Talk Hockey to Me, Wrap Around Curl and Puck Huffers, among other blogs, spent yesterday discussing the new Club Scarlet website, an marketing effort by the Washington Capitals to reach out to female fans by objectifying members of the Capitals as hot guys, and explaining the basics of the game. I'm on the fence about this and an effort in the same vein by the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins - Hockey and Heels - an event to teach women about hockey while they are at a day spa. While I understand the initial knee-jerk reaction to these efforts by female sports fans, they're not intended to offend.
I'll be blunt. There have been a lot of things I have done in my twenty-seven years that were solely motivated by the attractiveness of guys. Joining indoor track in eighth grade. Becoming a fan of the Steve Young led San Francisco 49ers even though I lived in Buffalo Bills country. Joining Hall Government at Binghamton even though I had sworn off being involved after transferring (haha.) Call me shallow, but I would rather call it primitive. Since the beginning of time, heterosexual females like males, and will find ways to be near or see attractive ones.
So to say that efforts like Club Scarlet and their marketing of the Capitals as a team of attractive men that look like they belong in the now-defunct Playgirl is horribly misguided is horribly wrong. There is a reason why in college many advertising majors have psych minors - because they want to make a convincing and successful appeal to those they are advertising towards, and what better way to do so by using psychological elements of human nature. Therefore, you want to draw more female fans, you appeal to their natural desire to seek out attractive members of the opposite sex.
As for the arguement that efforts like Club Scarlet and "Hockey and Heels" dumb down the sport of hockey to a female population, I say good for the teams for taking what can be a confusing game that is not popularly played in the majority of the United States and making an effort to explain it. This level of basic explanation needs to happen not just towards females, however, but accessible and marketed towards a variety of populations as well. For example, last Friday night at the Boston University - Northeastern game, the stranger borrowing my season ticket neighbors seats for the evening had never seen a hockey game in his life. He was from California, and understood soccer well, so when he asked me to explain the game to him, I used that sport as a basis to explain hockey. If teams took the opportunity to educate fans more - maybe during a game break by having an amusing quick Jumbotron video, or through features on their websites - that would only build their fan bases.
And last but not least, the arguments about Club Scarlet brought up the neverending discussion of the pink teamwear that is prevalent in the NHL Shop. Yes, I think many pink options look somewhat tacky. But believe it or not, it sells. I was interviewing a new sportswear company founder for my blog a few months back, and I asked him about why, among his great looking female shirts for the Patriots, Bruins, Red Sox and Celtics, he had included a pink Celtics shirt. "Despite the outcry about 'pink hats', we and other companies have done extensive market research regarding designs and products, and the pink stuff actually sells." he said. "I'm not going to not carry a style of shirt that sells, especially as a new brand."
In these economic times, which despite what any governmental official says are far from over, sports leagues need to make a drastic effort to reach out to every potential fan base possible. Efforts such as Club Scarlet and "Hockey and Heels" are means of doing so, means of keeping sports leagues that are all at the edge of becoming obsolete in a society whose entertainment budgets are becoming non-existent.
Thursday, February 26, 2009
Adventures in Marketing (or Why Club Scarlet and Hockey and Heels Aren't As Bad As We Make Them Out to Be)
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
Thoughts?
To my HLOG sisters, as well as our estblished and newer Gentle Readers:
Saturday, February 21, 2009
Saturday Six
Second week in a row. I fail, but if you email me suggestions, I might remember to post it on time...
1.) Do you enjoy being on the water? (any kind, pool, lake, river, ocean)
2.) How awesome are sunglasses?
3.) When is it spring where you live?
4.) Do you like sprinkles?
5.) Does slang irritate you?
6.) How many songs do you have on your iPod/music player?
Monday, February 16, 2009
The Mono Award
After my fantasy hockey draft this fall, which I stupidly let go to auto-draft, I ended up with a surplus of goalies and no right wings. Definitely a problem.
The commish messaged me the next day. "I'll take one of those goalies off your hands if you want. Name your price."
I offered him Phoenix goalie Ilya Bryzgalov for Phil Kessel, my favorite current NHL player. Odd choice for a favorite player at the time, sure, but I had my reasons. See, the first goal I had ever seen in college hockey game (which as most of you all know is my first love) included an assist by him, and because of that, I've stuck by him since. (And for those of you wondering, that game was January 8, 2005 - USA Under-18 Team versus Boston University.)
