Denmark doesn't like hockey?

[PistolPete]

They were not playing the semifinal in Denmark.
You saw A LOT of empty seats in Sweden.

Really????

Wow. I just assumed it was the home team playing in their own country. They didn't want to sell tickets???

 

[PistolPete]

They are not a big hockey country, but they are a big sports country. I love Denmark.

With a small population and an instant rivalry with Sweden I would have to think making inroads into Denmark wouldn't be too difficult if the NHL made it a focus.

 

[SirKillalot]

Wow. I just assumed it was the home team playing in their own country. They didn't want to sell tickets???

No one expected THAT home team to get to the semi-finals, heck even getting to the quarter finals were a question mark.

 

[PistolPete]

No one expected THAT home team to get to the semi-finals, heck even getting to the quarter finals were a question mark.

Understandable. But they couldn't make some adjustments to get Denmark a home game? Quite surprising

 

[57special]

Maybe they are overcharging for seats, like they do at the WJC's?

 

[PistolPete]

Maybe they are overcharging for seats, like they do at the WJC's?

Even in Europe? I assumed tickets were cheap since there doesn't seem to be much of an appetite for WJC like there is here in Canada.

 

[SirKillalot]

Understandable. But they couldn't make some adjustments to get Denmark a home game? Quite surprising

These things are planned long time ahead. Doubt the Swedish FA would be happy with that as well as certain sponsors.
Fans with booked tickets, hotels, etc. as well.

Though, yeah for the greater of hockey they should have.

 

[SanDogBrewin]

Maybe their better at Futbol ?

 

[TheGreenTBer]

Exactly! Led by their fearless leader.....uhhhh......Cnut!

There are other countries with leaders by that name, just with the letters re-ordered

 

[PistolPete]

These things are planned long time ahead. Doubt the Swedish FA would be happy with that as well as certain sponsors.
Fans with booked tickets, hotels, etc. as well.

Though, yeah for the greater of hockey they should have.

True stuff.

I would imagine it would have made for a great atmosphere locally if they played in Denmark. Get some bandwagoning going on.

 

[Romang67]

This logic isn't going to work here since hockey is actually very popular in central Europe.

And two out of four Nordic countries aren't big on hockey. It's just Finland and Sweden. Norway is big on winter sports, just not winter sports where the goal is to put an object in a net.

 

[belair]

I saw A LOT of empty seats at a semi-final game. Quite surprising.

Hockey really not that popular in Denmark?

Only like 400 people live there. They'd have a really hard time filling an arena.

Fun fact. Like Winnipeg, they also do not have a functional airport.

 

[Eye of Ra]

Herning likes hockey. Atleast when Denmark plays.

 

[Eye of Ra]

And two out of four Nordic countries aren't big on hockey. It's just Finland and Sweden. Norway is big on winter sports, just not winter sports where the goal is to put an object in a net.

Hockey is not as big in Sweden that many think. Soccer and handboll is bigger here. And basketball is growing in popularity here.

 

[Vipers31]

I remember the last World Cup in Germany and the ticket prices set by the IIHF - those just don’t work in Europe on a larger scale. They often wound up having to throw out cheap/free tickets last minute through various channels to get the arenas somewhat full so that it wouldn’t look too bad. If they stopped doing that or if those secondary channels just weren’t as established or had a large enough audience in the Danish cities, that could well explain it, IMO.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

I read a Swedish newspaper article the other day about the growth of Danish hockey. Basically, it told a story about Swedish head coach Jim Brithén taking over the team in the late 90s when Denmark were bouncing between the B and C World Championships. At the time, there was sparse interest among veteran players to play in those competitions. Brithén saw an opportunity one year when there was no risk of being demoted to the C division, to construct a roster out of young talent. They lost every game, but started to build toward the future. They acquired funding from the Danish sports federation and began investing into hockey. I think you have to consider how late this is going down, and what immense strides they've made since. I think the article said they were promoted to the top division of the WCs in 2003 and haven't been demoted since.

