Does hockey bring you joy, or is it becoming a drag

[Gaskal]

Originally Posted by badradio

Yes, but why is it so quiet? Even when they are playing well. I know it’s fantastic during playoffs.

The crowds and noise seem alright during most games. I wouldn't say it was loud - but my friends definitely have to use their "foghorn" voices just to be heard a lot of the time for conversations, when I bring them. It's not a library like it is on TV, because we're closer to the PLs and not the corporate fancy seats, where the mics that pick up the on-ice action sounds are stationed around the glass. None of those guys get loud unless it's playoffs.

So whenever I do get the very rare opportunity to sit in the lower bowl during the regular season, I make good use of the library atmosphere. I ripped into Dion and Eric Staal last year. And I hope my "DON'T TOEWS ME BRO" was loud and clear over the groundhog day game against the Hawks.

[81MC]

Originally Posted by badradio

Yes, but why is it so quiet? Even when they are playing well. I know it’s fantastic during playoffs.

It feels like a symptom of Calgary. I’m not sure if people are overly conservative (I don’t mean politically or anything like that), or a fear of standing out from the crowd, or just an aversion to loud noise. But I attend a fair bit of events, and even when there is an absolutely stellar performance that deserves recognition its chillingly quiet. Theatre, protest, musical performance, sports, it’s all a dead zone and it’s kind of a bummer.
That said, the introductory music they blare in the dome before all the games there, where it’s too loud in the concourse to have a conversation maybe ruins everyone’s appetite for more noise.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I still enjoy watching games (I have only missed a handful of games total in probably the last three or four seasons combined).

I have a very weird schedule right now where I basically get an opportunity to have two naps a day for around 2 hours each. I end up giving up my naps during the evening so I can watch the Flames.

I still love them and cheer for them, but I am finding myself getting really irritable these days. This team is not a joy to cheer for. Games are mostly on the boring side. I still watch them because I am a fan, and because I am always afraid of missing something memorable, but after most games I think to myself: "Bad decision. I should have slept."

It isn't just winning or losing. They are a losing team this year, so it makes things worse, but it is really about the style of game. It is cold. Mechanical. Gaudreau and Brodie are the only players that seem to show a lot of creativity. Tkachuk is often the only one that shows a tonne of emotion.

I always watched hockey since I was a kid, and when the Flames first moved to Calgary. I was hooked on it, and later, I got hooked on the NBA as well (and was always hooked on Soccer - it is in my blood). Well, I got absolutely sick of the NBA more than a decade ago. Why? There was NOTHING NEW. Nothing memorable. It became, in my opinion, a really boring product. I don't care what people say, the NBA is incredibly boring these days.

Hockey is going that same way. What makes a game boring? Lack of emotion. Stifling systems without creativity. Storylines.

Hockey is suffering from a lack of emotion most nights. The stifling systems are coming back and teams are playing extremely tight systems. Storylines are often there, however.

The NHL is becoming the "Nothing Happens League" on most nights. I am enjoying the VGK story this year, I am loving Nashville. Some Eastern teams are interesting to follow...

But the Flames? They are both BORING to watch AND they aren't doing well. That's a deadly combo. Yet, every game night, I force myself to watch them. I force myself to come here often and talk about them (or just read).

It has become so... routine. It feels like I am starting to become detached a bit (which says a lot, since I was the only one out of my buddies that continued to watch them every season between the cup win and the 2004 run.

The rebuild did the opposite of what I was expecting - it reinvigorated my love for the team. Now it has started going stale somehow. I don't know what it is about them. It is just a more difficult team this year to really get excited about for whatever reason - even when they were holding a playoff spot and I thought that they would be challening VGK for the division by this date.

I still love watching some teams, and I always switch from whatever hockey (or other sport) I am watching and turn it to the Flames, and I just find it boring.

This is not a Gulutzan thing (I don't think - but maybe).

Watching the Flames sometimes feels like work. I don't know why and I don't understand it, but at the same time I can't stop watching, just in case something memorable happens that makes me smile and once again be proud of this team for something.

[rooster]

I only watch the Calgary Flames. Go to the odd game. The nosebleeds were under $7 IIRC the first game we went to. Haven't missed a game on TV since the 86 playoff run. From the Hat. I used to listen to Peter and Doug Barkley(best colour man ever) on the radio for the games that weren't on TV and I had to keep the radio held at a certain angle and one finger on the on/off button or there would be too much static to hear clearly enough. I remember when the Hotstove lounge first started on Flames radio. It was excellent with older guys who had a history in the game. Now the pregame and post game is the same every game. Wills, Loubo and Steinberg over and over and over again. THis year there has been many times I wanted to throw the towel in but can't bring myself to do it. Maybe next year if the The Three Stooges are coaching still and Foghorn Leghorn is still the CEO.

