I have a pretty good idea of the US and Canada, but I'm wondering to those in Europe and other places, how popular is ice hockey in your country?

They hockey fan population in the UK is almost non-existent

Is there a reason? Is there like a stigma against it similar to the soccer culture in the US?

I don't really know. Most sports from the US aren't popular here. Basketball, American football, Baseball etc..... Maybe it's because we didn't know some of these sports existed until TV was invented and they just haven't caught on yet:confused:

You don't mean ice hockey? I've never seen a hockey game in TV so far :|

It's kind of popular...........;)

I'm pretty sure it's more popular here than anywhere else.

Originally posted by John 1
I don't really know. Most sports from the US aren't popular here. Basketball, American football, Baseball etc..... Maybe it's because we didn't know some of these sports existed until TV was invented and they just haven't caught on yet:confused:


Most historians place the roots of hockey in the chilly climes of northern Europe, specifically Great Britain and France, where field hockey was a popular summer sport more than 500 years ago. When the ponds and lakes froze in winter, it was not unusual for the athletes who fancied that sport to play a version of it on ice.

An ice game known as kolven was popular in Holland in the 17th century, and later on the game really took hold in England.
a rudimentary version of the sport becoming popular in the English marshland community of Bury Fen in the 1820s. The game,was called bandy, and the local players used to scramble around the town's frozen meadowlands, swatting a wooden or cork ball, known as a kit or cat, with wooden sticks made from the branches of local willow trees.


so,in short it is NOT an american or canadian sport,no matter what you crazy canucks think ;)

Well, when I went to Germany 2 summers ago, my host brother played on a local hockey team, so there is some hockey contingent over in Central Europe.

Russia,Finland,Sweden,ect are hotbeds for talent and germany is catching altough still not up to par with other countries in europe.

Hell even brasil is catching on :D

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz
Most historians place the roots of hockey in the chilly climes of northern Europe, specifically Great Britain and France, where field hockey was a popular summer sport more than 500 years ago. When the ponds and lakes froze in winter, it was not unusual for the athletes who fancied that sport to play a version of it on ice.

An ice game known as kolven was popular in Holland in the 17th century, and later on the game really took hold in England.
a rudimentary version of the sport becoming popular in the English marshland community of Bury Fen in the 1820s. The game,was called bandy, and the local players used to scramble around the town's frozen meadowlands, swatting a wooden or cork ball, known as a kit or cat, with wooden sticks made from the branches of local willow trees.


so,in short it is NOT an american or canadian sport,no matter what you crazy canucks think ;)


Well there's gealic sports that sound similar to that- "shinty" and something else I can't remember the name of. They're not very popular either

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz
Most historians place the roots of hockey in the chilly climes of northern Europe, specifically Great Britain and France, where field hockey was a popular summer sport more than 500 years ago. When the ponds and lakes froze in winter, it was not unusual for the athletes who fancied that sport to play a version of it on ice.

An ice game known as kolven was popular in Holland in the 17th century, and later on the game really took hold in England.
a rudimentary version of the sport becoming popular in the English marshland community of Bury Fen in the 1820s. The game,was called bandy, and the local players used to scramble around the town's frozen meadowlands, swatting a wooden or cork ball, known as a kit or cat, with wooden sticks made from the branches of local willow trees.


so,in short it is NOT an american or canadian sport,no matter what you crazy canucks think ;)
Yah that's great............
I don't think any Canadians said we thought we invented it.

I'm pretty sure the only sport that closely represented modern hockey was played recreationally in Finland. You can find "similar" games or whatever for every sport in almost every place with a similar climate.

The organized league was started in Canada by the English, soon to be Canadian, soldiers.

i was just joking LaBrujita Canada is great,but i always talk to canadians that act like they invented it for some reason.

No doubt Canada is the brasil of hockey but even better!

BTW only reason i brought that up was because John
said "Most sports from the US aren't popular here."

Had to let him that it is European not American :)

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz
i was just joking LaBrujita Canada is great,but i always talk to canadians that act like they invented it for some reason.

No doubt Canada is the brasil of hockey but even better!

