How would you rate the entertainment value of the league (NHL) today?

[Pierce Hawthorne]

Gave it a 7/10.

Favorite period of hockey? Probably late 2000's or early 2010's.

What team do you cheer for? Colorado

More or less likely to passively watch a game today vs 10 years ago? Less passively. ~10 years ago I was basically just getting into seriously watching hockey, and was a 15 year old who played ice hockey myself 3-4 times a week, played ball hockey 1-2 times a week, played video game hockey probably 15 hours a week, and basically lived and breathed hockey. So on top of watching my favorite team every chance I got, I watched lots of other games when I could as well. 10 years later and while I still love the game and am a strong believer the on ice product is the best its ever been, I simply dont have the time I had 10 years ago to be able to watch hockey. I still watch my favorite team when I can, and on weekends usually get some good time to tune into other games, but not nearly as much as I wish I had the time for.

Entertainment value? I struggle to get through a quarter of basketball even when my favorite team is on. Football flat out sucks with the constant start and stops(Seriously what a garbage sport). Baseball has grown on me considerably the last year and it is becoming my clear #2 sport, but Hockey is easily the #1 for me. So much more entertainment as far as I am concerned.


How "Sad" am I to miss an Avs game? Not really sad so to speak, but if I am unable to watch the game I will be on my phone every 5 minutes checking scores and stats of that game along with other games that interest me at the time.


Do you watch other teams? Yes, usually watch one or both HNIC Double headers every weekend I'm not busy. Plus tune into the afternoon games when I can. And during the week if my team isn't playing I'll find a game of interest to toss on and watch casually while doing other things.



The game is the best its ever been. The skill has never been higher and goal scoring is generally up(Though it appears to be taking a step back so far this year from the last 2 years). I'm just not a 15 year old kid with unlimited free time anymore and only requiring 5 hours of sleep a night, so I dont get the opportunity to watch hockey like I once could. Plus living on the far East coast in Newfoundland makes it quite hard to watch games as well. When the earliest games dont even start until 8:30 local time and West Coast games actually start at midnight it can be difficult. Though even then if the Avs play out West and I'm not busy I'll make sure to watch at least a period, sometimes toughing out the full game especially on weekends.

 

[tacogeoff]

Did not notice the questions

Some other questions I am interested in:

• When was your favourite period of hockey? Late 90s. I was young at the time but the Colorado/Red Wings Rivalry was amazing
• 
  
• What team do you cheer for? The Jets now. The Sens when the Jets were not a team
• 
  
• Are you more or less likely to passively watch a game today than you would have 10 years ago (distracted). Less likely. A lot going on in life and 13 hour shifts at work.
• Do you think the NHL measures up well with other sports leagues for entertainment value? I would put it second to the NFL and better than a majority of high calibre soccer leagues and NBA. Side note…. I dont consider Baseball a sport I kid I kid but its like watching paint dry.
• How "sad" are you to miss your team's games when you have other things to do? Not sad at all due to the fact with Facebook/Insta/Twitter you always get updates on what is happening.
• 
  
• Do you ever tune into other teams playing? Only in Playoffs.

 

[CupfortheSharks]

I answered 6. I started becoming a hockey fan when the Sharks came to town. The hockey in the 90s and early 2000s was much more entertaining to me. As they have eliminated physicality, they have eliminated a lot of the passion. Now, I miss more games, I’m less engaged when I’m watching games, and I attend less games in person. I’m still a hockey fan, but it isn’t as much fun to watch as it used to be.

 

[Merrrlin]

Did not notice the questions

Some other questions I am interested in:

• When was your favourite period of hockey? Late 90s. I was young at the time but the Colorado/Red Wings Rivalry was amazing
• 
  
• What team do you cheer for? The Jets now. The Sens when the Jets were not a team
• 
  
• Are you more or less likely to passively watch a game today than you would have 10 years ago (distracted). Less likely. A lot going on in life and 13 hour shifts at work.
• Do you think the NHL measures up well with other sports leagues for entertainment value? I would put it second to the NFL and better than a majority of high calibre soccer leagues and NBA. Side note…. I dont consider Baseball a sport I kid I kid but its like watching paint dry.
• How "sad" are you to miss your team's games when you have other things to do? Not sad at all due to the fact with Facebook/Insta/Twitter you always get updates on what is happening.
• 
  
• Do you ever tune into other teams playing? Only in Playoffs.

This sums things up for me too. Well said! Although I obviously preferred the 80s

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Poll question is quite misleading as to the thread title. NHL hockey in terms of entertainment value is probably the best it's ever been, in my opinion, and at least in the playoffs it's simply exhilarating, upsetting, riveting and generally some of the best sports entertainment imaginable. But it's really mostly in the playoffs I catch most of the games, partly because of the time difference, but a lot of it is all of the other things in life.

• When was your favourite period of hockey?
  - It's now, probably.
  
• What team do you cheer for?
  - Luleå of the SHL. Other than that, I'm mainly generally into the NHL. I like or dislike teams more and less, and it goes through cycles. My favorite NHL team as a kid trading hockey cards was the Flyers, so that has stuck with me, but nowadays I mainly gather appreciation for teams based on players, playstyle, different perceptions I carry and whatnot. Case in point: Justin Williams is a player I've rooted for wherever he's been. Add that Rod Brind'Amour is one of my all-time favorite players, and that I adored the way the Hurricanes played last year, with Aho, Slavin and even Luleå alumni Wallmark playing beautiful (or in the case of Wallmark, quite alright and very mature) hockey, and there you have my most recent favorite team.
  
• Are you more or less likely to passively watch a game today than you would have 10 years ago (distracted).
  - I'm a lot more into hockey nowadays. In my late teens I lost a lot of interest in sports in general. My love for hockey was reignited when I followed Peter Forsberg's last games of his final season in the SHL, the 2009-10 season. He'd been out injured for most of the season, and his team Modo was just out of the playoffs with a tough schedule at the end stretch. For a while it looked like Foppa was single-handedly going to drag them into the playoffs. He was still a beast, despite the fact that one of his skates was basically filled with pestled bone at the time. He went out again after something like a slash to his hand from the game against Luleå, which is the only time I kind of rooted for the opposing team, much less so a traditionally despised rival. Luleå were missing the playoffs and had no business going there that year anyway, so I was hoping for Forsberg to get a last shot at the Swedish championship instead.
  
• Do you think the NHL measures up well with other sports leagues for entertainment value?
  - It's the best. So much more skill and better hockey than the SHL and the SDHL, and club soccer I find to be so very lacking in charm. In terms of entertainment value, it's probably somewhere in the mix with my team in the SHL playoffs, the Olympic hockey we saw between 1998-2014, the FIFA World Cup and the UEFA Euros that can conceivably compare favorably with the Stanley Cup playoffs, at least for me. But the product is better. What the SHL has got going compared to the NHL, though, is probably certain rivalries as well as the atmosphere created by the fans, and the local connections between players and teams, sometimes.
  
• How "sad" are you to miss your team's games when you have other things to do?
  - I get by.
  
• Do you ever tune into other teams playing?
  - In the playoffs, or with friends with other favorite teams, and sometimes just for fun.

 

[Voight]

I disagree, watching basketball is like watching paint dry.

That’s great but the majority of North Americans would disagree with you.

I for one, agree with you.

 

[Vide]

Somewhere between 7-8. I think the entertainment value has gone up a lot in recent years. A lot more skill has come into the league and been allowed to flourish and scoring is up.