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Post by pasmith on Apr 3, 2006 12:00:20 GMT
Went to watch my first Ice Hockey match on the weekend. Hull Stingrays at home against the Bracknell Bees (Hull won).
My boss had 25 free tickets due to his friendship with the national coach.
Pretty cool sport to watch, far more entertaining than football although quite tricky to follow at times.
You don't so much see the goals happen as realise that one has been scored when everyone shouts.
I joked to my girlfriend that we might even see a fight.
As it was there were two!!
Very odd watching a sport that stops halfway through for everyone to watch two guys punching each other in the face. How this is acceptable is beyond me. Not really a sport I'd take my kids too.
Everyone seemed to enjoy the first fight as they just punched away until they gassed without doing much damage but then people boo'ed the second fight. I can only summise that this was because someone on the away team was clearly winning and continued punching the other guy when he was on the floor.
A good night out but not something I'd go out of my way to watch.
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Post by AceRimmer on Apr 3, 2006 13:42:21 GMT
You started out positive and then seemed to talk yourself out of it at the end  |
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Post by pasmith on Apr 3, 2006 14:12:22 GMT
Hahaha...yeah I did didn't I? I'd go if it was free again. |
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Post by Aefibird on Apr 3, 2006 16:13:32 GMT
I love ice hockey! It's so fast and furious, plus there's no other game like it. My team are arch rivals with the Nottingham Panthers and yet there's no crowd trouble or violence. Fans can sit together and games don't need half of South Yorkshire Police Force to be there to control them. Plus, there's no swearing or bad behaviour towards the officials (from the players) like you get in football. I had an excellent weekend - Sheffield Steelers away games in Coventry and Newcastle. Steelers won in Coventry on penalty shots to lift the British Knockout Cup and they also won the next night in Newcastle to make it through to the final 4 teams in the Play-Offs next weekend. The thing with the fighting can be hard for non-fans to understand, but with all those guys on such a small playing surface tempers can flare pretty quickly, especially as the game is so quick and physical. Players fight for a few minutes and go and do their time in the penalty box. That's the end of it - no feuds or anything like that. Often, players in the penalty box from opposing teams have been known to talk to one another and arrange to go for a game of golf or whatever the next day, after literally trying to beat the snot out of one another only a couple of minutes before. Fighting/roughing is all aprt of the game and serious injuries are rare because of the protective equipment. It's hard to get a good punch at someone when you're wearing shoulder padding. As for it not being suitable for kids to watch, the kids seem to love the fighting more than adults watching!! I wouldn't say that it encourages violence or fighting either, either amongst kids that play ice hockey or those that just go to watch. Junior ice hockey players are also banned from checking (holding with one hand) which is the thing that most often leads to scrapping in the adult leagues, and there are severe penalties in the Junior and Minor leagues for fighting or roughing. Referees often step in pretty quick to stop fights and only allow them to continue if they think it will be for the good of the game and will help to release tension. You don't so much see the goals happen as realise that one has been scored when everyone shouts. Because the puck flies around the ice so quick it can be hard to keep track of it. There's a goal official at each end of the ice who checks to see if the puck has crossed the line and gone into the goal - a red light will come on if it has. Sometimes that can be the only indication a goal has been scored, as everyone else sat watching is sometimes too far away to see if it has entered the net or not. pasmith, if you'd only go if was free then you're not actually doing the game a favour. Free tickets are meant to encourage new fans to go and watch future games and as british ice hockey is still only a minority sport it does need all the fans it can get!! If you're ever in Sheffield, though, come check out a Steelers game. They're in the league above Hull and an Elite League game at the Arena is even more of an event than those in the lower leagues. |
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Post by pasmith on Apr 3, 2006 17:03:47 GMT
