A Puckhead’s Point of View

Football, baseball, basketball and hockey are widely considered the four major sports in the United States. Football is the most popular. There are youth teams in most towns and pretty much every high school in America has a team. It has surpassed baseball as “America’s Pastime”.

Hockey ranks well behind football in both popularity and participation. There are several possible reasons for that. The primary reason is there are many more youth football programs then hockey programs. This allows kids to be involved with football at an early age. Sunday afternoon football games are a standard in many households, while not nearly as families sit down and watch hockey games. People have a better understanding of the rules of football because they are a little easier to follow, but there are many aspects of hockey that are better than football.

Until the mid-1990’s, most towns across America had a football field, but finding a place, other than an empty parking lot, to play hockey was next to impossible. Trying to find an ice rink was more than a challenge in most of the country. In the last twenty years more roller hockey rinks have been built by towns, and ice rinks have been built in many towns where there were none before, including the southern U.S.

There is also a greater expense to play hockey. Most of the equipment used for football is owned by the league or team and is reused season after season. The fields are usually owned by towns or schools and funded and maintained through tax dollars and concession sales. Hockey equipment is generally the responsibility of the player. They buy their own pads, sticks, and skates. If you are playing roller hockey, some towns have rinks. Many rinks are shared with other towns to distribute the cost. Ice rinks are usually privately owned and you have to pay for ice time.

Because there are so few rinks, teams compete for ice time. This means some teams my have games or practices as early as 5 am. If you consider the drive time and the time to get all of your gear on this could mean getting up by 3:30 am. Most football practices are after school and games are on Friday evenings or on the weekend. It fits well into most people’s schedule.

More kids watch football with their families than hockey. Football is mostly played on Sunday afternoons and, children, parents, and sometimes even grandparents will all get together and watch. Many hockey games are played on weeknights and are over after children’s bed times. There are huge parties thrown for the Super Bowl. The Stanley Cup Finals are a least four games and could be as many as seven. That makes it hard to throw a party unless it goes to a seventh game.

It is easier to follow the play on television while watching football. It is a slower moving game with more time spent waiting for something to happen. You can see replays as soon as the play is over. Football always translated much better on television than hockey did, but now, as HDTV becomes more popular, hockey looks much better.

For years people complained about not being able to see the puck, but now HDTV has not only made that easier, but also allows you to see more of the ice surface. This all allows you to follow the play better. Hockey is a fast paced sport without many stoppages. Players come out for a shift and change without stopping play. This does not leave a lot of time for replays. It also does not leave much time for commercials. Networks are allowed only three commercial breaks per period and those are regulated as to when during the period. There are no “TV time outs” during overtime.

Most people understand the rules of football. They see it from a young age and the rules are fairly simple and straight forward. Hockey has a lot of rules that can even cause confusion with professional players from time to time. It doesn’t help that hockey has somewhat different rules in other countries, while football is an American sport. Tournaments run by the International Ice Hockey Federation, or IIHF, have slightly different rules than National Hockey League, or NHL. This can lead to confusion for the casual sports fan.

A football season is sixteen games and up to four playoff games in a little over four months. So if the average fan watches every game their team plays, and the team makes it to the Super Bowl, they have made time to watch on twenty days. A hockey season is eighty-two games and up to twenty-eight playoff games. A team could play a hundred games in just under nine months. There is much more of a commitment from a fan to watch every game. A DVR can be a very useful item for a hockey fan.

Even thought there is more of a commitment, it is worth the extra effort. The high pace of play, speed of the players and the level of contact is all greater than in football. There are no breaks after each play. Players change on the fly. This means the play keeps going while the teams change out the players. Football teams change the personnel on the field in-between plays.

If you like football because it is a contact sport, then you will love hockey. These guys are traveling twice the speed of football player when they collide. Whether it’s a hit in the open ice or a big collision along the boards, hockey players dish out the best hits of any sport. It’s like being in ten or fifteen car accidents in a night.

If you fight in football you are ejected from the game and could face suspension or fines from the league. The NHL and many other hockey leagues allow fighting. There is no fighting in tournaments run by the IIHF such as the Olympics. Some people would like to remove the fighting from the NHL, but it is part of the game. Players know that they have to answer for indiscretions. This helps to keep the players safe and serves to protect star players from being pummeled.

Fighting is also good for the fans. There are two things that get people out of their seats during a hockey game: goals and fights. Most fans enjoy the fights and it can help get the crowd into a game. Fights have also been know to swing the momentum of a game. There are people that do not like the fighting, but there is plenty of other action for them.

When you are playing football one person has the ball and everyone on the field is paying attention to that one person. You are either blocking or trying to tackle the ball carrier. Hockey requires you to pay attention to every player. There can be a pass at anytime. There is no out of bounds. The puck is always live and you never know where it could bounce. If you lose your man or the puck you can easily cost your team a goal.

That constant motion combines with the speed and grace of many of the skaters to create amazing high speed action that cannot help but get your adrenaline pumping. Teams get chance after chance to score. Fans are brought to the edge of their seat and you never know if it will be a great goal or a huge save. Football does not offer as number of scoring opportunities as hockey, and you can usually tell when someone is about to score. You get that excitement with hockey several times a week.

Not only do hockey player deal with a much more grueling schedule, but they also play through injuries that would cause most professional athletes to miss weeks. Ian Laperriere, of the Philadelphia Flyers, was hit in the face with a puck. He lost seven teeth and required nearly 100 stitches. He returned to play later in the same game. Players have played with broken hands, broken feet, separated shoulders, and many other injuries. You never hear that a hockey player misses a game for something that could be called “turf toe”.

Football has players with more flash and pizzazz. There are plenty of players like Terrell Owens or Chad “Ochocinco” Johnson in the NFL. They are always in the spotlight and if they are not they will do whatever it takes to get back in it. Hockey players, with very few exceptions, are very low key. Usually during interview, they will give credit to a teammate opposed to accepting praise. Alexander Ovechkin is the flashiest player the NHL has ever seen.

To go along with the low key style, hockey players are, for the most part, more personable. They will always take the time to sign autographs and acknowledge the fans. Teams will sometimes skate out to center ice and salute the fans after a game. You never see a football team come out on the field and do anything like that when the game is over. Hockey players understand how big of a role the fans play in their sport. Football sees the crowd as noise.

Hockey fans are the most loyal, dedicated fans in all sports. They love their team and they love their sport. It does take a little effort to understand and follow the game, but so does anything worth doing. Once you understand the game and its rules you’ll be hooked. It’s definitely worth the time.

Try watching a game with someone who is a fan and ask questions. If you get the chance go to a game, even if it is a minor league or college game, take it. Hockey is more fun live. You will have a good time and it will cost you less than half the price of a football game. Given a little time you could become a puckhead too.