BTW only reason i brought that up was because John
said "Most sports from the US aren't popular here."

Had to let him that it is European not American :)

Well what I meant was that most sports that are popular in the US aren't popular here.

ahh,well at least we all got a history lesson :D no problem just thought you thought Hockey was American. :)

Hockey isn't to big in the US but in Canada it's crazy

Some places in america are hockey places like Alaska even though we don't get a NHL team but a ****ey place like New York gets 3 :rolleyes: all 3 of them combined can't get anything except an arse kicking from New Jersey!

Detroit is coming around due to there team doing good

Nashville,Buffalo,Atlanta,Florida,ect can go to hell and make room for some Alaskan teams :rockman:

You moron, can you imagine the travel costs for teams to go to Alaska 6 times a year?

Originally posted by Nimreitz
You moron, can you imagine the travel costs for teams to go to Alaska 6 times a year?
Maybe you're the moron, it really isn't that far, especially relatively.
Think about the length from Vancouver to Florida.... that's a long trip, Vancouver to Alaska (Juno or wherever) isn't really that far by plane. It would just be like going to Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver with a few more hours added on. Not that big of a deal.


No problem about before Ilhan, just making sure I made my"self" clear;) .

It really is a shame that there are so many bad US market teams out there (i.e. nashville, anaheim, columbus) that get teams because of a billionare or two. Whereas the likes of great Canadian hockey cities, like Winnipeg or Quebec, get the shaft. I would really like to see the return of a few Canadian cities (maybe even Victoria...we won the Cup in, i think, '29:p ).

Don't know if you guys are aware of it, but there's also the Hockey game (no ice). It's very popular in Italy, Portugal, Spain, Argentina, etc.
I think it's the only game where we actually kick some serious ass.:fluffy:

Emm but the countys which you kick in the ass don't care :hump:

Originally posted by LaBrujita
Maybe you're the moron, it really isn't that far, especially relatively.
Think about the length from Vancouver to Florida.... that's a long trip, Vancouver to Alaska (Juno or wherever) isn't really that far by plane. It would just be like going to Edmonton/Calgary/Vancouver with a few more hours added on. Not that big of a deal.


No problem about before Ilhan, just making sure I made my"self" clear;) .

It really is a shame that there are so many bad US market teams out there (i.e. nashville, anaheim, columbus) that get teams because of a billionare or two. Whereas the likes of great Canadian hockey cities, like Winnipeg or Quebec, get the shaft. I would really like to see the return of a few Canadian cities (maybe even Victoria...we won the Cup in, i think, '29:p ).

Exactly although i like columbus i don't really think they are a hockey town and i agree Canada should have more teams.


And to who ever called me a moron think about this

Anchorage Aces are moving from the WCHL to the ECHL and we will be playing teams like florida,columbus,ect and no one is complaining about travel cost in fact they WANT us to play in the ECHL because they know we draw big crowds because of the love for hockey.

Big crowds = Big Money = happy league

Hell we even play against countries not many states can say they play against a country of all-stars.

and air travel by the way is extremely cheap for sports leagues due to the constant travel. The leagues get big discounts especially when they are advertising there business,but i guess you knew that already :rolleyes:

Canada can't handle any more hockey teams, it's that simple. With our dollar the way it is, it's impossible for cities like Winnepeg and Quebec to have a profitable organization. It may be sad, but it's true.

Just look at the Ottawa Senators, long history of hockey, currently at the top of the eastern conference, and they have no money to pay their players. Also when someone like Mario Lemieux comes to Ottawa, there's 5000 empty seats:kader: :kader:

With a stronger dollar in the United states and strong attendances, there's no reason why not to expand in the United States, it's the logical thing to do.

well i don't know about Canada's situation with currency but i will take your word for it.

About expanding in the U.S. while it seems good,The problem is they are expanding to places where no one really cares much,Instead of expanding to cities that love hockey like Boston they are expanding to places like Nashville where they don't really care about it.

I guess they are talking about Portland now but i think there are much better places to have a hockey club in the US

Originally posted by vince15
Emm but the countys which you kick in the ass don't care :hump:

That's right, but the reason is precisely bcs they're getting their asses kicked. :fluffy:

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz

Hell even brasil is catching on :D

:|

Hugo, field hockey is quite popular here (mainly girls) through all stages of school. But beyond that, there's not much.

