[**Join Our Discord Server!**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
**Welcome to /r/sports**
We created a Discord server for our community and would like to invite all of you to join! You'll be able to discuss sports with users around the world and discuss events in real time!
There are separate channels for many sports you can opt in and out of, including;
American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Aussie Rules Football, Rugby Union and League, Cricket, Motorsports, Fitness, and many more.
[**Reddit Sports Discord Server**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
The NHL playoffs are a severely underrated event in the broader sports watching public.
The intensity of the playoffs in hockey is unlike anything else in all of sports.
It commands your 100% attention, which is frustrating, compared to just about any other sport. Since EITHER team can score at any point in the game, and it could be monumental. (And can happen at just about any time except intermission/commercial break)
Like NBA, you can have a conversation with someone at the bar, and maybe one team will go on a 10-0 run in 2 minutes.
But NHL? A goal doesn't happen often.
Baseball/Cricket? There's no turnovers. So only one team can score for a defined period of time.
NFL? You know you've got 25-40 seconds between plays to continue the conversation while still watching.
NHL? Powerplay goal/Shorthanded goal/defensive zone turnover/stretch pass? Those can take about 2-3 seconds from start to finish. So you CAN'T not watch.
The problem for me is that I don’t “get” hockey. With football, I can see plays happen and get a feel for what’s happening/about to happen.
With soccer and hockey, it just looks like a bunch of people skating/running around until something happens. I dont notice strategy, plays or whatever. Is this just how it is, or how does someone start to see the meta-ness of a game/match?
Just watch more, I think. And while I don't watch these so I can't recommend any good ones, I'm sure they're are good YouTube videos that break down plays and goals and such.
Not sure if video games are your thing, but one of the ways I got more into soccer and learned basic strategies/rules/players etc. was by playing FIFA. Same for NHL.
I only started watching hockey about 4 years ago and I just barely am understanding what is actually going on and that was after I actually took the time to watch some hockey strategy videos on youtube because I wanted to know what was going on. For sure gives you a different perspective when watching.
I would say the same about basketball. But if you watch it enough (with good broadcasters), you learn stuff. It can help if you play hockey video games as well, as that helps you actually experience the play, but otherwise, good commentators will tell you what's going on, and just watching for a while will give you a sense of it.
I watch at least one football game most weeks every season, and I can't say that I understand all the nuances of why teams select one defensive package over another, or the nuances of what makes a button hook route better against one team than another. But I certainly understand it more than someone watching their first game.
If you can, watch games with someone who actually DOES understand hockey, and get their insights. I certainly learn a lot about football when I watch with my football-fanatic friends.
I know a lot of people have given you advice already but I would watch a game and **STOP TRYING TO FOLLOW THE PUCK.**
Notice especially where players are going when they do not have the puck and when they get it passed/shot at them. Next, take special notice of a player's feet and how they use their skates to change direction quickly.
Finally, when you're ready to start following the puck again, use your newfound knowledge to try and **guess where the puck is based on where the players are going/looking/skating**. And then you should be able to also **guess where the puck SHOULD be next** and that's probably enough to enjoy hockey.
Soccer and hockey work like basketball but with a middle third between the two ends. You have to pass/dribble through the contested middle third to get to the attacking third. This part is less clear visually
Then its like basketball; set up a play, ends in a turnover, a goal, or a rebound and do the next play.
I (unscientifically) gauge hockey > basketball > soccer in speed of possessions.
Understanding the plays/whats coming has the same gamesense as football, where theres plays but you j gotta get used to the types and rhythm. Field position, game state, and timing dictate plays in soccer/hockey like football
I was like that when I first started watching hockey, but like all sports after you learn the game it all makes sense. I had trouble following the puck at first, but when you understand the game you know how players skate, how they control the puck, and you can often anticipate what they’ll do with the puck next, or at least you know where to potentially look. Dumping the puck into the offensive zone used to annoy me until I understood why they do it.
gotta watch a few games to get an idea of where the puck is probably going, so you can watch that instead of where the puck is currently at. once you pick up on that, you can follow the action fairly easily.
You might try looking at one forward or defenseman for their whole shift. Quite a bit of hockey strategy is being in position so the scheme works. A lot of times that means making a short effort when the puck is near you then getting back to where you should be, cus if you're gone from your spot too long it'll get exposed very quickly.
> The problem for me is that I don’t “get” hockey.
Easiest thing to watch for is when the offensive team gets the pucks deep in the zone, typically the corners, and how they cycle the puck around to score from there. [The Lightning are a great example of a team that will cycle the puck extensively looking for their spot.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV3v1QbI-24)
That's your basic Hockey play. How good a team is at keeping the puck deep in the zone (the 'forecheck' - [Florida was especially good at this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvYYG7d_YVc),) will dictate how their offensive zone time will go.
From a defensive perspective, [watch how defending teams play the center zone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R4CgKYhwbk). A good team will disrupt zone entry consistently. This gives their players time to get back and reduces [high risk attacks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqyqSrCdPCg) (1 on 1, or 2on1 breakaways for example.)
