I actually sat right next to the backup goalie at an NHL game. There was no glass in front of me. Kept thinking I was going to get a stick or a puck in the teeth.
mmm
I was about to say “a matter of minutes”? Not even. 47 seconds in the 2018-2019 season. If you’ve ever done interval training, you can appreciate what a brutal level of athleticism that is.
I do think you need to go to games as often as you can. I never really understood the game until I went to a few LA Kings games. It’s true you need to watch on TV too, but you need the live experience for sure. We have an AHL team here and they are a lot of fun to watch. It’s also very fun to see a player you liked get his chance with the “big” team (Dallas Stars: Roope Hintz. We knew him when.)
Also, bear in mind that they change the rules every off season so don’t be surprised when you start watching in the spring and things are suddenly different. I’ve been a big fan for 25 years and the way overtime is done, for example, has changed several times.
I usually get to a handful of Wild games each season. A couple years back we got seats right behind the home team bench behind the glass. Was definitely an interesting viewpoint (looking at the back of Boudreau’s bald head all game) of the game watching line changes, the constant sliding down the bench, how the coaches adjusted the line cards, how they communicated to the players, etc.
But after being so used to watching games on TV or from higher up I couldn’t make a lot of sense of what was going on. It’s a whole different game at eye level.
Most of the changes are relatively minor, but yeah, the latest overtime change was a biggie. FTR, many regular-season games in the past ended in a tie, with each team being awarded one point in the standings. If the game was tied after three periods, it went into a five-minute sudden-death overtime with four skaters on the ice for each team instead of five, and if there was still no score, that was it, and the game was deemed a tie. Now, after overtime it proceeds to a shootout, where each team assigns three of their best players to each go individually one-on-one against the opposing goalie, with the home team having the first pick. Usually at least one player will manage to score, but if not, the process is repeated with a different player selection until someone scores, which doesn’t usually take long. One caveat here is that although one team is declared the winner and earns two points, there are some limitations that I mention below.
Some fans really dislike the shootout overtime rule but I find it exciting. The objection to it is that it puts too much emphasis on the special skills of specific individual players and the teams’ goalies rather than on the capabilities of the team as a whole. While there’s some truth to that, most teams have a few great players that really make a huge difference, and some have been able get away with relatively crappy players and a great goalie who constantly saves their asses. That’s just the way it is, whatever the rules may be.
Shootout goals don’t count for an individual player’s statistics or a goalie’s save average, and they are assessed separately from wins in determining playoff standings, and carry lower weight in the event of a tie in the standings. So in some sense they are not a “real” win despite the winning team being awarded the points, but they make for really exciting hockey. Each shootout attempt is like a single-player breakaway where there is no one in the way and it’s just the skater, stickhandling like mad, against a lone goalie. Nevertheless, points are points, and winning a lot of shootouts may get one team into the playoffs while another may be left out.
One of my pet peeves about hockey, though, is that so many teams make it into the playoffs that it doesn’t have the same import that it does in baseball. There are currently 31 teams in the NHL (until recently it was 30) and more than half – 16 – get into the playoffs every year. Furthermore, unlike baseball, even the initial rounds are all best-of-7 series. I’m fine with it since I enjoy hockey, but I can see people who dislike the game considering the playoffs to be interminable. They literally go on until around mid-June. Someone seems to have forgotten that hockey is a traditional cold-weather winter game, historically played on frozen outdoor rinks. Try that in June and you’re going to need a bathing suit, not ice skates. That’s also true for any time of the year due to Gary Bettman’s fixation on expansion in the US south, where there isn’t enormous interest in hockey precisely because of its cold-weather roots, so a lot of kids don’t get familiar with it.
I hate the shootout and 4 on 4 and 3 on 3. I’ll take a 10 minute OT 5 on 5 sudden death and then I’m fine with a tie.
The problem is that, as fast and exciting as it is, hockey is a relatively low-scoring game – which indeed is part of the excitement, since each goal is precious and may literally be the game-changer. So your proposed 10-minute 5-on-5 OT is likely to result in no change in the score – which has been a very common outcome during 4-on-4 OTs – although both teams would likely have themselves revved up to playoff-level energies during that OT. Total game scores like 1-0 or 2-1 are very common, and indeed, to quote what someone wrote on a sports site recently, “In the NHL, there have been 41 games tied 0-0 after overtime since the introduction of the shootout in 2005 (meaning they would have been recorded as a 0-0 tie in the past), which is 0.25% of games. And there have been 189 0-0 ties in history (dating back to 1924).”
