OITGDNHL: We Are The Kokusai Green Preservation Society

[CJR]

Do we have our newest entry out of Daniel Alfredsson's press conference in Ottawa today? Alfredsson says he signed his last deal with the Sens with both sides expecting he'd retire before the final (and cheapest, of course) year. Tons of rumors about that kind of deal happening but he's the first one to confirm it (and he played it out anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter). The part I find more OITGDNHL worthy is that Bill Daly comes out and says "Yeah, that's totally cap circumvention, but it'd require an investigation and we're not going to bother."

For the record, I don't think the Sens should be punished. I just don't think the VP of the damned league should get away with using "We don't feel like investigating" as the reason for it.

[IceCap]

Hockey's answer to social engineering. Gotta love it

Wasn't that the Thrashers during the end of their run?

Something completely different, but the term fits just as well

Wasn't that also happening around the time the Indiana Pacers were intentionally trying to stack their roster with nondescript white guys?

Sorry if this has been covered, but the Predators are instituting a restriction on area codes that can purchase tickets in order to keep markets like Chicago out of their arena during home games. It's called "Keep The Red Out."

[Long Quote]

I understand trying to repulse bandwagoners from filling your arena, but the best way to avoid that is to not suck at hockey and build a brand that's primary look isn't the android equivalent of an extinct cat.

What an idiotic move. Money's money. It really doesn't matter who's paying as long they're paying. When we went down to Nashville two years ago for a game, we didn't buy tickets months in advance. We literallly were going down to Nashville, someone said, "Hey the Hawks happen to be in town, let's get tickets." And then we went on Stub Hub and bought them for relatively cheap. What's going to stop Hawks fans from doing that now? "They have to earn it." Give me a break. People are coming down, spending money in your city, drink all your beer, and then proceed to spend money in your stadium. Why would you try and make them jump through hoops to do so?

Pretty much. The whole thing's ridiculous. Put a consistently successful and exciting product out and maybe, just maybe, local fans will buy up those tickets before 'Hawks fans have the opportunity to pack your own rink.

Because Edmonton, Calgary, Phoenix and previously Dallas were bustling Pacific ports.

Atlanta in the NL West? Arizona in the NFC East? Every league has had its share of geographical misnomers. It happens. (Doesn't change the fact that names like "Metropolitan" are dumb, but hey.)

I understand that, but it's ridiculous to only have two (if we're being generous) teams in your eight team Atlantic Division actually on the Atlantic coast. Just call the new Northeast + Detroit + Florida division the Central and the Metropolitan the Atlantic.

Do we have our newest entry out of Daniel Alfredsson's press conference in Ottawa today? Alfredsson says he signed his last deal with the Sens with both sides expecting he'd retire before the final (and cheapest, of course) year. Tons of rumors about that kind of deal happening but he's the first one to confirm it (and he played it out anyway, so maybe it doesn't matter). The part I find more OITGDNHL worthy is that Bill Daly comes out and says "Yeah, that's totally cap circumvention, but it'd require an investigation and we're not going to bother."

For the record, I don't think the Sens should be punished. I just don't think the VP of the damned league should get away with using "We don't feel like investigating" as the reason for it.

The NHL: "That seems like a lot of paperwork."

[rams80]

Hockey's answer to social engineering. Gotta love it

Wasn't that the Thrashers during the end of their run?

Something completely different, but the term fits just as well

Wasn't that also happening around the time the Indiana Pacers were intentionally trying to stack their roster with nondescript white guys?

Yup. With the exception of Danny Granger the Pacers were a bunch of purportedly non-threatening whites.

[The_Admiral]

table for Eugene Melnyk...

[HedleyLamarr]

General manager admits to 'cheating'. Player admits to 'cheating'. Agent is implicated in 'cheating'.

NHL's verdict: "We're all good."

http://sports.yahoo.com/blogs/nhl-puck-daddy/bryan-murray-cheater-nhl-doesn-t-care-155050275.html

[The_Admiral]

He played out the contract. What can you do?

[Gothamite]

Yeah, if he played out the contract then it wasn't actually cheating. Like if two people plan to shoplift from a store, but one leaves money on the counter on the way out.

[sportstar1212]

I've been meaning to ask, what's the deal with the edited avatar, Goth? And why is admiral copying it?

[The_Admiral]

In the wake of the news about the Senators being in financial trouble because Melnyk keeps using their revenue on blingwads or something, a Sens blog put together this graph of local viewership for the 2013 season:

And I'm sorry but we can't have a league where there are like 15,000 people a night watching Panthers games and almost 900,000 watching the Leafs. I can't imagine any other league where this gaping disparity would not only be tolerated but perpetuated.

inb4 "fools, don't you realize they're a loss leader for the master lease on a popular arena?" Yes, and I realize that if someone came a-calling with an absurd offer for the team, I'd give serious consideration to cashing out of the whole Sunrise thing.

[Evil G]

I never knew the Panthers did that bad. I thought the Coyotes would be worse.

[The_Admiral]

CHAPTER 36: In Their Defense, They Did Have Fitness Celebrity John Basedow

Infomercials get better local ratings than the Panthers. OITGDNHL.

