Foxfang4 asked:
Do Hockey fans in North America get excited only for the playoffs? What do they feel during a season?
Usually I see that the NHL, , they play about 82 games a season, which always seemed excessive to me. Are games watched just for an entertainment/laid back point of view during a season, with them only truly looking forward to the playoffs?
I get excited the whole season. I go to every single Florida Panther game during the season. Plus 1 or 2 in Tampa. Although my team doesn’t make the playoffs, I still pick my favorites, east and west, and stick with them.
You should see Vancouver, we love our team the whole season. Now that the team is in the finals it is absolutely nuts here. 360+ straight sellouts tells the story.
The only time I’m not excited is when my team loses, one of my favorite players gets injured, the team doesn’t make the playoffs, they get knocked out of the playoffs, or there’s no hockey (no game or news).
No, lots of teams sell out pretty much every game. Half of the CBC’s revenue are said to come from hockey, so somebody must be watching it.
I personally love the game of hockey, so for me its grate for the whole season, but no doubt things pick up in the play-offs.
i live in southern california and i have season tickets to the kings. I watch the whole season, and i sit in a section where nearly everyone are die hard fans. Even during the regular season there are numerous sell outs, and it is very loud and exciting, but when you get to the playoffs, they just give you towels and there is usually more of a show at the stadium so more people go, such as people who dont really care for the game.
Many people (especially bandwagoner types) will only watch the playoffs. ******** fans will get excited for the regular season as well. Myself I do watch and support my team through the regular season because exciting stuff happens during the season. Great plays, exciting games etc. But I think everyone, even if they get excited during the regular season, is wayy more excited for the playoffs.
With 82 games you can afford to miss a few here and there. I am a very passionate fan of my two teams, and can honestly say I have missed a couple games throughout the regular season.
And of course, the die hard fans surface with about 5 games left in the regular season, or in this year’s case, when Vancouver locked up the President’s trophy. It isn’t just Canucks’ fans though, there was a large increase in ‘fans’ of Tampa Bay all over the internet too. Last year it was Chicago/Philly/Montreal, and the two years before that there were a lot of Pittsburgh and Detroit fans popping up from no where.
Mike Wilbon said this on Twitter;
” Nothing worse than people who just wander from sport to sport rooting for whoever is in first place…most insecure thing in the world!”
Honestly, I agree. Now admitedly, PTI is more of a Basketball/Football based show. They have minimal coverage of the NHL, but this particular quote applies to all sports. This year it is the Miami Heat. How couldn’t you like a team with two superstars who sold out to form a ‘dream team’, right? Pffft.
It’s the Canucks, Heat, and Yankees of the world that will always have huge fanbases. But in reality, they don’t have many more fans than any other team.
If you want to see true passion, take a look at a team like the Maple Leafs. Personally, I can’t stand them. But their fanbase is loyal, however dillusional. That is something I can respect.
I have about 3 friends on Facebook who have been cheering for the Canucks for years. Now all of sudden in the past month or so, that number has climbed to 100. Seriously, there are dozens of status’ after every game saying thing like ‘GO NUCKS
I watch a lot of games during the regular season, and even get to go to a few Caps games (hey, tickets are expensive). So I watch a lot on TV. But I get hyper excited for the playoffs and have been watching obsessively this year, even though my boys are long since out of it.
The playoffs ARE the season for me. Now, if this were say 1920′s NFL football, that would be different. Back then, the champs were the team that finished first in the single-table league.
The regular season is for entertainment and profit. Some teams make a profit by entertaining their fans with first-place finishes and little else, while other owners prefer making money by not spending theirs.
In the end, it’s all about what the observer prefers. I think it’s a waste of time to get excited about the regular season since parity rules all sports nowadays, and (especially in the NHL) many positions are open for teams to qualify for the playoffs.
I only watch NHL playoff hockey.
The regular season is too boring for me to watch.
I think there are way too many regular season games and they lack the intensity of the playoffs. I will still watch the regular season games but not as avidly.
Real fans watch the games whether it’s during season of playoffs. Casual fans (aka fake/bandwagon fans in some people’s eyes) only watch during playoffs if their team is participating in it. As a hockey fan, I try to watch all games in the season and I even watch some playoffs games even though my team got eliminated or didn’t make it. Having a favorite team is secondary to me, because I love hockey and that’s what matters. Of course it’s not as exciting when it’s not the team you like but it’s not a big deal. Playoffs is the cherry on the cake, it brings competitiveness and rivalry than you don’t necessarily during the season. 82 games isn’t too much to me, I wish there was hockey all year round. However, let’s be realist. Players would be damn tired and they wouldn’t get the chance to see their friends and families.