I think preseason football is way better due the roster sizes being so massive, hockey teams have 90-95% their rosters set already if not the whole team
The later preseason games are at least close to the the opening day lineups, so at least you'd be watching most of the A-team. Especially now, preseason football is a lot of guys who will get cut.
For some reason I still have a conversation with my friend burned in my memory. She was trying to organize friends to go watch a Week 4 preseason game that included a pregame tailgate for like $80 per person. I tried to point out how Week 4 preseason would feature virtually none of the regular players and that a comparable ticket on StubHub was going for like $10. She responded that the StubHub ticket wouldn't have the tailgate included. I guess she thought people would rush out of work to eat $70+ worth of burgers and hot dogs before kickoff.
My other indelible memory of preseason football was seeing a 49ers/Chargers game in 2005. Loud obnoxious guy in front of me was wearing an Alex Smith jersey (he was the #1 pick a few months earlier). #83 dropped a pass and the fan kept screaming things about J.J. Stokes for the first half.
At some point I think I tapped him on the shoulder to tell him that Stokes hadn't been on the 49ers for a couple years.