Ice Hockey

[Grewks]

Anyone ever been?

 

 

Being up in sheffield at Uni, thought we'd go to see what it was like and turned out to be great fun.

[potter3]

Watched San Jose Sharks, expected more tbh.

[pSinatra]

Got some free tickets when at Sheffield University back in the late 90's.  The Sheffield Steelers were the top side at the time.

 

It was a full house & the crowd were fvcking mental.  I mean seriously fvcking insane.  It was great.  Fighting is all part of ice hockey & I think that's the only reason most people turned up.  The crowd lost it if a fight broke out, with 5 year olds jumping up & down on their seats like lunatics.

 

Was sat about 2 rows from the front & couldn't see much of the puck, but a fight broke out on the ice in front of us. 

 

Great family atmosphere & a top night!

[RonnieTodger]

Went to watch Nottingham Panthers a few months back and thought it was great. Obviously there are a lot of Americanised elements to it, but it really should be more popular over here.

[Jordan]

I've never seen an Elite League game so I don't know a whole lot about the standard of play... But if you're getting mostly ex-AHL (the minor league below the NHL) and ex-ECHL (the third level on the totem pole) players to come over, then it's going to be a lot different from the rest of Europe. You'll get physical play and a few goons scrapping every game, but I wouldn't think those teams would be able to skate with Europe's top leagues

Cam Janssen is over playing at Nottingham, and I can't say he's one of my favorite players... He was involved in a few incidents vs my Rangers during his time at the New Jersey Devils (including a famous line brawl between the two teams at the opening faceoff 4 years ago). I'd imagine he's still fighting over there.

[Grewks]

I've never seen an Elite League game so I don't know a whole lot about the standard of play... But if you're getting mostly ex-AHL (the minor league below the NHL) and ex-ECHL (the third level on the totem pole) players to come over, then it's going to be a lot different from the rest of Europe. You'll get physical play and a few goons scrapping every game, but I wouldn't think those teams would be able to skate with Europe's top leagues

Cam Janssen is over playing at Nottingham, and I can't say he's one of my favorite players... He was involved in a few incidents vs my Rangers during his time at the New Jersey Devils (including a famous line brawl between the two teams at the opening faceoff 4 years ago). I'd imagine he's still fighting over there.

 

 

If you're a first time viewer you don't care about the standard of play though, especially given your lack of knowledge about the rules and general skill levels.

 

 

Also, you don't just not stop following a side because the quality is lower.

[Jordan]

If you're a first time viewer you don't care about the standard of play though, especially given your lack of knowledge about the rules and general skill levels.

Also, you don't just not stop following a side because the quality is lower.

Nothing I posted above (or would ever post in the future about hockey) would suggest the opposite.

[LJS]

I've watched Coventry Blaze with some mates who are season ticket holders. It isn't really for me. Didn't like the fan culture, didn't like how (understandably) Americanised it was and I was a bit too pissed to follow what was actually happening. So I wouldn't go again but I do think it's good that minority sports have decent followings. I'll try Riders at some point soon, I reckon.

The worst experience I had of another sport was Tigers vs Treviso a couple of years back. Treviso kicked some points and Tigers fans applauded. **** that. Again, not for me. But again, I like that there's another sport in the city with a good following.

Edited 7 February 2016 by LJS

[Grewks]

I've watched Coventry Blaze with some mates who are season ticket holders. It isn't really for me. Didn't like the fan culture, didn't like how (understandably) Americanised it was and I was a bit too pissed to follow what was actually happening. So I wouldn't go again but I do think it's good that minority sports have decent followings. I'll try Riders at some point soon, I reckon.

The worst experience I had of another sport was Tigers vs Treviso a couple of years back. Treviso kicked some points and Tigers fans applauded. **** that. Again, not for me. But again, I like that there's another sport in the city with a good following.

 

 

I personally enjoyed the 'Americanised' aspect, because i didn't know the rules or cared who won, so just enjoyed the general atmosphere.

[Vicki Vixen]

Love the sport. Used to stay up to watch NHL on channel 5 when I was in my teens and developed a passion for it.

I was living in Chicago when the Blackhawks won their Stanley Cup in 2010 and went to a quite a few games. Always a great atmosphere, high intensity, passionate crowd.

I've also seen very good hockey games at Madison Sq Garden and the old Montreal Forum.

Where I have watched games in the UK, it has been very very poor in comparison to the NHL.

[SemperEadem]

Steelers fans are a weird bunch in Sheffield.

[DJ Barry Hammond]

Love the sport. Used to stay up to watch NHL on channel 5 when I was in my teens and developed a passion for it.

I was living in Chicago when the Blackhawks won their Stanley Cup in 2010 and went to a quite a few games. Always a great atmosphere, high intensity, passionate crowd.

I've also seen very good hockey games at Madison Sq Garden and the old Montreal Forum.

Where I have watched games in the UK, it has been very very poor in comparison to the NHL.

Agreed, the UK stuff is very quaint compared to the NHL, but did you not think it had its charms? True the couple of Maple Leafs games I got too were a little flat as they were regular season and the leafs shite and my UK comparison was Cardiff a couple of times and Welsh fans get up for anything, but it felt nice to be able to get so close to the action without any bother, stand next to the players dugouts and share nods... even if the skill isn't quite to the level of the American game.

