How you watch a hockey game.....

[nhllondon]

I would consider myself a new hockey fan. I grew up where there was no team around. Since becoming a hockey fan I have always been interested in hearing how others view the games. What are you watching for? In your opinion, what is the most important thing to keep track of? The easy thing that an inexperience fan would do is just watch the puck but there is so much more going on away from the puck. Just curious to get some feedback from lifelong hockey folks to give myself and others on this board some tips to keep our eye on while watching.

I do find it more difficult to watch the games on TV b/c you are limited on what you can see. For example a lot of the line changes are missed so its easy to loose track of who's on the ice.

The game is so fast that you can loose track of who is doing what. At the end of the game you know who got points and that the team played well or looked bad but it's hard to pinpoint what the individual efforts were.

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[rent free]

i just follow the puck and when i lose it i look at the middle of the screen

 

[oXo Cube]

I don't watch the games, I wait for others to watch them and then tell me which players are good via spreadsheets.

 

[stl76]

i just follow the puck and when i lose it i look at the middle of the screen

That explains a lot... ( ? )

But seriously, when I watch, I try keep track of which lines and d-pairs are on the ice during different situations (PP, PK, o-zone FO, d-zone FO, etc). With the NHL center ice package (when it's working...) I pause and rewind plays a lot to observe what is happening away from the play in terms of players' body position, stick position, backcheck, forecheck, etc.

 

[rent free]

w

That explains a lot... ( ? )

But seriously, when I watch, I try keep track of which lines and d-pairs are on the ice during different situations (PP, PK, o-zone FO, d-zone FO, etc). With the NHL center ice package (when it's working...) I pause and rewind plays a lot to observe what is happening away from the play in terms of players' body position, stick position, backcheck, forecheck, etc.

ow thats way to much for me to look at. i can't really judge how players do during a game because that seems like a lotta work. i just like when 4th liners are on because some are so bad

 

[tom leafers]

stressfully

 

[Ryan Michaels]

On an excel spreadsheet like the majority of users.

 

[Bladerunner]

I'm kinda old fashioned.

I watch the game w/o a cell phone glued to my ear or pecking away on a laptop on my lap like I'm some wannabe sports reporter.

 

[Spirit of 67]

With my eyes.

 

[Makar Goes Fast]

i close my eyes and listen to a radio feed, let my soul show my eyes what is happening

 

[LeafGrief]

I have the game on my second monitor and spend all my time mashing f5 in the other team's gamethread on HF.

I pay attention to specific players that I'm interested in for their talent, storylines, how they're playing that night, etc. I don't worry too much and tend to get caught up in the flow and just enjoy what's going on. I'll make mental notes and a few comments here and there in a gamethread. Keeping track of who's on the ice gets easy as you know the game better and at this point I can often identify players without even seeing their numbers. Following the puck is more about reading the players body language than actually seeing the black dot on the screen.

 

[Mugzy97]

Is Marner on the ice? Watch him.
Is Matthews on the ice? Watch him.
Is Nylander on the ice? Watch him.
Do the Leafs have a powerplay? Watch them all.

 

[tarheelhockey]

Ignore the puck, watch the players. The game makes a lot more sense that way.

 

[Tripod]

I have the game on my second monitor and spend all my time mashing f5 in the other team's gamethread on HF.

I pay attention to specific players that I'm interested in for their talent, storylines, how they're playing that night, etc. I don't worry too much and tend to get caught up in the flow and just enjoy what's going on. I'll make mental notes and a few comments here and there in a gamethread. Keeping track of who's on the ice gets easy as you know the game better and at this point I can often identify players without even seeing their numbers. Following the puck is more about reading the players body language than actually seeing the black dot on the screen.

Great points.

As you watch so much hockey, and it helps if you played, you can just see things often unfolding before they happen. Many times a night I yell an "uh, oh" at the tv that scares the wife just before a certain pass or play is made creating a scoring chance against my team.

As you said, for your own team, you get used to how most guys "look" without seeing their numbers due to skating styles, speed, size, etc..

 

[hangman005]

With my eyes.

Curse you, I came here specifically to say that.

 

[Szechwan]

Kind of depends on the state of the team. Back when Vancouver was good, I'm watching for overall strategy, how active the D are, who is in/out of position, how different lines are used for different situations etc.