I disagree with Bettman on most things but in this case he’s trying to make hockey an even more exciting game, and while I somewhat sympathize with the reasons that many fans dislike shootouts, in this case I think he succeeded.
This is a bit of a digression about the OP’s request to learn about hockey – again, I think the best advice is to watch games with a friend who can explain what’s going on, and then refer to the rule book I cited for full details. But I think this brief digression about how OT is handled is instructive in itself about how that aspect of the game is played.
Live games are great, but to start, I agree with those who recommend watching the game on TV (you’ll get familiar with the game’s terminology from the commentators), and with a friend who knows and can explain the game in more detail as situations arise.
One complaint many new fans have is that they either cannot see, or have difficulty following, the puck on TV. Not surprising; the puck is small and it often moves fast. Experience will allow you to see the puck eventually, but if you have trouble at first, watch the players. They will be going after the puck, and if you pay attention to what the players are paying attention to, you’ll find it.
I’ll tell you this; it’s easier to see the puck now, with 1080p TV and up being the norm, than it used to be on tube TVs.
3 on 3 is too much different from the regular game. I’m OK with 4 on 4 but they should think about doing it for 10 minutes for less shootouts.
The NHL has usually been top-heavy in playoff teams. Presently, the NHL eliminates more teams than they used to. When the playoffs were expanded to 16 teams, there were 21 total in the league. Each division eliminated 1 team (except 1 eliminated two teams).
I remember those days well – a team needed to to be really lousy to be one of the five that didn’t make the playoffs.
I also recommend this. Live hockey is a totally different experience, and live college hockey is equally fun or maybe more so than NHL (assuming you don’t mind being surrounded by college kids). Ideally, there’s a school around that’s good enough to have passionate crowds but still has available and reasonable tickets. If you can find some tenuous connection to the school (your neighbor’s aunt went there!) so you can cheer hard for them, even better.
I still opt for the TV option, with a friend explaining things to you.
Another thing to mention about live games is that every single NHL club has a farm team, sometimes in the same city, sometimes far away. I think every farm team is part of the AHL, and many of those players are just one step away from the NHL. Tickets are cheap and if there’s no NHL team but a farm team nearby it’s relatively easy to get to see a pro game that is much like an NHL game.
Every once in a while I get a “special offer” from the Leafs office of a few Leafs tickets offered only to those on the season seat waiting list (I’ve been on it for about 20 years, expecting no progress), but that package always includes a whole bundle of the expensive class of Marlies tickers (the Leafs farm team) that you also must purchase as a precondition. I’ve never done it because the total was always outrageous and most of it was for Marlies games that my son has no particular interest in, as exciting as they may be for people who just want to see good hockey.
I had never seen a hockey game prior to 1986. I married a gal whose three brother all played. We had two boys together. They both started playing about age 5. Early morning and late night practice and many many kid hockey games got me up to speed. Been a diehard St Louis fan since the early 90’s… I got to see us hoist the cup (on TV) with my oldest son last June, he is now 32.
Short answer…Have kids that play and pay attention, learn it with them, you will also gain a lifetime of memories!!
tsfr
My gf’s ex-husband played, so she has watched many games, some alongside players/coaches. She really knows the game, I’m just along for the ride.
We were watching a Penquins game at a bar, when she pointed out some sort of strategic error. A guy loudly disagreed with her. Then, during a stoppage of play, one of the commentators white boarded what had just happened and explained exactly what she had said.
My gf got some respect, even more when she brushed it off by telling us the commentator was a personal friend and the error was a pet peeve of his.
As for instant cred, can you do a Canuck accent? Yell, “get it oot!” during a power play, for example.
Hey, here’s a hockey fan who’d LOVE to attend a game but doesn’t have the money – anyone willing to extend some charity to a fellow fan? 
Seriously though, those tickets are EXPENSIVE. 
OP: Just watch the green circle and red shot trajectory graphic, and if Mike Milbury comes on between periods, change the channel.
No kidding. We attend a Pens game every other year or so, but they’re always gifted tix.
I miss the old civic arena. The new place seems so generic, plus the damn roof doesn’t open!
I go to 1-2 AHL games a year and while all that is fun about sitting behind the glass the glass itself obscures action in the corners. I really prefer 10-15 rows up.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk