The NHL fan base is growing...

[Motown4013 350]

So The NHL is growing...all over the world and the newest population of people who are embracing the game are women! Its true, women LOVE hockey

It seems that in the past, women who watch hockey are placed in three distinct catagories: The tight fitting,pink jersey puck bunny, The devoted hockey mom or the "husband hang-on"....the women who totes behind "her man" going to games because he bought her tickets for valentines day. Sigh.

As a diehard hockey fan, these stereotypes totally piss me off because I am nothing of the three. I don't have a pink Wings jersey...and my son (at 8 months old) is a bit young to lace up the skates. Finally, lets be clear- I am the hockey almanac in this household!

Just curious about how guys feel about women embracing the sport and if they still see women in these three catagoies. Its true that some women (myself included) cant help but notice Lijia is gorgeous, and Flip has amazing eyes...but I dont gush anymore than a man who cant help notice Sharapova's legs at the US Open. Puck Bunny..NO..Human, yes!

There was a topic here started by Bring back the Bruise Brothers about " Is your wife/ girlfriend" a hockey fan that brought up some interesting comments. Just wanted to know if guys still see women in these catagories and for woman, if you are ever discriminated against as a female hockey fan? With woman being the biggest new supporter of hockey in the last 10 years, does it abolish these stereotypes?

Thoughts, Experiences, Points of view?

[ACallToArms 270]

I've actually started noticing this during the '08 playoffs. I would go to the bar during games, and there would be entire tables filled with nothing but women. They all seemed knowledgeable about the game as well. I think its great, the more diversity in the fan base the better.

Edited September 3, 2010 by ACallToArms

[Echolalia 2,961]

I guess I never really thought about the stereotypes of women and hockey. My mom was the one to formally introduced me to the sport, and since then I've been surrounded by both men and women who genuinely love the game. There are certainly plenty of hockey-moms, puck bunnies, and supportive girlfriends/spouses, but I'm comfortable saying there are definitely more women out there who care about the sport that they're watching, and not so much the players that are in it.

[ogreslayer 1,069]

I think it's a great trend too but I consider knowledgeable female fans to be the norm, not the exception, at least based on my family. Case in point, my little sister's husband was never much of a sports fan at all until she started dragging him to baseball games where she taught him the game. Personally, I don't have much respect for the pink jersey crowd or hanger-ons based on growing up in a house where my sisters were as big of sports fans as I was.

On a side note & not to be sexist...I think when women know their sports & know them well, their hotness goes up at least 2 or 3 notches.

[egroen 384]

So The NHL is growing...all over the world and the newest population of people who are embracing the game are women! Its true, women LOVE hockey

It seems that in the past, women who watch hockey are placed in three distinct catagories: The tight fitting,pink jersey puck bunny, The devoted hockey mom or the "husband hang-on"....the women who totes behind "her man" going to games because he bought her tickets for valentines day. Sigh.

As a diehard hockey fan, these stereotypes totally piss me off because I am nothing of the three. I don't have a pink Wings jersey...and my son (at 8 months old) is a bit young to lace up the skates. Finally, lets be clear- I am the hockey almanac in this household!

Just curious about how guys feel about women embracing the sport and if they still see women in these three catagoies. Its true that some women (myself included) cant help but notice Lijia is gorgeous, and Flip has amazing eyes...but I dont gush anymore than a man who cant help notice Sharapova's legs at the US Open. Puck Bunny..NO..Human, yes!

There was a topic here started by Bring back the Bruise Brothers about " Is your wife/ girlfriend" a hockey fan that brought up some interesting comments. Just wanted to know if guys still see women in these catagories and for woman, if you are ever discriminated against as a female hockey fan? With woman being the biggest new supporter of hockey in the last 10 years, does it abolish these stereotypes?

Thoughts, Experiences, Points of view?

It's great the sport is growing among women -- I remember reading a little while back that a greater percentage of female fans are actually 'for' fighting in the game versus male fans

However, the extremely knowledgeable and dedicated female fans found on this site (who will watch every game and other NHL games as well) are definitely in the minority, IMO. Almost all female fans I ever talk to, outside of this site, would definitely fit into the above stereotypes... which, who really cares? A "fan" of almost every type (excluding certain elements now found in Chicago and Pittsburgh, as well as a common elelment found in Philadelphia) is great for the sport. You don't need to pour over stats, subscribe to center ice, or get paged whenever an NHL player is traded or waived to be a great fan.