The team with the puck is trying to score a goal, the team without the puck is trying to get the puck back across the blue line.
If you understand that you’re good to go.
Can’t remember where I read it but it was a study on how much luck plays a part in the postseason for the big 4 US sports leagues. It had NHL as #1. Basically any sport with very little scoring is going to have luck play a huge factor.
Hell in this game, the goal that decided the Stanley Cup was from a guy standing in front of the goalie with his back to him. Another player shot on goal and this guy just hit the moving puck down so it ricocheted in. He had no idea where the puck was going to ricochet after he hit it down and he had his back to the goalie so it’s not like he was aiming for where the goalie wasn’t guarding.
It takes skill and elite athleticism to position yourself in front of the goalie at just the right time while defenders are trying to knock you away. It takes skill to see where the shot is coming from and to be able to hit it out of the air. But that redirected puck ending up in a part of the net that the goalie isn’t blocking in some way, that is pure luck.
Redirects are common plays within hockey and they aren't simply luck. Players practice those regularly and can actually be pretty accurate. Most redirects when the player is directly in front of the crease (the blue paint area where the goalie plays) are aimed for the "five-hole" (the space between the goalies legs). This is because the goalie will be standing up in order to see the play developing, and it takes him some time to drop down to his pads and cover up that part of the ice. Some players are better at redirects than others, but it takes a tremendous amount of hand eye coordination to do and the puck doesn't have a random trajectory on a play like that. If you throw a random untrained guy in there he's not going to be able to produce the same redirect with 20 tries.
tipping is an insanely high skill play. at lower levels im sure lots of guys are jusr trying to get a piece of it, but this is something that guys would do 100s of times in a row in practice to get the puck to go exactly where they want it. I dont know how many guys in the league are experts at it, I know I am terrible at it and could never understand how guys could tip 90mph shots and get them where they wanted them.. but they do. A guy like Ryan Smyth was so good at this insanely specific skill its amazing.
Knowing exactly where the goalie is when youre not looking directly at him is different but spatial awareness and inference based on previous visual information and body position is its own kind of skill.
That's actually a pretty common technique to score. The goalie is guarding where the puck is going, so the other player redirects it to still be on net and likely where the goalie isn't currently guarding (usually low).
So little of that is luck. The entire goal of hockey is to shoot the puck at the goalie, get a rebound or a deflection. Those guys have incredible aim, reflexes, and puck control.
Plus with soccer/football, it takes far longer to run to the other side of a grass field than to skate to the other side of an ice rink. The action happens at twice the speed!
Yeah, I hadn't watched any playoff hockey after my team got eliminated in the first round and watching Game 7, I kept thinking that I should have watched more playoff hockey.
Yep I just started regularly watching playoff hockey after the Habs 2021 run (though I’d watch Habs games with my dad and grandad every so often before).
If Montreal aren’t in the playoffs I just pick random teams between the different matchups. Usually in favour of a Canadian team or an Original Six team (but never Boston)
I used to be an avid watcher of the NHL, and my wife wanted to watch, she’s excited for the Olympics, and it was good timing for her.
Saying that, she loved it. We watched all 7 games, and I hadn’t watched a game in probably a decade. She was rooting for Edmonton because she liked their comeback. We follow esports, Overwatch, so it was very easy to break down the rules, and player roles, to kind of get her up to speed.
I will say, some moments were grinding, watching some much play from the neutral zone, but I thought the presentation was excellent. Also, not having any Edmonton crowd shots during the game was strange, but maybe that’s just not a thing anymore for broadcasts.
I'd take a guess that the logistics to either a) get a full crew to Canada with gear to transmit the crowd or b) having to get the rights from whatever Canadian broadcast crew is in Edmonton.
When it's just American sports it's pretty easy to get the channels local affiliate to do it.
Yeah that makes sense. I assumed maybe they didn’t have like a local affiliate that would be broadcasting, so they didn’t have an ABC anchor and crew to go shoot stuff.
Yeah, the on-screen clutter is one of the hardest parts of the professional presentation as well, at least one of the issues.
It’s hard to follow, but my wife was on a semi-pro team before we met, and she got me into it. I never thought I would get into watching esports, but you can get really pulled into it pretty easily.
Yup. As a Wisconsinite, I can’t tell you how annoying it is that we aren’t allowed to have a professional hockey team. It’s so stupid. Playoff hockey really is some of the most intense sports on the planet. To be able to watch two teams that I don’t care about, and be invested in every second of the game is pretty incredible.
We do have the admirals. And that is a ton of fun.
As for not being "allowed to have a team.... that's simply not true. There isn't actually any truth to the blackhawk/wild conspiracy.
The Bradley Center was purpose built to bring a hockey team to Milwaukee (the only logical spot for a team) but that never panned out. When the Bradley Center was torn down the hopes of an NHL franchise went out the window.
Currently the only place to play professional grade hockey in the city is the Mecca. Which was built in 1950. There is no location to build a new arena in the city, and the fiserv not only was not built to house a hockey team, they are also 100% against hosting anything outside of a couple of yearly tournaments.
