NHL Shortened Season Road Trip

With the NHL season well underway, I wondered how the shortened season would impact the possibilities of a league-wide road trip. As it turns out, it is much easier to plan a trip when teams are playing more games per month and not traveling on extended road trips as there are no interconference games. Usually it takes a couple of hours to work out a reasonable trip but this time, it took less than 30 minutes. Starting today, February 1st, the following trip takes you to all 30 stadiums in just over 2.5 months.

Feb 01 St. Louis at Detroit
Feb 05 Los Angeles at Columbus
Feb 07 Carolina at Ottawa
Feb 09 Toronto at Montréal
Feb 12 NY Rangers at Boston
Feb 16 New Jersey at NY Islanders
Feb 17 Washington at NY Rangers
Feb 18 Ottawa at New Jersey
Feb 21 Florida at Philadelphia
Feb 23 New Jersey at Washington
Feb 28 Pittsburgh at Carolina
Mar 03 Carolina at Florida
Mar 07 Winnipeg at Tampa Bay
Mar 09 Minnesota at Nashville
Mar 12 San Jose at St. Louis
Mar 14 Anaheim at Dallas
Mar 21 Vancouver at Phoenix
Mar 22 Detroit at Anaheim
Mar 23 Vancouver at Los Angeles
Mar 27 Anaheim at San Jose
Mar 28 Colorado at Vancouver
Mar 29 Columbus at Calgary
Apr 01 Calgary at Edmonton
Apr 05 Detroit at Colorado
Apr 09 Chicago at Minnesota
Apr 11 Florida at Winnipeg
Apr 14 Tampa Bay at Buffalo
Apr 15 Dallas at Chicago
Apr 17 Montréal at Pittsburgh
Apr 18 NY Islanders at Toronto

What I like about this trip is that it is nearly perfect, in that you can see nearly every team on the road exactly once. Only six teams are missed in their visiting whites, and no team is seen more than twice away from home. The San Jose-Vancouver-Calgary stretch over 3 days is the only difficult drive and you would bet a nice week in between Dallas and Phoenix.

Of course, I won't be taking this trip, but as always, it is fun to plan.

Best,

Sean

Read More

Lockout? What Lockout?

Well, the NHL season is 10 days old and the lockout is a distant memory. My boycott has been reduced to a "give them no money" protest that is as ineffective as it is meaningless. Forgiving fans have returned to the game in droves, with record ratings and sold out rinks in many markets. The NHL won't miss my $49.99 that I normally would have spent on Game Center Live. In fact, to my eternal shame, I have been watching GCL quite often. The league has employed a brilliant marketing strategy, offering the service for free for the first two weeks of the season. I couldn't resist watching a few games and even with the limited training camps, the action was fast and furious. Hockey is the most exciting televised sport and seeing it again being played at the highest level made me feel like a recovering alcoholic offered a free beer. In this case, I reluctantly took it, had a few sips, and am again regularly late for work. In my case though, it is because the NHL games are on in the morning here in Singapore. A hockey hangover so to speak.

So now I'm considering the advantages to the shorter season. Usually by early February, the mid-season doldrums have taken over as the 82-game slog is simply too long for players and fans alike. But a 48-game sprint should keep the mail-in games to a minimum and most teams will be in the playoff race until April. With no interconference games, travel schedules will also be lighter and the Stanley Cup Final will be the first East vs West meeting of the season.

I was hoping to avoid attending an NHL game during my upcoming month in North America, but that was wishful thinking. I've already given in and bought a ticket from a friend so I can see a regular season game at the First Niagara Center in Buffalo, one of three NHL rinks I've yet to add to the Quest for 400. Before that I have a week in NYC where I will probably check out the Jets and Rangers at the renovated MSG, as well as the Leafs on Long Island. In both cases, the box office is not an option, as I want to get in the building without giving the NHL my money.

