Welcome back Viktor Stalberg. Get out the UVM cowbells, dust off the Charley Catamount mascot costume and get ready to root for Viktor as he re-dons the Blue and White. For those UVM fans out there like me, or those who like little TSM who root for Viktor simply because it shuts their father up here is what Viktor has been up to since he left town, I am mean moved further downtown:

19 games 8 goals 13 assists 21 points 18 PIM

Not too bad in the AHL. Let’s see how that translates to the big leagues.

Here’s hoping that Viktor continues to progress and that he is able to perform at the same levels he has in the past.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

The Marlies just don’t get it. For that matter, the folks who run MLSE don’t get it. The target audience for their product is families. Those who want to take the kids to a game but don’t or can’t afford NHL prices. They have once again priced their product way too high. Consider if you will:

Team Best Ticket Price Lowest Ticket Price
Marlies $41 $21
St. Mikes $19.95 $12.95
Brampton $18 $10

Now, I know already there are promo’s and other incentives to lower prices and throw in all kinds of freebies. However this is the same across the board. I also know that the price is reduced when season tickets are purchased, however that too is across the board. So for arguments sake let’s just consider the basic individual season ticket price.

I also know there is a difference between CHL hockey and AHL hockey. Guess who doesn’t? My kids. What they know is that there will be loud music, dancers, t-shirts, player access, and all the bells and whistles at junior games better if not similar to Marlies games. So if my kids don’t care the difference between a Marlie vs Phantoms game as opposed to a Battalion vs. Colts game, why the hell would I? This is simple. It’s all about bang for the buck and the absolute buck itself. I can get the best seat in the house for a junior game for $20, $1 lower than the worst at the Marlies. Guess where my money is going!

I also know there are diehard Marlie fans out there who are going to cry bloody murder that I would even consider comparing the two products. I know it. Those are the folks who go to lots of games and are either season ticket holders OR multiple game package buyers. I respect that. I am not putting you down at all. What I am saying is that in the battle for my entertainment buck, the Marlies have little to no shot. My family will be equally as entertained for $80 at an OHL game in the best seats as they would be for $84 in the worst. Here is the harsh reality when it comes to these types of sporting events, they have to sell the sizzle and not the steak. It’s more about the environment then it is about the on ice product. Parents like me care only that our kids are entertained; that there attention is captured for the amount of time we can keep them focused on the event.

What the Marlies don’t get is that if they priced themselves to compete with the OHL, they would attract that market. The games would be better attended and they would win in the long run. Look, the proof is in the pudding. Last year the league average was 5115 per game. Our Marlies came in at 3728 4th worst in the league. Now, I know, Toronto isn’t a hockey town. It is, however home to lots of potential customers like me. Folks who are looking for fun and exciting things to do with our kids as opposed to movies and the usual options. I am hear to tell you that the Marlies are blowing it. They have next to no shot at getting my money a those prices. There is no reason to go their games as opposed to the competition. I know, they are the Maple Leafs of tomorrow. Ask yourself this, as I did last year. Who would you have paid to see, John Tavares or Jiri Tlusty? My point is there is as good a shot to see an NHL star in the making at an OHL game as there is at an AHL game. So what exactly would I be paying for?

Baring serious sizzle at a Marlies game, there is no reason to go. Based on price alone, it’s an easy decision. Until MLSE wakes up and realizes, that every fan who is there, irrespective of the ticket price will spend more money and are therefore more valuable than the empty seat, it’s going to be very tough for them to draw more than they have. Lots of people say it won’t work here. I completely disagree. I think it can work here. I think it should work here. Until the tickets are close to the next best alternative they won’t work here.

TSM

@yyzsportsmedia

MLS&E made a huge statement when they hired Brian Burke and Burke moved quickly to ”renovate” (understatement) the hockey operations.  MLS&E did not limit the re-build to the hockey operations/personnel…The recent opening of the MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence and ACC renovations truly show MLS&E has woken up and becoming a leader in sports entertainment…

For more on the ACC renovations; check out the video…

For more on the MasterCard Centre for Hockey Excellence; check out the video…

Camp opens today….it’s starting to get exciting!

LT

Don’t know if it’s a poorly kept secret or perhaps an after thought but Brian Burke is set to announce Dallas Eakins as the new Head Coach of your Toronto Marlies tomorrow. This story has been bubbling for several weeks, but it seems to have taken a lot longer to get done. One has to wonder why. Eakins has been part of the organization for some time. It’s not like they had to get permission or anything like that. Eakins retired and became a part of the Marlies coaching staff with Paul Maurice and then moved up with Maurice to the Leafs. So he has never had head coaching experience as far as I can see.

