How I became a better hockey fan

[Walkingthroughforest]

What made me a better fan was two things.

a) Finding HFboards, and more specifically "The History of Hockey" subforum. The amount I learned about the game is staggering, and created a real appreciation of the real history of hockey, and how that translates to todays game.

b) Following a bad team for multiple years. When the Flames went through the 5 year streak of making the playoffs, I could tell you the stats, numbers and stories of every Flames player on that roster. When the Flames missed the playoffs for a 5 year streak, I began to focus on things about the game that never seemed to matter for a playoff team. Like drafting, and prospect development. I also gained a respect for many of the players and teams in the league because my team was no longer relevant, and they were not an obstacle.

I think those are two ways that anyone can grow as a fan; learn about our history and follow an awful team for a long time.

 

[Colorado Avalanche]

I'd much rather be a worse fan, I could be doing productive things.

This. I still watch a lot of hockey.

 

[Adityase]

I see it a little differently.

I was passionate about the game from about 5 years old. Growing up, I played, read about, watched and thought about hockey all the time. It was an obsession. It was my life. The game was beautiful up until the mid-90s when the dead puck era began to strangle the entertainment value out of the game. I have tried to hold on and love the game, but it has become unlovable. What I enjoyed about the game has disappeared and been replaced with some distasteful, plastic replica.

The game simply does not have the magic it once did. It isn't a phase, it is the end of an era. The game is very different today - it is a different sport. I like skill, creativity, offense and excitement. Today's game is a dry, defensive struggle - not my kind of entertainment. I haven't even watched the playoffs the past two seasons, I just don't find it entertaining at all to watch two random teams go at it with the style of game we have today.

I'm saddened by what's happened to the game bit, I am at peace with it. I like baseball, basketball and Australian football, hockey has slid to 4th place for me and that is OK. ��

Frankly, as a fan of one of the 4 good teams of the supposed "dead puck era" (Colorado, Detroit, Dallas, New Jersey) I can say without question, it was the best era of hockey I've ever seen and I've been watching hockey since 1984. Granted, if you were a fan of a team that isn't one of these 4, to you that era involved a lot of clutching and grabbing. But if you were a fan of one of these teams, other team tried and failed to clutch and grab you. And when so much talent was in the hands of so few... it was glorious (for fans of these teams or people who enjoyed watching these teams).

Though the post-lockout NHL has more parity (which can easily be challeneged by the Blackhawks and Kings cups) the fact is most games are a series of coinflips. I don't find that entertaining. I don't like games being decided on randomness... That said, the two teams in the cup final were seemingly the most talented, which totally undercuts my argument... but the fact that other teams fans think their team has a chance then is hilarious.

 

[Man Rocket]

 

[Up the Irons]

to the OP, as on Oiler fan, I tried to follow other teams. I tried to have an American team as my number 2, Chicago. But, it just didn't take with me.

My advice, because it worked for me, is to follow other leagues. I follow Junior hockey and attend games, and I also attend University games (which is PDG hockey).

 

[Lazlo Hollyfeld]

I think becoming a fan of a second team definitely made me a better hockey fan. Or at least made it more enjoyable for me.

The Red Wings will always be my #1 team, but when I moved away I adopted the Kings some years back. Integrating into a new fan base was pretty enlightening. It made it obvious how we as fans complain about mostly the same things, and that we're all homers to some degree, even when we think we're being objective.

Though honestly some of it is probably age too. I don't live or die by the wins and losses like I did when I was a kid so watching the games is less stressful and more fun. It's hard to match the emotional attachment and passion of a young hockey fan.

 

[Tofveve]

Lots of good posts in this thread . . .

I see two Oilers fans with mediocre interest and honestly can't help but judge that anyone would be demoralized about the sport if that was your team for the last 10 years (especially the last 4 or 5). Injuries, old-boys-club in coaching/management, lack of playoffs (let alone success there), inconsistency of players and players not living up to expectation, lack of size and team-toughness. The correlation is too obvious for it not to correlate.

Anyway, beyond that, I agree with a couple of other posters in that age catches up to us all and the reality is you'll not regain quite the same passion you had when you were a kid watching the sport for the first time/few years.

Also, as one poster pointed out, the dead-puck era gets a bad rap because indeed the teams he listed (well, maybe not NJ so much), were amazing to watch. The Det/Col rivalry was awesome and I loved pretty well all of the Avs team - from Sakic on down. Too, I loved Dallas with its speed and skill of Modano, Niewendyk, Hull, Zubov etc. Detroit was no slouch either with it's mix of Russian All-stars, Lidstrom and of course Yzerman. So yeah, those teams get unfairly lumped into the "dead puck era" conversation and its too bad.

