2006-07 NHL Season

why does an NHL team would be bad for a junior team anyway...speaking market wise although they are of the same sport, tickets are really for different markets. It's like saying a Honda dealership do not sell a lot of Civic because Aston Martin have a dealership in the same city.

i'm just teasing too :)

its also important for the arena to have a good location.when the Rocket used to play in Montreal they would get great crowd when playing to the Bell centre but unfortunately they played way too far from downtown. In fact just next to the Olympic Stadium which saw the Expos move for the exact same reason.
 
Scores for Saturday, January 21, 2007

Philadelphia 3 @ New Jersey 4 (SO)
Atlanta 3 @ NY Rangers 1
Florida 4 @ Washington 1
Ottawa 3 @ Boston 0
Buffalo 3 @ Montreal 4
Toronto 2 @ Pittsburgh 8
Chicago 3 @ Nashville 6
Tampa Bay 6 @ Carolina 5 (OT)
Detroit 1 @ Colorado 3
Dallas 2 @ Minnesota (SO)
Calgary 4 @ Edmonton 0
St. Louis 1 @ San Jose 0
Phoenix 3 @ Los Angeles 2
 
why does an NHL team would be bad for a junior team anyway...speaking market wise although they are of the same sport, tickets are really for different markets. It's like saying a Honda dealership do not sell a lot of Civic because Aston Martin have a dealership in the same city.

i'm just teasing too :)

its also important for the arena to have a good location.when the Rocket used to play in Montreal they would get great crowd when playing to the Bell centre but unfortunately they played way too far from downtown. In fact just next to the Olympic Stadium which saw the Expos move for the exact same reason.

I would say it has to do more with the arena than "distinct markets". Markets overlap considerably. When the Flames sucked, the Hitmen got huge crowds from people who just wanted to see a winning team. :)

And yes, in Calgary, I would say that relatively fewer Civics/Aveos are sold, because so many freaking people can buy Escalades/BMWs.

EDIT:
And look at this, I just found an article in the Calgary Herald describing exactly this phenomenon of wealthy Calgarians buying up all sorts of sports tickets. Apparantly all of the Calgary pro sports franchises are doing awesome because of the economic boom.

Calgary Herald

Spoiler :
Jonathan Joyce grew up in Saskatchewan, a few hours from the nearest National Hockey League city.

A chartered accountant, he eventually found work in Calgary in 2005 and started reaping the benefits of the economic boom that's overtaken the city.

With a little money in his pocket, he decided to get in line for Calgary Flames tickets; he entered the playoff lottery last spring, was one of the lucky ones chosen and decided to buy an eight-game pack of two seats for games this season.

Here's the kicker: he's not even a Flames fan.

"I haven't yet been able to go to a game where I've been able to cheer for the Flames, but I'm not necessarily cheering for the other team," says a chuckling Joyce, who's been doing financial analysis for Nations Energy Co.

That indifference to the home team is a byproduct of growing up an Edmonton Oilers fan, and suffice it to say, that eight-game pack he purchased includes Oilers tickets.

"I've never lived in a city that had an NHL team. Even though I'm not a big fan of the Flames, I thought that I wanted to get out and at least see a fair number of games."

But the Flames aren't picky when it comes to selling tickets, and like all pro sports franchises in the city, they're reaping the benefits from a city that is flush with cash.

"I call it a perfect storm of events," said Flames vice-president of sales Rollie Cyr. "The fact that the team has done what it's done on the ice, as well as what the city has done, has created quite a juggernaut in terms of demand."

Every game this season will sell out; there's a list of about 2,000 fans who've paid $100 apiece just for the right to buy season tickets should they become available (only about 200 changed hands this past off-season). The corporate boxes, leasing from between $60,000 and $100,000 (which covers admission to every Saddledome event), also have a wait list.

And, oh yes, the team is thriving on the ice as well.

"I think at the core of the nuclear reactor, as (president) Ken (King) likes to say, is always hockey," says Cyr. "When we started this run of sellouts, we didn't have $60 oil and people were still hungry for tickets and pretty excited about the product on the ice."

