The NHL Lockout and my Hockey Soul

The last time the NHL locked out the players I was about to reach a new height of Avalanche fandom.  That height would be attending games.

School was finally graduated, the job was finally good and it was time to get in on the Avalanche ticket pools that I had only been a periphery member of for a couple years.  This was the height of spending decent amounts of my income on tickets.  I had signed on to the waiting list in anticipation of this day, depositing money that the Avs would hold for two years before I got my chance.  One reason I was motivated: I wanted playoff tickets, well that was hard to come by in a pool I wasn't running.  When I got the call for season tickets I struck out on my own, signed up for a full season of tickets and wrangled my pool together.  No, no, I couldn't afford a whole season on my own.  I signed up 4 or 5 other people.  Collected the money, sent it all in to the Avs and BAM!  The lockout was a reality.

As the potential for a season dwindled I got adept at dividing up the refunds for all involved.  What a giant pain in my ass!  So here we have a defining moment.  Yes of course I came back from that lockout as a fan.  Still a big fan, but something died.  I wasn't willing to run that circus that involved a full season of tickets.  I signed up for the smaller package of tickets and kept them all to myself.

And I know for sure it was the lockout.  I was pissed, but willing to forgive.

Here we are years later and I can feel the anger and the disappointment in my soul over this labor dispute.  I was unhappy last time that I was missing out on hockey, I pretty much blamed the owners but I also pretty much didn't care once it was over.  Pretty much.

At least that's what I thought.  But apparently there was a seed of antagonism left behind.  And it's been aggravated.  I know now that I will be less of a fan when this is over.  It makes me sad, but it ought to scare the two idiotic sides in this dispute.  I don't have a ticket package anymore.  Nor plans to buy one.

The owners and the players are killing a little bit more of my hockey soul.  I don't have to make hyperbole statements about refraining from buying merchandise.  I don't have to sign pointless internet petitions.

The ice is cold and painted.  It’s ready for NHL hockey.  But the lockout has begun melting away the chances of a season.  Just like it did back in 2004.

I know what's happening to me: I know that a little bit more of my hockey heart has started to melt away.

       

Colorado Avalanche - What I Would Like to See

The Avs have reached the point in their stay here in Denver where they can legitimately start promoting and celebrating their history as a team.  And fortunately they have plenty of glorious history to relive.  And fortunately for the marketing department it came at just the right time.

The 1995-'96 reunion was a sure bet to open the season with a sell out crowd.  The Avs used similar tactics last year with their 10 alumni nights.  But they kinda blew their wad last season.  There are only so many guys they can throw into that bunch.  Note that there are only three such inductions this season.  I bet the Avs sure would like Peter the Great to make up his mind and either get back to playing or retire already.  It's probably not too late to squeeze in another alumni night late in the season.  Get some bad posters printed up and blam!  Instant sell out crowd.

The thing the Avs have quietly instituted here in the last couple years is the concept of premium games.  I don't know when this practice started but I think it's a crock.

So for now we work through the Facebook contests, like the latest "Puck Drop" that was highly touted.  But a better campaign would have been a "Price Drop" policy.

One can dream, no?  If I was in the Avs meeting when this came across the table from the marketing department I would have crossed out 'puck' and written in 'price' as you see above.  Hmmm...I wonder if this even occurred to anyone?

The problem with the Avs current marketing is a well worn topic but allow me a few more moments of your time.

When we went to training camp this year the reps at the tables were dutifully pitching their wares to us.  Buy a pair of tickets and get another pair tossed in "free."  Neato!  Hey Avs, if you are having trouble getting rid of tickets how the Hell do you think I'm going to do any better?  I don't need four tickets to every game.

While it is true that their are deals out there to be had.  Visit the Avalanche Guild for instance, but the Avs themselves are not making much of an effort to get the word out.  The hard-core fans know about them and that's about it.  They need to get these reasonably priced tickets out to a wider audience.

Now last year they started the Guy's Night promo and some other things as the season progressed, and I suspect we will see more of those as the season moves along.  But again, the advertising needs to expand beyond the house channel.  Sure, that is an effective plan to a point, if I'm watching a game and they advertise for a future game I'm waffling about going to and up pops a good deal.  Well, done!  I'm on it.  But wouldn't an ad on some big time stations be appropriate as well?

-From the Point

Avs Under the Cap Floor? I’ve Got Just the “Ticket”

Last season the Colorado Avalanche organ-eye-zashun suffered some (more) disappointing and embarrassing attendance numbers. Many a story was printed about it and many an opinion was opined. Some Kroenke mucky-muck was terribly surprised at the lack of attendance and promptly went back to his corner office to try to figure it out. Or not.

This year I think the Avs are going to get serious about the situation. I think I’ve figured out the plan.

Let’s look at the attendance numbers for last season according to ESPN.

