Hockey... "our game"

[Don]

Was watching CBC and saw some ad on CBC.. didn't really pay attention to it but I remember it was about hockey and keep referring to it as "our game", "our sport", "Canada's sport". I remember other ads like it... always going on about it being Canada's game and "we invented it... it's ours". Yeah we invented it and we are it's biggest fans but I always felt that kind of attitude is a bit lame. I like to think it is a bit more of a global sport also shared by Swedes, Russians, Czechs, etc. Yeah it'll never compete against say soccer but you don't see other countries saying a big sport is their's as much. The NBA likes to market basketball as a global sport and takes great pride in all the international players and otehr countries adopting the game as theirs. Baseball is trying to market itself as the world's game (which is BS, it is soccer) and the media in the US doesn't try to claim it is their sport. Scotland doesn't go on about golf being "thier game" etc..

Anyone else think this is a little lame?

 

[1HandInMyPocket]

i agree it is lame. I think Canadians in general are struggling to find it's own identity by holding onto hockey as being "our" game. Though i don't think it's a global sport, not even close to the extent of soccer, it is a sport shared by many other Northern Hemisphere countries. One of the things that believe that hold back the NHL of success in the US is the underlining attitude that it's not their sport but ours.

 

[21pro]

One of the things that believe that hold back the NHL of success in the US is the underlining attitude that it's not their sport but ours.

yes, and from people i've talked to in the south- the presence of NHL hockey just reminds the americans how many outsiders are in their country.

 

[Questor]

Was watching CBC and saw some ad on CBC.. didn't really pay attention to it but I remember it was about hockey and keep referring to it as "our game", "our sport", "Canada's sport".
<snip>
Anyone else think this is a little lame?

I don't see anything lame about taking pride in the fact that such a theoretically exciting sport originated on the ponds of Upper and Lower Canada and has now grown in popularity to other countries in Northern Europe and USA. And I don't see anything lame about taking pride in the fact that even though we are a country with a relatively small population of 33 million, we continue to produce many of the top hockey players in the world, and remain very competitive in world tournaments. What's lame about that?

Baseball is trying to market itself as the world's game (which is BS, it is soccer) and the media in the US doesn't try to claim it is their sport. Scotland doesn't go on about golf being "thier game" etc..

On the contrary, I think Scotland takes a lot of pride in the fact that golf originated there. And what is more American than a hot dog at Yankee Stadium? Hey, I didn't make that up...it is a sentiment that pervades American culture. And in the US, they think baseball is so American, that they call their championship the World Series, and ignore the rest of the world.

Perhaps I am not understanding your objection to the term "our game." I don't think it is meant to imply physical ownership, only point of origin. Canadians invented it. And we are good at it. Nothing more.

 

[JohnLarue]

yes, and from people i've talked to in the south- the presence of NHL hockey just reminds the americans how many outsiders are in their country.

So what?
The biggest of many mistakes the NHL has made was expanding to locations where the only ice is in the mixed drinks.
Here is the result:
The guy running the show is using the NBA as his template.
The salaries when parabolic (OK were big in the USA now we have to get baseball like salaries)
Labor dispute - got ugly
The product got watered down.
Ticket prices in Canada are now >150 for a good seat.
Tickets in the bible belt - well you cant give those away
Winnipeg & Quebec lost their teams- even though they sold out
Rivalries mean shit now

If the southern USA does not want hockey, fine, lets relocate these teams to
1. Winnipeg
2. Quebec City
3. Hamilton
4. Halifax
5 Saskatoon (Well, OK maybe not)
6. Waterloo (The KW Blackberries - formerly the Penguins(who ever picked the Penguins as the name should be flogged)

 

[Don]

Perhaps I am not understanding your objection to the term "our game." I don't think it is meant to imply physical ownership, only point of origin. Canadians invented it. And we are good at it. Nothing more.

I get the sense that the media up here is trying to imply that it is. I don't get that from other sports. While baseball is considered an "American" sport, both US media and baseball itself doesn't seem to sell it as such. More than anything they like to brag about how international the game is and they like to advertise that in countries like Cuba and the Dominican Republic, baseball is their national sport. Same on a smaller scale with basketball. But I do sort of get that with the NFL since its popularity it only in the US.

I think part of the reason is the popularity so many sports in the US so it is hard for one sport to bill itself as America's sport... though I do hear baseball being called the "national pasttime" whatever that exactly means. While up here hockey is clearly the sport with the most popularity so that might contribute to the sense of ownership.

Maybe I was quick to start this thread... maybe it really is "our" game. We are propbably the only nation where hockey is the #1 sport. Even in hockey powers like Sweden, Russia and Czech Republic, hockey is still the #2 sport.

 

[Dimitri]

this new nhl

is not the game i fell in love with

 

[21pro]

get it in your heads... this is not 'our game'

-NHL is now an american league.
-one of the real reason why the NHL doesn't really have an interest in Canada is that americans don't find it interesting watching Canadian teams play their teams... attendance at rinks dive and so does US TV ratings whenever a Canadian team is involved.
-they have 24 of the teams, 10 times our population, 200 times our economy. i'd say they have ALL the power.
-imo it's ok... the tickets will always be cheaper in the US!!! (cheaper to go to Anaheim (travel and hotel included) and get excellent tickets to an NHL game and golf at Trumps new course than it is to see the Leafs play from the same seats at the ACC)
- the players want to make as much $$$ as possible... that's only possible if the American market was tapped into and exploited.
- and personally if i made it to the NHL, i wouldn't mind playing in San Jose- where i can go to the beach and surf in the middle of February.
- and something Canadians never understand is that by there being so many American teams, we are more interested in the game. Canadians can't admit it, but we, generalized, love all things American. Fox tv, CNN, movies from Hollywood... NFL over CFL, Scarlett Johanson, Playboy, Porn Valley, etc... we love the US!
-i think the NHL would suck if it was just Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Vancouver, Edmonton, and Calgary. the top player would make about $120,000/per year, the ACC wouldn't fill to capacity and you wouldn't see many elite stars choose to play here... they'd make more $$$ in the AHL, Europe Elite leagues, or in Russia. virtually anywhere that would pay them the best dollar. our economy is too small. (boy, wasn't the OSHL a huge smashing success during the lockout... whatever)

-but we do get snow!

 

[Questor]

While up here hockey is clearly the sport with the most popularity so that might contribute to the sense of ownership.

Good point.

Even in hockey powers like Sweden, Russia and Czech Republic, hockey is still the #2 sport.

I hadn't even considered this. What is the number one sport in those countries? Soccer?