That thing you absolutely loved watching? Well, according to Skip Bayless, it actually sucks.
Bayless, who claimed he left FS1 to escape TV restrictions and hinted at bigger things to come, has since been relegated to podcast duty after parting ways with Fox Sports last year. Now named as a defendant in an explosive workplace lawsuit and growing what feels like more irrelevant by the day, Bayless still clings to his signature shtick — playing the contrarian for contrarian’s sake.
And that’s exactly what he did with the 4 Nations Face-Off.
“So, maybe I just don’t get it,” Bayless claimed. “But, as edge-of-seat, scintillating as that 4 Nations Championship game became, as I watched, I was again reminded just how much I don’t like watching hockey. I’m sorry, I just don’t. I’ve tried and tried and tried and tried, and I just don’t. The truth is, the game’s just too hard to play. I mean, you’ve got humans on ice skates on ice with sticks trying to handle a puck that reaches speeds of over 100 miles per hour flying across the ice. It’s like one long, continuous mistake.
“I pity the play-by-play guys in hockey. It’s just one long mistake. ‘So and so passes to so and so, who can’t control the puck, which is taken by so and so, who passes to so and so, who can’t control the puck, which is taken away by so and so.’ It just wears you out. It’s just too hard. Hockey players can’t remotely control the puck the way basketball players can control the basketball. You can control it, and at least I can always see the basketball; I can’t always see the puck flying around 100 miles an hour.”
Hockey is like one long continuous mistake … so and so passes to so and so, who can’t control the puck, which is taken by so and so who passes to so and so, who can’t control the puck, which is taken by so and so…https://t.co/YCNTnryUyK
— Skip Bayless (@RealSkipBayless) March 1, 2025
“So many goals in hockey are just so lucky,” Bayless adds, “because the 100 miles per hour slapshot, it glances off a stick, and then off a pad and off then off a helmet. I don’t know, it just ricochets through four or fives players banging into each other in front of the net. And the goalie just doesn’t see the puck until wait, it’s behind him in the net. And everybody goes crazy. And fans watching in the arena and at home have to wait for the first, second, maybe even the third replay to figure out what the hell just happened.
“No sport that I know of has more lucky scores than hockey. In fact, from what I’ve gained over the years, it’s always part of the offensive strategy just to create as much traffic, as much chaos as possible in front of the goalie, then blast the puck into the traffic and hope for a lucky bounce.”
According to Bayless, a lucky shot in the NBA or a lucky Hail Mary in the NFL happens only occasionally. But he conveniently forgets that luck has always been a part of sports. It’s why the phrase “It’s better to be lucky than good” is so often used in the context of sports.
Yet, apparently, Bayless believes that only applies to hockey.
“In hockey, it seems like, I don’t know, 50% of the goals are scored on lucky multiple pinball ricochets, requiring three or four replays to deciphers,” says Bayless. “They say hockey is best when you’re actually there — the closer, the better. But I’ve gone to two Kings games here in L.A., both times I sat up right up against the plexiglass… it’s just way, way quicker than the eye faster, that in the end, it just blurs to me. I’m sitting there; I can’t figure out anything.”
But as far as seeing and absorbing the game, Bayless says he was pretty much lost at both Kings games he attended before admitting that he spent most of his time catching up with friends that he and his wife, Ernestine, were with.
“To me, hockey is kind of like the field goal kicking I hate in football — it’s exciting for all the wrong reasons,” Bayless said. “Hockey is one long turnover fest. It’s like what would happen in basketball if it were played with a greased ball that nobody could hang onto. In hockey, the players and the puck are just moving way too fast.”
Perhaps they should play with sneakers on a wooden floor as Bayless did in junior high.
“I don’t know, maybe they should legalize catching and throwing the puck in hockey just to increase the skill level,” he continued. “I’m telling you, hockey is just too hard. I would say golf is the world’s hardest game, but it’s not silly hard.”
What was silly hard was to follow Bayless’ nearly 13-minute diatribe as he came back around to praising Canada’s game-winning goal off the stick of Connor McDavid, calling it a “thing of hockey beauty.”
Based on his previous comments above, you wouldn’t think those words were in Bayless’ vocabulary.
“I might watch some of this year’s Stanley Cup Finals — and I might not,” he offered.
Bayless may have tried to tear down the very game that captivated millions, but all he succeeded in doing was proving how out of touch he is with what makes hockey truly exciting. The truth is, for all his criticism, hockey’s fast-paced, chaotic nature is precisely what makes it thrilling for fans — and no amount of contrarian ranting will change that.
