Windsor Spitfires 2016-17 Season Thread (Part 8)

[RayzorIsDull]

Rayzor makes a good point (see? ). Fans here had a taste of winning and now it's win or bust, which is unfortunate. That said, I still believe you'll have great crowds. As long as the prices remain reasonable, that is.

It's not necessarily win or bust they didn't win this year they were on the lower end of good, far from being one of the best teams, couldn't beat some of the upper echelon teams but could beat some of the bottom teams and settled in the middle. They pretty much haven't played for a month there is no message because the team isn't playing and the fans don't really care. Hard to rationalize spending 101.70 for a single Spits ticket in the Memorial Cup when nobody has seen them play for 7 weeks. The Memorial Cup has out stripped it's market. The random fan going to that first game wouldn't be able to tell you about 6 players on one of the Q teams. Go to the game Sunday if it isn't Regina I wouldn't be surprised if the random fan could name 6 players from the W rep.

 

[OHLTG]

Hard to rationalize spending 101.70 for a single Spits ticket in the Memorial Cup when nobody has seen them play for 7 weeks.

Is this the fault of Windsor, or due to the strength of the conference? There's a reason so much 1-16 talk has started up since the Windsor/London series and it's not because of Windsor's so-called struggles.

The random fan going to that first game wouldn't be able to tell you about 6 players on one of the Q teams.

How often would most fans be able to name six players on any team outside of their league? When we were in Rimouski, would you legitimately think you could stop a random WHL/Q fan outside the rink and say "Name six Windsor Spitfires"? I doubt it.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

Is this the fault of Windsor, or due to the strength of the conference? There's a reason so much 1-16 talk has started up since the Windsor/London series and it's not because of Windsor's so-called struggles.



How often would most fans be able to name six players on any team outside of their league? When we were in Rimouski, would you legitimately think you could stop a random WHL/Q fan outside the rink and say "Name six Windsor Spitfires"? I doubt it.

Yes it is the fault of Windsor. Don't lump the whole conference into the equation look at it as Windsor/London with the Spits having a 3-1 lead and blowing it. Spits can only control what they do and they didn't do enough and didn't get the job done.

Your last point is exactly the reason why I say the price of tickets have out stripped fan interest. The CHL has done a horrible job of marketing their product on Rogers Sportsnet you see a ton of OHL, very little of the WHL and even less in the Q. You can go to an NHL game for less than $101.70 and you can name half the players on each team. They have maxed out ticket prices and it isn't pretty.

 

[crowncarrier]

http://windsorspitfires.com/article/single-game-tickets-on-sale

Single game tickets (minus SF and F) are on sale. Does the CHL set the prices or the team? I would have figured they'd be lower all-around (my gut feeling said Windsor would be the lowest since it's hometown...but nope).

Wife looked into tickets today and the game of the Q vs the W was around $20+ less then the OHL vs Host team game. I have never seen round robin games that had a difference in price. And yes these were the same seats. I am hoping shes wrong or you can shed some light on the situation.

EDIT: Just saw this in the article from the posters link.

Tickets for games featuring the host Windsor Spitfires are available at a cost of $90+HST while games featuring two of the other three participating teams are priced at $75+HST.

Has this happened before? I have only been to Memorial cup games in London and Kitchener and to the best of my knowledge all round robin games were the same price.

 

[EvenSteven]

Your last point is exactly the reason why I say the price of tickets have out stripped fan interest. The CHL has done a horrible job of marketing their product on Rogers Sportsnet you see a ton of OHL, very little of the WHL and even less in the Q. You can go to an NHL game for less than $101.70 and you can name half the players on each team. They have maxed out ticket prices and it isn't pretty.

You would think that Rogers sportsnet, with all their different channels, could have at least televised multiple playoff games across the country of the top teams in the three leagues. That would give fans some familiarity regarding what teams may be playing in the tourney in May.

And using the excuse that the NHL playoffs have started up so there is no room is bogus. Many nights when there were 4 different NHL playoff games played on the same night, sportsnet chose to televise the same NHL game on multiple channels. I understand that not everyone country wide gets all the channels, but for the fans who do, a little variety would be nice.

For example, right now they have the Edm/Ana game on 4 channels. SNO, SNE, SNW, and SNP. Geez!! Couldn't they at least televise a CHL game on SN360 or SN1 instead of rolling repetitive highlights?? How many times do we have to see "Misplays of the Month" over and over.