It's quite remarkable the number of NHL players they've produced since Frans Nielsen made his debut in 2006, how Danish players have become mainstays in the SHL (I feel like Kim Staal stood out as a rather lone presence when I was following hockey in the late 90s/early 00s), and that they're hosting World Championships in modern times. I also predicted Norway to become something of a player in international hockey way before Denmark did, but they not only seem to tread water but maybe even regress since the 2010 Olympics when I made that prediction.

As for interest, I don't know about the public but it seems like Danish media has made an appropriately big deal out of their success. I have a Danish co-worker and he's really into hockey, but he's lived in Sweden for a long time and perhaps not that representative, however you have to think a lot has happened over the last 25 years when you consider how many Danish pros there are nowadays, as compared to before.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Hockey is not as big in Sweden that many think. Soccer and handboll is bigger here. And basketball is growing in popularity here.

Is handball really bigger, in terms of public interest? In terms of participation, yeah very likely, because it's cheaper to get into and whatnot. But the interest in handball as compared to the SHL, Olympic and World Championship hockey? I'm thinking you're speaking for Skåne maybe, not for most of the rest of the country

 

[Eye of Ra]

Is handball really bigger, in terms of public interest? In terms of participation, yeah very likely, because it's cheaper to get into and whatnot. But the interest in handball as compared to the SHL, Olympic and World Championship hockey? I'm thinking you're speaking for Skåne maybe, not for most of the rest of the country

When the Handball nt is playing in Stockholm and Göteborg its always full house. So definitely not just Skåne. I think its only in Norrland its not popular.

 

[Chainshot]

Where the “Vicwings” are from?

Vikwings sound spicy. Perhaps even raw.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

When the Handball nt is playing in Stockholm and Göteborg its always full house. So definitely not just Skåne. I think its only in Norrland its not popular.

There's more prestige to the major international tournaments in handball than there is to the IIHF Worlds for many obvious reasons, but the interest in the handball league seems extremely local compared to hockey fans, who you can find almost everywhere.

 

[Anaheim4ever]

Isnt Handball just a kids game you play in elementary school and then move onto real sports like Hockey/Football/Basketball/Soccer ?
Even Tennis and Lacrosse >>>>>>> Handball.

 

[Romang67]

Isnt Handball just a kids game you play in elementary school and then move onto real sports like Hockey/Football/Basketball/Soccer ?
Even Tennis and Lacrosse >>>>>>> Handball.

Definitely not. It's an Olympic sport and has been for some time. It's just not, AFAIK, at all played in North America.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Isnt Handball just a kids game you play in elementary school and then move onto real sports like Hockey/Football/Basketball/Soccer ?
Even Tennis and Lacrosse >>>>>>> Handball.

It's easy and cheap to get into and for that reason it's got decent participation numbers and gains pretty sizable viewing in major international competitions. I believe it was invented in Denmark? I think it's much bigger in Norway and Denmark than in Sweden, but it seems pretty popular far beyond Scandinavia.

I also think it's more popular to play among girls than boys, and the women's national teams are quite popular among the public.

 

[PistolPete]

It's easy and cheap to get into and for that reason it's got decent participation numbers and gains pretty sizable viewing in major international competitions. I believe it was invented in Denmark? I think it's much bigger in Norway and Denmark than in Sweden, but it seems pretty popular far beyond Scandinavia.

I also think it's more popular to play among girls than boys, and the women's national teams are quite popular among the public.

Aren't there everal professional handball leagues throughout Europe? Including Deutschland?

When I learned of this I was quite surprised given handball is more or less a grade school kids' game here in NA.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

Aren't there everal professional handball leagues throughout Europe? Including Deutschland?

When I learned of this I was quite surprised given handball is more or less a grade school kids' game here in NA.

Yeah, sure are. I know nothing about them (I think Germany is a popular destination for good players?), I’m really not into the sport but may tune into Euro/World/Olympic finals in case Sweden plays.