Originally Posted by Mutt

The NHL is widely available on television through cable, satellite and now Internet. It's always been said that of all sports hockey needs to be seen live, to appreciate the speed and the hitting, it's also always been said that it doesn't translate well to television and there was/is some truth to that. People always mention that they can't see the puck, it's small. I don't agree with that so much, you often in football don't see the path of the ball through the air or see it in the hands of the running back carrying it, same for baseball and golf.

In a city like Chicago it's always been said there's 20,000 hockey fans and you can find them all in the seats attending the games. There's a little bit of truth to that, hockey fans are passionate and go to games - hockey doesn't have the 'casual fans' that the other sports have. You either love hockey or it doesn't exist to you - in the US anyway.