What is more popular in your country, local teams, national teams or NHL?

[Kshahdoo]

In Russia national team always goes first. Then local KHL or other leagues' teams follow and then somewhere well behind you will find the NHL. That's why Russian players always willing to play for Team Russia - they obviously become hockey fans way before they become hockey professionals, and rooting for the national team is the core element of their hockey DNA.

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[ijuka]

National teams AINEC

 

[Newfoundland]

Bruins/Leafs/Habs/Growlers

 

[Prntscrn]

Sweden

1. SHL
2. National team (big tournaments like olympics and WJC would probably be #1)
3. NHL

For fans that is, not players.

 

[Babula]

Cze

NHL
National team
Cze or any other league with Cze players in Europe except the KHL, because people are too sceptical to any Russian product.

 

[Bakayoko Ono]

NT



Liiga
Jokerit
NHL

 

[Albatros]

DEL
DEB
NHL Germans
CHL
NHL as a league

 

[Siludin]

In terms of caring about how they finish year by year:

National Team
NHL
World Jrs
AHL
WHL

 

[Highmarker]

Oilers are all that matters to me. I'll go to a Rebels game here and there.

 

[Babula]

In terms of caring about how they finish year by year:

National Team
NHL
World Jrs
AHL
WHL

Why, the Whl is more important to you over the league of three. CHL's (ontario or quebec)

 

[SpinninRodIntoArmpit]

In Finland national team is by far the most popular, some games have had like over 60 % of the population watching.

Due to accessibility and young Finnish "stars", I feel NHL is gaining more and more ground from Liiga. However I still think local clubs are comfortably ahead and so does media seem to evaluate. Jokerit alone probably pulls KHL comfortably ahead of CHL. SHL also has some followers, and the rest is completely marginal. Naturally Mestis fits somewhere in there with SHL and CHL.

Meaning Champion league.

If I were to throw random numbers at these to represent max potential viewer count:

Men's NT 3 500 000
WJC 1 000 000
Liiga 300 000-400 000
NHL 200 000

These could probably easily be checked but I don't bother that much.

 

[Siludin]

Why, the Whl is more important to you over the league of three. CHL's (ontario or quebec)

Edit:
I thought the post was about what leagues I care about in my country, not what leagues people generally care about. Both answers are subjective though.

 

[Babula]

Edit:
I thought the post was about what leagues I care about in my country, not what leagues people generally care about. Both answers are subjective though.

huh. It is more than objectiv, that I am carrying about your subjectiv. Why you do like more Western over the Ontario or Quebec ?

 

[Phil Kessels Hot Dog]

My opinion:
Olympics with NHL participation
NHL
WJC
>
>
>
Other

I don't care much about the National Team if the best players aren't on it.

 

[Babula]

My opinion:
Olympics with NHL participation
NHL
WJC
>
>
>
Other

I don't care much about the National Team if the best players aren't on it.

If you dont care about lower leagues, you do not care about hockey at all. your best on best, they grew up from this bottom leagues. this opinion is a such of ignorance.

 

[Siludin]

huh. It is more than objectiv, that I am carrying about your subjectiv. Why you do like more Western over the Ontario or Quebec ?

Just because my team is in the WHL so those are the standings I look at more frequently, and tend to follow those leagues a bit closer.

I tend to check the rest of the CHL only for my NHL team's prospects which are usually peppered all over. Likewise for the European leagues - I usually only follow one or two teams per season just because a noteworthy prospect is on there.

 

[Babula]

Just because my team is in the WHL so those are the standings I look at more frequently, and tend to follow those leagues a bit closer.

I tend to check the rest of the CHL only for my NHL team's prospects which are usually peppered all over. Likewise for the European leagues - I usually only follow one or two teams per season just because a noteworthy prospect is on there.

fine by me. I love to watch my team in EBEL for same reason, I am sticking with this team for their ninth season. It is all about, I am proud of them. Some team had quit (Medvescak Zagreb, sadly) from this league. It was not my first option to named this league, but I am very proud to be a fan of Znojmo...

 

[Jussi]

National team
Liiga
NHL

 

[su24]

In Belarus is:

National teams (including U-20: everyone watches, even those who don't care about hockey)

Dinamo Minsk (a lot of people hate them cause they're wasting too much money, but they became a big part of the capital's social life)

Almost no one gives a damn about NHL or any other leagues. Some people just learning what OHL and WHL are about since Belarusian kids lead these leagues in scoring and you can hear about it on the local news.

 

[majormajor]

C'mon people, say what town/area you're from. This is a more interesting exercise when it's not just a list of leagues and I don't even know what country you're in.

Bruins/Leafs/Habs/Growlers

When I grew up, back in Cape Breton, it was

Bruins/Leafs/Habs/Cape Breton Oilers.

 

[robertmac43]

Here in Kitchener there are a lot of people who cheer for just the junior team and only follow the OHL.

I'm not one of them but I would put them second to the Leafs and then the national team in 3. Unless it is the World Juniors in which case everything gets put on pause and Canada is #1

 

[Eye of Ra]

in sweden its local teams.

 

[BlizzardSloth]

NLA on top in Switzerland for sure.
Then the national team gained popularity during the last years with their good performances.
Then the NHL which I assume most people don't really care about besides the teams where some Swiss guys play.

Other European leagues don't really seem to catch on in Switzerland, maybe a bit the SHL and the KHL since some of the games get shown on our sports channel.

 

[kudla]

Slovakia 90% national team

 

[Zenos]

Edmonton area:

- Team Canada (Olympics/Best on Best) - Almost everyone is watching, even those who normally wouldn't consider themselves sports fans

- Oilers (if we're talking playoffs, see above)
- other NHL (specifically Habs, Leafs, Bruins, Flames, Flyers, Wings, Canucks, Hawks)

- WJHC
- Oil Kings / WHL
- WHC - depends on the year and team. If they've got a lot of popular players (including Oilers players) and Canada goes deep, more people take notice. If Canada isn't very good and the NHL Playoffs are really exciting, less tune in.

-AJHL (but this is only in the suburbs / towns where they play i.e.. Sherwood Park, Spruce Grove, Drayton Valley etc.. Edmonton itself doesn't have a team and the league gets little media attention within the city)
- University of Alberta - it's good hockey and the Bears are an awesome program, but very few people care about University sports
- MacEwan / NAIT - same thing

I'm not sure where to put other National team events like Gretzky/Hlinka, U18, or the Spengler Cup.