As a athlete , i'm as bad as it gets, i was the kind of kid who was always picked last in team sports, my skating skills made Garth Butcher look like Brian Boitano compared to me. Besides watching them sports were not a big part of my life. I went a few times at the old Forum, my first game there was the Habs against the Nordiques, at the time Guy Lafleur was playing for Quebec so it was the only time i got to see live my favourite player, it was quite a thrill.
Saw a few Canada Cup games as well.
Regarding the feeling about watching a game live compared on tv, it is quite amusing that most Americans have that problem, never felt that the game was that dilluted on the small screen. I remember my frustration when Fox started broadcasting games on National TV and used all those gimmicks like the glowing puck. Only good thing they did good was to devise the behind the net shot during a power play.
To be honest i have stopped following the game a long time ago, i basically check out the scores on the newspaper and that's about it.