  Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1143 Registered: 10-2003 |
Read the attached Sports Illustrated Article, check the schedule and buy your tickets...even if they are the $9 specials. This shall not stand! http://sportsillustrated.cnn.c om/2007/writers/michael_farber /12/04/hockeytown1210/ | ||
Ray1936 Member Username: Ray1936 Post Number: 2360 Registered: 01-2005 |
Article dragged a little, but it's accurate. If the NHL wants to fill the seats at The Joe, they've got to re-align the divisions. And one division should be the 'original six'. | ||
Irish_mafia Member Username: Irish_mafia Post Number: 1145 Registered: 10-2003 |
Absolutely! and then get back to hockey ticket pricing. There's a reason that Comerica is selling all those tickets... it's often affordable! | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1665 Registered: 11-2003 |
Oh mother F'er! I had a nice long post typed up, then internet explorer crashed. GRRRR. Basically said the division sucks. Teams detroiters don't really care about + teams with no tradition + 10:30pm Detroit time starts when they're on the west coast leave people un-interested. meanwhile they never play original 6 teams... 8 times with Columbus. 8 with Nashville (actually fun games to watch, kinda turning into a little rivalry), the Colorado memories are LONG gone, and a bunch of west coast teams. Ticket prices are high. I pay $44 for upper bowl at United Center, lower bowl is in the 80's. I think the Joe is the same if I remember. Easily $100/game for you and a date. Meanwhile at comerica you can keep it under $40 no prob. Try taking your two kids to the joe and its suddenly hundreds per night. meanwhile you can keep it under $100 for the Tigers. The Joe Must Go (hey, what a slogan!). I LOVE the Joe. Love its filled with mostly true fans who love the game. Love its kinda grungy and stark. Because bottom line is that it is an AWESOME place to watch hockey! You're right on top of the ice, it gets loud, and the fans are awesome. But unfortunately, a lot of people want an experience at sporting events, especially when they're shelling out so much money at hockey games. I don't really give a hoot, cause I get giddy every time I go to the Joe, but if you want more butts and more families in seats, we gotta have a new arena. Really a shame, but thats the reality in sports when ticket prices are the way they are. And honestly, when you have arguably the greatest team in the game for nearly 2 decades, isn't it really only appropriate we have the best arena for them too? Instead we have an arena most people put at the bottom of the list for ALL SPORTS, not even just hockey. Original six division is interesting, but unfortunately will NEVER happen. That would undermine the entire league, as people would really only pay attention to those teams, the rest would get no coverage, and not many people would go. Lets face it, hockey uses the original six as a draw across the rest of the league. Besides in Montreal, Detroit, Toronto, New York, Chicago, and Boston, the biggest draws of the year for almost every other team is when one of those teams is in town. For this reason alone, the NHL will keep these teams spread across the league as much as possible. Simple as that. But I do feel the league needs to do something, because Detroit and its fans are arguably the most screwed-over, by far, with this current setup. | ||
Jerome81 Member Username: Jerome81 Post Number: 1666 Registered: 11-2003 |
Oh, and finally, the rotten economy doesn't help. Lots of corporate seats that are no longer purchased. Sure they might have been filled with people who were only there because they got free tickets, but at least there were bottoms in the chairs..... | ||
Hornist9 Member Username: Hornist9 Post Number: 68 Registered: 05-2005 |
Jerome, I totally agree with you! I can remember going down to the Joe on a game night, shelling out only $11.00 and getting a lower bowl ticket when the Wings sucked back in the early 80's. One night, I got front row tickets to see the Wings vs Toronto (the Wings won 5-3). It seems almost criminal to shell out over a Hundred bones to see Columbus or Nashville. I watched with great joy to see the Wings vs Montreal on Tuesday night! The Habs did a nice job of honoring 80 some odd years of a great rivalry between the two teams. The NHL ought to listen to it's true fans and really change the way the schedule is made. I still think the Wings ought to be in the Eastern Conference. Then we'd see the Habs, Leafs, Bruins and Rangers more than once every 4 years. I miss the old days when I first started watching the games in the early 60's. Those were the greatest, to see Bobby Hull, Gump Worsley, Andy Bathgate, Dickie Duff, The Big M... | ||
Davidruffin Member Username: Davidruffin Post Number: 2 Registered: 12-2007 |
Gary Bettman and company have destroyed the NHL and really alienated true hockey fans. The recent expansion of the NHL into markets that have no hockey pasts makes no sense. Hockey was never, nationally, a mainstream sport on the same level as football, baseball, and basketball. No wonder so many teams & the league are in poor financial shape. With respect to the high Wings ticket prices, Illitch will have to come to grips with reality that the Red Wings bandwagon is over. A new rink may temporarily boost ticket sales but with the direction the game and league is going, i think you are still gonna see all the empty seats. | ||
1953 Member Username: 1953 Post Number: 1494 Registered: 12-2004 |
I'm sick of hearing this debate rage on. This article is hardly the first to address it. The key point is that northern American cities, near Canada and with a history of hockey, are hotbeds of hockey activity. Detroit just has the best P.R. folks... | ||
Hamtragedy Member Username: Hamtragedy Post Number: 17 Registered: 10-2007 |
It's obvious that dollar hot dog weekends at the Joe is wildly successful. Empty last week v. phx, not much better yesterday v. wild. | ||
401don Member Username: 401don Post Number: 138 Registered: 11-2007 |
Maybe they could have the new Tigers sign autographs between periods.  | ||
Missmich Member Username: Missmich Post Number: 11 Registered: 11-2007 |
I dont even watch the Nashville and Columbus games. I am so dam sick of those 2 teams. The division they forced us into is ruining the game for me. Although, I do laugh at Federov being a Blue Jacket. (Message edited by missmich on December 09, 2007) |
