Why is Norway not good at hockey compared to Sweden/Finland?

[Vicente]

I was playing drop-in with a guy from Norway, my Grandfather is from Oslo and so I was talking to him about Norway and I had the same question. He said Sweden/Finland have a more farm/hard working people and the kids of those people have the hard work mentality that you need that to really do well in hockey. Norway has been the rich cousin for sometime now, snow sports have been an uper-middle class sport(x-country skiing is something that the Norwegians take pride in like USA and baseball or Canada and Hockey).

Could be actually true.

 

[jekoh]

I was playing drop-in with a guy from Norway, my Grandfather is from Oslo and so I was talking to him about Norway and I had the same question. He said Sweden/Finland have a more farm/hard working people and the kids of those people have the hard work mentality that you need that to really do well in hockey. Norway has been the rich cousin for sometime now, snow sports have been an uper-middle class sport(x-country skiing is something that the Norwegians take pride in like USA and baseball or Canada and Hockey). X-country was how my Grandfather and many Norwegians got around in the winter when he was a kid. Even though hockey is also a $$ sport, in places like Sweden the government picks up the tab on many hockey programs(I hear that is no longer true).
So from what I gathered from that was, Hockey takes effort that they would rather put into some snow sport.

Not very convincing, cross-country skiing probably takes more effort and hard work than ice hockey. Plus the difference in wealth is minimal.

 

[cutchemist42]

I've always wondered why countries like Norway along with The Netherlands aren't bigger in hockey.

 

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Not very convincing, cross-country skiing probably takes more effort and hard work than ice hockey. Plus the difference in wealth is minimal.

Is it really? Norway's GDP per capita is the 4th highest in the world at ~54,000. Sweden 14th at ~40,300 and Finland is 23rd at ~35,800 according to the IMF. The rankings are similar but the gap even bigger according to World Bank figures.

But just that gap of 14,000 between Norway and Sweden is like the gap between the France and Estonia or New Zealand and Mexico. The gap of 18,000 to Finland is like the gap between France and Malaysia or New Zealand and South Africa.

It's a gap at a high level but Norway has oil and gas and that adds an extra level of wealth the other two don't have.

 

[Vicente]

Is it really? Norway's GDP per capita is the 4th highest in the world at ~54,000. Sweden 14th at ~40,300 and Finland is 23rd at ~35,800 according to the IMF. The rankings are similar but the gap even bigger according to World Bank figures.

But just that gap of 14,000 between Norway and Sweden is like the gap between the France and Estonia or New Zealand and Mexico. The gap of 18,000 to Finland is like the gap between France and Malaysia or New Zealand and South Africa.

It's a gap at a high level but Norway has oil and gas and that adds an extra level of wealth the other two don't have.

The problem in both Sweden and Norway is that the kids with the fighting skills from the poorer areas are more attracted to soocer for obvious reasons. It's cheaper and you can make an actual career if you are a top athlete.

If you really want to live from your sports as a Norwegian hockey player you have to leave the country asap. That's for sure a problem aswell. Many kids might not want to leave home at age 15, 16 or 17 to play abroad.

 

[Anton13]

Is it really? Norway's GDP per capita is the 4th highest in the world at ~54,000. Sweden 14th at ~40,300 and Finland is 23rd at ~35,800 according to the IMF. The rankings are similar but the gap even bigger according to World Bank figures.

But just that gap of 14,000 between Norway and Sweden is like the gap between the France and Estonia or New Zealand and Mexico. The gap of 18,000 to Finland is like the gap between France and Malaysia or New Zealand and South Africa.

It's a gap at a high level but Norway has oil and gas and that adds an extra level of wealth the other two don't have.

Taxes are extremely high in Norway, I don't think the standard of living is that much higher than in Sweden or Finland.

Oil in Norway was only found in the late 60's. I'm pretty sure that before that their GDP per capita was lower than in Sweden. Still, even back then Norway was not much of a hockey country.

They just like other sports more, no big deal.

 

[Jussi]

That sounds awful

Their women's national handball team (the reigning Olympic champions) is way more popular than their hockey team. I think I read somewhere that if the men's football team isn't doing well, they might be more popular even than them.

Just for comparisons sake, their cross-country federation spent 1 million euros before the games to make sure their ski waxing (the most important part of the sport) was in order for the games. Apart from Björgen's gold and the biathlon gold today, they've failed quite heavily. Hockey doesn't get anywhere close to that.

 

[WinTheRightGames]

I was playing drop-in with a guy from Norway, my Grandfather is from Oslo and so I was talking to him about Norway and I had the same question. He said Sweden/Finland have a more farm/hard working people and the kids of those people have the hard work mentality that you need that to really do well in hockey. Norway has been the rich cousin for sometime now, snow sports have been an uper-middle class sport

That doesn't sound right. Oil was found in the 1970's. At the same time Finland became more urbanized as more and more people moved into cities (and immigrated to Sweden). Besides, Finland didn't become relevant in hockey until the 90's. And I think that cross-country skiing is much cheaper than hockey.

 

[Anton13]

That doesn't sound right. Oil was found in the 1970's. At the same time Finland became more urbanized as more and more people moved into cities (and immigrated to Sweden). Besides, Finland didn't become relevant in hockey until the 90's. And I think that cross-country skiing is much cheaper than hockey.

Agree with everything except the bolded part. Cross-country skiing is one of the most expensive sports to participate in (on competitive level).

 

[Kharkov]

And I think that cross-country skiing is much cheaper than hockey.

Yes, this is true.

Like Anton13 pointed out GDP aint excatly best meter to compare standard of living, although it is illustrative.

Agree with everything except the bolded part. Cross-country skiing is one of the most expensive sports to participate in (on competitive level).

How it is compared to ice hockey? Ice hockey is quite expensive and I have hard time beliecing cross-country skiing would be more expensive.

 

[Johnny B Good]

the reason norway sucks is because the sport is very small, not enough rinks. And another big problem in norway ( my opinion ) is that norway generally suck at TEAM sports. in norway they dont have any special teams for the extra talented kids like they do in alot of other countries, until they are a certain age( dont remember how old they are when they start with talent teams) and while alot of kids that are good at a sport want to improve, they still ahve to play on teams with other guys who are more interested in smellin their arse and doing other stuff. dont know how to explain it..but if u watch the individual athletes like Petter Northug, he trained by himself and barely spent time with friends/didnt go to parties etc. Thats why he is so good.

There to much of the " no kid should be better at something than the other kid" mentality in Norway.

 

[Noutaja]

the reason norway sucks is because the sport is very small, not enough rinks. And another big problem in norway ( my opinion ) is that norway generally suck at TEAM sports. in norway they dont have any special teams for the extra talented kids like they do in alot of other countries, until they are a certain age( dont remember how old they are when they start with talent teams) and while alot of kids that are good at a sport want to improve, they still ahve to play on teams with other guys who are more interested in smellin their arse and doing other stuff. dont know how to explain it..but if u watch the individual athletes like Petter Northug, he trained by himself and barely spent time with friends/didnt go to parties etc. Thats why he is so good.

There to much of the " no kid should be better at something than the other kid" mentality in Norway.

Everything else, except the lack of rinks, sounds just like Finland. So I guess the answer to the question is really just history.

 

[Canuck21t]

Why does Canada suck at soccer? Because they're obsessed with hockey.

Why does Norway suck at hockey? Because they're obsessed with skiing.

That's obvious genius .

The question is why isn't Norway interested in hockey like its neighbours. I've asked this very same question in a previous thread about the Danes. Basically what came out is because Norway has mountains and I believe more snow and a warmer climate? So therefore Norwegians enjoy skiing more than Swedes and Finns.

Why is Switzerland so much better than Austria at hockey? Why is Austria better than Switzerland at alpine skiing? Why do some kinds of pasta taste better than others?

There are so many unanswered questions...

