Blues Charging Fans More For Certain Games

Brad From St. Louis Game Time Presents:

Monday the Blues issued a brief news release announcing that single game tickets go on sale Aug. 16. Ok, fine. Until you get to the third paragraph.

In addition, the Blues are introducing Premium Pricing for 10 key match-ups

Pardon me? What the heck? The Blues are going to charge more for select games? Didn’t they already raise ticket prices for this season? Oh yeah, they did raise ticket prices an average of 3.8 percent. And remember what owner Dave Checketts said at the time? We do.

I think it’s a fair price increase. I don’t think it’s aggressive. And I hope by now that we have done our part in terms of showing fans that we’re serious about providing a better experience and putting a winning club on the ice.

Really? Anything change from February until now? The list of the Blues’ most notable off season moves begins with trading away the popular/gritty Jamal Mayers and ends with trading for a backup goaltender in Chris Mason with a bunch of nothing in between. The only other moves have been for depth at Peoria.

Free Agency Fumbles

In all fairness, few if any of the players available in free agency would make the Blues much better or would even consider signing with the Blues at this point. But that’s not the point. When they announced higher prices for this season, they didn’t say anything about charging $10 OR $20 more for select games. And how stupid is making the premium that different based upon the seat location? And by adding to the cost for some seats for some games, how much is the average ticket increasae for the premium games?

Here are the premium games (don’t worry, none of the thrilling Columbus games will cost you more):

• Blackhawks on Oct. 18, Jan. 17, and Feb. 13
• Red Wings March 3 and 14
• Holiday match-up against the Oilers Nov. 29
• Holiday match-up against the Sharks Dec. 27

They also chose three Eastern Conference games (the press release lists it as the Atlantic Conference — thanks for not knowing the league) to charge more for: the Penguins on Nov. 1, the Flyers on Jan. 31 and the Rangers on Feb. 16.

The Blues last season did have 20 sellouts in 41 home games with attendance increasing by 43 percent compared to 2006-07. So we guess the team is trying to build on that uptick in attendance and justify charging more for those high profile games. But this team isn’t noticeably better than it was the last day of the season.

Why Charge A Premium?

Obviously these premium games are designed to push fans toward buying season tickets, but for a lot of fans that’s either not affordable (even with the cheap Scottrade seats) or practical (41 games is a huge time committment). This from Peter McLaughlin, CEO of St. Louis Blues Enterprises:

As we announce Single Game pricing, including our new 10-Game Premium Pricing, we want to remind our fans that their best value, as always, is to purchase Season Tickets.

Thanks for all the proper nouns, Peter. And John Davidson is obviously smart enough to not connect his name to increasing the price of tickets, especially for a team that is already picked to finish last in the Central Division.

What a way to creat a buzz about the team, Blues. If beer prices are any higher come opening night (if that’s even possible), we may have to teepee the Drinkscotch Center. Allegedly.

What are your thoughts on charging a “premium for certain games?

The Kevin Lowe and Brian Burke Saga Continues

Wild Ink Nolan

The Minnesota Wild continued their off-season makeover Sunday, signing gritty winger Owen Nolan to a two-year contract worth $5.5 million US.

Here is What Wild GM Doug Risebrough had to say about the gritty forward:

“Owen Nolan is a true power winger who can score goals, play a physical brand, play either wing and take faceoffs”

Nolan should be a nice addition to the Wild who have been very active in signing fre agent forwards this off-season.  Minnesota will, no doubt, benefit from Nolan’s experience, leadership and tenacious style of play.

Lowe and Burke At It Again

Edmonton Oilers general manager Kevin Lowe tore into Brian Burke on Friday when he made an appearance on Edmonton’s Team 1260 radio station. Lowe called him a moron, described the Anaheim hockey market as pathetic, and then discussed how Burke destroyed the Vancouver Canucks.

Lowe went on to describe Burke as a “Media Junkie” and then makes reference to Burke’s single Stanley Cup compared to Lowe’s six.  To be fair, I don’t think that Lowe is comparing apples to apples as his cups came courtesy of his playing days.

It doesn’t appear that Burke wants to continue the “feud” as he is reportedly not commenting on the remarks made by Lowe.

Penguins Cooke-ing!

The NHL Eastern Conference champion Pittsburgh Penguins went the free-agent route to replace agitator Jarkko Ruutu on Saturday, signing forward Matt Cooke to a two-year contract.

While Ruutu was clearly an asset for the Penguins last season, it is believed that Cooke is a better two-way player with more offensive upside than Ruutu.  Cooke is known as a character player throughout the league and should fit in nicely with the Penguins as Shero continues to mold an exquisite supporting cast for Crosby and Malkin.

Leafs Have High Hopes

The Toronto Maple Leafs signed centre Mikhail Grabovski to a one-year, US$850,000 contract on Friday, one day after acquiring him in a trade with Montreal. The 24-year old had three goals and nine points in 24 games with the Canadiens last season.

