I'm trying to be a good Canadian

[TSwizzle]

I've tried for years to like ice hockey, but no matter how much I watch I just can't get into it.

The game is so fast, the playing surface so small, that every game just seems like a bunch of players bouncing around and throwing the puck at the net until it coincidentally goes in. At the end of the year the team that's done the least stupid stuff, and has hired players with incrementally more skill than other teams, wins the stanley cup, and the saga goes on.

I may very well be ignorant of the game. Could someone explain the nuance to it that I'm missing?

I used to enjoy watching hockey and was a big LA Kings fan through the 90s (Gretzky) and 2000's but it barely makes my radar now. I still go to one game a season but I don't enjoy it as much now even the the team are way more successful now. I can't put my finger on why I no longer enjoy it but it can be quite boring to watch now. There is too much dumping the puck into the corner, chasing after it and then doing the "cycle" if the attacking team gets possession. Maybe the professional players are just too good and they kind of cancel each other out.