The two other major pro franchises in town, the Canadian Football League Stampeders and National Lacrosse League Roughnecks, also are taking advantage of the boom.

"It's been, obviously, positive with the amount of money in town, from corporate support to attendance figures right across the board," said Stamps vice-president of business development Lee Genier, whose team has already sold out its corporate boxes for next season.

"Obviously, we went through some major changes last year with the new ownership group, which really solidified things from the stability standpoint. And many of the owners are connected to the oilpatch, where there seems to be endless pockets of money. That has brought some financial investment."

"You can't let these opportunities go by," added Roughnecks general manager Kurt Silcott. "If you jump on the opportunity, and you've got a good product, which we feel we have, you get those people in, and hopefully you can retain them and they become long-term customers for you."

The real question is how long the boom will last. Already, there are forecasts of a slowdown in the energy sector in 2007. So will that leave local wallets empty? Or just not as bulky?

"There's absolutely no question (there will be a slowdown)," predicted Bob Geddes, Ensign Energy Services' president of Canadian operations, whose company has a coveted lower-level box at the 'Dome. "Natural gas prices are half of what they were a year ago, and oil prices are strong still, but 70 per cent of the drilling done in this province is on gas. When we start slowing down there . . . every rig employs directly or indirectly 75 people, so it has a sweeping effect across the economy. I would guess there would be about $3 billion less spent in '07 than '06."

That will, no doubt, lead to some belt-tightening in the city, but it's not likely companies are going to give up corporate boxes any time soon, simply because it will remain a good return on the investment.

"Every company has to pick a lane on how they choose to provide entertainment, and it's a reasonable-cost provider of entertainment for lots of people," said Geddes. "It's a very cost-effective way to entertain customers and reward our field employees."

"Unless it's a real crunch, you probably won't see them give (the corporate boxes) up, because it's real hard to get 'em back," added Ember Resources president Terry Meek. "And it's not like companies will be losing money; they'll just be making less."

It's not as if the city hasn't been through economic slumps before, so the local teams have learned from the past and tried to focus on long-term stability instead of being subject to fluctuating markets.

And besides, said Cyr, if you have a good product, you should always be able to sell tickets.

"Quite frankly, any economic downturn is always a consideration because it impacts a lot of things; not just ticket sales, but disposable income in the building (for souvenirs and concession items)," he said.

"But this city and province is more accustomed to that volatility. Are we concerned about it? I would say yes. Is it something that can be overcome by success on the ice? I think yes."
 
And of course, a pretty good coach.
 
Just saw that. Sweet :-D
 
And of course, a pretty good coach.

I think thats been the difference. The Blue Jackets have been poorly managed. Rick Nash is as good as anybody in the league, and Im cautiously optismisitc that the rest of the pieces are slowly starting to fit into place.

Plus, if Pitt moves to KC, we get to go to the eastern conference, and away from Nashville and Detroit, which would rule.
 
I think thats been the difference. The Blue Jackets have been poorly managed. Rick Nash is as good as anybody in the league, and Im cautiously optismisitc that the rest of the pieces are slowly starting to fit into place.

Plus, if Pitt moves to KC, we get to go to the eastern conference, and away from Nashville and Detroit, which would rule.

Actually, I think Detroit gets to go east should that happen.
 
2007 NHL All-Star Game

Eastern 9 @ Western 12

1st Period
Briere (Healtey, Hossa)
Perreault (Rolston, Guerin)
Selanne (unassisted)
St. Louis (Lecavalier, Rafalski)
Staal (Williams, Bouwmeester)
Visnovsky (Sakic, Nash)
2nd Period
Marleau (Cheechoo, Lidstrom)
Williams (Blake)
Chara (Briere, Rafalski)
Rolston (unassisted)
Nash (Sakic, Phaneuf)
Havlat (Nash, Sakic)
Perreault 2 (Guerin, Rolston)
Ovechkin (Briere, Souray)
Rolston 2 (Jovanovski)
3rd Period
Heatley (Briere, Hossa)
Nash 2 (Sakic, Havlat)
Chara 2 (Hossa, Briere)
Havlat 2 (Smyth, Jovanovski)
Souray (Hossa)
Phaneuf ENG (Visnovsky)


MVP - Daniel Briere
 
Actually, I think Detroit gets to go east should that happen.