The Avs averaged about 14,000 chumps, er fans per home game.  That's bad enough without people like this young woman.

Anyway, that's 4,000 empty seats per home game, 41 home games. That’s 164,000 seats that need to be filled.

The Avs are about $8,000,000 under the cap for the year.
It just so happens that eight million greenbacks divided by 164,000 empty seats is $48.78. Oddly, I’m pretty sure that is EXACTLY the claimed "average" ticket price to see YOUR Colorado Avalanche (not really, that number has yet to be determined by current mathematical capabilities).
Granted, that still won’t get you a center ice seat IN THE BALCONY! But with a house discount I bet we might be able to swing it.
So…the Avs are going to “buy” 164,000 tickets for their fan base this coming season to get those attendance numbers back where they should be. Brilliant!
And why not? Sounds like a great PR move to me. Think the Avs can convince Bettman and the NHLPA that is a legit use of cap money?
I think so, but that’s just my two cents.

Avs Attendance Woes

First I need to rant a bit, namely at you Mr. Adrian Dater. STOP saying “I know the economy is bad, but…”
THERE IS NO “BUT”
The economy is bad, period.
Dater, you sound like the Kroenke Donkey, carryin’ water for “the man” with your non-stop, carnival hawking of tickets.
Let me tell you about MY economy. I work for a company that laid off about 30% of our employees last April and there were more cuts just last month. For months we have been out of basic business supplies like paper and the company cell phones are shut off periodically because we can’t pay the bill. I work in an industry that is on its way out of Colorado with hundreds of jobs in my field moving out of state or simply disappearing. You know, like how the Rocky Mtn. News just disappeared one day?

The other half of this household isn’t much better off. She’s an independent contractor in a very competitive market. This has allowed the companies she works for to leverage their fees lower and lower over the past couple years. We’re talking 10-20%. You got that? I don’t know too many people that have 10-20% pay cuts and keep buying ticket packages like nothing has happened.
Ok, before this turns into a pity-party, let me just say that we both still have jobs and we aren’t up to our eyeballs in debt. No one is foreclosing on our modest little condo.
But I might be out of a job tomorrow; I know the economy is bad. You don’t need to tell ME!

GET.   OFF.   MY.   ASS.   ABOUT.   ATTENDING.   GAMES.

What happened to the Dater that used to write about how the music was too loud and other improvements for the fan experience? You know the one that posted the season ticket questionnaire on his blog? I was a 14 game ticket holder at the time and I did not get polled. I could argue that it was a bad mistake by the Avs but they didn’t seem to heed the results anyway.

Now that I’ve taken up all this room with my rant, here are some other reasons I don’t go to as many games as I use to.


I don’t buy ticket packages to the Avs anymore because I don’t have to. It used to be tough to get a ticket to an Avs game, not so much anymore. On the other hand I’m a Broncos season ticket holder and I DO have to buy those tickets every year. If I want to keep them, I have to buy them. News flash Avs, you have competition.

Also, Colorado Avalanche ticket prices are too high. I find it insulting that the Avs have slashed player salaries (and jobs have been cut too) and there is a salary cap, yet ticket prices stay the same?

Last season I didn’t go to a lot of games because the Avs sucked. There, I said it. You want to start with the bandwagon smack-talk?
You want to fight? Well, do ya?
I don’t spend my money on poor products. The Colorado Avalanche is a product.

I don’t blame people who don’t go see a bad product, not that THIS season is bad, but what the Avs lack is the big name draw. As we all know, Patty, Super Joe and Foppa are all gone. And names matter.

Customer service: Even though the Broncos have a waiting list a mile long they treat me like gold. They kiss my butt! The Avs people can barely bother to return my call, be civil to me or give a shit in general.

Example: After a couple seasons of buying the 14 game package we were told by a rep at a game that the Avs would help us find Avs fans that would split a season. We were looking to move into the lower balcony seats that were not available in the 14 game package. I called my rep and she was not too thrilled with this idea. Ultimately she didn’t get it done. Not only did we want to move up a tier in the price structure, but we were going to buy 50% more tickets. She actually told me it wasn’t in their best interest to arrange this for us. Huh??

We bought a nice big HD-TV in 2008 and pay extra for HD programming and that was more than what a 14 game package would have cost us. So we decided to buy less tickets while we were paying off the TV. Putting all the games in HD probably isn’t helping attendance much. But that is a double edged sword. If people can’t follow regularly on TV they will just go away.

Then there is this: NHL attendance. Hey look! Winning teams are at the top and loser teams are at the bottom! Or in the case of the Avs this year, a team that the media (that’s you Dater) said WOULD suck. And suck so bad that they would be lucky to get 35-40 points. I know you wrote it dude, I just can’t find a link to it, so feel free to deny it!