We're not asking about birth of the universe here. Usually there's a tendency towards something based on proximity. Like Americans and Canadians have more similar mentality as opposed to someone in Eastern Europe. It's reasonable to question why a country doesn't have the same interest as its neighbours.

BTW, Austria may be better at alpine skiing nowadays, but Switzerland has a good alpine skiing culture too. I remember back in the '80s, it was the Swiss who were better alpine skiers.

Lower population, and not very many rinks and arenas I believe. When anyone and everyone goes skiing for fun I imagine you'd be a big ski fan too growing up there.

If they build more rinks and get their hockey program to get more young kids in hockey then you'd see Norway move up the world charts. Problem is hockey equipment is expensive and the rinks/icetime is limited while theres like an infinite amount of ski slopes and a pair of skis and poles won't set you back nearly as much as skates, stick, and pads would.

If there's anyone who can afford hockey equipments, it is the Norwegians. Norway is rich in oil and its population has a very high standard of living.

 

[Tomas W]

That's obvious genius .

The question is why isn't Norway interested in hockey like its neighbours. I've asked this very same question in a previous thread about the Danes. Basically what came out is because Norway has mountains and I believe more snow and a warmer climate? So therefore Norwegians enjoy skiing more than Swedes and Finns.


We're not asking about birth of the universe here. Usually there's a tendency towards something based on proximity. Like Americans and Canadians have more similar mentality as opposed to someone in Eastern Europe. It's reasonable to question why a country doesn't have the same interest as its neighbours.

BTW, Austria may be better at alpine skiing nowadays, but Switzerland has a good alpine skiing culture too. I remember back in the '80s, it was the Swiss who were better alpine skiers.


If there's anyone who can afford hockey equipments, it is the Norwegians. Norway is rich in oil and its population has a very high standard of living.

Hmm. No. I live in the Stockholm area, we're most Swedes live (not really true, should say many), we got 5 degree + today (C). We had about 3 weeks with ice and snow this winter that's it. And summers are for sure warmer in Sweden than in Norway, even though that its moot in this question of course. If anything the lack of snow since the 80-ies makes it very hard for people from the part of Sweden were 80% of the people live to train skiing.

 

[Tomas W]

the reason norway sucks is because the sport is very small, not enough rinks. And another big problem in norway ( my opinion ) is that norway generally suck at TEAM sports. in norway they dont have any special teams for the extra talented kids like they do in alot of other countries, until they are a certain age( dont remember how old they are when they start with talent teams) and while alot of kids that are good at a sport want to improve, they still ahve to play on teams with other guys who are more interested in smellin their arse and doing other stuff. dont know how to explain it..but if u watch the individual athletes like Petter Northug, he trained by himself and barely spent time with friends/didnt go to parties etc. Thats why he is so good.

There to much of the " no kid should be better at something than the other kid" mentality in Norway.

I say it again, you're too pennywise. Use your money.

 

[93Ducks]

I think a similar thread was around last Olympics. IIRC it was due to a lack of rinks + attention being diverted to competing in other winter sports. Just not as much of a pastime compared to Sweden/Finland. Didn't read thread but that's what I remember.

 

[Anton13]

How it is compared to ice hockey? Ice hockey is quite expensive and I have hard time beliecing cross-country skiing would be more expensive.

If we are talking about competitive junior skiing on national level I'd say it's at least on par with hockey. You need to have multiple sets of equipment for different conditions (and as backup), professional waxes are extremely expensive, traveling costs, competing license etc...

Recreational skiing of course can be very cheap.

 

[Johnny B Good]

I say it again, you're too pennywise. Use your money.

If only I was in charge of spending the countries money.

 

[Prairieboy]

I think they chose the wrong skates. Just like they chose the wrong ski's for these olympics.

