Poor coverage of the NHL in America

[Patrick Roy 5]

Why has hockey suck to the depth of the american sports scene to the point that it is not even covered anymore. I moved to indiana from detroit 7 years ago, and once you get past south bend (Notre Dame hockey), no one no anything about the sport past the stereo typical i was at a fight and a hockey game broke out. Even in Chicago, the blackhawks flagship station does not mention the NHL except when it is game time...given the hawks sucks but come on. What is hockey coverage like in your part of the country?

I mean I was at a bar watching game 6 of the wings on versus, and I was moved to a 25 inch TV behind the bar for some ESPN 2 poker crap! ESPN sucks, too but that is a whole diferent topic.

What gives?

[HomeNugget 2]

coverage for the wild is pretty good in minnesota. i just wish they'd cover the only team that counts though.

[NMUSTU 0]

I agree 110%, I've got a couple opinions/statements/questions to throw out into the pool.

1. I feel that the poor coverage comes from just general society today, too focused on drama and who's on steroids and drug scandals (see: NFL MLB) These stories provide much better ratings then hockey can provide (in that respect mind you) In my few years as a hockey fan, I can probably count on one hand the stories such as the common steroid use, or drug abuse yatta yatta yatta

2. soccer moms: fighting doesnt go over well with them, they don't understand the concept of why fighting happens or the history behind it.

speaking of which, anyone out there (silly question ahead) know the history of fighting and why it came about. i've had this arguement with my fiancee and my mother (both of which don't understand fighting) but all i can come up with is the reason of "it just is there"

i think that's it for now

*edit* hockey coverage in north eastern wisconsin....wait what hockey coverage

Edited April 24, 2007 by NMUSTU

[stevie for president 42]

well, ESPN says absolutely nothing about hockey unless someone slashes someone else in the face or sucker punches someone trying to defend his best player.

I listen to sports radio a lot in Detroit. you know, the sports inferno and such. i feel like they talk about 60% lions, 20% pistons, 15% tigers, and the last 5% of airtime about the red wings. It actually makes me very mad. i was listening at the start of the NHL playoffs, and instead of predictions and matchups about the wings and flames, they argued about whether or not the lions should draft a quarterback. I wish we'd get TSN instead of CBC!

[Redwngfan2002 0]

Knoxville Tennessee - Fox Sports (FSN) covers all of the Pred games, but I really do not ever hear anything mentioned about them on the news. The local team (Knoxville Ice Bears) gets some coverage daily with score updates.

It really takes a larger bar with multiple TV's to see hockey without bugging the owner to put the game on.

[corvette80 1]

I played football, wreslting and ran track when I was in high school and I started hockey right after high school and this is the hardest sport I have played. In football when you have the ball you know you are going to get hit, but in hockey you don't know when or where your gonna get hit, then of course all that skating, compared to 5-10 seconds at a time in football. People don't know how much work is in hockey, if they knew I think they would like it more.

[NMUSTU 0]

I listen to sports radio a lot in Detroit. you know, the sports inferno and such. i feel like they talk about 60% lions, 20% pistons, 15% tigers, and the last 5% of airtime about the red wings.

which is funny because production of said teams in the past decade (as far as cups/championships/playoff appearances) arguably would be quite the opposite 70% wings 25% tigers/pistons 5% lions

[Wingtastic 0]

FYI, I found this wikipedia page about fighting in hockey. Interesting read!

Wikipedia

[OsGOD 3]

We started getting Red Wings hockey on 97.1 FM so Yeah! I can actually listen to games (if I am ever out of the house or not actually at the Joe) on the Radio!!! It was pretty sad living only 35mins from the Joe and I couldn't hear the F-ing games on the radio because the reception was so bad.