So does it really matter who gets the cash, beyond me being able to write this column extolling how I am not a hypocrite? Probably not. If I buy a used Camry from you, Toyota may not get the money directly, but they get the ancillary benefits of having me drive the car and talk about it to friends. Even if the NHL doesn't get a single dime from my pocket, they will count me in the attendance figures and will also enjoy the extremely minor exposure they get when I write about the game. In fact, my failure to stop writing about the NHL is pretty much a sign that my boycott was stupidly conceived to begin with.

The only way an economic protest can work is if a majority of market participants agree to it. Most fans want nothing to do with the business side of the game and are just happy to have the chance to cheer on their favourite team for the rest of the season. Those of us who thought we could make a difference had no chance. Before the first puck dropped, I estimated that about a third of fans would engage in some sort of action to protest the lockout, but in reality the number is probably around 5% if that.

Simply put, if you want to follow sports, you have to accept labour problems on a regular basis. If you get so frustrated that you are capable of turning away permanently, more power to you. I am not that strong, and watching Matt Frattin's beautiful overtime goal to beat the Sabres this morning convinced me that it is better to forgive and forget than hold a grudge. So once again, it's Go Leafs Go! See you in New York!

Best,

Sean

Read More

NHL Fans Welcome Baaaaaaack the Game

During the NHL lockout, I posted encouraging fans to speak with their wallets when the dispute was finally settled. This past weekend the parties finally realized that they are better off playing hockey and generating revenue than yelling at each other across a table. It didn't take fans long to make their own views known as they flocked to social media to either welcome back the NHL or profess a complete lack of interest in the upcoming season. By a rough estimate based on my own feeds, I'd say over 2/3 of fans are actually looking forward to the 48-game slate. I am disappointed but not surprised by this, hockey fans have always been sheep (hence the title of this post). I had hoped that they would realize that supporting the NHL rewards the owners and players who care nothing about them. Instead, they are behaving as jilted lovers welcomed back by a cheating, abusive spouse who promises it will never happen again.

To be fair, there have been a couple of interesting arguments for supporting the NHL despite the league cancelling 16.8% of regular season games since 2004. One is to forgive and forget. If you love hockey, you have to deal with the fact that the NHL operating model is broken. Accept labour stoppages every few years and when the games begin anew, you can return with a clear conscience. This argument is tough to fight because it is not based on emotion but a simple realization of the powerless position of the fan. It seems like most enthusiasts are following this way of thinking, not even bothering to understand the economics behind the dispute.

The other argument I heard was that by supporting the NHL, you are also helping the businesses and arena workers who have been hurt the most by the lockout. This point is not nearly as robust simply because you can support those businesses regardless if there is a game or not and you can help those workers too if you are so inclined. Giving $200 to the owners so you can also give $50 dollars to a restaurant near the arena seems a rather backward way of approaching things. Just go the restaurant and spend $100 instead.

For me, I am not angry or hateful towards the league; I feel that I am behaving as a smart consumer. Much like you would stop going to a restaurant that routinely brought the wrong order and ignored your complaints, I'm stopping spending money on NHL games. That doesn't mean I won't go, there are still three stadiums I need to visit, but I will do so without a penny going to the owners. I've also canceled my Game Center Live subscription so the NHL will see not a dime from me for the next couple of years. Of course, living in Singapore makes this very easy to do.

Regardless of your location, I encourage other NHL fans to make a similar statement. Those with season tickets are not going to cancel, likely seeing themselves as fortunate to see a 42% reduction in their annual bill, making it far easier to condone the continuation. Yes, your money goes to the deplorable owners but you can still stop buying concessions and merchandise and cease contributing to other assorted sources of revenue. For those who attend occasionally, consider abstaining for this season at least. Only by showing the owners and players that we can reduce their salaries by withholding revenue can we ensure that the same stupid process doesn't repeat itself eight years hence.

Best,

Sean

Read More

Merry Christmas NHL Fans!

So the NHL has cancelled all games up to December 30th. For NHL fans, Santa Bettman and his merry band of elves continue to be the Grinches who steal another season. One sticking point is the contract limit. Owners are set on a 5-year maximum, players naturally want more. Funny thing is just before the lockout, players were signing outrageous contracts, including the Wild giving Ryan Suter and Zach Parise 13-year deals. I guess the owners expect the players to protect them from their own stupidity. Meanwhile, the prospects of a season dwindle quickly. Oh well, the Leafs are still in first at least.

