Hockey-playing Prime Ministers and Presidents

[Overrated]

I’m wondering if it’s similar to Sweden in a way, that while soccer remains the more practiced, accessible and popular sport, hockey is one were both countries historically have had the greater and more successful teams internationally, and probably the more iconic individuals, more often than not.

The average Russian will perhaps tune into more Fifa World Cup games than Olympic hockey matchups, but they’ve seen more title matchups with Russian hockey teams. Ovechkin is a superstar in his game. If Andrei Arzhavin had remained relevant on the world stage beyond 2008, perhaps we’d have seen a couple more pictures of Putin schmoozing with their football team.

It was the same in Czechoslovakia and the old Czechoslovakia was very good at both. I think to a certain degree it still is, but I do feel a decline in the interest in hockey.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

It was the same in Czechoslovakia and the old Czechoslovakia was very good at both. I think to a certain degree it still is, but I do feel a decline in the interest in hockey.

I’m wondering what effect the NHL (and a pandemic) barring their players from the Olympics will have had on the popularity of hockey in Europe? A generation will have missed the opportunities I had to watch the best players in the world compete for their countries in any important event with some gravitas (rather than a bunch of and/buts).

 

[Overrated]

I’m wondering what effect the NHL (and a pandemic) barring their players from the Olympics will have had on the popularity of hockey in Europe? A generation will have missed the opportunities I had to watch the best players in the world compete for their countries in any important event with some gravitas (rather than a bunch of and/buts).

It might have had a smallish impact but I think the biggest reason is that hockey in the Czech Republic is not widely accessible to average kids. It's become a rich kid sport.

 

[MeHateHe]

Putin and Lukashenko are nothing but posers, they never played organized hockey at any level beyond their orchestrated photo sessions with pros while in office.

Dude skates worse than my grandmother, and she's dead.

 

[sr edler]

Haven’t dug into the history too much, but it seems like the Soviet Union to a certain extent spread out their sports focuses between the republics, which has defined how I think of the present countries and sports. Russia and hockey, but also Latvia and Kazakhstan. Basketball with the Baltics, but Lithuania in particular. Wrestling in Central Asia and Mongolia… Soviet satellite states as well seem to have invested in certain sports for whatever reason. Like, Hungary and water sports, why did water polo become a thing there?

Yeah, why different sports are popular or not popular in various countries is a pretty interesting topic overall, and I guess the answers varies a lot from case to case, from cultural to even topographical angles, but take Estonia for example whose favourite sports (cross-country skiing, track and field, cycling, they even had a rally world champion recently) very much mirrors Finland instead of the other Baltic states, which really shouldn't be that much of a surprise since Estonians aren't Balts but a Finno-Ugric people.

But then you also have a lot of internal differences within countries as well. Like bandy and speedway mostly being popular in small-to-middle-sized rural towns in Sweden, or pesäpallo (Finnish baseball) mostly being a rural sport in Finland as well.

 

[The Panther]

As an aside, the 1981 Canada Cup is before my time, but I watched the broadcast on YouTube years ago, and what struck me (besides Canada's laying down like a farm-girl on prom-night in the 2nd period) was the televised interview, in the 2nd intermission, with Canadian Prime-Minister Pierre Trudeau.

Trudeau mentioned his childhood watching the Canadiens, and he said (I paraphrase) that "in those days, it was Aurèle Joliat and Howie Morenz."

Trudeau was 6 or 7 when the Canadiens moved from Mount Royale Arena to the Montreal Forum in 1926 -- both venues were close to where he grew up in Outremont.

I just thought it was interesting that the then-PM (and father of the current Canadian PM) could so vividly remember watching Morenz and Joliat live.

 

[Albatros]

Yeah, why different sports are popular or not popular in various countries is a pretty interesting topic overall, and I guess the answers varies a lot from case to case, from cultural to even topographical angles, but take Estonia for example whose favourite sports (cross-country skiing, track and field, cycling, they even had a rally world champion recently) very much mirrors Finland instead of the other Baltic states, which really shouldn't be that much of a surprise since Estonians aren't Balts but a Finno-Ugric people.