One distinction I have noted amongst male and female fans of all sports -- guys typically are much more knowledgeable and interested in the 'inner-workings' of a league. Salary cap structures, revenue sharing, player salaries, trades, waivers, arbitration, free agency and how it works -- Most female fans really could care less, though they might be extremely passionate and knowledgeable about the players and games on the ice. Even extremely casual male fans will typically know more about what is going on in the league.

Just an observation, which also correlates to few females getting into fantasy sport leagues.

One cool thing about a lot of female fans is that hockey is often by far and away their favorite sport to watch - which is great for me, because I only want to talk hockey, and not get bored over what the chances are the Lions might actually make the playoffs.

[IceMunkee 15]

Let me be frank when I say I prefer my women bringing me beer and making me nacho's during the great game. Nothing is worse then women who thinks she can bring any level of intelligent thought or word to a sport or hockey conversation.

No seriously though I thought my wife was a fly by fan for a couple years. When we still lived in the Detroit area almost every playoff game we would have 5-20 folks at the house and she would spend most of the time hiding somewhere. Ofcourse I assumed it was a lack of interest but when we moved to Minneapolis and last year and the playoff's were a bit of a lonely time for me. She stepped it up big time and was on the edge of her seat yelling at the TV and doing chants and cheers with me. Is she just a hubby hang-on, I dont think so she never has been before. She plays fantasy hockey and knows her schnit. She knows all the players on the team and their roles and gets excited when I bring home news of free agent signings. (She hates football though)

I also had a friend who once had a GF that I believed was a hubby hang on but after two consecutive years of her winning the championship in Fantasy Hockey I thought differant. She also went to evey training camp for five years.

Now the same friend has a new GF and her daughter is 12 (I think) and since being around said friend she now plays hockey and loves the sport. She is knowledgable of the Wings.

Frankley the sport just needs more fans at any cost even if it means women! Really I only want to watch the sport with overweight stinky men any way.

Great post O.P.

[vladdy16 2,154]

I find this whole dichotomy very interesting. The women I know personally are hockey fans in their own right and know much about the game. The women I see at the games are puck bunnies or worse, are there to be seen in their tight jeans and high heels and drink fruity cocktails.

[IceMunkee 15]

I find this whole dichotomy very interesting. The women I know personally are hockey fans in their own right and know much about the game. The women I see at the games are puck bunnies or worse, are there to be seen in their tight jeans and high heels and drink fruity cocktails.

There is absolutely nothing wrong with tight jeans and fruity cocktails, that makes rough games easier to with stand.

[redwingmachine 189]

My wife has a pink Wings jersey (signed by Jimmy Howard I might add) and she is pretty knowledgeable about the game. I wouldn’t classify her as a Puck-Bunny, rather a girl that loves hockey and the color pink. I think she looks pretty freaking awesome in it too.

She just started getting into it a few years ago but she knows her Wings. She watched around 80 Wings games with me last year and gets into the crazy game day rituals that I have. I know that she isn’t just doing it as a “husband hang-on” thing either, it’s not her style. She even watches me play Rat-hockey on occasion.

What is wrong with that?

[Motown4013 350]

My wife has a pink Wings jersey (signed by Jimmy Howard I might add) and she is pretty knowledgeable about the game. I wouldn’t classify her as a Puck-Bunny, rather a girl that loves hockey and the color pink. I think she looks pretty freaking awesome in it too.

She just started getting into it a few years ago but she knows her Wings. She watched around 80 Wings games with me last year and gets into the crazy game day rituals that I have. I know that she isn’t just doing it as a “husband hang-on” thing either, it’s not her style. She even watches me play Rat-hockey on occasion.

What is wrong with that?

Nothing wrong with any of it at all...and the pink jersey, Its cool if some women prefer it. I like my reebok edge jersey signed by Zetty...but thats just my preference . I think I was using the pink jersey to illustrate a point.

It does tend to be frustrating that some people think because you have a ******, you can't understand what an offside is.

I also think that women who come to fan sites are actual fans...we are here to share our passion with hockey, connect with other fans and get into interesting discussions about the team. On these boards, you will probably find more knowledgable women, more than any other venue per se.

[redwingmachine 189]

Nothing wrong with any of it at all...and the pink jersey, Its cool if some women prefer it. I like my reebok edge jersey signed by Zetty...but thats just my preference . I think I was using the pink jersey to illustrate a point.

It does tend to be frustrating that some people think because you have a ******, you can't understand what an offside is.

I also think that women who come to fan sites are actual fans...we are here to share our passion with hockey, connect with other fans and get into interesting discussions about the team. On these boards, you will probably find more knowledgable women, more than any other venue per se.