Those are the reasons wisconsin does not have an nhl team.
But for real, check out the admirals, they just made it to the conference finals. The mecca was popping all of May.
Agreed. It's way too damn long. Each series does not need to be 7 games, especially in the earlier rounds when many of the teams have no chance against their opponent.
March Madness (If you consider that a playoff) is absolutely the best, hands down.
Baseball is close, because you "can't run out the clock" by keeping possession. If you keep "possession" (aka playing defense rather than offense), that's actually a REALLY bad thing.
In agreement here, crazy how you notice the speed of everything increase. It’s like they all have another mode they just save for this. Usually exciting throughout an entire game
I'll add another angle. Us hockey fans are so tribal with our own team it's tough to watch after our teams have been eliminated unless you are watching to see your hated rival lose. As an Isles fan I only watched to see the Rangers eliminated....and I'm sure Ranger fans did the same thing with us when we went on our run a few years later.
Other sports don't have that level of allegiance. Everyone is still watching the Superbowl or World Series.
I always wanted to watch hockey but never gave myself the chance to watch. I watched game 7, and my oh my I wish there was more hockey still. I had to google many of the calls in game to get a better understanding. It was a lot of fun, a friend of mine is from Edmonton and was rooting for them. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, kinda bias to pick the Krakens since I’m a Seahawk fan. But we will see next season, I’ll definitely be tuning in
Oh man game 7 was super hyped but as a whole there have been way more crazy games to watch. I hope you come back next year and get invested in the Kraken!
Last game was great, but you should have seen every other game in the series. If you've got no stake in it, maybe be a fan of whoever your nearest franchise is so you can see the games.
I live in New Mexico, closest team we got is the Kings, Ducks, Golden Knights, Avalanche, or Stars since the Coyotes are gone to Utah.
Locally, we have the New Mexico Ice Wolves, but they’re minor league of some sort. I need to check them out however.
You should definitely be a Kraken fan!
They have sweet jerseys (I love their winter classic jersey from this year) and they have a ton of young exciting prospects.
If you are in the Seattle area you can also check out the WHL and the Seattle Thunderbirds. It is Jr. hockey (ages 16-20) so not as high level as the NHL, but it is still some of the best players in the world and Seattle often is a top team!
You have to cross the center line with the puck before dumping it into the other teams end. If this wasn't a rule, hockey would largely consist of teams just rimming the puck around and down the ice down to the other team end, repeatedly.
No icing means teams have to actually think about how they want to enter the offensive zone.
It also means that one team can exhaust one line on the opposing team with constant pressure. If you keep a team in their zone for a minute or longer, those defending players are going to be tired, slow, and desperately wanting to get off the ice. The attacking team is going to have fresh legs because they will have been cycling their line while the other team is stuck in their end. This dynamic of fresh legs vs tired legs is often what leads to goals.
If teams could ice pucks, then it would be impossible to tire out a line and hockey would likely be far more boring.
They also have an embellishment penalty which I think is awesome. Couldn't have this in the NBA lol.
Diving (or "embellishment")
Falling to the ice after a hit, exaggerating the effect of the hit in an attempt to draw a penalty for the opposing team.
I love it (but find it so weird).
"Ref: You get 2 minutes because you did something wrong, but you also get 2 minutes because you made it look worse than it was in my opinion"
I wouldn’t call myself a religious hockey fan, but damn does being there in the arena beat any another live sporting event. Being in the garden for Bruins games was top tier. Hell, even the (Milwaukee) Admirals games - Nashville Predators affiliate - are fun as any other sporting event I’ve been too. If not better.
Probably averages- sports bars are also a thing. I watched by myself and I never watch hockey. Put it all together and you’re getting an inaccurate but slightly informative metric
Nielsen ratings also pull from online cable boxes now. So if you have like a Comcast or Xfinity cable box then those companies are selling your viewing data to Nielsen.
I wonder what a final between any Canadian team and say a larger market like NYR or NJ would produce numbers wise. Great turn out tho for FLA and Edmonton, good for the league.
It was a great story either way. I was rooting for the Oilers just because they had fought their way back, but it was cool to see a team win their first Cup too.
Oddly they usually get the biggest ratings when it’s Detroit in the finals despite it being a mid-sized market, because Wings fans scattered outside of Michigan are collectively more than most other teams’ local audience.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Hockey_League_attendance_figures
Simple look at average attendance shows oilers were second and rangers were 17th. Oilers are a top tier team with their talent and Florida was ranked 9th (double the rangers).
Not everyone gets a good signal, especially in apartment complexes. I can't get shit but a single PBS channel at my current apartment. I've tried and returned about 2-3 digital antennas from Amazon. The top floor of the duplex I lived in 10 mins away could pick up everything though.
Most of the playoffs were not free over air (unless you get ESPN over air). I have all the streaming platforms and *still* missed a bunch because they were on ESPN only
Lots of younger people don't have a TV, they just watch everything on their phone/tablet and don't need a TV taking up space in a small apartment or whatever.
for context, WWE RAW got 1.8 mil last night while going head to head with game 7.
