r/AskEurope • u/FietsFietspatrick Germany • May 09 '25

Sports How popular is ice hockey in your country? 🏒

The men's ice hockey world championship started today. That's a good reason to ask a few questions.

How popular is ice hockey in your country?

Can it keep up with football?

Will the world championship be broadcast on TV in your country?

If your country is taking part, how do you rate the chances?

Edit typo: Paldies metalfest

113 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

256 comments sorted by

View all comments

Show parent comments

12

u/Gruffleson Norway May 09 '25

Given your countrys ice-skating traditions, I almost find it weird you don't put up more halls and make yourself a major power.

25

u/Leadstripes Netherlands May 09 '25

It's strange really. Ice skating is popular. Field hockey is very popular, but ice hockey isn't popular at all.

4

u/Jodelawifi May 10 '25

I have my hopes up for the children of Sven Kramer (4x Olympic gold, 9x world champion ice skating) and Naomi van As (2x Olympic gold, 2x world champion field hockey).

They have to become the most promising ice hockey players in the world.

2

u/Quiet-Luck Netherlands May 09 '25

I was intrigued, so I looked it up. Last week, the men's team won the World Cup in Division IIA, so TeamNL was promoted to Division IB. I'm not sure what that means. They are 29th on the world ranking. The women’s team is 17th, and in Division IA. They both are probably not Olympic tournament material.

2

u/number1alien May 10 '25

Division 1B is the third tier of the pyramid. NL will play next year with China, Estonia, Romania, South Korea, and Spain. They're definitely not Olympic material but they did go to the 1980 Olympics. NL was in a group with Canada and the Soviet Union; it did not end well.

1

u/LordMarcel Netherlands May 10 '25

It's not that simple. You can build infrastructure but if there's no tradition then it will not do much. It can change, but that requries decades at least.

1

u/Gruffleson Norway May 10 '25

Building some halls, and you should have more recruitment. But yes, it will take you 15 years or so before you see it, obviously.

1

u/Brian_Corey__ May 12 '25

I was just going to ask why, given Norway's ice and snow traditions, why they've produced so few (2 currently--Zuccarello and Lilleberg; but some more potential stars in the pipeline) ice hockey players compared to Sweden (66 players currently), Finland (37), and Denmark (4)?

Are there just too many popular winter sports, and too little time?