Even the local Rogers community channel used to televise out of market games a few years ago but not any more. Once Kitchener was eliminated from the post season, there was zero OHL hockey to watch on Rogers (though I appreciate them showing the Sutherland Cup). I suppose they're just trying to get everyone to purchase the OHL package but some of the best hockey I saw in 2009 was the Windsor/London 5 OT games series that year. I didn't miss a minute thanks to Rogers and it kept me interested through to the Mem Cup.

 

[OHLTG]

Yes it is the fault of Windsor. Don't lump the whole conference into the equation look at it as Windsor/London with the Spits having a 3-1 lead and blowing it. Spits can only control what they do and they didn't do enough and didn't get the job done.

Your last point is exactly the reason why I say the price of tickets have out stripped fan interest. The CHL has done a horrible job of marketing their product on Rogers Sportsnet you see a ton of OHL, very little of the WHL and even less in the Q. You can go to an NHL game for less than $101.70 and you can name half the players on each team. They have maxed out ticket prices and it isn't pretty.

You have to lump the conference into it, though. When five teams are at 90+ points, someone who should be in the conference finals is going to lose in the first round. Yes, it's bad that Windsor has a lengthy layoff but the entire season was a historically odd one.

I agree that ticket prices are maxed out but at the same time the "can name players on each NHL team" thing isn't necessarily true. Most people can't name five players on Columbus, or Florida, or Arizona. You also have round-the-clock coverage of almost every NHL team, which you'll never get with the CHL.

 

[RayzorIsDull]

You would think that Rogers sportsnet, with all their different channels, could have at least televised multiple playoff games across the country of the top teams in the three leagues. That would give fans some familiarity regarding what teams may be playing in the tourney in May.

And using the excuse that the NHL playoffs have started up so there is no room is bogus. Many nights when there were 4 different NHL playoff games played on the same night, sportsnet chose to televise the same NHL game on multiple channels. I understand that not everyone country wide gets all the channels, but for the fans who do, a little variety would be nice.

For example, right now they have the Edm/Ana game on 4 channels. SNO, SNE, SNW, and SNP. Geez!! Couldn't they at least televise a CHL game on SN360 or SN1 instead of rolling repetitive highlights?? How many times do we have to see "Misplays of the Month" over and over.

Even the local Rogers community channel used to televise out of market games a few years ago but not any more. Once Kitchener was eliminated from the post season, there was zero OHL hockey to watch on Rogers (though I appreciate them showing the Sutherland Cup). I suppose they're just trying to get everyone to purchase the OHL package but some of the best hockey I saw in 2009 was the Windsor/London 5 OT games series that year. I didn't miss a minute thanks to Rogers and it kept me interested through to the Mem Cup.

Agreed unfortunately on SN360 tonight you saw a baseball game it was also on SN1. Of course from Fri-Sun they have a ton of WWE wrestling on SN360 where a bunch of overweight guys talk about storylines in the latest matches.... Riveting stuff right there. For all the work they put in for one week plus of CHL games they could at least put that same work into the sport from Sept on through.

 

[OHLTG]

Of course from Fri-Sun they have a ton of WWE wrestling on SN360 where a bunch of overweight guys talk about storylines in the latest matches.... Riveting stuff right there.

Along with curling, auto racing, fishing, etc. I'd rather watch WWE than those

(though, I do agree that more CHL programming would be nice)

 

[ohloutsider]

Agreed unfortunately on SN360 tonight you saw a baseball game it was also on SN1. Of course from Fri-Sun they have a ton of WWE wrestling on SN360 where a bunch of overweight guys talk about storylines in the latest matches.... Riveting stuff right there. For all the work they put in for one week plus of CHL games they could at least put that same work into the sport from Sept on through.

Last year the entire OHL final was on Sportsnet which lead into the Memorial Cup. Will we see the finals on Sportsnet this year?

 

[RayzorIsDull]

You have to lump the conference into it, though. When five teams are at 90+ points, someone who should be in the conference finals is going to lose in the first round. Yes, it's bad that Windsor has a lengthy layoff but the entire season was a historically odd one.

I agree that ticket prices are maxed out but at the same time the "can name players on each NHL team" thing isn't necessarily true. Most people can't name five players on Columbus, or Florida, or Arizona. You also have round-the-clock coverage of almost every NHL team, which you'll never get with the CHL.