The commish was a little shocked. "Okay. You sure you want Kessel?"
"Of course." I messaged back.
Of course, at the time, I figured that Kessel would be on my fantasy hockey roster for no real hockey value, just because he's my favorite player. I do this with every fantasy sports team I have - I always pick up Gabe Kapler for my fantasy baseball team, and I picked up my Tampa Bay Bucs practice squad member cousin on my fantasy football team one season. Usually these moves make no sense, and I usually drop them when I need to add another player. But this time, my throwaway silly pick ended up being a great deal.
My move for Kessel and my later pickup of Blue Jackets goalie and Calder Award shoo-in Steve Mason off the waiver wire put me near the top of my fantasy league for most of the season. I looked like a genius for trading for Kessel prior to the start of the season, if I do say so myself.
Then came word that Kessel had mono. Not only did I feel bad for him, but I felt bad for my fantasy team. I was getting tons of points from him. And in my giant league, available scoring forwards were few and far between, and no one was willing to trade, so I lost his production and lost a big fantasy matchup. I placed Kessel on the DL, and watched the blogs for any indication of his return.
But then, the inplausable happened. I went to set my fantasy lineup before making dinner one evening, and saw the little red note next to Mason's name. Expecting it to be another, "Mason shut out fill-in-the-blank team again tonight. If you have him on your roster, you look like a freakin' genius," note from the ESPN.com fantasy gurus, I clicked on it.
And instead of another boost to my fantasy self-esteem, the note told me Mason too had mono.
If I was a swearing woman, I would have sworn at that point. I would have sworn many times. There would have been more curse words than The Boondock Saints.
I had lost one of my leading scorers and my leading goalie to the same annoying disease. What were the odds?
I've weathered the storm - both are back, although Kessel's production hasn't been the same. But due to having had two players suffer from the same disease in such a short period of time has earned me a new award from my league's commish: The Mono Award.
Therrien Out - But Will It Help?
The text message last night looked something like this:
"PENS ALERT: WB/S coach Dan Blysma named interim Head Coach replacing Michel Therrien."
And as quick as that, we say goodbye to a coach that has been with the Penguins for three seasons.
Was the firing deserved? It's an interesting question. On one hand, there are plenty of Pens fans that have been calling for Therrien to get the ax ever since the Pens troubles started in December. But listening to the radio this morning, there are plenty of people defending him, stating that firing him will in no way help the Pens current troubles.
I really admired Therrien his first two years in with the Pens. I thought he brought a lot of vision to a young team who needed some guidance. But this year something seemed to get lost in the shuffle. He got away from many of his characteristic traits as a coach. And in a weird twist of fate he had gone "soft".
The person the Pens need right now is the Therrien the Pens had when he first came on board. The hard ass who called out guys publicly. The guy that came in and push a struggling team towards wins. Not the proud papa who had watched his boys grow up and felt there was no need to be tough with them any longer. After all, they had been in a Stanley Cup final hadn't they?
A few of Therrien's wrong doings this year:
Someone help us, we're dying here!!
Dan Bylsma anyone?
Don't Ask Me, "What's That Red Line?"
Question:
What is the most annoying or stupidest thing you've heard someone say at a hockey game?
Leave your rants in the comments or send one of us an email and we'll be sure to include it in our next podcast. Because let's be honest, while screaming "Shoot!!!!" more than once per game is annoying, nothing's worse than having to hear the person behind you explain to a friend that there are 3 periods in the game, not 3 quarters.
Read More......
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Sunday Seven
Happy Valentine's Weekend! I've been super sick/swamped, so sorry this is so late everyone!
1.) Which NHL player would you most like on a poster for your wall?
2.) If you had to teach a grade level K-12, which would you pick?
3.) Do you watch ANTM? (America's Next Top Model)
4.) Would you rather take an exam or write a paper?
5.) Are you a math person?
6.) How many states/provinces have you lived in?
7.) What song really energizes you in the morning?
Saturday, February 14, 2009
Waxing Lyrical On a Mid Season Slump
It's the thought that weighs heavy on every Sharks fan's mind. Is this a slump?
This is inevitably followed by other questions:
Is this just a bump in the road? Is this who our team really is? Are we feeding off past disappointments of yesteryear and redirecting them to now? Do we buy into our own hype too much, despite desperately trying to avoid that this year? Are we too sensitive to hat other in the hockey world say, that we often feel that our team has to win all 82 regular season games? I won't mention the ever present post season concerns. Those are well documented and not yet applicable to this situation.
