Welcome to the sport Wes.
I started watching hockey back in 1995 when I went to my first live game. I happened to be in Denver and went to see a Colorado Avalanche game. That was their first year in Colorado and Denver was blowing up with the sport. I fell in love with it right then and have been an Avs fan ever since. My wife is a Red Wings fan since her family is Detroit transplants from when Saginaw opened in Decatur. We have lots of fun since The Avs and Red Wings are like the NHL version of the Yankees/Red Sox rivalry. We both have started following the Predators more since they are less than a couple of hours away and a team we can both pull for.
NHL took the place of the NBA for me. Once Barkley and all the guys in his era retired, the next generation of NBA lost me for good. Like some others said and like most sports, it is much better live, especially if you can get glass seats. Huntsville has a great minor league team and UAH has earned a decent reputation as a college team.