[Evil G]

CHAPTER 36: In Their Defense, They Did Have Fitness Celebrity John Basedow

Infomercials get better local ratings than the Panthers. OITGDNHL.

I just love that. It also has lower ratings than Doodlebops.

[IceCap]

Hey now. A cousin of mine is a Doodlebop.

I wish I could say it's pretty cool to have a relative who outdrew a NHL team ratings-wise, but it's not. Not really.

[dbadefense1990]

I never knew the Panthers did that bad. I thought the Coyotes would be worse.

For all the bad (and deserved) rap the Coyotes specifically get for their fan base issues, Phoenix fans, when compiling all major teams in that city, have a more fluid fan market than that of front-running and fickle Miami, for all the other entertainment realms available in South Florida. If you live in Miami and your team loses, there's always a beach or nightclub or techno-pop concert to head to alleviate the night. Sports aren't viewed as sports down there as in other cities; it's more of a reality-TV style entertainment option.

And I also want to make note of some teams' numbers being skewed because of local TV contracts. For example, the Kings and Ducks both do a majority of games on cable (FS West and Prime Ticket), and in the few times they're shown over-the-air (My Network for Kings and KDOC for Ducks), the games are sparsely advertised and they're on networks very few people watch anyway. KCAL, a local channel very popular in the Southland, had NHL coverage before (Kings in the late 1990s and Ducks in the early 2000s), and would greatly improve their coverage today, should they someday acquire new hockey broadcasting contracts (to fill the void when the Lakers left KCAL for Time Warner Cable last year).

[Magnus]

I disagree on the opinion that sports are not front and center entertainment options in the minds of dedicated Miam fans - but the dedication is probably much more to the Phins and Heat..

[dbadefense1990]

I disagree on the opinion that sports are not front and center entertainment options in the minds of dedicated Miam fans - but the dedication is probably much more to the Phins and Heat..

Florida is mostly a football state, so in Miami, the general gravitational pulls are towards the Dolphins (NFL) and Hurricanes (NCAA). The Heat joined in the moment LeBron made his "Decision," and since, the stereotypes of Miami's fickleness were amplified.

The plight of Marlin fans have been frustrating and apathetic, since, despite two championships without ever winning a division title, those fans have been fleeced by fire sales and taxpayer milkings for new stadiums, resulting in paltry attendance figures.

And sans one Cup Final run in 1996, hockey has never worked in the Miami area, which shows in attendance and TV figures.

[The_Admiral]

The other problem is that the Panthers basically punted on Miami proper and just doubled down on white people in Broward and PBC (and, most of all, tourists). I mean, it clearly makes a certain amount of sense when you consider that everything is happily sponsored by Lexus year after year, but it just makes you kind of cynical and pessimistic about hockey and what it can be. (Of course, so did the Thrashers' fierce last stand of signing a bunch of black guys, but there has to be some happy medium between bald-faced pandering and "brown people, ew.") But when you consider that there's a sizable part of greater Miami that might watch the other three teams but won't be watching the Panthers, the ceiling, the ceiling for your numbers starts looking grim. Not being a Miami institution, here at the zenith of Miami's national profile, hurts. Broward County? There's no there there.

[JayMac]

Sorry if this has been covered, but the Predators are instituting a restriction on area codes that can purchase tickets in order to keep markets like Chicago out of their arena during home games. It's called "Keep The Red Out."

The best way to buy a Blackhawk ticket is to have a season ticket, a half season ticket or a 15-game plan, Henry said. But we also realize that were still going to have to sell 3,000-4,000 single tickets for that game. What its going to do by forcing another game is well almost direct it toward people that live in the general area, for the most part. And (for the pre-sale) only those in the zip codes that we unlock can buy the Blackhawk game and a second game. So were breaking down every barrier we can to Keep the Red Out.

That helps keep Chicago fans at bay, for sure. But what if Blackhawks fans really want to jump through hoops to see their team play in Music City?

Theyre going to have to earn it, Henry said. And theyre going to help us continue to grow our roster by building our (revenue at the) gate. Its that simple. In the end, were building something pretty special. If we have to do it off the backs of their fans a little bit, Im not apologizing for it.

We dont want to build those ticket grosses off of our core our lifeblood the season ticket holders. We want to build it off the single game buyers who only want to buy those games.

Not able to go to that second game youre forced to buy but still really want to see the 2013 Stanley Cup Champions? The Preds have that covered as well.

Weve built in a plan where they can donate the ticket back to members of the military, Henry said.

I understand trying to repulse bandwagoners from filling your arena, but the best way to avoid that is to not suck at hockey and build a brand that's primary look isn't the android equivalent of an extinct cat.

This is exactly what the Washington Nationals did with the Phillies fans two years ago. It wont stop anything. Blackhawk fans will find a way around it and fill up the arena in Nashville.

[Sodboy13]

Yes, it's called NHL Ticket Exchange, it requires prices be above a ticket's original face value, and it kicks back a chunk of the upcharge to the league and its teams.

See how that works?

[Cosmic]

I thought there was a study on the boards here a while back that said the Panthers only had something like 3,000 watching each game on average. So, theoretically, there could easily be more people at the arena than watching Panthers games on TV at home... which is actually kind of impressive in a depressing way.