Teams upset about non-cancellation of games due to weather

[Seth Lake]

There was speculation that they might have played all 7 in San Jose - with Nashville being "home" and getting the gate for three games.

A neutral site would be more competitive, but an away "home" game would likely generate significantly higher revenues. Could the Preds have sold out at playoff prices in Miami or Atlanta or ???.

There was no decision obviously made because we didn't advance, but internal discussions were pointing to playing the entire series at the opponent's facility because Atlanta had already melted their ice for the season and the travel would have been prohibitive.

The Bridgestone Arena repairs and renovations were not complete in the Predators locker room until basically Opening Night. The team conducted all of training camp at the practice facility. The teams new meeting/film and workout areas were not completed until after the season began...

 

[Kritter471]

It's surprising to see how poorly-equipped a lot of cities are for severe winter weather. I realize it happens so rarely in a lot of these places, but still...

It's not cost effective to be in a state of constant readiness for the once-in-a-decade storm, honestly.

Take Dallas. There's approximately one ice storm a year that melts after about a day of dangerous driving. I swear there's only like three sand trucks for the whole 6 million people and no salt trucks or plows. But because it's one day out of 365 and you can generally get around if you plan ahead and drive carefully (stay off your brakes and stay off the overpasses), they're never going to budget for winter weather infrastructure.

Then every 20 years or so there's 6-12 inches that doesn't go away for a week, or there's a severe ice storm that doesn't melt for several days, and everyone flips out because so much is shut down. But again, preparing for that one storm just not worth the investment to buy the trucks and drivers and supplies or snow tires because they're idle and useless for more than 99.9 percent of the time.

Heck, even when I lived in New England, no one owned snow tires. Yeah, it snowed but the streets were well kept in the general 2-6 inches of normal snowfall from a storm, so there was no reason spend the extra money. And to put this storm in perspective, it was one of the six "worst" storms in terms of amount of snow in the recorded weather history of NYC according to the New York Times.

 

[KristoLeblanc*]

It just shows that the majority of American can't drive in the snow. They aren't used to it I guess...

Having above 30cm of snow in Quebec province, especially in the region is frequent, happens quite often.

 

[Gruntfuttock]

Heck, even when I lived in New England, no one owned snow tires. Yeah, it snowed but the streets were well kept in the general 2-6 inches of normal snowfall from a storm, so there was no reason spend the extra money.

That's kind of like saying you don't really need a fire alarm because fires happen so rarely. If im not mistaken, there's snow pretty much every year in New England, and the temperature goes below freezing pretty much every year too. So pretty much every year there are very slippery roads. And people still never use winter tires? It's not like they go bad in storage if you don't use them. But hey, who am I to judge. Go on crashing your cars Americans.

 

[JVR]

I can't even imagine driving in Germany during the winter without snow-tires, it makes such a difference imo.

Do most people use all-season tires instead or just normal summer-tires?

 

[King Woodballs]

postponing games is BS
i could see them doing it in toronto or montreal
no one was going to be there in NYI or NJ anyways
and bettman knew that
so really no loss by playing

 

[Fidel Astro]

I just think it's funny that weather turns bad for a couple of days and you see Americans on the news freaking out like it's the apocalypse. Hilarious.

 

[Gnashville]

I just think it's funny that weather turns bad for a couple of days and you see Americans on the news freaking out like it's the apocalypse. Hilarious.

I don't see any humor in this all at people are delayed, freezing, wrecking their cars, and without power. Not a funny situation to be in. I know the Winnipeg Jest would sell out in 18 foot of snow ect. Give some people a break. It never snows there is proof that certain places don't deserve teams yet when it actually does instead of laughing at them change your opinion a little. How would you feel if Winnipeg suffered from a 3 month heat wave in summer and the power went out for extended periods of time and I laughed about it???

 

[AllByDesign]

I don't see any humor in this all at people are delayed, freezing, wrecking their cars, and without power. Not a funny situation to be in. I know the Winnipeg Jest would sell out in 18 foot of snow ect. Give some people a break. It never snows there is proof that certain places don't deserve teams yet when it actually does instead of laughing at them change your opinion a little. How would you feel if Winnipeg suffered from a 3 month heat wave in summer and the power went out for extended periods of time and I laughed about it???

Pay no attention. When I first moved to Winnipeg and people asked where I came from, the first thing they always brought up was... "oh what a bunch of wimps in Southern Ontario, they get a little snow and have to call in the army". The folks of Manitoba wear their Winter experience on their shoulder like a patch. It isn't a criticism... its just a reality.

I've been here 10 years and have never seen a snowfall that compares to some of the dumps of snow that London Ontario gets.

 

[Jeffrey93]

If these teams had strong season ticket sales I doubt they would be whining.

Other than that it is about TV commitments.

 

[1 Timer]

It's surprising to see how poorly-equipped a lot of cities are for severe winter weather. I realize it happens so rarely in a lot of these places, but still...