Eakins has been the Director Of Player Development for the Buds for a year after being an assistant coach. Mike Ulmer did a season ending interview with him about some of the younger leafs:

What type of player was Eakins? Take a look and listen here as Jeff Rimer and Dennis Potvin talk about him:

Guess he fits the Burke mold. Here’s hoping he gets an experienced guy behind the bench with him to help out.

follow us on twitter @yyzsportsmedia

TSM

Well the clock has turned August. Still no guarantees that anyone will need to buy playoff tickets or Stanley cup final tickets here in Toronto. While Burke has done a lot, it certainly seems that the winds of change have “grinded” to a halt. We still don’t know who will be coaching the Toronto Marlies, that after we were told it should be about a week for an announcement. That was nearly 2 weeks ago. Kaberle is still a Leaf, but only tradeable for 13 trades or so. There remain scoring challenges up front and there are holes in other areas. What, is Burke doing with Brad May?

Lots of players are on the sidelines still. Burke has some space left to play with. Garrioch suggested the C word in a column last week in suggestion that the teams are working together in concert to keep players on the sidelines. I am not buying it. It says here teams are being way more careful.

So, with it being August, is Burke having problems? Is it the dog days of August and we won’t hear anything until mid to late August?

Time will tell.

TSM

Here is a good clip of the newest Maple Leaf/Marlie:

Follow me on twitter at @yyzsportsmedia

Richard Greenop didn’t make the tv shows yeaterday. He wasn’t on Twitter either. However, he is the Brian Burke era player. He is 6 foot 4, 235 20 year old who just finished 3 years in Windsor. I am told he may have been the toughest guy in the OHL last year. He was 6th in the league with 155 PIMs last year.
I am told that he is the undisputed heavyweight in the O, by far. I am sure you are shocked to learn that his skating needs work!
New Burke style leafs, and marlies!

TSM

Brian Burke’s Toronto Marlies were eliminated from AHL playoff contention on April 26th. Over a month later he has put his coaching staff out of their misery and let them go. One can only imagine why this decision took so long, but that is a conversation for another day. Suffice it to say that Gilbert and his team need as much time as possible to find jobs and they could have used the month plus to look as coaching jobs don’t grow on trees. Here’s hoping they are all gainfully employed soon.

Anyway, lots of sources are telling TSM this evening that this is only the first of the changes at MLSE. The changes that I thought were coming to the rest of the staff are apparently going in fact coming down the pike. Word at this hour is that the pink slips are going to be numerous and far reaching. Burke is clearly making this his team and a healthy change in non-player personnel is imminent. I suspect that many of the changes will involve folks we don’t have any reason to know by name or face, but they are all nevertheless people who will be looking for work in the most unfortunate of times. Burke has a long term deal and a clear mandate. He is expected to build the best possible team and this is both on and off the ice. Burke is going to battle and he wants his people with him. It’s his right and we should expect him to build his organization. Unfortunately people will lose their jobs in the midst. Stay tuned.

Still with the theme of changes, I am told that changes are also imminent in the sports media industry. I don’t yet have specifics on which network(s) or which on air talent are going to be let go, but I have been told it won’t just be one network or station and it won’t just be one person losing his or her job either. Stay tuned on this one too.

Finally this evening, I find it humorous that the “other leagues” are rushing to file briefs in support of the NHL in the bankruptcy case involving the Phoenix Coyotes. “Pro sports leagues fear Coyotes sale would set precedent” is the headline in the Globe and Mail. Ummmmm, ya think so??? Look, the judge isn’t going to rule for or against Balisillie on the issue of PR or briefs from outside leagues. He is going to rule based on the application of the law. It really is that simple. One may wonder if the main reason the leagues are so worried about this is that they know that the foundation for which their rules are based are illegal don’t you think. I mean why else worry right? You usually don’t worry about results like this when you are certain of the outcome. Perhaps the manner in which all these leagues operate is in fact anti-competitive and therefore per se illegal. I don’t have the answer. The evidence seems to suggest that the leagues are worried. Stay tuned

Jeff Blair continue to prove that he is one of the best if not the best sports writer in the city. Did you happen to catch his piece on the Dome? It’s a must read for the sports fan:

“Through the late 1990s, after the bloom of back-to-back World Series had worn off, the Blue Jays didn’t own the facility. Coupled with the dollar-exchange rate, it left them poor cousins to most of their U.S. baseball counterparts because they did not have access to the same in-stadium revenue as other teams. And it was that in-stadium revenue that gradually supplanted TV money as the driving economic force in baseball. The Blue Jays have, literally, been playing catch-up all along. And now it’s come to this. Happy 20th, Rogers Centre. Now, the bad news: Daddy’s stopped your allowance. Time to start paying your own way, and the first step is to stop feeling sorry for yourself.”