I would agree… LGW has some pretty knowledgeable people in general, both female and male.

[titanium2 867]

I love the women. Simple as that.

[GMRwings1983 8,794]

This is all Andreas Lilja's doing.

[SouthernWingsFan 854]

So The NHL is growing...all over the world and the newest population of people who are embracing the game are women! Its true, women LOVE hockey

It seems that in the past, women who watch hockey are placed in three distinct catagories: The tight fitting,pink jersey puck bunny, The devoted hockey mom or the "husband hang-on"....the women who totes behind "her man" going to games because he bought her tickets for valentines day. Sigh.

As a diehard hockey fan, these stereotypes totally piss me off because I am nothing of the three. I don't have a pink Wings jersey...and my son (at 8 months old) is a bit young to lace up the skates. Finally, lets be clear- I am the hockey almanac in this household!

Just curious about how guys feel about women embracing the sport and if they still see women in these three catagoies. Its true that some women (myself included) cant help but notice Lijia is gorgeous, and Flip has amazing eyes...but I dont gush anymore than a man who cant help notice Sharapova's legs at the US Open. Puck Bunny..NO..Human, yes!

There was a topic here started by Bring back the Bruise Brothers about " Is your wife/ girlfriend" a hockey fan that brought up some interesting comments. Just wanted to know if guys still see women in these catagories and for woman, if you are ever discriminated against as a female hockey fan? With woman being the biggest new supporter of hockey in the last 10 years, does it abolish these stereotypes?

Thoughts, Experiences, Points of view?

You are the type of person I want to hang out and watch a game with, generally speaking.

If I'm in the same place as a woman watching a game and she's disinterested, I'm not going to talk to her or try to force her to get interested in the game. If I'm in the same place and she's just gawking at the players, that irritates the hell out of me. It might not bother some, but it does me, because she isn't interested in the game outcome at all. And there are plenty of men that are just average joes who do fine in life in terms of looks and by not playing sports, and the "hot" athlete she make be gawking at might be a total jerk personally.

While a game is on, I'm not going to be into debate or chattering testing people's knowledge about players or how the game is played or whatever, I don't believe in all that true or fake fan b.s. just because you might not know everything about a team or might only be able to watch a certain amount of games in a season, but if I'm in the same place as a woman and she has somewhat of an interest in the game outcome or at least knows halfway what's going on, I want to watch the game with that type of woman.

I don't really go out too much to bars/restaurants to watch whole games anymore or games I have an emotional interest in, but I remember watching a midday Wings game on NBC a few seasons back at a place I frequented a lot more back then and had lunch and a drink/two there during the game. Being down here isn't hockey country obviously, but the bartender knew I was really interested in the game so she watched it with some interest and we had small talk about why I like hockey down here and the like. I enjoy watching games with people in that scenario and she was nowhere near a puckbunny type.

Each professional sport is going to have their fair share of female fans that just want to look at the guys or are going to go just to please their significant other and that's it (and I never intend to drag somebody to an event that doesn't want to go). That's never going to fully change and fair/unfair, those stereotypes will still exist for women to some degree. I want to go to games with people that would probably enjoy them, whether I'm out with somebody on a date or it's just a couple of guys hanging out or whatever.

Of course I would hope it would be natural from the woman's side to swoon over pretty much the majority of athletes that they are good looking and in shape or whatever. They are. Do some people go overboard about it? Without question. Is it awkward to me sometimes? Without question (will get to reasoning why shortly). Pretty much though these women, or at least the ones on here, have a good general knowledge about the game and care about how this team performs.

Now, I'm just one male out of the bunch. Do I think a lot of female athletes are good looking? Of course. Again, the natural reaction. I'm going to think or possibly say that somebody looks good or whatever, maybe say it in a brief smart-ass or peverted remark sometimes because that's just my mindset sometimes being goofy. I'm not much of the daydreaming type though who just says somebody is hot or dreamy 15 times in a row, regardless of whether that person is a professional athlete or just the average person like you and me, when I don't know anything about them or haven't met them personally. The female athlete I might enjoy seeing perform well and that has the looks also might be the biggest b**ch personally. I'll say or think somebody is good looking or pretty or whatever, athlete or no, if it comes up in a conversation, then I typically just go about my business. I rarely initiate conversation about an athlete's looks or physique, if at all.