Do you realize the size of the New York metro area???? Combine Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver.... Now add in 70+mph winds 30 +in. of snow in some parts close to the Rock. What would the NHL do if someone say a family left a game and was hurt or killed on there way home after not heading the warnings from the Governor of New Jersey or Nassau County executive. I think both NY, NJ, and Conn. did an excellent job. The NHL not so good.

 

[sbkbghockey]

Do you realize the size of the New York metro area???? Combine Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver.... Now add in 70+mph winds 30 +in. of snow in some parts close to the Rock. What would the NHL do if someone say a family left a game and was hurt or killed on there way home after not heading the warnings from the Governor of New Jersey or Nassau County executive. I think both NY, NJ, and Conn. did an excellent job. The NHL not so good.

Exactly!

The NHL totally blew on this one!! They put the lives of fans, players, arena staff, and game officials in jeopardy. There was 40-50+ mph winds and 20-30 inches of snow coming down at over an inch per hour (i.e. hard for road crews to keep pace with). much of Southeastern NY and Eastern PA, and almost ALL of CT, NJ were under state of emergencies- don't drive unless you have to. And mass transit was largely shut down. Those are not conditions people should be traveling in to see sporting events. The NHL was selfish and didn't think of anyone involved with the games from the fans to players. It's a pain in the a** to reschedule but it's better than people getting stranded in a blizzard, hurt or die in car accidents.

 

[Mr Atoz*]

I agree with the NHL here, even if there is a blizzard, fans can still attend, just put on your winter tires. Hockey games are played indoors so the only way a game should be cancelled is if a team can't get to the arena due to X reasons. Even with the mightiest of blizzard in Winnipeg or Quebec City, the arena would be jam packed, especially versus Montreal and Toronto.

Would they still sell out with a category 5 hurricane?

You can't compare snow in a place that lives in snow 5 or 6 months a year to a place where 8 inches of snow is a blizzard. We all don't drive 4 wheel drive pickup trucks here and clearing streets for 18-20 million people in the NYC area is not the same as in a small city.

 

[cbcwpg]

Exactly!

The NHL totally blew on this one!! They put the lives of fans, players, arena staff, and game officials in jeopardy. There was 40-50+ mph winds and 20-30 inches of snow coming down at over an inch per hour (i.e. hard for road crews to keep pace with). much of Southeastern NY and Eastern PA, and almost ALL of CT, NJ were under state of emergencies- don't drive unless you have to. And mass transit was largely shut down. Those are not conditions people should be traveling in to see sporting events. The NHL was selfish and didn't think of anyone involved with the games from the fans to players. It's a pain in the a** to reschedule but it's better than people getting stranded in a blizzard, hurt or die in car accidents.

Since when has the NHL really cared about the fans?

 

[syc]

Since when has the NHL really cared about the fans?

Penguin and other small market fans say hi.

Teams should be more upset about the money the league blew on this winter classic joke. Karmas a ***** hey Bettman.

 

[syc]

Do you realize the size of the New York metro area???? Combine Toronto and Montreal and Vancouver.... Now add in 70+mph winds 30 +in. of snow in some parts close to the Rock. What would the NHL do if someone say a family left a game and was hurt or killed on there way home after not heading the warnings from the Governor of New Jersey or Nassau County executive. I think both NY, NJ, and Conn. did an excellent job. The NHL not so good.

Are you talking square mileage? If so look at a map much or is that the American geography education at work?

 

[Kritter471]

I can't even imagine driving in Germany during the winter without snow-tires, it makes such a difference imo.

Do most people use all-season tires instead or just normal summer-tires?

All-season tires.

I think I've fishtailed a grand total of twice in my life after four years driving in New England. Once was there on a road I knew better than to be driving on that particular day, and the other was in St. Louis, Mo., trying to pull into a parking lot that hadn't been driven on that day.

More on the topic at hand - in the NYTimes, there were statements from the NHL and NJ officials. The NHL's statement said they would have postponed the games if told to do so by the city government, but the NJ people say they advised the NHL to postpone the games.

 

[Jeffrey93]

Exactly!

The NHL totally blew on this one!! They put the lives of fans, players, arena staff, and game officials in jeopardy. There was 40-50+ mph winds and 20-30 inches of snow coming down at over an inch per hour (i.e. hard for road crews to keep pace with). much of Southeastern NY and Eastern PA, and almost ALL of CT, NJ were under state of emergencies- don't drive unless you have to. And mass transit was largely shut down. Those are not conditions people should be traveling in to see sporting events. The NHL was selfish and didn't think of anyone involved with the games from the fans to players. It's a pain in the a** to reschedule but it's better than people getting stranded in a blizzard, hurt or die in car accidents.

This is ridiculous. Nobody HAS to attend an NHL game. The NHL didn't put the lives of any fans in jeopardy....if people CHOSE to attend the games...THEY put their lives in jeopardy.

A more realistic and accurate claim would be that the NHL caused people that stayed home to lose the money they spent on tickets by not re-scheduling the game.