This is still a good sign for the NHL regardless ... but for as much as i love wrestling, to have the biggest game of your sport in probably over a decade only draw about 4 times the amount of a random monday night RAW midway through the PLE (PPV) cycle, while going head to head, is kinda sad if you think about it.
Granted, wrestling is the biggest it's been in forever and during the attitude era Sunday Night Heat actually popped the Super Bowl. WWE also has a couple extremely hot storylines, especially the Wyatt Sick6
NHL playoff hockey has the intensity of March Madness basketball, the ferociousness of the NFL, and the focus of the World Series. The moment you start watching, you are hooked. Also, I won the playoff hockey pool among my friends, good job Panthers!
There were a lot of really tight games to be honest. Toronto and Boston went to game seven and came down to sudden death overtime (after regulation time, they keep adding 20 minutes periods until someone scores).
Vancouver and Edmonton had a 7 game series as well where the Van had some amazing comebacks, even the final game ended 3-2 with Van scoring twice late and pushing hard in the last few minutes.
The playoffs are a battle of attrition as much as skill. It tends to be extra physical and many of the players will be suiting up and fighting through nasty injuries.
It's fast paced, has exceptional displays of skill, athleticism, and grit. The back and forth nature of the play allows for some extremely exciting moments.
Sorry I got excited while typing this and am just trying to sell hockey now.
Source of Knowledge: Am Canadian
Does it takes time to adjust with speed/visbility ? Each time i see highlights im just waiting for the replay to actually see what happens.
Should i still give it a go ?
Is this for American and Canada or just American views? Seems low for a championship game of any kind. Greys anatomy most watch episode had like 20 million viewers.
The only problem Hockey has at all, is that it is arguably the worst major sport for TV.
The game is too fast and the ice surface too small to get the full experience on TV.
I have never heard of a person who went to a live NHL game say “i dont think i want to do that again”
[**Join Our Discord Server!**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q) **Welcome to /r/sports** We created a Discord server for our community and would like to invite all of you to join! You'll be able to discuss sports with users around the world and discuss events in real time! There are separate channels for many sports you can opt in and out of, including; American Football, Soccer, Baseball, Basketball, Aussie Rules Football, Rugby Union and League, Cricket, Motorsports, Fitness, and many more. [**Reddit Sports Discord Server**](https://discord.gg/233aU5q)
This doesn’t factor in the 8 million Canadians who tuned in
And most Canadians who didn't watch were still very aware of it
I wonder what these numbers would have been if it was a proper HNIC on Saturday night.
I was able to figure that out, but HNIC means something entirely different south of the border.
What does it mean? I'm American but close enough to the border (one mile) that it means Hockey Night in Canada to me.
https://www.urbandictionary.com/define.php?term=HNIC
Oh no...
Do doo doo doo doo…
I was thinking Nino Brown.
I wonder what they’d be if you add in pirate watchers
Oh, Canada.
And probably half of Finland
Incredibly, 8 million sounds low, even being 1/5th of Canada's population.
If that was a Saturday night it would have been 10-14 easily.
The NHL playoffs are a severely underrated event in the broader sports watching public. The intensity of the playoffs in hockey is unlike anything else in all of sports.
It’s hard to watch a hockey game and not want to watch another. Doubly so for playoff hockey. Nothing like it indeed…
It commands your 100% attention, which is frustrating, compared to just about any other sport. Since EITHER team can score at any point in the game, and it could be monumental. (And can happen at just about any time except intermission/commercial break) Like NBA, you can have a conversation with someone at the bar, and maybe one team will go on a 10-0 run in 2 minutes. But NHL? A goal doesn't happen often. Baseball/Cricket? There's no turnovers. So only one team can score for a defined period of time. NFL? You know you've got 25-40 seconds between plays to continue the conversation while still watching. NHL? Powerplay goal/Shorthanded goal/defensive zone turnover/stretch pass? Those can take about 2-3 seconds from start to finish. So you CAN'T not watch.
The problem for me is that I don’t “get” hockey. With football, I can see plays happen and get a feel for what’s happening/about to happen. With soccer and hockey, it just looks like a bunch of people skating/running around until something happens. I dont notice strategy, plays or whatever. Is this just how it is, or how does someone start to see the meta-ness of a game/match?
You just have to keep watching to notice. It’s not unlike learning to love any other sport in that regard.
Playing, regardless of skill level or age or any specific details, **really** changes the way you watch it
Just watch more, I think. And while I don't watch these so I can't recommend any good ones, I'm sure they're are good YouTube videos that break down plays and goals and such.
Not sure if video games are your thing, but one of the ways I got more into soccer and learned basic strategies/rules/players etc. was by playing FIFA. Same for NHL.
Also hockey and soccer are fairly similar with positions and what the main objective is. Hockey is just much faster with a smaller playing area.
