The reason is this:
In Norway hockey has a bad reputation and is viewed as a sport for bullies and short-tempered troublemakers. It garners little interest and there is no real desire among the Norwegian public to change its views of the sport. Actually it is the second most watched team sport in Norway (in attendance) but doesn't even get a fraction of the attention that women's handball gets.
Secondly there is no real tv-coverage to speak of. Some games are shown on channels unavailable to many people or on pay-tv, which of course is akin to preaching to the congregation. It doesn't make any new fans that way. If more games were shown on bigger stations and the media bothered to inform properly about the sport that could change, but don't really see it coming. The world cup will ensure some attention, but they always fail to capitalize on it. Games aren't advertised properly either.
Thirdly, there are next to no rinks in Norway outside of the Oslo area. Look at the list of teams in the Norwegian top flight and all but two play within a two-hour drive from Oslo. There are no teams north of Trondheim worth mentioning. Hockey is popular in certain areas of the country, but the large masses remain ignorant. Even Norway's second biggest city, Bergen, cannot support a hockey team.
Fourthly, the sport is run by amateurs. All you ever hear is of more financial troubles surrounding clubs and there is little professionalism in the teams or in Norwegian hockey federation, leading to a no development.
Fifthly, for all the reasons above Norway aren't just any good at hockey which of course completes the vicious cycle. Not doing well equals no media exposure equals no new fans.
Finally, the idea that Norwegians prefer individual sports is not true. By far the biggest sport in Norway is football (soccer). Both in terms of players, tv-audience, attendance and media coverage. In the summer months it is the all-encompassing sport and most poeple have an opinion. In winter however, skiing takes precedence for three main reasons:
1. We're the best in the world leading to lots of coverage.
2. Virtually everybody in Norway goes skiing or knows how to ski. It is the national pasttime for five months of the year and any given Saturday and Sunday the woods get overcrowded with skiers.
3.At weekends National tv runs 8-hour monster broadcasts covering all sorts of winter sports, but no hockey. Skiing, skating, alipne skiing and biathlon dominate.
I think that hockey could grow here but it requires a major change in the perception of the game by the general public.