"The thing with the fighting can be hard for non-fans to understand". No, no...I understand why it happens. Tensions run high, boys being boys etc etc. I just don't get why it's an accepted part of the game. No other sport I can think of has fighting accepted in this way (apart from actual fighting sports!). "Fighting/roughing is all aprt of the game and serious injuries are rare" Fighting and roughing are two completely different things in my mind. I quite liked it when people got slammed into walls or checked hard off the puck. All part of the game as you say. But two guys holding each others shirts for 30 seconds while they punched each other in the face? Everyone stepping back and watching with the crowd cheering? Slightly different methinks. Not saying they shouldn't do it but it's just not for me. Not expecting Ice Hockey to change any time soon just because I don't like it. And serious injuries being rare? How about not letting fights happen at all then serious injuries would be non-existant? "As for it not being suitable for kids to watch, the kids seem to love the fighting more than adults watching!!" Yeeess...hhmmm. What kids like and what *I* would let mine watch (should I be blessed with child) are two completely different things. "pasmith, if you'd only go if was free then you're not actually doing the game a favour. Free tickets are meant to encourage new fans to go and watch future games" Heh...I bought a hotdog what more can I do? I'm well aware that I'm not doing the game any favours. I wasn't aware that going on a free jolly meant that I am now duty bound to like ice hockey and go every week?!? One problem I had with it was working out what it took to be a good player. A deft touch at football I understand (even though I hate football). A nice jab or cross in boxing. All the players in ice hockey seemed (to my uneducated eyes) to skate much the same and hit the puck much the same. Quite tricky to work out the good players from the standard team players. Seriously I can see why people enjoy watching it. Fast and furious and it is entertaining. I just like my fighting and my sports to be seperate thank you very much! |
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Post by Aefibird on Apr 3, 2006 17:19:59 GMT
How about not letting fights happen at all then serious injuries would be non-existant? Then there'd probably be more serious injuries from high-sticks or checking from behind or slashing. In a recent couple of games Mark Dutiame of the Steelers had 4 teeth knocked out by a deliberate high-stick challenge. Kent Simpson was knocked unconcious from a stick blow to the throat. Both players would have fared better in a bit of roughing. BTW roughing is the term for fighting in ice hockey. I'm well aware that I'm not doing the game any favours. I wasn't aware that going on a free jolly meant that I am now duty bound to like ice hockey and go every week?!? I never said that. You'd posted that you'd go again if it was free - I was meaning the fact that you'd only go if it was free is doing the game no favours - not the fact that you have been once to a free game. No one is duty bound to like ice hockey. I'm passionate about it, but that doesn't mean everyone has to go. One problem I had with it was working out what it took to be a good player. A deft touch at football I understand (even though I hate football). A nice jab or cross in boxing. All the players in ice hockey seemed (to my uneducated eyes) to skate much the same and hit the puck much the same. Quite tricky to work out the good players from the standard team players. That's more than likely because good quality players are hard to find at Bracknell and Hull. Both teams are in one of the lower British leagues and rely on poor-quality import players to make up the roster, as well as using the young Brits who haven't broken into Elite League or overseas hockey yet, or the ones who are getting ready to retire. |
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Post by pasmith on Apr 3, 2006 17:26:18 GMT
Fighting in ice hockey even has its own term!?!? Crikey it's more ingrained than I thought. "That's more than likely because good quality players are hard to find at Bracknell and Hull. " Hahahaha...good answer! |
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Post by Aefibird on Apr 3, 2006 17:30:15 GMT
Fighting in ice hockey even has its own term!?!? Crikey it's more ingrained than I thought. Yes it is. It's a part of the game, in the way that diving is a part of football.  Roughing is only permitted in top-level adult ice hockey leagues (whether that's the USA's NHL, Britain's Elite League or Germany's DSL or wherever). In other (minor and junior) leagues it is severely punished. I think fighting in ice hockey is just one of those things - you either accept it as part of the game or you disapprove of it, no real middle ground. |
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Post by Aefibird on Apr 12, 2006 15:09:01 GMT
I'm just recovering from a weekend of ice hockey. It was the Elite League playoff Final Four weekend this past weekend in Nottinham. Oh boy, I don't think I've ever drunk so much beer over the course of a weekend in my life... I've got another weekend of it coming up too, with the English Premier League playoffs. Hic!
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