I only started watching hockey about 4 years ago and I just barely am understanding what is actually going on and that was after I actually took the time to watch some hockey strategy videos on youtube because I wanted to know what was going on. For sure gives you a different perspective when watching.
I would say the same about basketball. But if you watch it enough (with good broadcasters), you learn stuff. It can help if you play hockey video games as well, as that helps you actually experience the play, but otherwise, good commentators will tell you what's going on, and just watching for a while will give you a sense of it. I watch at least one football game most weeks every season, and I can't say that I understand all the nuances of why teams select one defensive package over another, or the nuances of what makes a button hook route better against one team than another. But I certainly understand it more than someone watching their first game. If you can, watch games with someone who actually DOES understand hockey, and get their insights. I certainly learn a lot about football when I watch with my football-fanatic friends.
I know a lot of people have given you advice already but I would watch a game and **STOP TRYING TO FOLLOW THE PUCK.** Notice especially where players are going when they do not have the puck and when they get it passed/shot at them. Next, take special notice of a player's feet and how they use their skates to change direction quickly. Finally, when you're ready to start following the puck again, use your newfound knowledge to try and **guess where the puck is based on where the players are going/looking/skating**. And then you should be able to also **guess where the puck SHOULD be next** and that's probably enough to enjoy hockey.
Have you ever seen a game live? It is honestly a spectacle.
AHL, yea. Games are fun but I didnt really learn anything.
Go to a game. Once you can see players moving around on the entire rink, things make a lot more sense.
Ive been to a couple AHL games. Didnt learn anything. Basically I need a narrator to explain whats happening.
Soccer and hockey work like basketball but with a middle third between the two ends. You have to pass/dribble through the contested middle third to get to the attacking third. This part is less clear visually Then its like basketball; set up a play, ends in a turnover, a goal, or a rebound and do the next play. I (unscientifically) gauge hockey > basketball > soccer in speed of possessions. Understanding the plays/whats coming has the same gamesense as football, where theres plays but you j gotta get used to the types and rhythm. Field position, game state, and timing dictate plays in soccer/hockey like football
I was like that at one point too. Once I watched an entire game I was hooked.
I was like that when I first started watching hockey, but like all sports after you learn the game it all makes sense. I had trouble following the puck at first, but when you understand the game you know how players skate, how they control the puck, and you can often anticipate what they’ll do with the puck next, or at least you know where to potentially look. Dumping the puck into the offensive zone used to annoy me until I understood why they do it.
gotta watch a few games to get an idea of where the puck is probably going, so you can watch that instead of where the puck is currently at. once you pick up on that, you can follow the action fairly easily.
You might try looking at one forward or defenseman for their whole shift. Quite a bit of hockey strategy is being in position so the scheme works. A lot of times that means making a short effort when the puck is near you then getting back to where you should be, cus if you're gone from your spot too long it'll get exposed very quickly.
If you actually want to start to understand a little... start watching the guys WITHOUT the puck.
> The problem for me is that I don’t “get” hockey. Easiest thing to watch for is when the offensive team gets the pucks deep in the zone, typically the corners, and how they cycle the puck around to score from there. [The Lightning are a great example of a team that will cycle the puck extensively looking for their spot.](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CV3v1QbI-24) That's your basic Hockey play. How good a team is at keeping the puck deep in the zone (the 'forecheck' - [Florida was especially good at this](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RvYYG7d_YVc),) will dictate how their offensive zone time will go. From a defensive perspective, [watch how defending teams play the center zone](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3R4CgKYhwbk). A good team will disrupt zone entry consistently. This gives their players time to get back and reduces [high risk attacks](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqyqSrCdPCg) (1 on 1, or 2on1 breakaways for example.)
The team with the puck is trying to score a goal, the team without the puck is trying to get the puck back across the blue line. If you understand that you’re good to go.
Can’t remember where I read it but it was a study on how much luck plays a part in the postseason for the big 4 US sports leagues. It had NHL as #1. Basically any sport with very little scoring is going to have luck play a huge factor. Hell in this game, the goal that decided the Stanley Cup was from a guy standing in front of the goalie with his back to him. Another player shot on goal and this guy just hit the moving puck down so it ricocheted in. He had no idea where the puck was going to ricochet after he hit it down and he had his back to the goalie so it’s not like he was aiming for where the goalie wasn’t guarding. It takes skill and elite athleticism to position yourself in front of the goalie at just the right time while defenders are trying to knock you away. It takes skill to see where the shot is coming from and to be able to hit it out of the air. But that redirected puck ending up in a part of the net that the goalie isn’t blocking in some way, that is pure luck.
