I like watching soccer and NBA when I was in China. Since coming to canada, I watched some hockey games on TV or Scotiabank place (Corel center at the time, of course with free tickets), I have to say I do not like hockey at the time. The problem is I do not know the rules.
Not sure if this is the case for your husband. If he does not know the hockey rules (why the play is whistled down, or offense/defense play, regroup, etc...), he will not like it.
Not sure if your son play hockey or not, if not, send him to play organized hockey and have your husband as driver. When he gets to know better of rules, I am sure he will like it.
This is my personal experience. Now I can not watch soccer or NBA any more, they are too slow, and not physical enough for me to watch.