That is how the story ends, go read the rest for yourself! Blair is here.
TSM

So I have been on this Marlies kick all week. They are playing at home tonight by the way, good seats, I am told are still available. Sean Gordon has a great article on all things Tampa Lightning in tomorrow’s globe and mail. The only thing I can tell you first hand is that everything I have heard has been that things are bad with a capital B. In any event this post isn’t about the Lightning’s troubles. If you want to read more about that read Sean’s article.

This is one of the gems in his story:

“So, like other southern teams, they have instituted promotions: $39 will get you two tickets, two hot dogs, two beers and a parking spot.”

WHAT…..An NHL team is charging that??????

$35 got me in the door. Another $35 for my kid. I paid $12 to park. I then paid about $7.50 for cold, stale popcorn and a bottle of water- nuts and bolts, nuts and bolts I got screwed!

I know, I am fixated on this right now. The Bellville vs. Brampton game last night outdrew the Marlie game…..The Marlies announced a crowd of over 2200, the OHL game???? 3221!

SERENITY NOW

I have read the excellent comments on both of my earlier rants on this. here and here

Here are my comments in general:

1. RE: It’s not an event. Then shame on the Marlies for not making it an event. 3 different people told me that the crowd last night was between 750 and 800. THAT IS UNACCEPTABLE. If they can’t get more then 800 people out to a game they are doing something very, very wrong. Will it be like the skydome of old?? NO, of course not. Find your niche audience and cater the hell to it. 800 people is a joke. They should be totally embarrassed.

2. Icing a team of prospects- It’s irrelevant. This isn’t about the steak, it’s about the steak! It’s about filling the void to those who can’t or won’t pay to see the Leafs. The Rock and other type of alternatives do better then this i think. Don’t focus on the players or the product. Hell they are in the playoffs. Get a used car company to donate a car and raffle it off during an intermission, get someone to dress up as barney….whatever….bring in the Dallas cowboy cheerleaders…something…anything

3. Free Seat and Price- Yes $30 is too high for a playoff game. Tickets in advance of last night were advertised at $9. the whole building should be $9. My point on the free seat was to do something to encourage people to come and to bring others. If you give one seat away you will accomplish both.

4. Marketing and atmosphere on Sunday- I totally agree. Why anyone would text in anything at an event to win a “marlie prize pack” is beyong me. They didn’t even say what the prize pack was!!! The game was good, and the atmosphere was lousy. They aren’t focused on the right things. You shouldn’t want to leave your seats. Hell, they have no vendors coming to the aisles so you have to get up to get pre-bagged popcorn!

5. Roscoe the Season ticket holder: You don’t sound like an apologist- you are the paying customer! I can only tell you that I saw people leaving as they approached the doors when they saw the lines. When the building is 2/3 empty that is brutal. The guy we were with spoke to a Marlie guy on the phone, he was told that we were getting a deal at $30. He didn’t mention we could have sat anywhere for half of that…. With respect to concessions, do the marlies not control the concessions? If they don’t they should threaten to vacate if this isn’t addressed. Richard Peddie claims he goes to other areans specifically for this reason, to see what others are doing. I can tell you that the arena in Barrie is better operated. Kids play hockey all week long and at all hours. Give them the chance to play on an arena like the Ricoh and you will be surprised at the turnout. Get the beer leagues in too. The promos, while dumb, are crowd pleasers and they work. I mentioned the pizza pizza deal at the raptors game. The team was getting clobbered but when they hit 100 points the place went NUTS….The fact they include round one of the playoffs shows they are only mostly out to lunch. The fact that they still don’t draw flies shows you they are still out to lunch.

So come on folks, don’t you agree that we would support the team if it were more fun to do so??? I would take my kids a hell of a lot more often if it were. I know others would too. Not a knock on the OHL, but the Marlies have to outdraw them, have to!