Edited April 24, 2007 by OsGOD

[Spinner 6]

I live near Lansing MI and the local news channels would rather cover MSU womens basketball than mention the wings. The only reason we get coverage now is because they're in the playoffs. Other than that there's hardly any mention. Same went for MSU hockey too. You never heard any mention until they won the Frozen Four then everyone jumped on the band wagon. I don't even watch the local news or read the local papers anymore. I'm so disgusted with them. I don't care what you say, football coaches not being able to text on the field is not a more important story than the playoffs, but they fellt it was even tho football is in the off season. SI.com is the same way if you haven't noticed.

Sorry that was my rant for the day. Just frustrated at the medias lack of coverage for hockey.

[RockyMountainWingGal 108]

I listen to sports radio a lot in Detroit. you know, the sports inferno and such. i feel like they talk about 60% lions, 20% pistons, 15% tigers, and the last 5% of airtime about the red wings. It actually makes me very mad. i was listening at the start of the NHL playoffs, and instead of predictions and matchups about the wings and flames, they argued about whether or not the lions should draft a quarterback. I wish we'd get TSN instead of CBC!

This is a huge mystery to me also. I feed both Detroit sports radio stations over the internet at work - and they actually talk about the F*&ing Lions most of the time. I turn it off every time - I've emailed to say shut the F987 up about the pathetic, hopeless, boring Lions during Hockey season and playoffs - my God. The Pistons I understand right now - it's NBA playoffs too. I personally think WC Ford pays them off to give the Lions air time - seriously sometimes the announcers even complain they MUST cover the Lions.

In Colorado - the Avs coverage is actually decent. Of course, since they're not in the playoffs, you won't hear a word about hockey other than reporting the scores, until the fall.

ps edit: they're actually talking about the Lions as we speak - wtf? it's April. I'm going to email and complain I want wings-sharks previews. morons - do you people actually care about the Lions?

Edited April 24, 2007 by RockyMountainWingGal

[Behind Enemy Lines in CO 11]

Hey - off topic but interesting as well. On Snuday nights our NBC affiliate here in Denver always reads some viewer compliments and complaints. On Sunday night some guy phoned in to complain that there had been no hockey playoff coverage on the 6pm and 10pm news. His rant was along the lines of "Do you realize that the hockey playoffs have been on for almost 2 weeks and you have not said one word about them"!

Typical for Denver. Always has been and always will be a football town.

I watched the final Avs game a few Sundays ago and the local announcers (McNab and Haynes - total losers) tried to tell viewers to watch the playoffs despite the Avs being out of them because they are so exciting.

Not to the local NBC affiliate I guess.

[NeverForgetMac25 483]

Imagine being in Green Bay, WI. If the local newspaper has something about hockey on the last page of the sports section, its a good day. Obviously, Green Bay Packers news dominates all sports coverage in the area. While I love the Packers, I would love to have an equal amount of hockey reporting (actually even a little more than equal when it comes to hockey).

Edit: Clarity

Edited April 24, 2007 by Never Forget Mac #25

[Cicada 4]

Imageing being in the UK. The last time the sports news reported something on the NHL was when the lockout ended.

[BlakChamber 8]

I live near Lansing MI and the local news channels would rather cover MSU womens basketball than mention the wings. The only reason we get coverage now is because they're in the playoffs. Other than that there's hardly any mention. Same went for MSU hockey too. You never heard any mention until they won the Frozen Four then everyone jumped on the band wagon. I don't even watch the local news or read the local papers anymore. I'm so disgusted with them. I don't care what you say, football coaches not being able to text on the field is not a more important story than the playoffs, but they fellt it was even tho football is in the off season. SI.com is the same way if you haven't noticed.

Sorry that was my rant for the day. Just frustrated at the medias lack of coverage for hockey.

I grew up in Lansing and the LSJ has fair to poor coverage of the Wings and hockey in general. The WIngs aren't front page material barring a big event like a Cup or Yzerman's retirement, but they do at least have coverage of all the games.

I disagree with you about the MSU hockey team though, the LSJ usually has decent coverage of them. Neil Kopke (sp) is a decent sportswriter and knows his MSU hockey. They're not going to get the coverage of the MSU football or basketball team, but they get decent coverage.

