Field hockey is more popular here but I have gone to an ice hockey game or two. It's a lot more violent watching them fight over the Oreo puck.
I have tried to get into ice hockey for an additional winter sport (basketball is vomitory to me, not talking about a stadium entrance - it's just too easy for these modern day kickass players), but hockey is just too hard to follow.
I have done both ends of it, sitting as a fan and working as a commissioned photographer, trying to catch the "star" player making a show.
Absolutely no problem getting great shots of the star, once I knew who the top dog was; the one I was there to photograph. But as far as enjoying the game play ... ... not so much.
From what I have seen, most of the fans there are just waiting for a confrontation to carry beyond civility.
Where I grew up, it never froze and the local TV sports guys always produced a "make fun of hockey" segment and I shook my head. It looked like a fun thing.
