As most any Canadian male between the ages of 5 and 95 will tell you, hockey is in our blood. Old timers will tell stories of Gordie Howe, Stan Makita, Bobby Hull and the great Habs franchises of the past. Die-hard Leafs fans will talk of Daryll Sittler and his 10 point game, Borje Salming - his longevity - plus the many Stanley Cups won before 1967.
Younger fans will recall The Great One - Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Theo Fleury, Larry Robinson, Guy Lafleur and the great goalies of the 1980's and 1990's.
But all Canadian hockey fans have one thing in common, and this is a constant; We all love the game! We can watch no name players and enjoy it. We can watch rink hockey in the middle of January and enjoy it. We will go to Junior A or Junior B games and enjoy them, and we will watch the girls play and we get deep into the game. Its not just the big-name players we love, it's the game itself.
That being said, we also love the big name players. Nothing is as exciting as watching Spezza break in on goal near the end of the third period with the game tied - or that cross ice pass that turns into a Daniel Alfredsson one-timer to the top corner. We love to watch Crosby dance with the puck in the opposition corner before making that perfect tape-to-tape pass into the slot. Love him or hate him - but ya gotta respect him!
So all this being said, the 2012 hockey season is in jeopardy of being shortened or even cancelled completely. Frustrating? You bet!
Fans feel powerless, front office people are being laid off from NHL teams, training camps are cancelled, and players are starting to sign in Russia and Sweden.
Well I'm not certain if these tried strategies will work .... but if you are as serious about getting this show on the road as I am, here are a few things I think can push the owners to negotiate in a more open or honest method.
First off I suggest an email/twitter/facebook campaign: Teams and their electronic communications can be found by clicking here: NHL teams
Clicking on the teams logo will bring you to their individual sites. Once you have your favorite team site, navigating it will bring you a facebook page, a twitter account or an email address - all are effective methods of communicating your displeasure. Obviously you will have to shorten the twitter feeds!!! But I suggest facebook is a great method. Copy and paste it on your page and on that of the team's facebook page. Ask people to like it and spread it around.
The thing is, threatening not to go to the games is not effective. It's a pale threat. The owners know the seats will fill up as soon as the season gets interesting. So we need to hit their pocket books in a different way... something they know will hurt their bottom line.
Here's my suggestion and an example of what I'm doing: (Obviously change my team name for your own team.)
Dear Management of The Ottawa Senators,
The recent lockout of players due to the refusal between the two parties is, in my opinion, nothing more than greed on both parts. I believe your management team should urge the NHL board of Governors to get back to the bargaining table in good faith and as quickly as possible. This lockout can and will be detrimental to the game, the NHL, the owners and the players and the repercussions will last for many years.
In order for you to fully understand how serious I am, here is a list of things I will and will not do for the next 2-3 years unless bargaining in good faith begins in earnest and this lockout is settled quickly:
I will not purchase seasons tickets, half season tickets, or game packages.
I will attend no more than 4 home games for the next 2-3 seasons.
I will not purchase any concessions from the vendors in the arena for the next 2-3 seasons.
I will not purchase any team-related apparel, or specialty items for the same period of time.
I will not fly the team flag on my vehicle, in my office or home windows.
I will not visibly support the team in public.
I will not purchase pay-per-view games on TV.
Please settle this dispute so hockey fans everywhere can be secure in the knowledge that the owners and players are not just a bunch of greedy, rich people.
I have already emailed this to my team (Sens) and put this on my facebook page, and intend to copy and paste it onto the Ottawa Senators page. I'm sure if this gets around to enough people, these owners will get the message. And then fans everywhere can say "we contributed to stopping the 2012 lockout."
The thing is, to make this no idle threat you must carry out what you tell them in the message. So - if you say you won't do these things, then follow through. Copy and paste my message if you wish, make up your own or simply tweet to the team your displeasure.... But for God's sake, don't do Nothing and complain if the season gets cancelled.
Good luck.
Younger fans will recall The Great One - Wayne Gretzky, Mario Lemieux, Theo Fleury, Larry Robinson, Guy Lafleur and the great goalies of the 1980's and 1990's.
But all Canadian hockey fans have one thing in common, and this is a constant; We all love the game! We can watch no name players and enjoy it. We can watch rink hockey in the middle of January and enjoy it. We will go to Junior A or Junior B games and enjoy them, and we will watch the girls play and we get deep into the game. Its not just the big-name players we love, it's the game itself.
That being said, we also love the big name players. Nothing is as exciting as watching Spezza break in on goal near the end of the third period with the game tied - or that cross ice pass that turns into a Daniel Alfredsson one-timer to the top corner. We love to watch Crosby dance with the puck in the opposition corner before making that perfect tape-to-tape pass into the slot. Love him or hate him - but ya gotta respect him!
So all this being said, the 2012 hockey season is in jeopardy of being shortened or even cancelled completely. Frustrating? You bet!
Fans feel powerless, front office people are being laid off from NHL teams, training camps are cancelled, and players are starting to sign in Russia and Sweden.
So what can we do about it?
Well I'm not certain if these tried strategies will work .... but if you are as serious about getting this show on the road as I am, here are a few things I think can push the owners to negotiate in a more open or honest method.
First off I suggest an email/twitter/facebook campaign: Teams and their electronic communications can be found by clicking here: NHL teams
Clicking on the teams logo will bring you to their individual sites. Once you have your favorite team site, navigating it will bring you a facebook page, a twitter account or an email address - all are effective methods of communicating your displeasure. Obviously you will have to shorten the twitter feeds!!! But I suggest facebook is a great method. Copy and paste it on your page and on that of the team's facebook page. Ask people to like it and spread it around.
The thing is, threatening not to go to the games is not effective. It's a pale threat. The owners know the seats will fill up as soon as the season gets interesting. So we need to hit their pocket books in a different way... something they know will hurt their bottom line.
Here's my suggestion and an example of what I'm doing: (Obviously change my team name for your own team.)
Dear Management of The Ottawa Senators,
The recent lockout of players due to the refusal between the two parties is, in my opinion, nothing more than greed on both parts. I believe your management team should urge the NHL board of Governors to get back to the bargaining table in good faith and as quickly as possible. This lockout can and will be detrimental to the game, the NHL, the owners and the players and the repercussions will last for many years.
In order for you to fully understand how serious I am, here is a list of things I will and will not do for the next 2-3 years unless bargaining in good faith begins in earnest and this lockout is settled quickly:
I will not purchase seasons tickets, half season tickets, or game packages.
I will attend no more than 4 home games for the next 2-3 seasons.
I will not purchase any concessions from the vendors in the arena for the next 2-3 seasons.
I will not purchase any team-related apparel, or specialty items for the same period of time.
I will not fly the team flag on my vehicle, in my office or home windows.
I will not visibly support the team in public.
I will not purchase pay-per-view games on TV.
Please settle this dispute so hockey fans everywhere can be secure in the knowledge that the owners and players are not just a bunch of greedy, rich people.
I have already emailed this to my team (Sens) and put this on my facebook page, and intend to copy and paste it onto the Ottawa Senators page. I'm sure if this gets around to enough people, these owners will get the message. And then fans everywhere can say "we contributed to stopping the 2012 lockout."
The thing is, to make this no idle threat you must carry out what you tell them in the message. So - if you say you won't do these things, then follow through. Copy and paste my message if you wish, make up your own or simply tweet to the team your displeasure.... But for God's sake, don't do Nothing and complain if the season gets cancelled.
Good luck.
Posted to my FB page/
ReplyDeleteTyler