It’s great to have ice hockey albeit in a somewhat limited capacity, but as the puck dropped on what is supposed to be 2020/21 season, what were your impressions of the Streaming Series?
We asked the question to find out what you all made of what you saw over the weekend and get your feedback on what you saw, whether that was on the ice or the productions themselves.
You didn’t disappoint.
While we know running polls on social media perhaps doesn’t give the full reflection of general feeling, we ran one anyway to get a taste and 84.6% of the votes we received deemed the opening weekend a success.
A lot of the comments we received were also generally positive as fans and viewers helped give their verdicts on the weekend.
On the British Ice Hockey Facebook page, Sarah Goodchild said: “Watched both games. Great streaming both times! Not the same as being there, but this is a great alternative. Well done to everyone involved.”
Jamie Guy commented: “Reminded me what Saturday and Sunday nights were made for. Slight streaming issues in Sheffield (not like their usual stream tbh), but the hockey itself surpassed my expectations given the long “off season” these boys have had.
The Monday after the weekend before. Was the first games of the Streaming Series a success? Let us know what you think. Feel free to comment and add feedback
— British Ice Hockey 🏒 (@BritIceHockey) November 16, 2020
Nigel Plowman added: “Loved it. Almost as good as being there. Well done Swindon and Sheffield. More please.”
Melanie Clarke said: “Watched both games – the stream was slightly better in Swindon, but both still better than some EIHL ones. Loved the effort the DJ’s/announcers went to during the game.
“This was as close as you could get to atmosphere without fans. We sang along just to get into the spirit! God I miss live ice hockey! Big thank you to everyone involved.”
However, Ian Wilson had a question: “I think it is wrong. Why should only three teams play what about the other teams and their fans?”
Caroline Kelly was largely positive about the weekend and in her words, “did her bit” to help the three teams although she doesn’t support. She had one minor gripe though.
“The only negative thing is that as the camera kept following the puck and panning quickly during the Sheffield game, I got a little motion sick,” she said.
“I also learned how crap my WiFi is at times! All in all, it’s a great start now. Let’s get the other teams back playing now.”
Swindon and MK fought out a 14-goal thriller on Saturday (PHOTO: Kat Medcroft)
Irene Mason on Twitter wasn’t too enamoured at the viewing figures, with 1,690 tuning into Saturday’s game then 1,220 watching on Sunday.
Tuning her inner Delia Smith, she said: “The game I watched was brilliant but I’m disappointed with the amount of people watching. Everyone saying how much they are missing hockey. Where were they?”
Matthew Hulls added: “Totally understand the financial constraints teams are working with, but people are under financial constraints too at the moment…it’s a lot of money to pay to stream the games for a team you don’t support, especially when KHL and SHL is on FreeSports at no cost.
“You look at the collapse of PPV in the Premier League football that’s now reverted back. I think the NIHL should have taken the hit in order to generate interest/confidence in the game first, leading to a subscription set-up rather than hit everyone with a big PPV fee.”
Mick took a swipe at fans of Sheffield’s neighbours when he said on Twitter: “Disappointed in the steeldogs total, all these steelers fans wanting ice hockey should step up and support local clubs.”
Thank you to everyone who took the time to tell us their thoughts.
This weekend’s games sees Milton Keynes Lightning host Swindon Wildcats on Saturday (face off 7pm) then on Sunday, Swindon are back home to take on Sheffield Steeldogs (face off 6.15pm)
Online tickets are available now at £12 and you can purchase these streams by clicking on the links above.