[Vicki Vixen]

Agreed, the UK stuff is very quaint compared to the NHL, but did you not think it had its charms? True the couple of Maple Leafs games I got too were a little flat as they were regular season and the leafs shite and my UK comparison was Cardiff a couple of times and Welsh fans get up for anything, but it felt nice to be able to get so close to the action without any bother, stand next to the players dugouts and share nods... even if the skill isn't quite to the level of the American game.

Admittedly I haven't seen any UK hockey for 10 yrs so it may have improved, but back then the atmosphere was lame, the arenas half full (if that), and the attitude of the players on the ice was poor. Most of the players in the UK league had come over from the minor leagues in North America having not made the cut. At least in the minor leagues in the US and Canada, they knew a run of good form could get them a move up to the next level or even to the NHL because the scouts were out watching and tracking their progress. Once they moved to the UK, these guys were out of sight and out of mind and it showed.

I hope things have improved? I did find a lot of people watching hockey in the UK did it more as a social thing rather than because they enjoyed the sport itself. Edit: that last comment is an observation not a criticism btw.

Edited 7 February 2016 by Vicki Vixen

[Jordan]

Do any of the teams in the EIHL stream games online?

[Samilktray]

It's a sport for people like everyone in Making A Murderer

[Trav Le Bleu]

Long periods of violence occasionally interrupted by outbreaks of sport.

[Nalis]

Its probably my favourite of the traditional big 4 major league sports in North America.

Used to watch Belfast Giants and really enjoyed it everytime I went. Sometimes hard to follow the puck though!

[KFS]

Used to watch the Invicta Dynamos since they used to play 10 minutes up the road from me. Great sport that involves nearly every element of sporting intelligence

[EastAnglianFox]

When visiting the inlaws we usually go watch the Milton Keynes Lightning, I enjoy it really, it's something different and respect to the players as they give it absolutely everything on the ice.

Always decent to chat to in the bar after aswell. Big commitment playing every Saturday and Sunday night but get paid really well by all accounts for a 2nd tier team.

[Jordan]

Legend.

[Voll Blau]

Wouldn't mind seeing a game on the continent. Looks like you get some class atmospheres there.

[Nalis]

What a hero Jagr is, cant believe he is still playing in the NHL.

[Voll Blau]

All my love, Woodrow...

 

[Jordan]

Haha, what a classic Simpsons episode.

Are the KHL games on TV in the UK? The play over there is decent, but definitely different from the NHL style. And whereas crazy things often happen on the ice over here, the madness seems to occur off it.

I watched some of CSKA Moscow vs Slovan Bratislava, and with a slow game on the ice and some empty seats in only a 5,500-seat arena, I suppose I could be forgiven for not almost forgetting it was a playoff game. I'll try to watch another game of two to see if there's a bit more intensity to the play. Apparently across town at Dynamo Moscow, they get raucous crowds of 12,000, and the non-Russian teams (D. Minsk, D. Riga, Jokerit, Slovan, Medvescak, and Barys Astana) have great atmospheres at their games.

The long-running Ilya Kovalchuk soap opera took another twist this week. NHL fans might recall that he signed a 15-year contract with the Devils in 2010 as a way to circumvent the salary cap (after his original 17-year deal was rejected by the league) . Three years into the deal, he retired from the NHL so he could sign with SKA St. Petersburg (where he's the captain).

After a first round Game 1 playoff loss at Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (that's the team that suffered the horrific plane crash a few years ago), head coach Sergei Zubov (he was a hell of a puck-moving defenseman in his day) sent Kovy back to St. Petersburg to train on his own, so he won't be playing in today's Game 2. SKA fans are livid, and I suppose I can understand, because if a team over here ever benched its captain in the middle of the playoffs, it would be an absolute shitstorm. Devils fans are already wondering if he's on his way back to Jersey!

[Uncle Phil]

Haha, what a classic Simpsons episode.

Are the KHL games on TV in the UK? The play over there is decent, but definitely different from the NHL style. And whereas crazy things often happen on the ice over here, the madness seems to occur off it.

I watched some of CSKA Moscow vs Slovan Bratislava, and with a slow game on the ice and some empty seats in only a 5,500-seat arena, I suppose I could be forgiven for not almost forgetting it was a playoff game. I'll try to watch another game of two to see if there's a bit more intensity to the play. Apparently across town at Dynamo Moscow, they get raucous crowds of 12,000, and the non-Russian teams (D. Minsk, D. Riga, Jokerit, Slovan, Medvescak, and Barys Astana) have great atmospheres at their games.

The long-running Ilya Kovalchuk soap opera took another twist this week. NHL fans might recall that he signed a 15-year contract with the Devils in 2010 as a way to circumvent the salary cap (after his original 17-year deal was rejected by the league) . Three years into the deal, he retired from the NHL so he could sign with SKA St. Petersburg (where he's the captain).

After a first round Game 1 playoff loss at Lokomotiv Yaroslavl (that's the team that suffered the horrific plane crash a few years ago), head coach Sergei Zubov (he was a hell of a puck-moving defenseman in his day) sent Kovy back to St. Petersburg to train on his own, so he won't be playing in today's Game 2. SKA fans are livid, and I suppose I can understand, because if a team over here ever benched its captain in the middle of the playoffs, it would be an absolute shitstorm. Devils fans are already wondering if he's on his way back to Jersey!

I think we get nhl, eihl, Swedish hockey league and internationals.

Kovi can stay in Russia!

Big game tonight, the Devils have had a tough run and fallen out of contention a bit, what better game to get back on track.

The Rangers are looking strong again, though,