[MulesWillFly93 199]

I'll readily admit I'm not the most observant person in the universe, but I don't notice much of a puck bunny element when I go to games. Of course, most of the games I go to are Wings @ Ducks, so on the Wings side you get the diehard fans who have moved from MI but keep the faith no matter what, or the ones like me who are random Southern Californians who have a strange yet undying loyalty to a team a thousand miles away that you have to pay extra to see on TV and deal with obnoxious fans of the other team but still can't get enough of them anyway.

Then on the Ducks side...well, I don't know who exactly likes the Ducks, but I don't think they have too many casual fans...it's either at the center of your radar or it's not there at all; you're not going to get a bunch of girls in stilettos wandering into a game on a whim. And there's no Crosby or...I don't know, who does everybody go nuts over in Chicago? Tell me it isn't Kane! Anyway, there's nobody on the Ducks who's been marketed up the wazoo and inspires Crosby-like levels of mania in teenage girls, so they kind of stay away. I mean, this is Hollywoodland - if you haven't heard about it on TV, it doesn't exist!

[Barrie 900]

I don't think it matters who you are, guy or girl, sports is really the only form of entertainment that provides real life results. There's only so many guy gets the girl, or girl gets the guy, and everything is perfect endings that movies provide. Movie ending, at least for me, become boring very fast! When your favorite team wins a championship, it's such a great feeling of accomplishment and community, everyone can appreciate that, guy/girl/old/young!

I know a lot of knowledgeable female sports fans. And I think the opening post gives a great point that there's probably the same amount of girls who watch guys sports because they think they guys are cute, as there are guys who watch female tennis and other female sports for the "eye candy" and fit women.

[Motown4013 350]

You are the type of person I want to hang out and watch a game with, generally speaking.

If I'm in the same place as a woman watching a game and she's disinterested, I'm not going to talk to her or try to force her to get interested in the game. If I'm in the same place and she's just gawking at the players, that irritates the hell out of me. It might not bother some, but it does me, because she isn't interested in the game outcome at all. And there are plenty of men that are just average joes who do fine in life in terms of looks and by not playing sports, and the "hot" athlete she make be gawking at might be a total jerk personally.

While a game is on, I'm not going to be into debate or chattering testing people's knowledge about players or how the game is played or whatever, I don't believe in all that true or fake fan b.s. just because you might not know everything about a team or might only be able to watch a certain amount of games in a season, but if I'm in the same place as a woman and she has somewhat of an interest in the game outcome or at least knows halfway what's going on, I want to watch the game with that type of woman.

I don't really go out too much to bars/restaurants to watch whole games anymore or games I have an emotional interest in, but I remember watching a midday Wings game on NBC a few seasons back at a place I frequented a lot more back then and had lunch and a drink/two there during the game. Being down here isn't hockey country obviously, but the bartender knew I was really interested in the game so she watched it with some interest and we had small talk about why I like hockey down here and the like. I enjoy watching games with people in that scenario and she was nowhere near a puckbunny type.

Each professional sport is going to have their fair share of female fans that just want to look at the guys or are going to go just to please their significant other and that's it (and I never intend to drag somebody to an event that doesn't want to go). That's never going to fully change and fair/unfair, those stereotypes will still exist for women to some degree. I want to go to games with people that would probably enjoy them, whether I'm out with somebody on a date or it's just a couple of guys hanging out or whatever.

Of course I would hope it would be natural from the woman's side to swoon over pretty much the majority of athletes that they are good looking and in shape or whatever. They are. Do some people go overboard about it? Without question. Is it awkward to me sometimes? Without question (will get to reasoning why shortly). Pretty much though these women, or at least the ones on here, have a good general knowledge about the game and care about how this team performs.

Now, I'm just one male out of the bunch. Do I think a lot of female athletes are good looking? Of course. Again, the natural reaction. I'm going to think or possibly say that somebody looks good or whatever, maybe say it in a brief smart-ass or peverted remark sometimes because that's just my mindset sometimes being goofy. I'm not much of the daydreaming type though who just says somebody is hot or dreamy 15 times in a row, regardless of whether that person is a professional athlete or just the average person like you and me, when I don't know anything about them or haven't met them personally. The female athlete I might enjoy seeing perform well and that has the looks also might be the biggest b**ch personally. I'll say or think somebody is good looking or pretty or whatever, athlete or no, if it comes up in a conversation, then I typically just go about my business. I rarely initiate conversation about an athlete's looks or physique, if at all.

Well said. Nothing better than watching the game with friends that REALLY enjoy hockey..also good point about attraction....Its not like I watch the games to watch Lils..It just happens to be a perk!

[FinWing 26]

I love the women. Simple as that.

This.