2023-2024 NHL/Hockey thread

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by Bluenoser

ROW is the 3rd tie breaker, RW (regulation wins) is the 2nd tie breaker. The first tie breaker, which won't apply at seasons end, is fewer number of games played.

Thanks 4 the clarification.

What isn't clear is why isn't the 1st tiebreaker just W's?

[David Watts]

So if I understood things correctly, the only way for the Flyers to make the playoffs last night was for them to beat the Capitals in regulation, right? If so, why are people making such a big deal about their coach pulling their goalie with roughly 3 minutes left. I know Washington scored the game winner during this time, but if they needed a win, a 1-1 tie wasn't going to help them. The article I read made a big deal about the Wings scoring right around the same time to tie their game and eliminate the Flyers. Article made it sound like the coach should have been following the scoreboard better with the Red Wings future in mind. Silly.

[Cobra Mgr]

Last night's grumbling was probably more of a reaction to the end of the year. Philly looked firmly ensconced as the 3rh team from the Metro & then had a free fall. The Caps caught up to them despite being sellers @ the deadline & the Penguins caught up to them after trading Guentzel. That is not a good look. That you can't maintain a solid lead vs teams downsizing.

[Amazin69]

Honestly, I expected better of Torts.

[Cobra Mgr]

Eastern Conference schedule this weekend.

[reds1]

The Jets finish the regular season with an 8-game winning streak, after losing 6-straight and will have home ice advantage against the Colorado Avalanche in the first round.

With their 4-2 win against the Canucks yesterday, the Jets finish with the best record among the Canadian-based teams. They also won the William Jennings Trophy for fewest goals allowed (199), one fewer than the Florida Panthers, who happen to be coached by former Jets bench boss, Paul Maurice, who couldn’t teach the Jets to play defense. Not that I put the blame all on him, but it is curious why/how he lost that locker room towards the end.

Here’s hoping the Jets can make another deep run in the playoffs like they did in 2017-18 when they got to the conference final.

[Cobra Mgr]

Maurice is an underrated coach. Took the Canes to their 1st SC appearance.

What I don't get is why the Jets finished only ahead of the Coyotes in attendance.

[reds1]

Originally Posted by Cobra Mgr

Maurice is an underrated coach. Took the Canes to their 1st SC appearance.

What I don't get is why the Jets finished only ahead of the Coyotes in attendance.

I really like Maurice as well, but something happened in 2021 when he abruptly resigned from the Jets. There were divisions within the locker room at the time I believe, and Maurice couldn’t overcome that. Its well known that Maurice and C Mark Scheifele are not on speaking terms. It wasn’t until former captain Blake Wheeler and PLD were moved this past off-season that things began to improve. Wheeler was respected for his work ethic, but as a captain I think some of the players began to chafe over his perfectionism and demanding nature. And the less said about PLD the better.

As to the Jets attendance woes, it’s a combination of factors. The Jets play in the smallest market, but that’s not an issue.

Ticket prices are so expensive (just like everywhere else) and I think buyer fatigue has set in. The pandemic didn’t help either. Fans were so happy in 2011 just to have the NHL back in the ‘Peg that all the season tickets were sold in 7 minutes or so when they first went online (I know, I was on a waiting list for a few years). The honeymoon lasted for a number of years, but nothing lasts forever.

A number of former season ticket holders pointed to a decline in customer service as the big reason for their disgruntlement. Mark Chipman, the face of True North Sports & Entertainment, has acknowledged that and has made efforts to bring them back into the fold – even making personal visits to their home along with some of the players.

Add to that is the way last season ended. The Jets withered in the second half of the season, barely made the playoffs and showed hardly any effort as they were jettisoned in 5 games by the Golden Knights in the first round. That left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and there wasn’t much optimism heading into this season. During the summer, the feeling was that the Jets were going to embark on a depressing rebuild. So, ticket sales were soft.

