asked:
Even if at a steady pace? If it continues, will the US-born current players be more able to develop and improve their skills, and get more young and talented players within about 10 to 15 years of the NHL?
Is NHL Hockey in the US Starting to Gain More Popularity Nowadays?
It is more popular then it used to be although not overly popular. But I wish there were more games broadcasted though. I think it would be more popular that way. If I didn’t have NHL center ice I’d hardly get to watch any games
I live in Southern California so watching games on tv that aren’t the Kings or Ducks is hard… the NHL Chanel plays games but the are blacked out half the time or are always the same teams in the East or Original 6 (which gets boring to watch the same teams play) but it does seem to be getting bigger…even down here.
I think it all depends on where you live. I live in an area where hockey is very popular, I play the game and love it to death. I don’t think hockey is really meant to be in places like Arizona and Florida, but I’m not sure of the popularity of it there because it seems like it’s a northern thing, hockey is pretty popular in other areas like New England, Michigan and here in Minnesota. I’m about 50 miles south of the US/Canada border in northern Minnesota and High School hockey is what’s popular here. The Wild sellout every game in St Paul and Minnesota is a hockey crazed state.
I think its as popular as its always been. I dont think it can get anymore popular. Its a niche sport in most areas. Americans love offence. And hockey is a defense sport. I like hockey not being as mainstream as the other sports. I dont care if the rest of the country likes it or not. Hockey is sacred up here. And the north has produced some really good players with even more to come. Even if hockey got more popular the best players would be from the north.
I mean if you look at US born players…The US is in second place and is steadly increasing over the years: in 10-15 years, yes there will be better Americans…but there will be also better Canadians, so whose to say whose going to be good. I still think US will always be under Canada.
Players from Country in NHL in 2010-2011:
Canada – 433
USA – 168
Czech Republic – 42
Sweden – 42
Finland – 29
Russia – 25
Slovakia – 14
Germany – 9
Denmark – 5
Austria – 3
Belarus – 3
Latvia – 3
Switzerland – 2
Ukraine – 2
Brazil – (Robyn Regehr)
Brunei Darussalam – (Craig Adams)
Ireland – (Qwen Nolan)
Italy – (Luca Sbisa)
Japan – (Ryan O’Marra)
Kazakhstan – (Nik Antropov)
South Korea – (Richard Park)
Lithuania – (Dainius Zubrus)
Norway -(Ole-Kristian Tollefsen)
Poland – (Wojtek Wolski)
Slovenia – (Anze Kopitar)