I didn't become a hardcore hockey fan until 2017, when I was 19 years old. I didn't grow up with hockey or in a hockey family - I grew up in Indiana where the sport isn't popular and my parents were into baseball and football to a lesser extent. I was raised mostly on basketball, being in a basketball state, and an hour away from Chicago, where Michael Jordan had just won six NBA titles. Once I became a hockey fan a few years ago, I knew quickly that I would be one of very few who was hardcore into the sport.
Hockey is a very regional sport in the United States. Because the sport is played on ice, its natural roots are in cold weather locations in the northern/northeastern US, so there's plenty of Americans who haven't had much exposure to the game at all. The NHL is easily the 4th most popular of the four major sports leagues behind the NFL, NBA, and MLB. With this, it gets little national sports media attention, especially considering the NHL does not have a TV deal with ESPN, who then has no monetary incentive to promote it.
Since fewer Americans are exposed to it, fewer understand the game. Hockey itself has plenty of complicated rules like offside, icing, goalie interference amongst other things, and the inability to pick up on what is going on during games definitely turns the casual sports viewer off to some extent. With all of these factors being mentioned, being one of few hardcore fans of the sport gets awkward.
I go to a university in Michigan, a pretty big hockey state, so yes, there are more up here who do watch and know the game. Even so, it's still not the majority of people. Plenty of normal everyday people aren't even sports fans, let alone fans of hockey. So when I go back home to Indiana or elsewhere, there are even fewer people to discuss the game with. Most sports fans seem to watch football (college and pro), and then a good amount watch baseball and basketball, depending on the demographic.
As a fan of all the major sports, I can have a decent conversation with other sports fans, but few want to talk about hockey. If I mention I like it, the ones who aren't fans quickly brush it off or the moment becomes awkward. Most people don't even know the stars in the NHL, so a casual conversation is almost impossible as well.
Luckily, even though there aren't many hardcore fans around me, Reddit is a great place to find likeminded fans. While there are many legitimate criticisms of the Reddit platform, the subreddits for just about anything can bring people together. I enjoy going on the hockey subreddit and browsing through and sometimes having a good conversation with others about what is going on in the NHL.
Overall, being a hockey fan in the United States can be fairly weird, when most others don't really care for it. Regardless, I will continue to enjoy watching the sport for years to come.
