I'm becoming a fair weather Flames fan. Am I alone?

[Britflamesfan]

No passion, no hitting, no fighting = boring hockey. Even during the young gun days you would be excitied about seeing some big hits and a few good scraps. The NHL have taken the excitement out of the game and I strongly believe that people will stop watching, it's happening with the NFL as well. I used to pick up the old Don Cherry video at the end of each season to see the big hits etc, you would only get 2 minutes worth now of the odd brush against the wall. Give me some more Dennis Gauthier type hits and I may get interested again.

[Fire]

Not that I necessarily disagree with you, but you guys are depressing me.

[Textcritic]

The game has changed, and I am okay with that.

[spuzzum]

Originally Posted by Diemenz

Do you enjoy watching hockey or do you enjoy reading the ticket sales info and reviewing the flames expense reports?

Personally I tune in for the game, the business I could care less about. I haven't seen a single person buy a jersey with the name of someone in the front office on the back.

I've got Ken King as the name on my Flames jersey. I'm his number one fan. It'd be a riot for someone to throw Bettman on the back and walk around the Dome.

I go up and down with my level of interest in hockey. I'm a passionate fan that knows a ton of historical stats. I'm a firm believer the season for all sports leagues is way too long - 82 games + playoffs equals Sept to June. That's blooming crazy and designed strictly for generating cash.

[direwolf]

I still follow the team religiously, but another ugly October could seriously test my patience. The arena issue has also put a damper on my enthusiasm for the Flames.

[Spinach]

Originally Posted by CliffFletcher

Probably both. There is less emotion in the game today. Except during a tough play-off series, the players today don't hate their opponents the way they used to. There's so much player movement, guys always have friends on the other team. They have the same agents, they train together in the off-season. Players no longer bleed for the jersey they wear and want to shred the jersey of the other team.

Combine that with the intensive coaching and need to play error-free hockey, and you have a game that is technically excellent, but often flat and boring as a spectator.

Yup, now you'd never see a player rush into the stands and using a fan's shoe to beat said fan, or using a skate to rip an opponent's jersey. Of course, those were rare occurrences even in the old(ish) days, but now there's nothing even approaching that kind of thing.

That's not to say I ever enjoyed goons hammering on other goons. I'm glad that's gone. There just doesn't seem to be any on or off-ice craziness (Bryzgalov might be the last one I can recall).

In the 90's I remember wanting to see a more technically-oriented game coupled with getting rid of obstruction. Maybe it's too much of a good thing now, but I'd generally agree that players being over-coached and the business aspects of sport have drained some of the unpredictability and explosiveness from the on-ice/on-field product.

[saXon]

Originally Posted by spuzzum

I've got Ken King as the name on my Flames jersey. I'm his number one fan. It'd be a riot for someone to throw Bettman on the back and walk around the Dome.

I go up and down with my level of interest in hockey. I'm a passionate fan that knows a ton of historical stats. I'm a firm believer the season for all sports leagues is way too long - 82 games + playoffs equals Sept to June. That's blooming crazy and designed strictly for generating cash.

Ken King on your sweater? You win the thread. You're the fairest weather fan of them all

Spoiler!

[Itse]

Now that some time has passed I think I can say that McDavid going to Edmonton more or less permanently killed some of my interest for the game. It just robs meaning of all the painstaking work the Flames and other rebuilding teams put in. If there ever was a team that deserved to be the laughing stock of their league, it was the Oilers. They should still be a laughing stock, and I can't support the reason they are not. But I also don't have it in me to hate McDavid for it. At least the previous roster was such a hilarious bunch of entitled losers they were easy to dislike.

Watching Las Vegas start tanking even before their first season started was also just sad.

I hope Vegas is going to be hilariously bad, because at least that would be something, and I hope they fail so miserably they quickly go bankrupt.

I just can't get behind rewarding failure.

[Enoch Root]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

With PVR, it's not that hard to watch every game.

I haven't missed a game in 15 years and even the games I watch live I will record them and re watch again.