Originally posted by LaBrujita
Hugo, field hockey is quite popular here (mainly girls) through all stages of school. But beyond that, there's not much.

Nah, the hockey I'm talking about is played in regular courts, like in basketball or handball. Let me get a pic to show you.

Here we go:

http://www.fcporto.pt/Imagens/6020.jpg

http://www.fcporto.pt/Imagens/5597.jpg

Originally posted by emmer
:|

Yep that's right There's quite a few brasilians being drafted to the major leagues,Of course it's not as popular as football(not even close),but it's good to know that some are taking to the sport.

Originally posted by INFESTA
Here we go:

http://www.fcporto.pt/Imagens/6020.jpg

http://www.fcporto.pt/Imagens/5597.jpg

LOL!

I watched this sport once on FSW Español for about 5 minutes. It was Barcelona vs someone. Basically those 5 minutes consisted of me laughing my ass off at those fairy skates.:evil: :evil:

Seriously though, the entire world is familiar with roller blades, why not use them? They make skating much easier. Also I noticed that there was no contact at all. :confused:

I'm not knocking the sport, just pointing out what I feel would improve the game.

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz
well i don't know about Canada's situation with currency but i will take your word for it.

About expanding in the U.S. while it seems good,The problem is they are expanding to places where no one really cares much,Instead of expanding to cities that love hockey like Boston they are expanding to places like Nashville where they don't really care about it.

I guess they are talking about Portland now but i think there are much better places to have a hockey club in the US

Believe me, the canadian dollar is a disgrace. It's currently at $1 CDN equaling $1.50 US. Add to that that ALL of NHL contracts are paid out in american dollars. This is why small market teams like Calgary, Edmonton, and Ottawa have to literally beg their fans to buy season tickets.

Not to brag, but Toronto is the only city in all of Canada which has no financial problems and doesn't worry at all about money. It's because we have the largest population of any city in Canada, and as a result the arena will always be full; even if the team does suck. Montreal and Vancouver are probably also financially stable, Vancouver being in the better situation of the two. Both are no where near the stability of a Toronto or Detroit.

And finally, Thank Wayne Gretzky for bringing hockey to places like Anaheim and San Jose. He is the reason all those cities along the west coast got franchises. No doubt he is the greatest ambassador the game has ever had.

Originally posted by Ilhan Mansiz
Yep that's right There's quite a few brasilians being drafted to the major leagues,Of course it's not as popular as football(not even close),but it's good to know that some are taking to the sport.

hm i didn't know that. thanks for the info :)

The form of "hockey" looks like roller hockey for queers:confused: ;). There's no way Canadians would stand for non-contact hockey. There is full contact roller hockey leagues though. (they don't wear spandex though)

Actually, the reason Ottawa is folding isn't because of the dollar (wlel, the dollar alone): The current owner is also invested in a bunch of other things (not exactly sure) and those things have bombed causing him to lose most of his money. The team itself is selling out every night, though the dollar does obviously come into play. They just need another owner to buy them up )and part of the Arena)

Originally posted by SnYper
LOL!

I watched this sport once on FSW Español for about 5 minutes. It was Barcelona vs someone. Basically those 5 minutes consisted of me laughing my ass off at those fairy skates.:evil: :evil:

Seriously though, the entire world is familiar with roller blades, why not use them? They make skating much easier. Also I noticed that there was no contact at all. :confused:

I'm not knocking the sport, just pointing out what I feel would improve the game.

roller blades aren't used in this type of Hockey cause they don't make skating easy!
According to friend who used to play it's more dificult to turn and change speed with rollers than with these types of skates.

In Portugal ice hockey is completely non-existent since we have a very warm climate, so we turned to the Hockey Infesta showed in his post :D

here's the pic of a keeper:

some other equipment.

the skates:

the stick:

and of course the ball:

Nope, Ice Hockey is virtually non-existent here as a competitive sport. There are a few teams I think, but nothing that gets any coverage. Same as Baseball, Gridiron etc. Really the only sport that one would associate with the US that has much participation here is Basketball, but again it isn't considered a 'major' sport. Getting bigger though.

