Discuss Detroit » Archives - July 2007 » New Hockeytown, USA « Previous Next »
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Gmich99
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Username: Gmich99

Post Number: 253
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 12:07 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

If Detroit isn't Hockeytown anymore, then what is?

First off, let's make this perfectly clear: We're talking south of the Canadian border. The six most passionate NHL hockey markets include – in no particular order – Toronto, Montreal, Ottawa, Edmonton, Calgary and Vancouver.

But back to the task at hand: Choosing a new destination we can call Hockeytown, USA. Taking into consideration attendance, fan loyalty, a cozy relationship between the team and its region, a city that's just right for the NHL, and our choice is pretty clear. Saint Paul, Minn., home of the Minnesota Wild, fits the bill.

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/ne ws?slug=rm-saintpaul110107&pro v=yhoo&type=lgns
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 6356
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 12:24 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Seeing as how rabid those fans are up there, I can see conceding the title to them. The Minnesota Wild are still selling out their arena on a nightly basis as well as having some of the strongest amateur hockey ranks around.

More power to them.

Besides I've always thought the monicker "Hockeytown" was just a marketing gimmick that's worn itself thin here already.
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Livernoisyard
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Username: Livernoisyard

Post Number: 4547
Registered: 10-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 12:26 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

So? Why are there **two** DY threads from supposedly two different posters started within one minute of each other about the sagging Red Wings attendance?

And yes, there have been no shortage of newspaper articles since last spring about the difficulty to fill the Joe--sometimes 15% empty seats.
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Rhymeswithrawk
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Username: Rhymeswithrawk

Post Number: 1007
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Times are tough. No surprise that when Ilitch charges that much, and you're left to choose between food on the table or overpriced seats, that you pass on hockey.
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Eric
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Username: Eric

Post Number: 979
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:21 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Not only are times tough, there's more competition for those dollars with the recent success of the Pistons and Tigers
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 6358
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 3:12 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Toss in the Lions to sap away some of that entertainment dollar as well as of late.
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Scooter2k7
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Username: Scooter2k7

Post Number: 11
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 7:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Whatever is good for hockey I guess. If St. Paul wants to paint HOCKEYTOWN on their ice, that is no big deal. When they hang a Stanley Cup banner, let alone 10 Stanley Cup banners then they can talk. Detroit was called Hockeytown first for marketing but also because there is a lot of Hockey history here. I am sorry but the Minnesota Wild have no history worth talking about. Ane Minnesota did lose their hockey team. The Wings have been here since 1926.

The problem with the Wings is that we should really be in the Eastern Conference. I think moving to Wings to the East and building that new arena behind the Fox will bring the crowds back.
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Gnome
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Username: Gnome

Post Number: 314
Registered: 08-2007
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 7:50 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

The moniker "HockeyTown" was invented at Campbell-Mithun-Esty which became Bozell by Gary Topolewski, the Creative Director.

At the time, they were trying to snag the Little Ceaser's account from Cliff Freeman and to do that the agency was sticking their noses into Atanas' verticle smile. Atanas was still trying to get his music career going and Papa Mike put him in charge of PR for the Red Wings.

What was originally designed to be a one-off promotion soon caught fire with a song - produced by Atanas (sort of) - and then a restaurant was looking for a name and of course a Stanley Cup.

Topolewsky got the idea from the various "towns" of Detroit, Poletown, greektown and Mexicantown ...

For those who want to dismiss the concept of HockeyTown as just a marketing gimmick; I would argue that the name came at just the right time, with just the right confluence of events, and tapped into the Detroit zeitgeist. The name is part of Detroit, just like the Renaissance Center - which also got its name in a name-that-building-contest.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2858
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 8:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Hockeytown is a trademark of the Red wings Organization. It is nothing but a marketing tool. The Red Wings own the Hockeytown trademark and will continue to own it as long as they are in existence.

So wherever the Red Wings continue to play will be Hockeytown. Even if that means they move to Mexico City in 40 years. It is no different than any other corporate brand.

Please don't confuse corporate brand management with things that matter in the real world. The marketing people have you sucked in.
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Johnlodge
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Username: Johnlodge

Post Number: 3385
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 8:58 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

For me, Original Six teams come first. I will always cheer an Original Six team over a competitor. Personal opinion only.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2862
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 9:14 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Just to show that hockeytown is part of the Red Wings Brand Management. Here's an article about how the Red Wings Are one of the top 10 sports brands. They and the Buffalo Sabres are the only Hockey teams in the top 10.

http://www.detnews.com/apps/pb cs.dll/article?AID=/20071106/U PDATE/711060427/1361
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Lansingfire
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Username: Lansingfire

Post Number: 58
Registered: 07-2007
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 9:17 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

They can call themselves it all they want, however if they want to use it they will have to pay Illitch for the trade mark.
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Ndavies
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Username: Ndavies

Post Number: 2863
Registered: 10-2003
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 9:22 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

quote:

They can call themselves it all they want, however if they want to use it they will have to pay Illitch for the trade mark.



