilarious decisions uniformly I enjoy Russian Football as every weekend something happens, whether it is a fight on the pitch, a ref being incompetent, a club going through trouble with a player openly speaking out against the manager etc. Something always happens

The quality is also pretty good, the Zenit Vs Spartak match last weekend was great

 

[alce*]

You can make arguments on strength by saying that the Seattle Sounders are a legitimately better soccer team than Westham, or that SKA is a legitimately better hockey team than the Florida Panthers....

Are you know many people who follows EPL because of Westham? If not what the point of such argument? Selling point is play of leaders, not outsiders.

And I'm not necessarily even buying that the top teams in MLS are further off from top end European teams than the KHL vs. the NHL.

You don't have to. Actually it's all beside the point of discussion. We talk about Russian fans, not Americans. And big part of people in Russia who follows both leagues thinks that last KHL playoff was more interesting than that of NHL. You don't have to agree with them, of course, but it is what they think.

When American fans would think so about MLS there will be much less interest in European football.

 

[brec7]

Are you know many people who follows EPL because of Westham? If not what the point of such argument? Selling point is play of leaders, not outsiders.

I know people who follow teams like Newcastle, Norwich, Villa, and Wolves (obviously not even in the PL anymore of course). Many people are drawn to the league for whatever reason and pick a team that is either a) not that good, or b) is good, becomes bad but the fan stays with them. All 20 teams play the same amount of the games and are important in terms of following the league. When a league is all about the leaders it's not as interesting, on this point I would hope if 50 really good players left the NHL tomorrow for the KHL I would hope for the sake of making the KHL interesting they would be spread out among the league... to claim the KHL would be better off if they all went to just the top 5 or 6 teams instead is a bit silly.

We talk about Russian fans, not Americans. And big part of people in Russia who follows both leagues thinks that last KHL playoff was more interesting than that of NHL. You don't have to agree with them, of course, but it is what they think.

I don't blame Russian hockey fans if they're more into the KHL than the NHL. I just find not being into the NHL at all to be weird. There are times when I'm much more interested in my local junior hockey team than I am my favourite NHL team... but I still have a rooting interest in the NHL.

 

[alce*]

I don't blame Russian hockey fans if they're more into the KHL than the NHL. I just find not being into the NHL at all to be weird. There are times when I'm much more interested in my local junior hockey team than I am my favourite NHL team... but I still have a rooting interest in the NHL.

Sorry, I have tried to explain situation as much as I could. You can also read malkinfan's post above to try to see our point of view. Sorry, but NHL don't give vast better experience than KHL to big part of Russian fans. Just don't.

 

[brec7]

Well it would be boring if we all agreed anyway.

 

[Jussi]

Im not even Russian and I can't stand the NHL anymore. The game has gotten so boring. I do what probably most Russian guys do. I track all of the Russian guys in the boxscores and watch the goal highlights, that's about it. As for watching an entire game, just not worth the time...

I go to DRW games because I get free exec suite tickets. Datsyuk is on the ice about every 3 shifts or so. I mind as well go to sleep when he is not on the ice. There are a few guys who show exceptional skill and make nice risky plays like Nyquist (minors somehow) and Kindl, but other than that - total snoozfest.... watch the game, see how many guys have the puck on the stick for more than 2 seconds at a time. Hardly anyone, the game is north - south, breakout pass, over the red line, dump and chase...BORING. I cant fathom thinking guys like Bertuzzi, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Emmerton etc. are even remotely close to better than anyone on SKA's forward lines from a skillset point of view.

Most KHL teams have some individually gifted guy on almost any given line, so when fourth line is out, you may see a spectacular move or something interesting (Burdasov ex.).. That is not so in the NHL, when 1st/2nd line is not out - don't ever expect anything interesting.

Based on the games I've seen from Detroit last season, I wonder if you've fallen asleep because Detroit are one of the teams who play puck possession and always try to enter the offensive zone via passing. Of course the biggest reason they nor other teams can't do that all the time is because the best defensemen in the world play in the league in addition to the best organized defenses, so naturally attacking isn't easy. And I didn't even mention that the best best goalies in the world tend to make scoring difficult.

 

[Yakushev72]

Im not even Russian and I can't stand the NHL anymore. The game has gotten so boring. I do what probably most Russian guys do. I track all of the Russian guys in the boxscores and watch the goal highlights, that's about it. As for watching an entire game, just not worth the time...

I go to DRW games because I get free exec suite tickets. Datsyuk is on the ice about every 3 shifts or so. I mind as well go to sleep when he is not on the ice. There are a few guys who show exceptional skill and make nice risky plays like Nyquist (minors somehow) and Kindl, but other than that - total snoozfest.... watch the game, see how many guys have the puck on the stick for more than 2 seconds at a time. Hardly anyone, the game is north - south, breakout pass, over the red line, dump and chase...BORING. I cant fathom thinking guys like Bertuzzi, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Emmerton etc. are even remotely close to better than anyone on SKA's forward lines from a skillset point of view.

Most KHL teams have some individually gifted guy on almost any given line, so when fourth line is out, you may see a spectacular move or something interesting (Burdasov ex.).. That is not so in the NHL, when 1st/2nd line is not out - don't ever expect anything interesting.

I'm the same way. I only watch NHL games that have Russian players that I want to watch (many Russian players aren't interesting enough to watch). Otherwise, I'd rather watch some good comedy or something.

 

[Coramoor]

Im not even Russian and I can't stand the NHL anymore. The game has gotten so boring. I do what probably most Russian guys do. I track all of the Russian guys in the boxscores and watch the goal highlights, that's about it. As for watching an entire game, just not worth the time...

I go to DRW games because I get free exec suite tickets. Datsyuk is on the ice about every 3 shifts or so. I mind as well go to sleep when he is not on the ice. There are a few guys who show exceptional skill and make nice risky plays like Nyquist (minors somehow) and Kindl, but other than that - total snoozfest.... watch the game, see how many guys have the puck on the stick for more than 2 seconds at a time. Hardly anyone, the game is north - south, breakout pass, over the red line, dump and chase...BORING. I cant fathom thinking guys like Bertuzzi, Miller, Cleary, Abdelkader, Emmerton etc. are even remotely close to better than anyone on SKA's forward lines from a skillset point of view.

Most KHL teams have some individually gifted guy on almost any given line, so when fourth line is out, you may see a spectacular move or something interesting (Burdasov ex.).. That is not so in the NHL, when 1st/2nd line is not out - don't ever expect anything interesting.

I think you underestimate the skill of a lot of those guys, it's a very different style of game than the KHL but I'd think a good number of them would succeed in the KHL as well, idk about SKA but on a mid level team sure

 

[Jussi]

I'm the same way. I only watch NHL games that have Russian players that I want to watch (many Russian players aren't interesting enough to watch). Otherwise, I'd rather watch some good comedy or something.

Watching the Ducks powerplay does the same job.