Also, as an aside, I was a rabid MMA fan from about '95 until probably 2 years ago. I still watch it all the time but that sport has changed too. For me, there are just fewer top fighters I connect with at the moment. Plus some sketchy UFC promoting and other things I'm not sure I like. Regardless, I'll still probably follow the sport for life and do like several top fighters. It's quite possible that the sport has a resurgence at some point too. I doubt it's going to completely disappear.

 

[Juicy Pop]

Hey HF,
3. Became a fan of other teams

This can actually have some serious pitfalls to it though as, at some point, you have to at least consider the idea that your favorite teams may meet in the Finals. It's an even more serious dilemma if you have been a fan of two teams ever since you started watching hockey. If the Ducks and Flyers met in the Finals I'd honestly be torn.

 

[Ogopogo*]

I do think the game is much improved over the late 90's to the 05 lockout. That was terrible hockey mostly. Today it is much more exciting and I find teams play to win instead of the dreaded playing not to lose or playing for a tie.

And for some reason the last 5 or more years it "feels" like even a 2 or 3 goal lead is not safe... Even though overall scoring is low. In the dead puck era a one or two goal lead and you saw teams just **** it down and defend the lead.

But watching 2014 Canadian Olympic team was worse then the NHL even. It was I guess "perfect" hockey in today's style but it was deadly boring. Watch a DVD of the 1987 Canada Cup or the 1993 Leafs/Kings series or something and it is a world of difference.

Still if you are an Oiler fan... You will be enjoying hockey so much more with McDavid and hopefully it seems a better team. Lots of talent. Hope they can play like the old school Oilers as much as possible.

I got to watch the Pizza line in Ottawa post 05 lockout. The line so good that Pizza Pizza who fave a free slice to all ticket holders if the Senators scored 5 goals and won. Alfie, Spezza and Heatley were so good and pizza got given away every second game do the promotion got changed to 6 goals! And we still got pizza sometimes. We never got a Cup in Ottawa but we got to see some exciting... Almost 80's style hockey for a few years. You could be due for some of the same kind of excitement after a long time of watching the Oilers lose. Hockey might be really fun to watch for you again!

I don't see any improvement in recent years - since 1995 we have had the game dumbed down where skill is discouraged and checking systems are emphasized. There are a couple of flare-ups of entertainment once in a while but, for the most part, the game is a series of rebound goals and pucks bouncing in off legs in a 2-1 game. Very bland.

I still follow the Oilers and am excited with the talent we have but, that doesn't fix the overall game. I would rather lose a game 5-4 than win 1-0. I want to be entertained, I want to see real talent on display. I don't really care about defensive forwards. When the game is no longer entertaining to watch, what is the point? The 1987 Canada Cup final series is the pinnacle of what hockey should be; the 2014 Olympic Gold Medal game is the deepest pit of what it should not be. Most NHL games are a lot closer to the 2014 Olympics than the 1987 Canada Cup and that is why I watch a lot more basketball these days.

One final thought: I heard an interview with Rocky Thompson earlier this week - he was an assistant coach in the Oilers farm system for years until he got hired as the head coach of the Windsor Spitfires a couple of weeks back. He said that he was doing a presentation at a coaching symposium at the NHL draft on creating offense and after his presentation he was offered the Spitfires job. One of the main planks of his creating offense platform was to shoot to get rebounds and jump on those rebounds within 3 seconds of the save. This is what he presented to hundreds of professional coaches and he was hired as a head coach after that presentation. The game is broken when the best strategy at creating more goals is to shoot to get rebounds.

 

[ThePSEGPowerPoster]

Number 1 is really important. I'd recommend a competitive one because you REALLY get invested in other players and you really learn a lot. Coupled with buying CI it's the perfect combo for someone looking to get more into the game.

 

[Ogopogo*]

Lots of good posts in this thread . . .

I, I agree with a couple of other posters in that age catches up to us all and the reality is you'll not regain quite the same passion you had when you were a kid watching the sport for the first time/few years.

.

I think there is a lot of merit to that point. As a kid, hockey was everything to me. As an adult, life is so busy with so many responsibilities and conflicting priorities that may affect my passion for the game.

My lack of passion today is mostly due to the way the game is played but, my stage in life probably plays a factor as well.

 

[BigT2002]

To be honest, I feel like hating teams can be just as effective as liking teams in terms of being a bigger hockey fan. For example, I grew up hating the Red Wings. The Chicago-Detroit rivalry was such a great rivalry to watch. Even when one of the teams was stacked and the other wasn't quite on the same level, every game had a sense of something being on the line. And any time Detroit made the playoffs, I'd root for whatever team they were playing against (because the enemy of my enemy is my friend). So essentially, that rivalry made me learn a lot more about the Red Wings than I wanted to at the time . But that's the point I'm making. In my opinion, hating a team respectfully will help you learn more about the team, and the game itself, even if you don't want to.

Absolutely. "Know thy enemy as I know thy self." It is amazing how much information people know in Minnesota about the Hawks now. I think most know more about what is going on with that team than their own.