The fact is, in most Sharks seasons, this wouldn't be a slump. In most of the recent Sharks seasons, it's been up and down from the start. This is par for the course. It's mid season, everyone' tired, a bunch of guys have the flu, we have injuries, the team slows down, it happens. February has also usually been a harsh month for the Sharks. That's nothing new.
So here's the question, is it really a slump if you can come back from some terrible play and take the game into OT? The Sharks, despite dropping several games this road trip, have gotten at least a point in all of them. They have battled back from less than stellar play and been able to keep themselves in games that, if you only saw the first, you'd think they had no business staying in. That alone could be considered a victory. The Sharks are often accused to tuning out, sitting back and not playing with heart and grit. They have shown they have heart and grit this season, though it hasn't always resulted in a W. And maybe the high standard set in the beginning of the season are the true root of all our insecurities this season. We didn't want to fall from the top, we didn't want to be seen as human, and now we are.
The hockey season is long and full of glorious highs and heartbreaking bumps in the road. To write it off in February seems suspect. Is this a slump? Maybe, but if it is, it's not the worst we've ever seen and it won't be the last. We knew these days would come, all we can do is wait them out and try to enjoy the ride.
Friday, February 13, 2009
Cheap Tickets....But Not the Commission Fee
I called him last week to buy tickets to this Saturday's game versus the Oilers since there was nothing I wanted to do more than drag my fiance to a Kings game on Valentine's Day. Since it's an afternoon game he can still take me out to a nice dinner at night. It's a win-win-win situation! My ticket guy said the tickets were $20 each and since he was in such a rush that was pretty much all I got out of him. Total expected cost for two tickets: $45
I was quite surprised (and pissed) when I checked my credit card statement earlier this week and found out I had been charged $51.44. I know, it's only $6.44 more than I had anticipated, but still, WTF?! I just called him and politely mentioned that I wanted to verify the charges. He said the tickets were $20.77 and the commission fee was $10. I tried to act surprise and said, "wow, so that's a huge increase over last year....why, it's almost not even worth it buying tickets from you." What I really wanted to say was, "Why didn't you mention the increase in commission when I purchased the tickets? I don't appreciate being lied to so you can bet that I will no longer be buying tickets from you." He quickly mentioned that he could usually waive the fee but that management had instructed the sales team to charge the higher fee for the ticket package. Aha!! You bastards! (read: Kings owners/management/AEG, etc) Market a huge ticket promotion and kick everyone in the balls with a commission fee twice the normal amount. I feel like such a pansy ass that just bought into a huge scam. Screw you and your fees! Now I'm going to stick it to the Kings and revert back to my usual bargain hunting ways.
x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet
Read More......
Tuesday, February 10, 2009
I Hate Pierre McGuire.com
Hahha, has anyone else seen this? I Hate Pierre McGuire.Com
The blog hasn't been updated since March 2008, but I think someone needs to contact the owner and get some current stuff on there!
x-posted to Purple Crushed Velvet
Friday, February 06, 2009
Friday Five
1.) What movie makes you go wtf?
2.) Which song can you currently not stand?
3.) What form of art are you best at?
4.) How frequently do you find you have to overhaul your music?
5.) Are you friends with NHL TV?
Wednesday, February 04, 2009
Tom Must Go
Last night, the Rangers lost to the Atlanta Thrashers on Adam Graves night. If I wasn’t so angry at New York for yesterday’s effort, I would probably discuss the last Ranger to wear #9 in more detail, but that must be saved for a later time.
Tom Renney must go.
Because I am not stupid. And the 19,000 people who fill MSG night in and night out, rooting for New York’s home team are not stupid either.
We see this lifeless team. This team with no drive, no personality, no attitude. It makes Rangers games dull and boring. It creates the quietest atmosphere at Madison Square Garden that I have ever seen or heard. It tears at the heart of fans who want excitement.
Where are you, though, Coach? You’re team looks lifeless out there, night in and night out. Oh, wait... You want them that way.
Tom Renney has managed to take any unique individualism and squash it in effort to create good defensive soldiers. He has damaged the confidence of his youth and forced these mindless drones into thinking that defense is the only way to play hockey.
Although, we have the best penalty kill, of course. Renney doesn’t stand for goals-allowed.