The Maple Leafs sent prospect Greg Pateryn and a second-round draft choice to Montreal in exchange for Grabovski.  I think Montreal got a steal of deal here.  A prospect and a pick for Grabovski who has a questioanable future in the National Hockey League.

Players Feel Buffaloed By Sabres

The Buffalo news is reporting what we have known for years, the Sabres have a poor reputation among players.

Gleason goes on to comment that It has become increasingly evident that the only way to get quality veterans into Buffalo is to force them here through trades. It’s an unpleasant way to survive.

“Forget the woe-is-Buffalo excuse. Everybody knows this is a passionate hockey town, but the word has spread about the organization’s business practices. The Sabres are known more for their commitment to the bottom line than their commitment to winning. To players, it might as well be Edmonton.”

Crosby and Company Come Alive

After Sidney Crosby, and the rest of the Penguins were nowhere to be found for the first two games of these Stanley Cup Finals, the young guns finally made an appearance. Sparked by Crosby’s two early goals and the gritty physical leadership of the crafty veteran Gary Roberts, the Penguins gave their hometown fans something to cheer about.

Detroit continued their torrid pace of secondary scoring, getting goals from both Johan Franzen and Mikael Samuelsson on the evening. However, it was the lack of finish by their top guns in Datsyuk and Zetterberg that spelled the difference in this game for Detroit.

One of my favorite playoff quotes held true tonight and it goes something like this:

” In the Stanley Cup Finals, the team whose best players are the best players will always win the game”

On this night, it was clearly Sidney Crosby who was the game’s best player as he came out with a vengeance in Game 3 after being called on the carpet for his illustrious performance thus far in the series.

Crosby’s Boring Interviews

Crosby pulled out every cliche in the book during his post-game interviews. Here is a sample of Crosby’s robotic interviewing skills.

We still have a ways to go,” Crosby said. “It is just going to get tougher from here.”

“We had to leave it all out there tonight,” [...] “It wasn’t easy, but it was a good one for us.”

“It wasn’t that the chances weren’t there, it’s just that finally one went in for us.

“It was a big game,” Crosby said. “Every one from here on is a must-win, so we have to be sure we play well.”

It’s no secret that I believe Crosby is good for the game and he is a well coached in his public address approach, but he has the personality of a dead moth.

I much prefer the broken english of Alexander Ovechkin, who was spotted during Game #3 speaking with NHL Commissioner Gary Bettman. When asked what he and Bettman were talking about, Ovechkin smiled and said:

“Raising the salary…getting more money”

Alexander then calmly continued by saying that he was really talking about the World Championships and life in general. At least he has a sense of humor.

On Malkin

Pierre Lebrun thought Malkin was “electric” in Game 3. I’m going to have to disagree with Pierre on this one. While Malkin was considerably better than he had been in the previous two games, it would be a stretch to call his performance “electric”. Lebrun point out not that Crosby carried the team on his back, which I will agree with (even though it was quite obvious). As much as I have said I am tired of all of the hype around Crosby, Sidney was by far the best player on the ice in this game.

Get Your Game 5 Tickets

Detroit fans, be sure to pick up your Stanley Cup Final tickets because Game 5 is coming your way and it should be a dandy!

Penguins To Play For Stanley Cup

It seemed inevitable that Pittsburgh’s young stars would one day help lead the club to the Stanley Cup final. Sidney Crosby, Evgeni Malkin and the rest of the Penguins made it a reality Sunday afternoon with a decisive Game 5 win to clinch the NHL’s Eastern Conference championship.

The Killer Instinct

The boys from Pittsburgh polished off their cross-state rivals in style with a 6-0 rout of the Flyers, who saw their Game 4 glimmer of hope quickly extinguished  by a remarkable performance from the Penguins slate of young superstars in Crosby, Staal, Malone, and Malkin.

Following Game 4, in which Sidney Crosby was clearly frustrated by the likes of Mike Richards and the Flyers obvious “rough and tumble” game plan, many questioned whether the Penguins had enough killer instinct.  The Penguins were called on the carpet prior to Game five and they responded with vigor.

Remember the Oilers?

It may be too early to compare this group of young stars to the like of the Edmonton Oilers of the mid-1980’s, but the similarities are there.  In fact, according to the Globe and Mail, Wayne Gretzky needed four NHL seasons. Mario Lemieux required seven. But Sidney Crosby was swifter than both No. 99 and No. 66. The Pittsburgh Penguins’ sensational 20-year-old captain has steered his team to a Stanley Cup final in only his third season.

Is A Dynasty Possible?

Given the salary cap and the general business environment in today’s National Hockey League, it is unlikely that we will witness the type of dynasty that we saw from the Oilers, but this Pittsburgh Penguins team is looking more and more like a franchise of the future.  The Penguins seem to have risen from the brink of disaster - the franchise was in dire straits and looking to be sold, they are playing in the NHL’s oldest rink and barley being able to sell a season ticket.  Now, the youngsters are playing for the Lord Stanley’s holy grail.  If the Penguins are victorious in the next round, could their be a more fitting end to this magnificent story?

