by Pete Albert

Created on: July 09, 2007

In the 1990's, hockey was very popular in the United States. Now it must fight to be noticed among the NBA, NFL, and MLB. The reasons for the decline in interest? There are surely a handful.

The violence of the game now seems to have turned people away, which contradicts current cultural interests. Why is UFC (Ultimate Fighting Championship) gaining immense popularity? It markets the all-important 16-42 male demographic, no doubt. And many of these folks think of hockey as a "soft" sport, were grown men in skates chase a rubber disc on a sheet of ice. Hockey is a hard sport played by tough men, but apparently most of the nation doesn't find anything in it. Also, some crude incidents in past years hurt the image of the game: back in 2000, Marty McSorley of the Bruins used his stick to hit the head of Vancouver Canuck Donald Brashear. The incident was treated as a crime in Canada, and it led to McSorley's exit from the league. Brashear still plays for the Washington Capitals. And more recently, in 2004, Todd Bertuzzi of the Canucks struck down Greg Moore of the Avalanche, from behind. The hit rendered Moore unconscious and he broke his neck when he hit the ice. Brutal. Moore will probably never play again in the NHL and Bertuzzi still plays, having recently signed with Anaheim.

But there are more reasons. The average parent(s) in the U.S. might have a tough time buying equipment for their son or daughter. Hockey is an expensive sport, much more expensive than baseball, basketball, football, or soccer. Hockey gear can easily cost over $500! Factor in youth league fees and traveling expenses, and you're talking about almost a thousand dollars.
Conversely, there seems to be a hundred basketball courts in any given town, and a basketball itself costs about $30.00. Hockey has footholds in certain regions here, no doubt. All the northern states are hockey safe-havens (Minnesota, Michigan, North Dakota, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Vermont, and New York) partly because these states either have great Division I college teams, established high school leagues, and still have enough of a cold winter climate to enthuse interest (although the climate really has warmed up over the last fifteen years; outdoor rinks are quickly fading!).

Of course, the NHL player strike of 2005-06 turned many casual fans away from the game. The NHL lost it's TV deal with ESPN, and thus lost credibility among cable TV subscribers. Although many good things came out of the resolution of

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