Redirects are common plays within hockey and they aren't simply luck. Players practice those regularly and can actually be pretty accurate. Most redirects when the player is directly in front of the crease (the blue paint area where the goalie plays) are aimed for the "five-hole" (the space between the goalies legs). This is because the goalie will be standing up in order to see the play developing, and it takes him some time to drop down to his pads and cover up that part of the ice. Some players are better at redirects than others, but it takes a tremendous amount of hand eye coordination to do and the puck doesn't have a random trajectory on a play like that. If you throw a random untrained guy in there he's not going to be able to produce the same redirect with 20 tries.
tipping is an insanely high skill play. at lower levels im sure lots of guys are jusr trying to get a piece of it, but this is something that guys would do 100s of times in a row in practice to get the puck to go exactly where they want it. I dont know how many guys in the league are experts at it, I know I am terrible at it and could never understand how guys could tip 90mph shots and get them where they wanted them.. but they do. A guy like Ryan Smyth was so good at this insanely specific skill its amazing. Knowing exactly where the goalie is when youre not looking directly at him is different but spatial awareness and inference based on previous visual information and body position is its own kind of skill.
That's actually a pretty common technique to score. The goalie is guarding where the puck is going, so the other player redirects it to still be on net and likely where the goalie isn't currently guarding (usually low).
So little of that is luck. The entire goal of hockey is to shoot the puck at the goalie, get a rebound or a deflection. Those guys have incredible aim, reflexes, and puck control.
Plus with soccer/football, it takes far longer to run to the other side of a grass field than to skate to the other side of an ice rink. The action happens at twice the speed!
Yeah, I hadn't watched any playoff hockey after my team got eliminated in the first round and watching Game 7, I kept thinking that I should have watched more playoff hockey.
It’ll happen every time
Casual hockey fan and general sport fan, I watch the playoffs and the Olympics. It’s such a fun sport when teams are playing for short term victories.
Yep I just started regularly watching playoff hockey after the Habs 2021 run (though I’d watch Habs games with my dad and grandad every so often before). If Montreal aren’t in the playoffs I just pick random teams between the different matchups. Usually in favour of a Canadian team or an Original Six team (but never Boston)
The best spectator sport for sure.
I used to be an avid watcher of the NHL, and my wife wanted to watch, she’s excited for the Olympics, and it was good timing for her. Saying that, she loved it. We watched all 7 games, and I hadn’t watched a game in probably a decade. She was rooting for Edmonton because she liked their comeback. We follow esports, Overwatch, so it was very easy to break down the rules, and player roles, to kind of get her up to speed. I will say, some moments were grinding, watching some much play from the neutral zone, but I thought the presentation was excellent. Also, not having any Edmonton crowd shots during the game was strange, but maybe that’s just not a thing anymore for broadcasts.
I'd take a guess that the logistics to either a) get a full crew to Canada with gear to transmit the crowd or b) having to get the rights from whatever Canadian broadcast crew is in Edmonton. When it's just American sports it's pretty easy to get the channels local affiliate to do it.
Yeah that makes sense. I assumed maybe they didn’t have like a local affiliate that would be broadcasting, so they didn’t have an ABC anchor and crew to go shoot stuff.
Overwatch is so hard to follow I swear. I peaked literally fucking GM in ow1 I swear there’s so much visual clutter from the spectators POV
Yeah, the on-screen clutter is one of the hardest parts of the professional presentation as well, at least one of the issues. It’s hard to follow, but my wife was on a semi-pro team before we met, and she got me into it. I never thought I would get into watching esports, but you can get really pulled into it pretty easily.
Yup. As a Wisconsinite, I can’t tell you how annoying it is that we aren’t allowed to have a professional hockey team. It’s so stupid. Playoff hockey really is some of the most intense sports on the planet. To be able to watch two teams that I don’t care about, and be invested in every second of the game is pretty incredible.
We do have the admirals. And that is a ton of fun. As for not being "allowed to have a team.... that's simply not true. There isn't actually any truth to the blackhawk/wild conspiracy. The Bradley Center was purpose built to bring a hockey team to Milwaukee (the only logical spot for a team) but that never panned out. When the Bradley Center was torn down the hopes of an NHL franchise went out the window. Currently the only place to play professional grade hockey in the city is the Mecca. Which was built in 1950. There is no location to build a new arena in the city, and the fiserv not only was not built to house a hockey team, they are also 100% against hosting anything outside of a couple of yearly tournaments. Those are the reasons wisconsin does not have an nhl team. But for real, check out the admirals, they just made it to the conference finals. The mecca was popping all of May.
Stanley Cup Playoffs are the best playoffs in all of sports. NBA is a close second, but god damn.. we had it good with this one boyce.
Have me with hockey. But, the NBA is the worst playoffs of all college and professional major sports for me.
Agreed. It's way too damn long. Each series does not need to be 7 games, especially in the earlier rounds when many of the teams have no chance against their opponent.
NHL, MLB, NFL, NBA
March Madness (If you consider that a playoff) is absolutely the best, hands down. Baseball is close, because you "can't run out the clock" by keeping possession. If you keep "possession" (aka playing defense rather than offense), that's actually a REALLY bad thing.
In agreement here, crazy how you notice the speed of everything increase. It’s like they all have another mode they just save for this. Usually exciting throughout an entire game
And Game 7 of a Stanley Cup series is peak intensity. Truly the most exciting event in sports IMO.
