OT: NHL Shortened Season
I didn't see the article, but to this point, ESPN did have a fairly currently table of this year's NHL attendance figures (HERE - hopefully the sort by percentage holds in the link). The lowest is Columbus at 87.6%, which is slightly lower than their previous season average of 88% (data going several seasons back is available on the page). Detroit's went up from last year - 98.7% to 100.6% this year. Phoenix actually experienced about a 5% increase, which is fairly substantial, I would think.
How much of that increase comes from former Michigan residents?
Good point actually - with fewer games, individual outliers can have more of an impact on attendance averages. The Coyotes had the luxury of two home games against the Wings this year, out of only 24 total home games. In a 41-game home schedule, the impact of those visits on the season attendance average would be considerably diluted.
Going to be interesting to see how this team moves forward in the offseason. Don't recall of Weber signed with Nashville of not yet but he should be the top free agent the wings go after. Detroit needs a sharpshooter on this team. An offensive minded PF.
All that matters is we beat the Stars right now. Go Wings
Weber didn't resign with Nashville, he signed a 14-year $110 million offer sheet from the Flyers, which the Predators then matched
In what world is Zetterberg a usual suspect for inconsisent play?
I think fewer games would make sense, just from a wear-and-tear perspective provided that the games are spaced out appropriately. I also think a couple of teams either need to move or be contracted, but that's true for basically every sport save football and (maybe) baseball.
Overall, though, I think it has been an interesting season given the constraints the Blackhawks dominating out of the gate gave the league a nice story.
Fewer games makes sense but I don't see it happening. The owner don't really have much incentive for shortening the season.
If the NHLPA figures out how to finagle that, lemmeno.
but that's due to there being a competitive team in town... Should be an exciting last evening of the season.
It is very strange for Detroit and Columbus, who will only see an Eastern Conference team for at most one series in a year (if one of them makes the finals), then they'll be in the East next year. The Jets won't see their future West-mates at all for a year before they go West. Will be interesting to see if familiarity helps or hinders each of these teams going into the new alignment next year.
I bought the Center Ice package this year because it was only $60. I found myself watching games almost everynight. As a Blackhawks fan, I didnt miss a game all season (It helped that they had a pretty damn good year). The short season made all the games a little more meaningful. The NHL should kick off the season on new years day every year with a few out door games and keep the 48 game schedule. It will never happen, but 82 games is just too long.
Injuries ravaged the Wings this year and they got inconsistent play from most of the team as a result. It was fun to see some of the younger guys get a shot to prove themselves. Let's hope that they can put it together Sunday and then into the playoffs. If they get the 7th seed they might even have a chance to advance a round.
As a Wings fan, I think this shortened season has been a blessing in disguise. With all their injuries and the loss of Stuart and Lidstrom, they were able to see if a lot of their young prospects can swim in the NHL. And for the most part, the answer has been yes. Nyquist, Brunner, DeKeyser, , Kindl, Andersson, and even Tatar have shown they can produce. Hopefully this combined with Filpula, Cleary, and Samuelsson not doing much will convince them to not resign Fil (apparently Holland was shopping him at the trade deadline) and trade the other two to provide more room and playing time for these young guys. Remember, Detroit has a lot of cap space as well, and I would hope they could add a big time scorer (is Bobby Ryan gonna be available?). There were too many times were the Wings outplayed their opponents but couldn't put the puck in the net.
This short season has allowed Detroit to retool on the fly and I think put them in a good position going into the East next year. I'll consider this season a success if they win tonight and get into the playoffs, anything past that is a bonus.
I'd definitely say shorten it. I already tend to ignore hockey early on the season, the games don't mean squat in terms of the play off picture and I'm still watching CFB/NFL. Plus others are watching the baseball season finish off.
I also have to wonder how many teams loss money early in the season when attendance is down and the arena is half full, even Detroit has trouble selling those games out. I'd much rather see a schedule starting in late Nov and really hitting its stride around New Years. Drop the puck on Black Friday for an all day slate of hockey, have the Winter Classic on New Years, and then have the playoffs right after March Madness is over.
Attendance is probably lower in general for early-season games but still, people do come, buy tickets and parking, get things at the concessions, etc.
The reason why you won't see a shortened season is that NHL franchises have mostly fixed annual costs - salaries are per year, not per game, as are (I presume) arena leases. So if you've got to pay X amount of dollars no matter what to your players and to whomever owns your arena, it's in your interests to have as many games as possible to bring in revenue to meet those costs. 41 home games a year at 80% capacity is almost always going to mean a lot more revenue in the owner's pocket than 24 games at 95% capacity.
whether those early season games matter or not. Every game matters in terms of the playoff picture.
Shorter regular season was good although it did provide less leniency. If you fell in too big a hole, you were done. Teams like Toronto and New York Islanders managed to make the playoffs for the first time in approximately a decade, which is good.
No, you can't shorten the baseball season. Baseball is all about stats and history and whatnot - having the ability to compare one season's totals with previous seasons'. The season's been fixed at 162 games for half a century now. You can't go back.
A shorter regular season will never happen. Assuming teams are profitable (most are), each game means everybody gets paid more--the owners, the players, the arena operators, even the bars and restaurants around the arenas that rely on hockey (and baseball, basketball, and football too, obviously). They all want to maximize the number of games, until the point that it's too much wear on the players and/or the fans check out because it costs too much.
I too liked the short season and high frequency of games. I think I did watch more than usual because I got into the habit of checking the schedule and knowing there was about a 50/50 chance a game was going to be on. I think ratings go up after lockouts is because the fans who are any more than casual have built up demand and want to show the world that they still care about the sport.
Now, whatever happened in the shorter regular season doesn't matter. The playoffs aren't any shorter, it still takes 16 wins to get the Cup.
Jill Nill is leaving Detroit to take over as GM of the Stars (TSN).
I'll treat this as the de facto Red Wings open thread:
Predators up 1-0 on CBJ.
Detroit up 1-0 on Dallas.
Early on, but things are looking promising for the Octopi.
and grew up in the 80's watching horrible teams that were fun to watch because they had some real bruisers. I've also paid for NHL Center Ice in the past. This year I did not subscribe (actually, you have to call DirecTV and cancel it). I watched a few games at the beginning of the season (there is always a free week or so inticement) and the team looked horrible.
I haven't watched a game since, until tonight. They look good. The playoffs could be interesting. If there's one thing we know as long-time Wings' fans, you never know what will happen in the Stanley Cup Playoffs.
Even if Detroit faces Chicago (eventually), I think Detroit matches up with the 'Hawks fairly well.