Oink

American college football is great to watch live if you're at a university where they're good at it. I used to go regularly to Tennessee and Oregon games and the atmosphere is really fun. Of course 90% of the crowd is pissed up before kickoff, which helps. And of course Americans are much nicer to Brits than Canadians are, so they really make an effort to include you in any group dynamic.

caretaker

I neither love nor hate it so I'm solidly behind the 'meh' movement. A lot of things are retro now and a lot of teams have retro-style uniforms they bring out for special games. I remember when the Leafs were great, and goalie Johnny Bower was a friend of us kids up in Prince Albert National Park at his ice-cream parlour.

dbd33

I think there's a good atmosphere at some iced hockey games. I travelled for a while with a salesman who was a fan and we'd attend games wherever we were. Stand outs were Philadelphia (all the intermission videos were of great fights of the past), Boston, Detroit, the Cow Palace (Canada/US game) and Montreal. Only Philadelphia still had the same stadium so the teams in these cities may now suffer the same audience ennui that afflicted Maple Leaf Gardens and probably now applies wherever it is that the Leafs have gone.

I went a lot to MLG when I worked next door as I had time to kill and, once the game started, there were tickets at the kerb for less than the price of going for a beer. The trouble was that, although every game is sold out far into the future, the seats were sold to corporations who gave them away to clients or visitors from out of town. If you're not a keen fan then 10 minutes of iced hockey is enough to get the idea and, after that, the viewers wander off.

The Leafs business model seems sound, the revenue stream is assured so they keep costs down by not troubling to field competitive sides. Merchandising is important so they rejig the shirts now and then. I admire it as a business but I think it's too obviously a cynical strategy to inspire crowd enthusiasm.

Pizzawheel

I've heard the Rock are an excellent view. (Lacrosse) and cheap to get in to boot.

The leafs games I went to reminded me of Man U- corporate bullshite. Not a patch on Brisbane Road.

Souvy

The main attraction in watching the Habs at the moment is seeing how much worse things can get. Going from 1st in the league to 23rd in two months takes some doing.

I can envisage a new version of the Gordie Howe hat trick coming up.

It would actually be in Montreal's interests now to keep losing.

Pizzawheel

I hadn't even spotted that, but thinking about it the silence from the Habs fans in my circle has been deafening.

Looking at the power rankings there's a depressing amount of Canadian teams from 20-30. My Canucks still have borderline playoff ambitions thanks to a weak divisions and are ranked around 23. Thinking back to 2011

Souvy

All the Canadian teams are in the bottom 10.

JamesM

Surprising given that the Oilers have that Connor McDavid.

I am I said

For someone who claims not to like the sport, you're quite well informed....

Pizzawheel

That is genuinely sad.

I think he's been injured most of the year, plus he's still a baby.

Pub Osmosis. I now know stuff about basketball that even eye-bleach cannot cure.

Souvy

Depends what you call a "Canadian" Canadian team.

JamesM

I drink with a fella who coached at an OHL team for a decade. You pick up a thing here or there.

I actually have several Hockey jerseys for my troubles.

It's not so much that I dislike the game. I just like this forum to be my escapology from the usual canada mundanity.

As mentioned up thread watching some mates play Hockey in a beer league can be quite the spectacle.

Pizzawheel

You're going all Canadian on us! Next you'll be admitting you don't like hooters because it's demeaning to women!!!!

Anyhow, of all these hockey jerseys, don't suppose you've got a London Knights one you hate? I'm probably around your size...

JamesM

The service industry has paid numerous independent strong women through college. I'd argue it prepares them for the many facets of behaviour one can face in the world.

I have a San Jose Sharks jersey (sent to me by a client a couple of years ago).

And a Canucks jersey from a game I attended in Van back in December 2003.

Back in Blighty I attended several Guildford Flames-Bracknell Bees games over the years. That was real Hockey. I used to wear my Van jersey to look down on people much like I wear my Spurs top to TFC games.

People often forget (or simply don't know) Britain won the Iced Hockey gold medal in 36. I affectionately regard the "Boys of 36" as the most accomplished side ever to have graced the game:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ice_ho...inter_Olympics

The first team to be World, Olympic and European Champions.

Pizzawheel

That's a useful fact.

Already have my canucks jersey, part of my prep for moving the Canada. Just moved to the wrong city...