...

These days I watch intently if Boeser or Horvat are on the ice, then immediately go back to browsing memes once they're off because who cares what Brandon Sutter is about to do.

 

[Esq]

As I've grown older, I tend to appreciate the little things more than I used to. I like noticing the subtle lift of the stick, the pinpoint passing on a breakout, the positioning of the defenseman on an odd-man rush. It's a beautiful game.

 

[holy]

I stare blankly at the middle of the screen while repeating the mantra of Swehttam Notsua in hopes that The Lord will grant me favor as I try my best to make it in this wicked world.

 

[BruinLVGA]

I would consider myself a new hockey fan. I grew up where there was no team around. Since becoming a hockey fan I have always been interested in hearing how others view the games. What are you watching for? In your opinion, what is the most important thing to keep track of? The easy thing that an inexperience fan would do is just watch the puck but there is so much more going on away from the puck. Just curious to get some feedback from lifelong hockey folks to give myself and others on this board some tips to keep our eye on while watching.

I do find it more difficult to watch the games on TV b/c you are limited on what you can see. For example a lot of the line changes are missed so its easy to loose track of who's on the ice.

The game is so fast that you can loose track of who is doing what. At the end of the game you know who got points and that the team played well or looked bad but it's hard to pinpoint what the individual efforts were.

As a general frame of mind, think of hockey as if it was a... football (soccer, for our na fans) game. Think about when you watch a football game and can see how the players without the ball position themselves, try to anticipate moves, try to deke around opponents, individual duels, defensemen pitching in the offense, etc etc.

The strong similarities are there: a goalie, defensemen, forwards, need to put an object in the opponents net. The differences are mostly in the rules (example: the offside in hockey resembles nothing of the offside in football), but the core of the game is similar.

Listen closely to the commentary during the games, because often the sportcasters do comment about how a player in a given play should have done this, rather than that, and you will start to learn and will recognize when certain things develop/happen in game.
It will take a bit of time, but if you are really into it, you will start noticing things quickly.
Best of luck and welcome to hockey, British dude.

 

[Cup or Bust]

I don't watch the games, I wait for others to watch them and then tell me which players are good via spreadsheets.

Thanks for that, that made me laugh.

 

[Pilky01]

Watch the momentum of the play. Look at where the players are moving towards, look where they're facing, etc...

 

[Babe Ruth]

What are you watching for?

London,.. I'm mostly in to watching goal-tending..
A night when a goalie is pitching a shutout.. solo break-aways, where it becomes mano-a-mano, those are things I enjoy most as a spectator.

 

[tarheelhockey]

One more thing to add, it's often very informative to just focus on one player and watch him throughout a whole play. Especially if things are quiet and there's not too much drama. That, to me, is where you really come to understand the nuances of the game. Watch a very successful player up and down the ice, then watch his lower-caliber teammate. You start to see where that extra step of speed, that split-second of extra anticipation, or that little bit of floating out of position adds up and makes all the difference.

 

[Harvey Birdman]

Watch the players more than the puck. After awhile you'll get to the point you can tell what they are about to do shoot, pass, hit, etc. By their movements. And once you get good at reading player movements watching the game for a few seasons you'll be able to know what kind of play will develop going down the ice based on what multiple players are doing. Then you'll know where the puck will be rather than just watching it.

At least that's house my uncle taught me to watch the game when I was a kid.

 

[nhllondon]

One thing I've started to focus on is the battle to clear the puck from your own end without Icing it. Or, conversely, the battle to keep the puck in your own offensive zone when the defense is trying to clear it. Even though I knew the Offside Rule, for some reason it didn't fully register to me how big a deal it is when the team on defense sends the puck back over the blue line because then everybody on offense has to retreat back into the neutral zone before restarting an attack. It's like a pressure relief valve for the defense.

I also came to appreciate how important it is to get the puck into your offensive zone without going Offsides and the "mini battles" in the neutral zone to make/ prevent it from happening. There are times when a team carries the puck into their offensive zone and immediately scores (usually on breakaways), but more often than not it's kind of a two part process. First gain entry into your offensive zone, then eventually score the goal.

During my years of very casually watching I never really appreciated the importance and nuances of the different hockey zones.