But the Jets look like a different team now. If they can go deep into the playoffs, I think Chipman’s efforts to regain fan and corporate support will pay off.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by reds1

As to the Jets attendance woes, it’s a combination of factors. The Jets play in the smallest market, but that’s not an issue.

Ticket prices are so expensive (just like everywhere else) and I think buyer fatigue has set in. The pandemic didn’t help either. Fans were so happy in 2011 just to have the NHL back in the ‘Peg that all the season tickets were sold in 7 minutes or so when they first went online (I know, I was on a waiting list for a few years). The honeymoon lasted for a number of years, but nothing lasts forever.

A number of former season ticket holders pointed to a decline in customer service as the big reason for their disgruntlement. Mark Chipman, the face of True North Sports & Entertainment, has acknowledged that and has made efforts to bring them back into the fold – even making personal visits to their home along with some of the players.

Add to that is the way last season ended. The Jets withered in the second half of the season, barely made the playoffs and showed hardly any effort as they were jettisoned in 5 games by the Golden Knights in the first round. That left a bad taste in everyone’s mouth and there wasn’t much optimism heading into this season. During the summer, the feeling was that the Jets were going to embark on a depressing rebuild. So, ticket sales were soft.

But the Jets look like a different team now. If they can go deep into the playoffs, I think Chipman’s efforts to regain fan and corporate support will pay off.

Not surprising that it is a multitude of factors.

But I would have to ask if that is a sustainable situation. If you have a legit SC contender and at the bottom in attendance, what would it take to just get them into the middle of attendance?

[reds1]

I don't know how high up in overall attendance the Jets can get things, what with having the smallest legitimate-NHL arena in the league. And it might be irrelevant because True North combines their hockey revenue with other sources.

In this CBC interview with Mark Chipman earlier this week, Mark admitted that bringing the NHL back to Winnipeg would have been a non-starter without the salary cap and revenue sharing.

While ticket sales for the Jets, Manitoba Moose, concerts and other events at Canada Life Centre make up the most important revenue source for True North, merchandising, broadcast rights and other revenue streams keep the company in the black, he said.

So does revenue-sharing within the NHL, as well as the league-mandated salary cap that limits team spending on the rosters to $83.5 million this year.

Chipman said the NHL would never have returned to Winnipeg without revenue sharing and the salary cap.

"This market would not survive without that, and that's a fact," he said, adding those revenue assumptions underlined the original decision to pursue the return to the NHL.

He also said that the Jets 2.0 have never lost money since they arrived, even during this recent downturn in ticket sales, but that's because, as he said, True North combines all their revenue from hockey, arena and merchandising operations.

[Cobra Mgr]

Originally Posted by reds1

I don't know how high up in overall attendance the Jets can get things, what with having the smallest legitimate-NHL arena in the league. And it might be irrelevant because True North combines their hockey revenue with other sources.

In this CBC interview with Mark Chipman earlier this week, Mark admitted that bringing the NHL back to Winnipeg would have been a non-starter without the salary cap and revenue sharing.



He also said that the Jets 2.0 have never lost money since they arrived, even during this recent downturn in ticket sales, but that's because, as he said, True North combines all their revenue from hockey, arena and merchandising operations.

it's nice they make $. But are the maximizing their profits? If I'm an owner, I can't help but think a team like this would be selling more tickets if they were in another market. As a non-Canadian, I'm probably stereotyping the citizens. But I would think a Canadian city would be selling out their arena if their NHL team had one of the league's top 5 records & its best defense.

[reds1]

Fan support for the team here is still incredible. But there is now a disconnect with ticket-buying fans and the team recognizes that its on them.

Here is another article that I think explains really well what happened.

From the article:

“We were cruising along for 10 years,” he said of the energetic period after the team returned to the city in 2011, following a 15-year hiatus because of financial issues. “I don’t want to say we were arrogant; we just didn’t have to sell much from year to year. We would just backfill from the waitlist.”
...