Why do you need to lump conference into it? You're not facing all 4 teams in round 1 all you're doing is facing the 4 seed who wasn't that great. Like I said when the Spits were up 3-1 either they're good enough and finish them off or they're not. You don't need to rationalize their failure based on the conference. Last time I checked based upon points it's been chalk in the western conference playoffs.

I think most hockey fans can name 5 players on those 3 teams it's not difficult.

 

[Sec108]

Tg.....I dont know what parallel universe your living in but Windsor fan's are not stooopid !!!!!

This whole mem cup is off most peoples radar in this city.People are in a foul mood.Theyre not putting any extra money they might have on anything that they perceive as screwing them.

I work with a couple hundred people and they could care less about the Spits or cup.Its a non event, there is no buzz.I dont see any spits gear being worn, mostly Tigers and a bit of Jays presently.

What fan is going to believe that a team that had a 3-1 series lead, loses the series, now is sitting for 7 weeks can take on 3 league champs with momentum on their side.And then pay big bucks to watch it.Very few.........

Rocky Hockey is a failure.

If Rocky is retained I dont know how STH can move forward.??

If he is terminated, where can Rocky go where a team will believe his BS???

all Im saying is open your eyes man.......

 

[Spitsfan191]

Bob BellaciccoCTV‏ @BBellaciccoCTV

He's been cleared by the Winnipeg Jets. @SpitsHockey Logan Stanley has 22 days to get ready to compete for the Memorial Cup. @CTVWindsor at6

 

[OHLTG]

all Im saying is open your eyes man.......

I know. It's weird, right? Someone actually doesn't believe it's the end of the world

Why do you need to lump conference into it?

When you have a conference that reached historic totals, you kind of have to. I'm not the only one talking about this, either. Look around Twitter.

I work with a couple hundred people and they could care less about the Spits or cup.

...and I'm constantly asked about the Cup.

 

[OHLTG]

Per Bob Bellacicco, Logan Stanley has been cleared by Winnipeg. He's now getting into game shape.

 

[windsor7]

I have heard ZERO buzz around the city about the cup from fans
If they did a poll about the Memorial Cup for the city of Windsor right now I bet it the percentage would be very low.
I just hope they make the amount of money they put the bid in for the cup or the tax payers of Windsor are going to be on the hook for the difference.
That would just get people to stop attending games all together. Attendance is going to be very low this next year.

 

[Duke Guy]

The Spits next game is in 22 days. I'm sure the buzz will pick up as we get closer.

 

[Percyma]

If he is terminated, where can Rocky go where a team will believe his BS???

What, exactly, is this BS of Rocky that you are referring to?

 

[punch1943]

IMHO Rocky will surface in the AHL or NHL. Scotty Bowman would have had trouble coaching this team of prima donnas.....

 

[Boomer48]

Per Bob Bellacicco, Logan Stanley has been cleared by Winnipeg. He's now getting into game shape.

He is not the saviour we need !

 

[OHLTG]

He is not the saviour we need !

I'll take a 6'7 230lb veteran D who can hit and shoot the puck any day.

 

[Oldbarn Newhay]

With Stanley back that means no more excuses. Everyone's healthy.

The only Memorial Cup buzz I hear is..."They want how much!!?!" When I tell them the price is set by the CHL, the response is... "They do know this is Windsor, right?"

Bottom line. A team playing deep into the playoffs sells more tickets than the best marketing plan.

 

[sbpointer]

The way they are marketing the tickets is definately different then when the cup was in London a couple years ago. All round robin games were the same price and all single game tickets went on sale the same time. I bought one round robin game and the final on the day they went on sale. I had the same intention this time but cant get final tickets yet so I've delayed. The way this is sounding I will be able to get round robin tickets on game day...

 

[Boomer48]

I'll take a 6'7 230lb veteran D who can hit and shoot the puck any day.

To slow of foot for the teams we will be playing.

 

[windsor7]

I'll take a 6'7 230lb veteran D who can hit and shoot the puck any day.

Big doesn't mean squat when u r as slow as he is. And he barely shoots. N when he does it barely hits the net. His defensive skills r not steller either. Just another warm body in the lineup I c.

 

[Percyma]

And he barely shoots. N when he does it barely hits the net.

Quite simply, this is not true