hey saratoga,

when I was in Vancouver a couple of years ago I went to a Bruins ice hockey match....whoooh! what a game! I am sure that if we had a different climate here in Oz everyone would be a fan.
The hype and the action certainly gets the spectators involved although the $75 cost for a ticket made us blink(ie. when converted into our "pacific pesos")!
There are only relatively minor competitions here in Australia but I can catch some games on FoXSports. I'll have to think about betting on some games in the future.

Cheers.