Flyers Battle Back

In typical Philadelphia hard-nosed hockey style, the Flyers managed to claw out a win at home against the Pittsburgh Penguins. The Philadelphia Flyers avoided elimination, scoring three times in the first period in a 4-2 victory over the visiting Pittsburgh Penguins in Game 4 of the Eastern Conference final at the Wachovia Center.

Pittsburgh spotted Philly a 3-0 lead that lasted until the third period when Jordan Staal and his Easton Stealth S17 took over! Staal managed to pot two goals in the final frame, both assisted by linemates Tyler Kennedy and Max Talbot, but it was too little too late for the Penguins. This was a gutsy performance turned in by Staal, who just returned from Thunder Bay after attending funeral services for his grandfather.

Where Were Crosby and Malkin?

Evgeni Malkin was a dominate force early in the series, but if you watched game four with your television muted, you would swear Malkin was in the press box with Gary Roberts and his flu bug!

Sidney Crosby had a decent game, but was mentally beaten by Mike Richards, who was successful in agitating Crosby almost from the drop of the puck. It was clear that Sid had lost his focus and was unable to dominate the play as he had in game three. A prudent fan will also notice that Crosby tends to whine to the officials more often and will get involved in unnecessary shoving matches after the whistle when he is mentally off of his game. There is no better evidence of this fact than watching the tape of last night’s game four.

Here is what Sidney had to say following the game:

“We really believed we’d come back here tonight,” said Penguins star Sidney Crosby, who was held pointless. “We came up a little short. But you never want to put yourself behind the eight ball like that.

Richards Plays Both Sides

I have been extremely impressed with the play adn the character of Mike Richards throughout these playoffs. He has had some very clutch performances offensively and game four proves that he can play just as well in a defensive role. What a great all around player!

Here is what fuels the fire for Richards:

“It is frustrating to hear Pittsburgh this and Pittsburgh that,” said Flyers captain Mike Richards. “We have a good team in here and we wanted to come out and prove it tonight.”

A class act and a great player.

Looking to Game Five

It will be interesting to see if the young Penguins can find their killer instinct and finish off the Flyers in game five, or if this was just the momentum boost that the Flyers needed to start a rally in this series.

Thank Your Lucky Stars

I’m not going to sit here and proclaim that after one victory, the Dallas Stars are back in the series with the Detroit Red Wings, but the Stars’ “stars” finally showed up.

I’d like to introduce Detroit fans to a few of the Dallas players that they had not seen in the first three games of this series.

Red Wings, I’d like you to meet my good friends Mike Modano, Brendan Morrow and Marty Turco - glad you could join us fellas!

I believe that prior to Game #4, Dalls Observer scribe Richie Witt said it best:

Admit it. The Stars are out of ideas, out of gas and out of the series.

Morrow hasn’t been a factor, Modano’s been a ghost, defenseman Matt Niskanen has coughed up a couple of costly gaffes and, most damaging, Turco has been average. When the Stars have needed him to stand on his head, he’s again fallen on his face against Detroit.

I’m certainly glad that Dallas decided to make an effort to win one game, otherwise my prediction that this series would go seven games would have looked foolish. At least if the Wings finish the Stars off in five games, I won’t have quite as much egg to wipe from my face.

Marty Turco has to be perfect for the Dallas Stars to have a chance at beating the Detroit Red Wings, that is no secret. However, Dallas is behind the 8-ball and it may be a case of too little too late for the fledgling Texas team.

Noteworthy News

• Team Switzerland forward Paul DiPietro, a former member of the Montreal Canadiens, has five points thus far at the 2008 World Championships.

• If you are looking for some great new hockey gear this summer, check out the best hockey stick reviews and hockey skate reviews on the internet.

• Philadelphia Flyers defenceman Braydon Coburn could be cleared to play Game 4 of the NHL Eastern Conference final Thursday after a puck nearly hit his eye on Sunday.

• Sami Lepisto’s goal at 3:59 of overtime led Finland to a 3-2 victory over the United States in the world hockey quarterfinals. IN other news, Derek Roy exploded for three goals and added an assist to propel Canada past Norway 8-2 in the quarterfinals. Canada will face Sweden in the semifinals Friday in Quebec City.

• Scott Mellanby, who played more than 1,400 games with five NHL teams, has been hired as a consultant to rookie Vancouver Canucks general manager Mike Gillis.

• One win away from their first Stanley Cup final berth in 16 years, the Pittsburgh Penguins are far removed from Michel Therrien’s famous tirade just two and a half seasons ago. For those of you unfamiliar with Therrien’s remarks, let me refresh your memory:

“It’s a pathetic performance,” Therrien said in a post-game clip that ran all over North American television for days and weeks. “Half of the team doesn’t care. That defensive squad — I am really starting to believe their goal is to be the worst defensive squad in the league. They are doing such a great job to be the worst defensive squad in the league. They turn the puck over. They have no vision. They are soft. I have never seen a bunch of defencemen as soft as this…We should take 50 per cent of their salaries because they play only 50 per cent of the time.”

On that note…enjoy Game #4!