Living in a medium sized town in Texas, where the only hockey is the university's club team, there is little to no coverage in the local paper. They'll print the stories about the Stars they get off the AP wire, but that's about it. I thought the Houston Chronicle does half-way decent hockey coverage, considering there's no NHL team. They have good coverage of their AHL team though.

In the end though, I don't understand why so many people ***** about media coverage. Thanks to the internet, there's no need to rely on your local paper or TV station to get your news.

[Wings_Fan_In_Exile 3]

Yeah Denver is far from a hockey town. All Broncos, all the time.

I went to the NCAA Frozen Four Western Regional Finals and it wasn't even a full arena. Pretty disappointing. As was watching Michigan lose to UND. Grrrr....

Too bad the Avs were a win away from replacing the Flames in the first round. I would have loved to be at the Pespi Center cheering on the Wings. And with Bert, maybe a renewed rivlalry could remind people here hockey exists. Sadly most Avs fans know little more than "red wings suck" they can't tell you who plays for who though.....

[Spinner 6]

I disagree with you about the MSU hockey team though, the LSJ usually has decent coverage of them. Neil Kopke (sp) is a decent sportswriter and knows his MSU hockey. They're not going to get the coverage of the MSU football or basketball team, but they get decent coverage.

You may be right as I quit reading the LSJ a couple years ago, but it does ring true of TV coverage.

In the end though, I don't understand why so many people ***** about media coverage. Thanks to the internet, there's no need to rely on your local paper or TV station to get your news.

This is true but you still need the media coverage to get new fans interested enough to go to the internet. Coverage of hockey is lame which correlates with the revenue. One feeds the other. And when did Poker become a sport. I'll never understand that one. Edited April 24, 2007 by Spinner

[Hank 0]

Why has hockey suck to the depth of the american sports scene to the point that it is not even covered anymore. I moved to indiana from detroit 7 years ago, and once you get past south bend (Notre Dame hockey), no one no anything about the sport past the stereo typical i was at a fight and a hockey game broke out. Even in Chicago, the blackhawks flagship station does not mention the NHL except when it is game time...given the hawks sucks but come on. What is hockey coverage like in your part of the country?

I mean I was at a bar watching game 6 of the wings on versus, and I was moved to a 25 inch TV behind the bar for some ESPN 2 poker crap! ESPN sucks, too but that is a whole diferent topic.

What gives?

Chicago is a very poor example. There are some radio stations there that refuse to talk Blackhawks because of what Bill Wirtz had done to that team - home game blackouts for example.

In fact, if you want to talk hockey in Chicago you better call about the Chicago Wolves. They actually draw much better than the Hawks.

[NMUSTU 0]

Imagine being in Green Bay, WI. If the local newspaper has something about hockey on the last page of the sports section, its a good day. Obviously, Green Bay Packers news dominates all sports coverage in the area. While I love the Packers, I would love to have an equal amount of hockey reporting (actually even a little more than equal when it comes to hockey).

Edit: Clarity

Problem with green bay though is the lack of hockey programs. A friend of mine had to travel to Negaunee, Mi just to play in a tournament. That changes of course the closer you get to the twin cities, coverage of the Wild etc...

Wisconsin is a football state, not enough pull for hockey

[HomeNugget 2]

This is a huge mystery to me also. I feed both Detroit sports radio stations over the internet at work - and they actually talk about the F*&ing Lions most of the time. I turn it off every time - I've emailed to say shut the F987 up about the pathetic, hopeless, boring Lions during Hockey season and playoffs - my God. The Pistons I understand right now - it's NBA playoffs too. I personally think WC Ford pays them off to give the Lions air time - seriously sometimes the announcers even complain they MUST cover the Lions.

In Colorado - the Avs coverage is actually decent. Of course, since they're not in the playoffs, you won't hear a word about hockey other than reporting the scores, until the fall.

ps edit: they're actually talking about the Lions as we speak - wtf? it's April. I'm going to email and complain I want wings-sharks previews. morons - do you people actually care about the Lions?

the lions are probably the biggest thing in detroit, and with the draft coming up i don't expect the sports talk stations out there to cover much else. the red wings are my favorite out of the four detroit teams, but in the whole area the red wings are fourth. unless its college football season. then the wings are probably 5th.