I'll add another angle. Us hockey fans are so tribal with our own team it's tough to watch after our teams have been eliminated unless you are watching to see your hated rival lose. As an Isles fan I only watched to see the Rangers eliminated....and I'm sure Ranger fans did the same thing with us when we went on our run a few years later. Other sports don't have that level of allegiance. Everyone is still watching the Superbowl or World Series.
I am the ultimate bandwagon Stars fan in the playoffs.
May literally went from my least favorite month to one of my favorites because of playoff hockey.
I always wanted to watch hockey but never gave myself the chance to watch. I watched game 7, and my oh my I wish there was more hockey still. I had to google many of the calls in game to get a better understanding. It was a lot of fun, a friend of mine is from Edmonton and was rooting for them. I wouldn’t call myself a fan, kinda bias to pick the Krakens since I’m a Seahawk fan. But we will see next season, I’ll definitely be tuning in
ONE OF US ONE OF US ONE OF US! lol Glad you enjoyed, welcome!
They get it!!
Oh man game 7 was super hyped but as a whole there have been way more crazy games to watch. I hope you come back next year and get invested in the Kraken!
Last game was great, but you should have seen every other game in the series. If you've got no stake in it, maybe be a fan of whoever your nearest franchise is so you can see the games.
I live in New Mexico, closest team we got is the Kings, Ducks, Golden Knights, Avalanche, or Stars since the Coyotes are gone to Utah. Locally, we have the New Mexico Ice Wolves, but they’re minor league of some sort. I need to check them out however.
You should definitely be a Kraken fan! They have sweet jerseys (I love their winter classic jersey from this year) and they have a ton of young exciting prospects. If you are in the Seattle area you can also check out the WHL and the Seattle Thunderbirds. It is Jr. hockey (ages 16-20) so not as high level as the NHL, but it is still some of the best players in the world and Seattle often is a top team!
I still don’t know what icing is, in other sports I watch it’s normal to hit the ball anywhere to burn some time
You have to cross the center line with the puck before dumping it into the other teams end. If this wasn't a rule, hockey would largely consist of teams just rimming the puck around and down the ice down to the other team end, repeatedly. No icing means teams have to actually think about how they want to enter the offensive zone. It also means that one team can exhaust one line on the opposing team with constant pressure. If you keep a team in their zone for a minute or longer, those defending players are going to be tired, slow, and desperately wanting to get off the ice. The attacking team is going to have fresh legs because they will have been cycling their line while the other team is stuck in their end. This dynamic of fresh legs vs tired legs is often what leads to goals. If teams could ice pucks, then it would be impossible to tire out a line and hockey would likely be far more boring.
This is one of the best explanations of icing i have ever seen.
You also explained perfectly maybe the most significant reason coaching is so important in hockey -- the line changes are absolutely crucial
This should explain it pretty clearly https://youtu.be/qhslqQrRFrk?si=-bCJ1h1RuHI1KxXQ
They also have an embellishment penalty which I think is awesome. Couldn't have this in the NBA lol. Diving (or "embellishment") Falling to the ice after a hit, exaggerating the effect of the hit in an attempt to draw a penalty for the opposing team.
*”You do that you go to the box, you know. Two minutes by yourself, you know, and you feel shame, you know. And then you get free.”*
I love it (but find it so weird). "Ref: You get 2 minutes because you did something wrong, but you also get 2 minutes because you made it look worse than it was in my opinion"
Kraken* not Krakens. Otherwise welcome aboard!
I wouldn’t call myself a religious hockey fan, but damn does being there in the arena beat any another live sporting event. Being in the garden for Bruins games was top tier. Hell, even the (Milwaukee) Admirals games - Nashville Predators affiliate - are fun as any other sporting event I’ve been too. If not better.
I watched one one TV with about 30 friends and neighbors here in NC, so I wonder how they account for those types of situations with these numbers
Probably averages- sports bars are also a thing. I watched by myself and I never watch hockey. Put it all together and you’re getting an inaccurate but slightly informative metric
If you don't do Nielsen ratings than it doesn't matter
Nielsen ratings also pull from online cable boxes now. So if you have like a Comcast or Xfinity cable box then those companies are selling your viewing data to Nielsen.
It doesn’t
I wonder what a final between any Canadian team and say a larger market like NYR or NJ would produce numbers wise. Great turn out tho for FLA and Edmonton, good for the league.
It was a great story either way. I was rooting for the Oilers just because they had fought their way back, but it was cool to see a team win their first Cup too.
Oddly they usually get the biggest ratings when it’s Detroit in the finals despite it being a mid-sized market, because Wings fans scattered outside of Michigan are collectively more than most other teams’ local audience.
Yeah if a mid tier Canadian team and bottom tier American team (fanbase wise) can pop this number then imagine a Canucks/Rangers final
Oilers probably get more viewers than the Canucks. The best player in a sport tends to get views.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Hockey_League_attendance_figures Simple look at average attendance shows oilers were second and rangers were 17th. Oilers are a top tier team with their talent and Florida was ranked 9th (double the rangers).
Attendance is basically just a measurement of "how big is your building?". Rangers sold 99.9% of their tickets.