[Jiri Hrdina]

Interesting discussion.
For me overall I still enjoy sports and hockey. My approach has always been to enjoy the highs and not be dragged down by the lows. Sports is a fun distraction, not something to impact my mood negatively.
My passion is not what it used to be but that is largely a function of having way more important things in my life.

On advanced stats, I’m not a big stats guy but I have come to appreciate them somewhat. I think the traditional stats, such as plus/minus and shots are quite poor. So I see value in some of the new measurements such as high danger scoring chances. But I also believe that hockey has more randomness and luck to it compared to something like baseball where the 1:1 matchup between a batter and pitcher is perfectly suited to analytics. But I see value in both stats and the eye test. I do think those that dismiss advocates of advanced stats as “geeks” are taking an immature and ignorant stance. If you don’t find value in them – fine. But don’t look down your nose at those that do, particularly when clearly you haven’t taken time to understand. Just because you don’t understand something doesn’t give you the right to attach childish labels to a group that finds value in them. In short – grow up.

I think there are some things that could make hockey more enjoyable to sports fans.
Sportsnets’ presentation is poor compared to what TSN used to do. That’s been a step back.
Locally who ever replaced Peter Maher was going to have a tough gig but I find Wills to be particularly bad. Personal taste but he just doesn’t tap into the emotion of the game. I think we are lucky to have Ball and Hrudey. And I like Loubo. But I grew up on radio PBP so that step back has been a hard one.
The in-game presentation at the dome is probably the worst in the league. Vegas has a loud crowd but they also do way more to get the crowd fired up. Louder music. More current music. The weird drum troop. Energy everywhere. The Flames just don’t do enough of that. How long have they been running the Tim Horton’s doughnut challenge? I know it is sponsored but you have to keep things fresh. Every other rink I have been at is materially better at the game presentation and that helps create an atmosphere.

The biggest thing for me is how the game needs to evolve.
- Goalie pads should get smaller. Promote offense
- The game needs to get rid of fighting. Now. With what we now know about concussions you can’t have guys punching each other in the head. You can’t.
- More broadly the game needs to figure out how remain an engaging sport while changing the nature of physicality. Checking must become about taking the puck away from the puck carrier and anything more than that is a penalty. This evolution is required by all sports or they will die. Hockey has amongst the best ability to do that but it needs to embrace skill and speed over brawn. This is starting to happen but that evolution needs to accelerate. Some fans will leave. That’s ok. It needs to happen.

A turning point for me was watching Dion lay a guy out in the pre-season years ago. I think it might have been a very young Okposo. As I saw the kid lying there out cold, I realized I don’t want to see that anymore.

For me my perception of the sports has changed a lot. I find great joy in it still but from different things. I love that a guy like Johnny can not only play in the league now but excel. That’s great. Lean into that.

The greatest thing about being a fan of any team is there is always next year!

[DeluxeMoustache]

^ agreed with a lot of this. Those Scott Stevens hits are sickening.

I like the excitement of adjustments for the next year, but don’t like when the current year seems to be too easily and unnecessarily getting laid to waste.

[wired]

1. The inconsistency in the officiating. Call the game the same for both teams.
2. Flames based.....lack of compete for most of the Flames lineup.
3. Flames based.....sit any player who does not give a consistent effort.
4. New coaching staff please.

[Psytic]

I miss big hits and line brawls and net crashing and full body contact in general. They thought taking that all out would make the game more interesting but it’s actually become
more boring for me. I don’t think there is enough matieral for Don Cherry to even make a Rock em Sock Em Video anymore.

[CliffFletcher]

Agreed that the NHL game simply isn't as entertaining anymore. Part of is it the style of play and the stifling systems. Part of it is the lack of emotion. Fewer hits and fights. It sounds brutal, but one of the things that made hockey stand out from other sports was the raw, violent intensity of it. That's fading away. Add in the fact that the players are mostly mercenaries, that they hang out with guys from other teams and train with them them in off-season, and the players no longer demonstrate the passion they once did.