[Elshupacabra 0]

I live near Lansing MI and the local news channels would rather cover MSU womens basketball than mention the wings. The only reason we get coverage now is because they're in the playoffs. Other than that there's hardly any mention. Same went for MSU hockey too. You never heard any mention until they won the Frozen Four then everyone jumped on the band wagon. I don't even watch the local news or read the local papers anymore. I'm so disgusted with them. I don't care what you say, football coaches not being able to text on the field is not a more important story than the playoffs, but they fellt it was even tho football is in the off season. SI.com is the same way if you haven't noticed.

Sorry that was my rant for the day. Just frustrated at the medias lack of coverage for hockey.

I know what your going through, I live in Holt, a good thing I got into is you can get the Red Wings headlines sent to your email from DetroitNews.com Here is a link if your interested

Edited April 24, 2007 by Elshupacabra

[stellargirl21 0]

There just aren't enough hockey fans out there...plain and simple. It's funny because people know my husband loves his Wings. He has all the games on the calendar so therefore pretty much watches EVERY regular season game. People sort of poke fun at the fact that he DOES watch every regular season game. How come nobody makes fun of the fact that there are a ton of people out there that spend their entire weekend watching football??...because there are more people that watch football. I prefer a hockey nut for a husband rather than a football fanatic. That way we can spend our weekends at Home Depot or Bed Bath & Beyond...if there's time

(I'm hoping most of you got the Old School reference in that last sentence)

[DetroitNativePride 0]

Imagine liiving in Southern California. The local NBC (LA) affiliate showed the LA Marathon instead of a scheduled NHL game about a month ago. Although frustrated, I understood that the LA Marathon is important to SoCal residents. However, the next time NBC decided to show a hockey game, the LA station opted to show paid programming instead.

Thank god for Center Ice (when I go to my parents' house) and live internet feeds (when I'm on campus).

[Yzermania19 1]

There just aren't enough hockey fans out there...plain and simple. It's funny because people know my husband loves his Wings. He has all the games on the calendar so therefore pretty much watches EVERY regular season game. People sort of poke fun at the fact that he DOES watch every regular season game. How come nobody makes fun of the fact that there are a ton of people out there that spend their entire weekend watching football??...because there are more people that watch football. I prefer a hockey nut for a husband rather than a football fanatic. That way we can spend our weekends at Home Depot or Bed Bath & Beyond...if there's time

(I'm hoping most of you got the Old School reference in that last sentence)

I know how your husband feels...I am generally known as the Hockey Girl wherever I work. I had a job in an advertising agency and the head of the media buying department would come to me and ask me what Wings games I felt they should buy air time for clients that would give them the most bang for their buck. Also, any time they got complimentary tickets, they always gave them to me. LOL It was awesome!

I, too, have every game on the calendar and watch them all. I will even videotape a game if I'm not going to be home to see it.

But it pisses me off that hockey doesn't get the coverage it deserves and I think it's that hockey is just not a popular sport. I've heard people describe it as a "niche sport" and I think that's true - it has it's rabid, loyal fan base but beyond that, the fans are few and far between. NASCAR is more popular in the US than hockey is. We are lucky here in Detroit that we live in an area with a team that has been consistently good for well over a decade and a half and that our team gets plenty of coverage in print, at least. But I get angry, too, when I turn on the radio to get some news about the Wings and all I hear is discussion over what player the Lions should take in the draft. Both sports stations in town should realize football isn't the only game in town around here.

[Patrick Roy 5]

Hockey fans are by far the most loyal just because of the great lengths that we have to go through to watch our team...once most people are exposed to "good" live hockey, they quickly become fans.

It is just human nature to make fun of things that we don't understand.

You can tell that I am in a hockey depraved area by how many people mispronounce my dogs name. It is funny...but sad