 

[Robb_K]

Well read again.. They dont like team sports Its their thing, in general, of course there are exceptions like the Norwegian womens handball team. In general though they are more individual. Could be because of their geografy, landscape where mountains and fjords make it difficult to build rinks and to get together as large groups to form teams

THIS is the answer. Norwegians live scattered in farms and small villages. They had to be very individualistic. They never had large groups of population to get things done. Individuals and individual families had to do much for themselves. Also, it is much warmer in Norway, along the Gulf-Stream warmed coast (where most of the people lived). The few that lived in the higher mountains where lakes froze, were scattered in such small groups, that they had a difficulot life of non-stop toil, that left little time for recreation. And they had such few people in their small villages, that getting teams together would have been difficult. So, they tended to like one on one skills competition like skiing, ski jumping and logging sports like tree cutting, tree climbing, etc.

 

[Tomas W]

If only I was in charge of spending the countries money.

True, true. That would probably be much better than the current situation, but alas.

 

[TollefsenFan]

THIS is the answer. Norwegians live scattered in farms and small villages. They had to be very individualistic. They never had large groups of population to get things done. Individuals and individual families had to do much for themselves. Also, it is much warmer in Norway, along the Gulf-Stream warmed coast (where most of the people lived). The few that lived in the higher mountains where lakes froze, were scattered in such small groups, that they had a difficulot life of non-stop toil, that left little time for recreation. And they had such few people in their small villages, that getting teams together would have been difficult. So, they tended to like one on one skills competition like skiing, ski jumping and logging sports like tree cutting, tree climbing, etc.

Its rly Cold in the Whole country, so thats not the problem. Sweden is more centralized than Norway giving them an advantedge in team sports. Bigger urban areas, more supporters. But whatabout the Staal brothers. All 4 of them came from this small Place in the middle of nowhere and look at them now. So small villages should not be an issue??? But why are we worse than Finland. Why is Finland so much better than us.

One possible answer is that Our second largest city (Bergen) does not have any hockey traditions and has always been terrible at hockey. The Third largest city got Rosenborg BK. A team that played several Seasons in the uefa champions League (Soccer). People in Trondheim has therefore been more into Football than any other sport. The fourth largest city is Stavanger. They are doing rly well atm. So among the bigger cities there are only Oslo and Stavanger that are doing well in hockey. While in Finland most of the major cities got a strong hockey team or at least not a terrible one.

In Norway, hockey is an east Norwegian sport. Thats the problem. We need teams from other parts of the county aswell, if we wanna take the NeXT step.

Whats the differense between Norway and lets say Slovakia? Its the lack of elite forwards on the Norwegian roster. We need a Marian Hossa, Chara and Sekera to be able to upset a bigger nation. Thats like 3 elite players. If hockey becomes a Norwegian sport and not just an east Norwegian sport, then i believe we can develop some elite players. After all we allrdy got Zuke.

 

[TollefsenFan]

I say it again, you're too pennywise. Use your money.

Like pennywise the clown?

 

[O2]

One point I haven't read so far in the thread is that we have a competing team ice-sport called "Bandy"

I grew up around the Oslo suburbs, and hardly any of my local sportsclubs had any hockey teams. There was, however, maybe 15 different sportsclubs that had a bandy team.

It's a fairly localized activity, meaning not all of Norway plays this sport. However, probably the largest geographical area with the highest amount of youths mostly has bandy as a possibility for kids.

Now I'm not saying that bandy is bigger then hockey in Norway (not sure about Sweden though, I know it's huge there) - but when a very large part of kids growing up only have the option to play bandy, hockey kind of gets forgotten.

 

[Canuck21t]

Hmm. No. I live in the Stockholm area, we're most Swedes live (not really true, should say many), we got 5 degree + today (C). We had about 3 weeks with ice and snow this winter that's it. And summers are for sure warmer in Sweden than in Norway, even though that its moot in this question of course. If anything the lack of snow since the 80-ies makes it very hard for people from the part of Sweden were 80% of the people live to train skiing.

Uh, no what? All you talk about is Sweden which is useless in explaining Norway's situation. Please be more clear. Are you saying Norway is colder? Does Norway have more snow than Sweden and Finland? Would that explain their higher interest in skiing?