It was reported a few years ago that the NHL wanted to use the Hockeytown trademark. Ilitch refused to license it to them. Don't expect to see it anywhere else.
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Danny
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Username: Danny

Post Number: 6765
Registered: 02-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 1:42 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Detroit is Hockeytown and not the Canadian cities.
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Taj920
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Username: Taj920

Post Number: 265
Registered: 01-2004
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 6:39 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

St.Clair Shores also used to be called Hockeytown. THe local hockey league is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year -- quite a feat.
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Gmich99
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Username: Gmich99

Post Number: 254
Registered: 11-2005
Posted on Tuesday, November 06, 2007 - 11:02 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Perhaps this will provide greater incentive to build a new arena. Perhaps it will detract. I certainly think a new arena would boost interest in a team that is suffering from their own success, the success of the other local teams (Tigers and Pistons), and their close neighbors having new stadiums (Lions and Tigers). Have there been any recent rumors in the air about the possible arena supposedly going behind the Fox? Didn't the city extend the date for when Illitch would have to exercise an option to extend the Joe Louis lease to time rapidly approaching?
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Hamtragedy
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Username: Hamtragedy

Post Number: 6
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 1:39 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I don't see how the Buffalo Sabres get any brand "recognition" on the scale that study mentioned considering they've changed ownership and threatened to leave that market several times in the last decade( I think the NHL finally had to step in and somehow have some sort of Joint-ownership, or at least keep them from moving to Hamilton). As for this "Hockeytown" stuff, I don't think the wings have done anything from a marketing standpoint since the Hockeytown branding took affect over a decade ago. Walk into JLA today and let me know what year it is because the same music still sucks, women have to miss the second period to use the bathroom, we won't get to see many of the league superstars becuase we're wasting our time playing Columbus or pasting St. Louis, yet again, and we're being gouged to the point of obsenity when it comes to playoff tickets.
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Smogboy
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Username: Smogboy

Post Number: 6370
Registered: 11-2004
Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 3:28 am:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Outside of the cafe and their store in Troy, the Red Wings don't even really use the Hockeytown moniker anymore. Sure it's plastered at center ice at the Joe but who really notices anymore. I think Hamtragedy makes a great point in the fact that they don't even use it anymore. Wanna get a Hockeytown souvenir? You won't find it at JLA. Good luck with eBay.
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Hamtragedy
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Username: Hamtragedy

Post Number: 7
Registered: 10-2007
Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 1:21 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

I was referring to the branding more than the trinkets. The reality is the branding no longer puts buts in the seats. The branding is the same event 41 times a winter, and to make matters worse, of those 41 times we will see almost 20 games against the 5 teams in our own division who don't even have a market that even warrants a team, (the best thing to happen to hockey is chicago happened last month, the owner died). We are not0 getting a chance to see bonafide superstars or even bona fide rivalries like Toronto or Montreal. Granted, this isn't all the wings fault, but Gary Bettman has done nothing right in the decade plus he's been in charge. If someone's a statistician out there, Eric Lindross (the NEXT ONE as he was called), also referred to as the next Gordon Howe, is retiring. After 13 years in the league I'll bet he never played in JLA more than 5 times. I know this because I've been heckling his over-rated ass if I can get tickets. But due to scheduling (he's been Eastern conference most of his carreer), or injuries (egg-shelled skull), he's rarely been here. And he's one of the league's darlings. Will we ever see Jagr again? Crosby more than once every two years, Ovechkin (who?). And can you get hockey on TV? Why isn't fox sports in the basic cable package in lansing? Should you have to pay extra to see the "local" team play the same 5 teams 40 times? Put the wings back on channel 50 for several games so people around the state can see them.
As for the original thread, where is the current hockeytown? I'd still say Winnepeg (close enough to MN), but their team got shipped to the desert. As for the US, does anyone really care about hockey any more before April? And I'm one of their core fans.
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Mr_onion
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Username: Mr_onion

Post Number: 198
Registered: 11-2003
Posted on Wednesday, November 07, 2007 - 1:31 pm:   Edit PostDelete Post   Move Post (Moderator/Admin Only)

Gmich99 ,,,, ha ha we were checking out same article at same time, thats too funny

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