Here, here. I’m not trying to say defense isn’t important, or that a team shouldn’t play good team defense. However, a team has to be able to score, too. And this is a department in which the Rangers greatly lack.
Is it personnel, or is strategy? In some cases, personnel can really hinder a team from scoring goals; some teams just don’t have fire power. And in the Ranger’s defense, this team is lacking a sniper. A “go-to” guy. But don’t tell me, as Gomez plugs away with first unit powerplay time night in and night out, that his first powerplay goal of the season should have been only two weeks ago. Do not tell me that this is acceptable.
The powerplay, in general, is not acceptable. The powerplay does have to do with personnel, as well, however a lot of times a good strategy can override a team’s difficulty in scoring powerplay goals. For starters, members of a powerplay unit should MOVE.
This is elementary, Tom Renney.
And this powerplay also boasts the league leading shorthanded goals, with 13. I suppose the Rangers are aiming to break records this season.
Would a good coach allow 8 Two Many Men penalties to be called on their team in one season?
Although maybe the players would have a better time remembering their linemates if Renney didn’t create 31 different line combinations in the first 30 games. The Rangers managed fourteen separate combinations when they lost to the Boston Bruins a couple days ago… and that was only in the third period.
The Rangers have been guilty of “Not Enough Men” this season. How, you wonder? In December against the Calgary Flames, the Rangers played almost a full 30 seconds shorthanded during even strength. No one realized they were missing a player.
It’s mind blowing, really.
The Rangers attempt the same style of play game in and game out despite poor results. They do their best to prevent the other team from scoring, rather than try to score themselves. They send one player up to forecheck while the rest hang back to play solid D. They play “five in a picture” hockey. Amazingly, the Rangers still manage defensive breakdowns. It makes you wonder why Glen Sather signed offensive defensemen like Wade Redden and Dmitri Kalinin if his coach was looking for better defense, instead.
Do you know Ranger games are really boring? I haven’t found a better remedy for my own restlessness at night!
Nothing. Happens. For a full two periods, nothing happens, and I’m a personal fan of defensemen. Nothing thrills me more than watching future-Norris-winner Marc Staal take a man off the puck. However, watch the Ranger forwards dump the puck and change when they could be putting aggressive pressure on a goaltender kills me.
No wonder the Rangers make backups look like Vezina candidates.
I have long said I would rather my team lose than play like the Devils do. And I stand by that statement, as the Rangers become increasingly like their Jersey neighbors.
Without a doubt, I believe the defensive strategy that Renney employs is not only boring, but shortsighted and will not succeed in the playoffs. Renney plays for the shootout; and it just so happens that the Rangers boast a league-best eight shootout wins. After that 1-0 loss in Boston, Renney said during his postgame “with any luck, we’d still be playing.”
No, Mr. Renney. With any luck, your team wouldn’t have been shut out. With any luck, you’d have won the game in regulation.
Over the summer, the Rangers traded for Nik Zherdev. An enigmatic forward, Zherdev has cutesy moves and serious skills with the puck. And while Zherdev should play a responsible game, Ranger fans are collectively beginning to feel like Z has more to offer us. However, when Zherdev does get fancy, he finds himself benched for a shift or two.
He’s not the only one. Brandon Dubinsky has found himself in a serious scoring slump his sophomore year. When asked about it, Brandon said he needs to focus more on his defensive game and the offensive game will come. (I almost choked after hearing that statement.) But this statement comes after Dubinsky found himself benched during a game in which he “did not backcheck properly.”
The way I remember October, the Rangers were fun and Dubinsky and Zherdev found themselves on fire. When they scored, they jumped all over eachother and celebrated in a way AO would be proud of. That was, you know. Back when the Rangers were hot and won and won and led the conference.
But now? This team is lifeless, and they’ve brought Dubi and Niky down with them. And they’ve only been playing .500 hockey since.
This is not limited to this year. There are questions as to why Jaromir Jagr’s production fell off so severely, and to why Fedor Tyutin is enjoying much more success with the Bluejackets then he did with the Rangers.
On December 29th, the Rangers defeated the New York Islanders 5-4 at MSG on Versus, televised nationally. Fans everywhere across the United States got to see the game, and got to hear the message Ranger fans chanted over and over again throughout the third period.
“Pet-r Pruch-a.”
He was cheered for because he scored a goal. He was cheered for because he played with effort and emotion and hit guys twice his size again and again. This kid created something every single shift.
You know him. Petr Prucha.