But Ice Hockey, nope.

That's why I hope I'm some day rich enough to build rinks all over the world and teach people everywhere about hockey.

We have rinks, and people know about it, but it is just never going to catch on here. Ever. Rugby Union, Rugby League and football have the market cornered.

Originally posted by bmpv666
non-existent since we have a very warm climate:
There are hockey teams in Florida/California etc.

(Just pointing that out for the sake of it. Obviously you need the money and popularity to be there to do that.

Originally posted by LaBrujita
The form of "hockey" looks like roller hockey for queers:confused: ;). There's no way Canadians would stand for non-contact hockey. There is full contact roller hockey leagues though. (they don't wear spandex though)

Actually, the reason Ottawa is folding isn't because of the dollar (wlel, the dollar alone): The current owner is also invested in a bunch of other things (not exactly sure) and those things have bombed causing him to lose most of his money. The team itself is selling out every night, though the dollar does obviously come into play. They just need another owner to buy them up )and part of the Arena)

Our hockey emphasizes the technique aspect, while yours is more physical. Although I like them both, ice-hockey always seems too "square" and simple to me, while ours looks "for queers" to you. :p
If we look at it, the same thing happens with the way our football is played: we have some of the most creative and tallented dribblers in the wold.
For 80% of them, that's all they an do - dribble :|

Originally posted by INFESTA
Our hockey emphasizes the technique aspect, while yours is more physical. Although I like them both, ice-hockey always seems too "square" and simple to me, while ours looks "for queers" to you. :p
If we look at it, the same thing happens with the way our football is played: we have some of the most creative and tallented dribblers in the wold.
For 80% of them, that's all they an do - dribble :|

Hockey is definately NOT simple. Having played rep hockey for 12 years I know can honestly say it's the most difficult sport i've ever played, and yes I've played basically every big sport except rugby.

Continuing on....

Things people outside of the hockey hot bed don't know of things like break outs, offsides, penalty killing, and power plays. 50% of practices, atleast at the rep level are focused around these fundamental things, if you can't do any of these, your team is basically worthless. Once you grasp these concepts you move on to the physical part of the game. BTW, the other 50% is focused on skating, obviously skating is single most important part of the game.

Hockey is probably the toughest sport to play. Each season is 80 games, plus the playoffs. So you may be looking at 95 games. Your body goes through so much punishment it isn't even funny. Just the playoffs alone ruin your body for a good month or two. After all, in what other sport would someone throw their body infront of a 100 mph slapshot for your teams benefit? I don't think there's another sport like hockey where you take so much punishment.

I'm sure La Brujita will agree with me on this one.:)

Originally posted by SnYper

Hockey is probably the toughest sport to play. Each season is 80 games, plus the playoffs. So you may be looking at 95 games. Your body goes through so much punishment it isn't even funny. Just the playoffs alone ruin your body for a good month or two. After all, in what other sport would someone throw their body infront of a 100 mph slapshot for your teams benefit? I don't think there's another sport like hockey where you take so much punishment.

I'm sure La Brujita will agree with me on this one.:)
I agree for the most part, but don't get Hugo going on cycling!:D

I agree with you SnYper as i have played in leagues since i was a pee wee.

I play in goal but have also played as a forward in the past and even though most people say football takes the best conditioned athletes i have to disagree big time.

Even the absoluty best conditioned athlete can not play a full 60 minutes of hockey,where as in football many people can last the full 90.

Not saying football doesn't take great conditioning but the fact is that hockey is many times faster and harder on the body than any football match could ever dream of being.

Originally posted by SnYper
Things people outside of the hockey hot bed don't know of things like break outs, offsides, penalty killing, and power plays.


I didn't mean it had "simple" rules, or that it was simplistic. It's a bit hard to explain, but ice-hockey players' movements are somewhat more restrained, while our hockey seems more fluid.
Hope that was understandable. :|

And yes, cycling is tougher. :p Just wait until Mirun sees this thread... :)