But then you also have a lot of internal differences within countries as well. Like bandy and speedway mostly being popular in small-to-middle-sized rural towns in Sweden, or pesäpallo (Finnish baseball) mostly being a rural sport in Finland as well.

For what it's worth, the Baltic Basketball League had more teams from Estonia than from Latvia or Lithuania. It's a popular sport there too.

 

[sr edler]

What perhaps is a little bit odd is how basketball is such an afterthought sport in Sweden, because there are factors that you would think would play into an interest: we're a pretty Americanised society overall, we're pretty tall on average, and we also have a fair share of immigrant groups that you would think would gravitate towards the sport. But alas. I think the most famous basketball players here are probably Anders Eldebrink's daughters.

But, sports seems to be an area where people here (and in many many other Euro countries as well) just don't care that much about US influence. Even for someone like myself, who likes sports, sports like baseball and American football just bores the hell out of me. Even basketball I find overall boring.

 

[VanIslander]

The Pope played hockey.

He talked about it on CBC radio back in the 80's i recall, on icy ponds all day long.

Growing up in Poland, John Paul II enjoyed playing sports, especially soccer and hockey.

Known as the “skiing pope,” John Paul II (Karol Wojtyla) was more well-known in his childhood days as a soccer player. He even earned the nickname of “Lolek the Goalie” for his preferred role.

 

[Yozhik v tumane]

What perhaps is a little bit odd is how basketball is such an afterthought sport in Sweden, because there are factors that you would think would play into an interest: we're a pretty Americanised society overall, we're pretty tall on average, and we also have a fair share of immigrant groups that you would think would gravitate towards the sport. But alas. I think the most famous basketball players here are probably Anders Eldebrink's daughters.

But, sports seems to be an area where people here (and in many many other Euro countries as well) just don't care that much about US influence. Even for someone like myself, who likes sports, sports like baseball and American football just bores the hell out of me. Even basketball I find overall boring.

The Nordic countries overall suck at basketball, no? The exception being Finland maybe. I’d say Jonas Jerebko’s probably the most famous Swedish baller though? He did lose a ton of esteen for going to Russia despite them occupying Ukraine, but he had a fairly lengthy NBA career prior to that.

I like to say I’m from the basketball capital of Sweden, being as the men’s team has the most SBL championships (tied with Norrköping) and the women’s team has dominated in the last decade. The women’s basketball team has also had the distinction of having the highest average attendance of a Swedish women’s team in any sport. Ice hockey’s the big thing in Luleå, but I’d say basketball is clearly second. Had we had any decent football team, then it could probably challenge basketball’s attendance figures however.

I never much cared for basketball however. I once got tickets for the men’s team in their early-to-mid 2000s glory days, and found it sooo boring. Didn’t like playing it either, but the kids in my class in the city centre were always playing basketball at recess and when they had the choice in P.E. classes, and so I just followed along. When I returned to my former school for my teenage years, I realized I was somewhat decent at it compared to my new/old classmates who also weren’t basketball fans. Was never good at sports, but here I could protect the ball, get around with it and pass it to better shooters, so that was at least something. I loved Space Jam as a kid, I think that movie and Michael Jordan being a cultural icon at the time did bring some basketballs to the playgrounds of the 90s.

 

[Staniowski]

The Pope played hockey.

He talked about it on CBC radio back in the 80's i recall, on icy ponds all day long.

That's interesting that Pope John Paul II played some hockey.

 

[JMCx4]

Ronald Reagan

In cowbot boots & a Stetson hat.

 

[JMCx4]

That's interesting that Pope John Paul II played some hockey.

The STL Blues gave a team-autographed hockey stick to JPII during his visit to St. Louis in 1999. The stick subsequently became a papal relic when John Paul II was canonized. Al MacInnis's signature provided the can(n)on.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

That’s interesting

 

[Hockey Outsider]

I would imagine Jean Chrétien not too shy to drop the glove... apparently:

At a minimum, he'd be able to give another Shawinigan Handshake