I remember watching almost 70 games a year in the late 80s. Back then, that meant finding out which bars were showing the game on satellite - places like the Pointe and Feather, Fox and Hounds, and Peanuts pub - and heading there on a Wednesday night with a couple buddies. No doubt it helped that the Flames had a President's Trophy calibre team. But the product on the ice was usually entertaining regardless.

I will say that NHL playoff hockey is still the best sport around. It has all the intensity, drama, and emotion that the regular season lacks. But the difference between the two - between the regular season and the playoffs - is remarkable. It's almost like a different sport.

[CliffFletcher]

Originally Posted by 81MC

It feels like a symptom of Calgary. I’m not sure if people are overly conservative (I don’t mean politically or anything like that), or a fear of standing out from the crowd, or just an aversion to loud noise. But I attend a fair bit of events, and even when there is an absolutely stellar performance that deserves recognition its chillingly quiet. Theatre, protest, musical performance, sports, it’s all a dead zone and it’s kind of a bummer.
That said, the introductory music they blare in the dome before all the games there, where it’s too loud in the concourse to have a conversation maybe ruins everyone’s appetite for more noise.

Calgary has long had a reputation for inert fans. The number of times I've seen a band try to rouse the crowd into demonstrating some energy, only to eventually give up. There's a line in the movie Hard Core Logo that goes something like "Calgary. Crowd is placid as usual. Bovine."

I think it's because it's an educated, white-collar, conservative city. Audiences are made up of polite, responsible, self-conscious people who have to go to work the next morning.

[heep223]

The reffing drives me bonkers and it’s gotten a lot worse. Guys embellishing all over the ice, and I can’t blame them, because sometimes it gets called and sometimes not. And if not, who cares try again next time.

It’s become a game of trying to get powerplays on every little play. The refs are made fools of night in night out.

I don’t blame them personally but someone has to figure out what to do. It’s seriously affecting the quality of the product.

[Strange Brew]

Coaching and watching my son play hockey as he has advanced through the levels has changed my perception of the game. Some for the better, some for the worse. Some things I would like to see less of:

Pounding the glass
Vitriol towards officials
Cheap shots and in general, misinterpreting the original purpose of a body check
Oversized goalie pads

I still love the intensity of playoff hockey and the drama of OT. The regular season has lost some luster for me though. I like the security blanket of having a Flames game on every 2nd or 3rd night but it’s too long a season to get emotionally invested in every game.

[Corral]

Originally Posted by rooster

I only watch the Calgary Flames. Go to the odd game. The nosebleeds were under $7 IIRC the first game we went to. Haven't missed a game on TV since the 86 playoff run. From the Hat. I used to listen to Peter and Doug Barkley(best colour man ever) on the radio for the games that weren't on TV and I had to keep the radio held at a certain angle and one finger on the on/off button or there would be too much static to hear clearly enough. I remember when the Hotstove lounge first started on Flames radio. It was excellent with older guys who had a history in the game. Now the pregame and post game is the same every game. Wills, Loubo and Steinberg over and over and over again. THis year there has been many times I wanted to throw the towel in but can't bring myself to do it. Maybe next year if the The Three Stooges are coaching still and Foghorn Leghorn is still the CEO.

Ditto for me. And like others have said, it made actually seeing a game on TV or live that much more special when most of the games were listened to on the radio. Saturation has dulled the experience of watching a game for me. And media coverage that just speaks the party line - either for a team or the league - listening to that is just a pure waste of my time.

[calgarywinning]

The negatives in the game are the officiating and new rulebook (except slashing). Who wants to sit around for 5 minutes waiting on an offside call that only a robot could make or a computer or HI-DEF video could call. This is only okay in playoff situations where a series is on the line. Or a gross mistake of a call that flips a game.

I wonder what officials really think about all these new rules. Why have linesman when it could be automated and plays called dead on the spot. The alleged drama I guess. However, these moments followed up with tepid calls to clean the game up by linesman drags the pace down.

Hockey was terrible in the 90's with the clutch and grab, skill would shine through but not what we have seen or the speed all these great teams play at.

3-3 overtime is fun. The shootout is lacklustre. The Flames were terribly disappointing to watch, especially home games, but many bright spots. So it continues. Peaks and valley's is why we watch sports.

[dammage79]

I'm going to Echo a couple of things mentioned.
Sportsnet has dulled the presentation to plain boring. If it wasn't for having Rick Ball and Kelly Hrudey calling the games, there'd be no point. The production is terrible, low quality and overall an embarassment to the sport they're covering.

