I swear (and I might a few times here), I see no reason to continue buying The Hockey News. They piss me off more than any Red Wings blogger has – ever. In what I assume is the latest article (I’m not even interested in going to their website to find out, Crosby and Malkin on the cover), they tell us how, since no one is going to games in America anymore, it’s high time some of the teams should be moved to Canada. That’s right, the Gary taketh, and the Gary should giveth back.
To make their point, The Hockey News selected November 30th as it’s measuring stick. A Thursday. So, THN then goes on about the attendance figures for that night across the league. They talk about the total attendance percentage figures (72%), then the percentage without the Canadian home games included (61.4%). Now, here’s some of the kickers:
- The night in question was chosen for a specific reason. Namely, in St. Louis, the Blues has an announced attendance of 5,410 (according to THN). So, that dramatically lowers the percentage. That night, there was also a nasty ice storm. THN reports it as “icy outside”. Weather Underground reports that around 8:30 am, there was “light freezing rain,” and soon following “ice pellets.” Here in Denver, there is snow like a mother (or what I’m assuming THN would call a ‘light dusting’), and the Nuggets game was canceled. Uh, oh. We better move the team to the sun belt. Now they have canceled the Avs / Flames game for tonight. On no, we better ship the team back to Quebec City. Our fans aren’t good enough to make the game happen.
- There were three NHL games played in Canada. Ducks at Vancouver (it’s the Ducks, with the best record in the league, and the dreaded Chris Pronger), Avalanche at Edmonton (an in division game in the tightest division in the league, also right after the Ryan Smyth / John-Micheal Liles knee-on-thigh incident), and Panthers at Senators (huh?). The Senators game was announced at 17,814, and have a reported capacity of 20,500. Not bad, but what is that 85% ish? Fine, not bad, but still… The games played in America: Flyers at Islander (two crap teams), Kings at Coyotes (crap and crap), Lightning at Bruins (can you say disenfranchised fans? I knew you could), Stars at Caps (out of Conference, but should sell, didn’t but should), and Maple Leafs at Thrashers (sold decent considering that the fan base is getting back into the game after years of losing for no good reason). So, what do you stake your findings on? A piss poor night of hockey.
- This is a beef with THN specifically. If you are going to put a picture of a game in Montreal in your article about attendance on a specific day, pick one where the Habs play.
- St. Louis is the whipping boy. After coming in last with a bullet, and then the promise of serious rebuilding falling flat, and with an increase in ticket prices to boot, what the hell do you expect? I found this simple graphic from St. Louis Today. I can’t attest to it’s accuracy, but if this is what’s happening in St. Louis, I think there are some real problems that can be solved easily and without a border crossing.
They claim that Winnipeg and Southern Ontario would be good markets. Fine. Great. If Winnipeg was so good, why did the Jets leave? Why take a chance on Arizona, a place that many people believe is a silly place for the NHL to be in. Or, if Quebec City is a possibility, why did the Nordiques leave for Colorado. Sure, the Flames left Atlanta for Calgary, and are wildly successful, but they were in Atlanta first for a reason, and a franchise was put back there for a reason.
Even if the teams moved to Canada, what would that give you? A few more percentage points of attendance bump? Whoopide doo. You also get a more diluted Canadian television package, and an even less interested American audience (we don’t see many Canada vs Canada teams down here, you know). What you wind up doing is selling the game to the same people you are already selling the game to. This is not how you build a league beyond gate revenues. As important as that is, how much is television rights worth for individual teams, in their own markets?
My beef is not with Canada, or with the people who want or would support an NHL team in another Canadian city. In a way, I hope you get your wish. My beef is with THN. There is more punditry in THN than on the average hour of FOX News, and that is saying something.