Sadly, I am in the same boat.

And while I don't think it's been 15 years, I can't remember the last game I missed.

I agree with the people lamenting the reduction of hits and fighting. But rosters are much deeper and more competitive. The difference between winning and losing is much more marginal now, and that keeps it interesting and exciting for me.

[Igottago]

I'm not becoming a fairweather Flames fan (I'll always want the Flames to win), but I am becoming a more fairweather NHL fan. Probably part of it is just getting older and having different priorities. I just don't feel like I have the time available to watch every Flames game all season anymore. Most likely this season I'll watch select games and just keep an eye on scores for the rest.
I also feel like the league is run like a joke sometimes. I think Itse's comment is on point. Add to it stupid gimmicks like the World Cup, inconsistency and constant tinkering with rules, and I get the feeling the NHL doesn't really know what its doing a lot of the time.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by Itse

I just can't get behind rewarding failure.

It's better than the alternative. One of the things the NHL gets right is recognizing the importance of parity, and keeping fans of all teams believing they have a shot of winning the Cup, if not today than maybe in four or five years.

I have no idea what fans of EPL teams that have no chance of winning the premiereship get out of the sport. The darkest days of being a fan, for me, was when it was clear that the NHL had tiers of teams, and the same teams would be in the mix for the Cup year after year. The cap fixed most of that, but the entry draft is also crucial in ensuring teams go through cycles.

"Cups is Cups," and fans of every NHL team should have legitimate hope of winning it.

[Itse]

I don't watch sports for parity. I watch sports to see effort, dedication and talent rewarded. I want storylines I can get interested in. I want teams that feel different.

[jayswin]

You kind of dodged Cliff's point there. He was asking what's in it for the fans of the teams that are outside of the picture of realistically contending for a championship? That's very important and the NHL has done quite well in that regard.

You're a Flames fan, right? In the late 90's/early 2000's we were that team and it was awful. Putrid. It was ugly to follow and we nearly lost our team to a lack of parity and ability to compete financially.

There were some great storylines in the league, though. So I guess there was that.

[stamps]

Love the Flames , love the Stamps ..... I watch and cheer through the ups and downs ... that's sports ....

[Cecil Terwilliger]

Originally Posted by calgaryblood

I haven't missed a game in 15 years and even the games I watch live I will record them and re watch again.

[wired]

I'm not able to catch many games, as I am working 12 hr days, 6 days a week.
I am not too fired up to watch hockey this year.
Not sure why.

[mikephoen]

Just when I thought I was out... They pull me back in!

[tvp2003]

I'm becoming a fair weather Flames fan. Am I alone?

I can confirm that it's snowing right now but that it's a good time to be a Flames fan

[Frequitude]

I just don't find hockey that entertaining of a product anymore.

Its been a couple years since I watched a Flames game on TV in real time. Now I usually just PVR games and fast forward until I see either a) a goal happened, b) a powerplay, or c) #13 on the ice. Then I just rewind a bit and watch a couple minutes of play. Rinse and repeat. I'll certainly be adding #68 to that list now, so perhaps that draws me back into a bit more of the game real time.

Its also been a number of years since I bought tickets to a game. Now I just go when people offer them to me for free.

I will admit though. Jagr has definitely chipped away at my fairweathernes all of a sudden.

[Weitz]

Originally Posted by Frequitude

I just don't find hockey that entertaining of a product anymore.

Its been a couple years since I watched a Flames game on TV in real time. Now I usually just PVR games and fast forward until I see either a) a goal happened, b) a powerplay, or c) #13 on the ice. Then I just rewind a bit and watch a couple minutes of play. Rinse and repeat. I'll certainly be adding #68 to that list now, so perhaps that draws me back into a bit more of the game real time.

Its also been a number of years since I bought tickets to a game. Now I just go when people offer them to me for free.

I will admit though. Jagr has definitely chipped away at my fairweathernes all of a sudden.

I'll do this if I record a game. No way will I watch a game start to finish that isn't live. Too much boring time IMO.