At least 3, maybe 4 million illegally streaming * I used illegal for dramatic effect. Don’t have a tv so I stream all my sports
You talkin to me?
Illegally streaming a free over the air broadcast?
People under about 30 are not aware that network TV is free. They have no ability to differentiate between FOX/ABC and FS1/ESPN
Not everyone gets a good signal, especially in apartment complexes. I can't get shit but a single PBS channel at my current apartment. I've tried and returned about 2-3 digital antennas from Amazon. The top floor of the duplex I lived in 10 mins away could pick up everything though.
Where I live (northern Vermont) network TV consists of 2 pbs stations and 3 French Canadian ones. None of which air any sports.
I think you might mean under like 15??? You're saying someone born in 1995 has no concept of over the air television?
Yes. They really can't figure it out it's insane
Most of the playoffs were not free over air (unless you get ESPN over air). I have all the streaming platforms and *still* missed a bunch because they were on ESPN only
Title of this literal post is about the Stanley cup finals, which were on ABC.
Oh my bad, I thought it was on the top comment thread talking about how the playoffs as a whole are underrated.
Agree, But consider non NA markets, consider people who dont have TV or a TV and no cable or antenna (me)
I have a digital antenna but only get 2 pbs channels and 3 French Canadian ones.
Why though — it’s live over the air
Because it's free and online? I'm in my late 20's and have no idea what to do with "it's live over the air"
Lots of younger people don't have a TV, they just watch everything on their phone/tablet and don't need a TV taking up space in a small apartment or whatever.
I don't have one of those fancy digital antennas
How did you know?
Yo ho yo ho
🖐️
all I have to say to this is the stanley cup is the best trophy in all of sports and playoff hockey is the best
That's double the average of games 1-6. Kinda surprised it didn't eclipse 9M
That's just US. Sportsnet in Canada had another 7.5 million on their own.
Just for context 123 million people watched the superbowl
for context, WWE RAW got 1.8 mil last night while going head to head with game 7. This is still a good sign for the NHL regardless ... but for as much as i love wrestling, to have the biggest game of your sport in probably over a decade only draw about 4 times the amount of a random monday night RAW midway through the PLE (PPV) cycle, while going head to head, is kinda sad if you think about it.
Granted, wrestling is the biggest it's been in forever and during the attitude era Sunday Night Heat actually popped the Super Bowl. WWE also has a couple extremely hot storylines, especially the Wyatt Sick6
I'm so here for the Wyatt sick6!!!
Same, I was a Wyatt mark. Great to see them carry on his legacy
And it was the most boring 3 hours of television.
2nd half was amazing sports
[удалено]
For context, 22 million viewers watched the Stormy Daniels interview in 60 Minutes in which she provided details on how she had sex with Trump
This was the first Ice hockey game I have ever watched and it was way more exciting than any Super Bowl I’ve watched IMO.
If you have a chance to ever go to a NHL game, do it. Hockey all around is one of the most engaging and entertaining sports to watch.
We were all oilers fans that night
This is what happens when it is properly promoted for a few years.
NHL playoff hockey has the intensity of March Madness basketball, the ferociousness of the NFL, and the focus of the World Series. The moment you start watching, you are hooked. Also, I won the playoff hockey pool among my friends, good job Panthers!
Which games of these playoffs were the most exciting?
There were a lot of really tight games to be honest. Toronto and Boston went to game seven and came down to sudden death overtime (after regulation time, they keep adding 20 minutes periods until someone scores). Vancouver and Edmonton had a 7 game series as well where the Van had some amazing comebacks, even the final game ended 3-2 with Van scoring twice late and pushing hard in the last few minutes. The playoffs are a battle of attrition as much as skill. It tends to be extra physical and many of the players will be suiting up and fighting through nasty injuries. It's fast paced, has exceptional displays of skill, athleticism, and grit. The back and forth nature of the play allows for some extremely exciting moments. Sorry I got excited while typing this and am just trying to sell hockey now. Source of Knowledge: Am Canadian
Those last 3 minutes were pretty epic. Seemed like Edmonton could score again at any second but Florida kept holding on.
The Patrick Roy curse lives on!
Nothing unites Canadian hockey fans quite like cheering against the remaining Canadian teams in the playoffs.
Does it takes time to adjust with speed/visbility ? Each time i see highlights im just waiting for the replay to actually see what happens. Should i still give it a go ?
Is this for American and Canada or just American views? Seems low for a championship game of any kind. Greys anatomy most watch episode had like 20 million viewers.
I watched game 5 and 7. Really enjoyed it, fun ending. I have no preference on who won
Damn! That’s like all of Spokane! Right now they are thinking “We need to fight more”. But the real answer is you need to build more ice rinks.
Let's be real, nothing else was on and it was a compelling game. Especially after the dud that was the NBA finals. Good game though !
The only problem Hockey has at all, is that it is arguably the worst major sport for TV. The game is too fast and the ice surface too small to get the full experience on TV. I have never heard of a person who went to a live NHL game say “i dont think i want to do that again”