Our local papers have been reporting that we'd go East, but they've been wrong before. Those west cost trips from Columbus are brutal, when so many of the eastern teams are *right* next door. Pitt is only about a 3 hour drive....a bunch of those places are 2 hour plan rides. I think flying out west all the time is a bit of a disadvantage.
 
International club championship game?

The NHL's All-Star Game is gone until next season, but International Ice Hockey Federation president Rene Fasel is angling to put on a different battle of the stars: The Stanley Cup champion vs. the best team in Europe.

''We must have a club championship - the winner of the Stanley Cup against the winner of the European Hockey League,'' Fasel told The Hockey News in an interview with Paul Romanuk. ''It is a must for the NHL and it is a must for us. It is a must for the hockey fans and for the game of hockey. Hockey needs it on both sides.''

According to Fasel, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman hasn't rejected the IIHF's overture.

''They are not against it,'' Fasel said. ''It was not a 'no' from Gary.''

Bill Daly, the NHL's deputy commissioner, confirmed discussions have taken place between the league and IIHF. But he cautioned against expectations that an announcement of such a game is imminent.



''While we are open to exploring a host of ways to co-operate and grow the game internationally, there are naturally many logistical issues that would need to be worked through to move forward with such an exhibition, not the least of which is the timing,'' Daly said Friday in an e-mail response to questions from The Hockey News. ''I expect we will have further discussions on the concept, but (it is) premature to suggest it is something that will definitely happen in the future.''

Daly also said expanding the league's international footprint is ''a key element of our business and strategic plans moving forward, and we are currently working on a number of initiatives in that regard.

''Obviously, we're looking to maximize the distribution of our television games internationally, and we're working with our international broadcast partner NASN (North American Sports Network) on that as well as the potential streaming of a package of games internationally over the internet,'' Daly wrote. ''I can't be more specific at this point in time, but I would also expect us to be in a position to discuss publicly at least one other major international initiative in the next several weeks.''

In Fasel's opinion, greater co-operation between the NHL and European hockey powers can only result in lucrative business opportunities on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean.

''Do you know how many people we have?'' Fasel said. ''There are nearly 500 million people in the EU (European Economic Union). There is a financial market here for the NHL and for all of us to benefit from.''
 
i'm wondering if the games would be close...does a game finishing 9-3 is exciting...if a canadian team which I dont know anybody can do good in the Spengler cup against Davos, I dont see how Davos could compete against any NHL team...even less with the NHL champion...
 
Odds are it would be quite one-sided. Maybe with a European All-Star team, but I doubt there are many NHL championship calibre teams in Europe.
 
Maybe instead of that they could just do one of the North America Vs. World all-star games... It's not truly a club championship, but its probably the closest you could get to an "international" game without it being a blowout. That said I don't know much about any of the teams in Europe, but I am assuming they aren't at the same skill level as the NHL teams.

edit: Well maybe they should bring it back ;) I think it'd be more entertaining than east vs west every year... A truly international game probably wouldn't work because of the skill disparity between the Nhl and Europe.... so unless someone can think away around that (Maybe stanley cup champion vs. European all-stars... I think someone mentioned that) I guess were stuck with what we've got...
 
Maybe instead of that they could just do one of the North America Vs. World all-star games... It's not truly a club championship, but its probably the closest you could get to an "international" game without it being a blowout. That said I don't know much about any of the teams in Europe, but I am assuming they aren't at the same skill level as the NHL teams.

the NHL already stopped doing that one in the NHL all-star game...which players in the team of Europe woudl actually come from Europe...yeah none!
 
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