Enjoy the coal in your stockings NHL fans. See you in 2014!

Best,

Sean

Read More

Dear NHL Fans - Don't be suckers!

For the second time in nine seasons, the NHL is locking out its players. In 2004-05, the lockout lasted the entire season and no Stanley Cup was awarded. This dispute looks set to end similarly with games up to mid December canceled along with with the Winter Classic and the All-Star Game. Sure, there is a chance that games will begin in January and the playoffs will run until July. But it is becoming more likely that the entire season will be wasted while the two parties bicker incessantly.

Whatever the case, I think it is time for NHL fans to realize that they are being played for suckers and respond in the only logically possible manner. When the league finally returns from this embarrassment, fans must resolve not to attend any games or even watch a single period on television. There are so many other opportunities to watch hockey in North America where you won’t be strung along and treated like a revenue generator rather than a true fan.

My friends at Stadium Journey provide dozens of great examples of quality hockey within an hour or two of nearly every NHL team. The Canadian cities all have their junior teams including the Edmonton Oil Kings, Vancouver Giants, Calgary Hitmen, and Ottawa 67s. Toronto even has an AHL franchise in the Marlies, who are entertaining and far more affordable than the Maple Leafs.

The AHL has 29 other teams scattered around North America, including a club in Chicago. The ECHL is another option with the Trenton Titans a short drive from the New York and Philadelphia metro areas. The recently reorganized Central Hockey League has a new team in Denver and two squads in the Dallas area: the Allen Americans and the Fort Worth Brahmas. These are just a few of the hockey clubs that are still playing; all three of these leagues provide team maps on their websites, making it easy to find a nearby rink.

The NCAA also offers entertaining ice hockey, with several teams in Boston, including Boston College and Boston University, and of course teams all around Minnesota and Michigan. The point is clear – you don’t have to watch the NHL to watch live hockey. In fact, you should be taking this opportunity to seek out new hockey destinations. It is still cheaper to drive for an hour or two each way and buy a $20 ticket to sit close to the ice at an AHL game than to buy one overpriced NHL nosebleed seat.

Let’s be honest. The main sticking point in this lockout is hockey-related revenues (HRR). Fans generate those revenues. Sure, sponsors pay millions to associate themselves with the game, but they do so in the expectation of increased sales to hockey fans. Television contracts are based on the expectation of increasing viewership and hence increasing advertising revenue. Finally, fans pay directly for tickets, concessions, merchandise, and other incidentals such as the NHL’s Game Center Live package. All of this adds up to around $3 billion, a very large amount of money. Yet the owners and players are yet again unable to figure out a fair way to divide the spoils.

So let’s make it easy on these poor, tortured souls by bringing HRR as close to zero as possible. This is my plea to NHL fans: stop going to NHL games; stop watching games on TV; stop buying NHL merchandise; stop supporting companies who sponsor the league. Start spending your entertainment dollar elsewhere, whether it be at one of the rinks mentioned above, or at another league or sport near to you. Or take all that money that you were about to waste on the NHL and donate it to charity; you’ll actually feel good about yourself rather than feeling like a used piece of furniture when you give your money to the owners and players.

When the lockout began, Gary Bettman said that the NHL has the “greatest fans”, a backhanded compliment indicating that fans will return regardless of how long the lockout lasts, given what happened in 2005. Let’s prove to him that the NHL has the smartest fans instead. By making a collective decision to spend our cash in other arenas, we can change the dynamic that has driven this league into the sports wilderness over the past decade.

So stop spending money on the NHL! If enough fans heed this plea, and the NHL sees its revenue drop significantly, the league might actually begin to care about their fans rather than treating them like garbage every eight years.

Best,

Sean

Note: This was originally posted on Stadium Journey but I've added it here for as much exposure as possible.

Read More