Advanced stats, AKA the joy sucking thing that they are. Quite simply applying these things to this game has killed the fun for me. I hate talking to people in person who follow them, I hate reading about them in my twitter feed.

As the sample size grows larger. I find them even more meaningless. I dont care how a team wins games, as long as they win more than they lose. Applying them to coaching systems is making the teams that rely on them heavily look like idiots. ARZ, FLA, to a lesser extent Calgary. Cant take it.

The league watering down it's product. with more teams comes more games and the pool of Officials is non existent to carry the load. You're seeing that with a litany of terrible calls throughout the league, not just against the Flames. Getting confused by their own rules. The league has no idea what theyre doing and its out of control. K.I.S.S.


The media, major part of this is Sportsnet monopoly on the content up here. But overall its piss poor. From a Flames perspective, the utter garbage of trying to keep the Oilers relevant throughout their decade of failure has been an sore on the media.

Personal preference alert, the trapezoid. stupid, always has been, always will be.

From a Dome perspective, yes their presentation is super antiquated. The hokey keyboards during the anthem like they have the glorious pipe organ from the old Chicago stadium, you don't, don't use organs in anthems. If I were a season ticket holder I'd be hard pressed to go to all 41 games at the Dome. It'd be like watching the exact same episode for 6 months straight. Mix it up.

Flames organization AV club. Spend some flippin money. Just worse than bush league.

Do I still love hockey? yes. a lot. I do find however that those who have been charged with taking care of it to be doing a less than spectacular job.

Those that have paid to show this to the world have done a shameful job of properly covering the sport regionally, nationally and globally.

Not having the NHL in the Olympics is terrible. For the sake of money they've ruined the best outlet to grow the game around the world. No one cares about the world cup except the NHLPA and most of North America.

Calgary media. I dont want to crap on them a ton, but overall, they could be better.

Too many softball questions and not enough tree shaking of the organization.

[gunnner]

Great thread. Hockey is loaded with more talent than ever, the games are fast and i would argue despite the systems the scoring chances are creativity are higher than ever. But as others have said, something is missing and its the emotion and hate of the other team that is part of hockey. Hitting is basically gone. Hockey needs an edge to be hockey.

[Dion]

We have too many teams and with the way games are scheduled many of them do little to increase fan interest in the game. I find the regular season to be boring and it's only when the playoffs arrive does my interest peak.

We need more "Battle of Alberta" as opposed games against the teams we get to see a couple of times a year. More games within our division where games can become like a playoff atmosphere.

[JohnnyB]

I realised a long time ago that my having the Flames as the team I cheered for was totally arbitrary and that you can start to be a fan of another team pretty easily if you allow yourself to, so I looked at the league and figured the best team to cheer for was going to be Pittsburgh and I started cheering for them. That was before their last three cups, and I'm pretty glad I made that choice. I cheer for the Flames, but also cheering for the Pens has meant that I've had a lot more joy than I would have otherwise. Also, I think watching players who excel and you can admire the talent of is what really being a fan is about, and watching success makes it easy to be a fan. So, come the playoffs I'll be cheering for the Pens again and enjoying it a lot more than I have cheering on the Flames in the regular season.

I did love watching the Flames two seasons ago when they would continually come back late in games and were exciting. But the last two seasons have sucked to watch.

[JohnnyB]

I'll add, I think the thing about expansion that may be bad for fandom is just that it's the intensity of the playoffs that generates emotional attachment. Just like how rivalries are forged between teams in the playoffs, I think fans build their real emotional attachment to players and their teams in the playoffs. With expansion, it's just tougher to make the show. That's got to hurt fandom overall. How much attachment can be built without winning a single playoff game in three years? Last year did plenty for hating the Ducks, but little for loving the Flames. I would guess other fan bases experience that too.

[activeStick]

For me, my level of enthusiasm has gone down due to getting older (38 now) and the Flames' performance.

My problem isn't kids or wife as I'm single and simply dating, but as I've gotten older, for whatever reason, I'm just not as enthusiastic anymore. I used to be the guy that watched hockey every night and it would either be the Flames when they were playing or I'd watch games around the league when they weren't. I tune into every Flames game still but no longer watch it with the undivided attention I used to.

The excitement of the Flames style is another thing too which has me doing other things while the game is on. I have no issue with the coach (I'm an advocate of patience) but I have to admit that games seemed more exciting when Hartley was around.

Mostly though, I think it's just naturally going to happen as you get older, unless you are actually in the business of hockey.