Chipman said a number of factors have led to the widening number of fans not buying tickets. True North had built a robust waiting list that allowed for standard attrition on an annual basis, with more than 90 per cent renewing season tickets since 2011. “The year prior to the pandemic, we had a little bit of softening, but we had a backfill with the waitlist. And then the pandemic hit us hard,” he said.

“The first hit we encountered were people that were really upset with us over enforcing the vaccine to attend. Then of course we played in an empty building. And last year, there was nothing but ourselves to blame.”

Chipman said True North had too slow of a reaction to the downtrends. He said the flexible prices the Jets have now should’ve been introduced sooner.

On top of that, he added, roughly 15 per cent of the team’s season-ticket base is held by corporate firms and groups. “I thought that was our strength – and it was, until it wasn’t,” he said. “Dips in discretionary spending. Inflation hitting. The bubble really burst on us.”

[Bluenoser]

So might as well throw out my 1st rnd predictions, although I am not overly confident in 6 of 8 picks. I mean we all know anything can and usually does happen as far as 1st rnd upsets. Why should this year be any different?

TB over Fla
Tor over Bos
NYR over Was
Car over NYI

Dal over Vegas
Wpg over Col
Edm over LA
Van over Nas

I just don't see Was or NYI pulling off an upset. Other than that, I see the other 6 series as 50/50. They really could go either way.

[Cobra Mgr]

I kinda worried about a hot Isles team playing in playoff mode for the past month. But the ST's numbers eased my mind a bit.

TB VS FL will be a bloodbath.

I like Col, LV, Nas and Edm in the West. Why Vegas and Nashville? Because hockey.

[Cobra Mgr]

Canes were fortunate to take game 1. NY was probably the better team for approx half of the skate. Carolina showed superiority for maybe 5, 7 minutes? Not many good looks when they had the puck. Anderson gave up a softie & nearly gave up 2 or 3 more by allowing juicy rebounds or not securing the puck.

This is what I was afraid of in the 1st round. It is going to take a little while to get to playoff speed. NYI are already there.

[Amazin69]

Y'know, if Arvidsson hadn't scored that PPG with 1:21 left against Chicago on Thursday (after the Kings had blown a 3-1 lead once Anaheim's upset of VGK meant we only needed one point to get out of the WC slot), it would have meant an embarrassing collapse and Certain Death against Dallas…

…but it would have guaranteed that either McDirty or VGK would have been gone after Round One, which would have cut my chance of projectile vomiting when the Cup is raised by 50%. I can take any result but those two.

(Yes, this way, if we pull the shocker and Dallas plays to form, both turds will get flushed immediately, but I haven't exactly bet the house on the Kings getting out of the first round [for the first time in a decade]. What would I do with two houses, anyhow?)

At least Kempe scored :06 into the OT, tying the NHL record, which was cool. And, let's face it, these Oilers do have a reputation for choking in the post-season.

Just not against us, that's the problem.

[Cobra Mgr]

What R they doing tonight?

[Cobra Mgr]

How bout dem canes?!!!!!!!!

EDIT: Canes down 3-0 in the 2nd, comeback to win 5-3. 4 goals in the 3rd period. 3 in the last 2:30.

Islanders tried to start a fight every chance they got once they blew the game. Screw them.

[Cobra Mgr]

Bobrovsky is a Sith Lord.

[Amazin69]

Kings were folded and spindled by Edmonton in Game 1 on Monday, 7-4. (Not that close.) The Best Penalty Kill in the League (which actually finished 2nd) was obliterated, allowing 3 PPG by the Oilers.

Jim Hiller changed up the lines after the rushes, hoping to trick Edmonton with his surprise formation. He moved LaFerriere to the top line, and dropped Byfield to play with Fiala and DuBois, as I had suggested in the dying days of McLellan.

Of course, back then, the idea was that the young and hungry QB might wake up the overpaid losers. But that was before Byfield went cold for the final month, and Fiala has been on fire since the coaching change, so that rationale no longer holds.

Nor did the lines; Hiller went back to tried-and-true once we were down 4-0. Given that we scored 4 goals after that, don't expect a repeat later today.