Not ringing a bell?
Petr Prucha scored thirty goals his rookie season with the Rangers in 2005. Maybe you were all a big preoccupied with Sidney Crosby and Alex Ovechkin to have noticed, but the Czech quickly became a fan favorite in New York despite his small size because of his work ethic, his smile, and his willingness to go to the net.
But Prucha doesn’t spend too much time on the ice anymore. The only player, with the exception of Henrik Lundqvist, to be cheered with a standing ovation this season, is a consistent healthy scratch.
Nothing that Tom Renney has done has hurt me personally, except for his treatment of Petr Prucha. It’s unwarranted. It’s not acceptable. And I worry Petr Prucha, my favorite hockey player, will find his way back to the Czech Republic during this offseason. After all, which one of your teams will want a smallish, single digit goal scorer?
Petr Prucha is so much more than that. Petr Prucha is energy. Petr Prucha is strength. Petr Prucha is heart. Petr Prucha draws penalties like no one else on the Ranger’s squad. And Petr Prucha could score goals, if Tom Renney ever gave him so decent ice time or some powerplay time.
Not like changing up the powerplay could hurt at all.
Yesterday, before the game that took the Rangers only 58 minutes to score in, right after a game in which the Rangers were shut out, Tom Renney had this to say about the former thirty goal scorer.
“With a guy like Pruch, it’s a matter of him getting in and being able to sustain it,” Renney said. “He’s not a big guy. For our needs, at least, a guy like Petr is good for a while and then it seems to dry up on him. Then I can get him back in again. The bottom line is it’s his size. It’s getting banged around, and then because of that, not being able to sustain what he can deliver over the period of more than four or five games. And that’s the dilemma that I have. And it’s too bad, because he’s a helluva guy.”
Firstly, this is the first time I have ever heard about Petr having a difficultly sustaining anything. In September, Renney told the world it was Prucha who was in the best condition. “First Pete needs opportunity, and he’s work hard enough and deserves the look,” Renney said. “He’s in phenomenal condition. One of the highest scorers ever (on the conditioning test). As a matter of fact, since I’ve been here this is the best testing of a Ranger team, and Pete’s at the top.” I have a hard time understanding how a guy who is in such good condition wears and tears so easily.
Secondly, I’ve seen all but one Ranger game this season. And Prucha is noticeable in every single game he plays, so I’m not sure how he’s not sustaining. He's certainly more noticeable than, say, Aaron Voros, except when Voros take a bad penalty (or four) a game.
Finally, this is a player who scored 50 NHL goals in his first two seasons in the NHL, with him suffering from a huge decrease in powerplay time and general ice time going into his second season.
The injustice to Prucha merits its own post. Actually, it merits its own blog, and I think I’ve essentially turned the blog I share with Lucky13 into Petr Prucha’s own cheerleading section.
I enjoy Prucha. He’s the most fun to watch play. He gives it his all. But at the end of the day, I want the Rangers to win.
And why is it so hard for Renney to see that Prucha helps this team win?
When Ranger fans chanted for Petr Prucha that night against the Islanders, they were saying something else, other than just that Prucha deserves a spot in the on that bench, not the pressbox, every single night.
They were saying that Tom Renney doesn’t deserve a spot behind that bench any longer.
The best thing I read regarding Prucha's... interesting... fourth NHL season came right after he scored his first goal, on December 3rd, against the Penguins, to force the team into overtime. The entire bench erupted like it was the greatest, most inspired goal that ever was scored. I'm not sure who said it, and I hope I'm not completely ripping someone off, but the statement just rang through me as the painful truth.
"Seems like the people on the bench have way more confidence in Prucha than the ones standing behind it."
Tom Renney needs to go.
Because of his questionable personnel treatment and confidence-killing decisions that has left Prucha saying “"I feel like I need points to stay in. The coach probably doesn't have much confidence in me to keep me in the lineup." Because I can’t stand to see that happen to a talent like Zherdev or Dubinsky or Artem Anisimov, who made his Rangers debut last night.
Because youth is held accountable while veterans get a free ride.
Because of the inability of the powerplay to score, or even create scoring chances.
Because of the number of shorthanded goals allowed and two many men on the ice penalties.
Because of the “play for the shootout” mentality.
Because of the defense-first system that sucks the life out of the Garden and creates mindless zombies out of hockey players.
On Friday, December 12th, 2008, as the Rangers approached signing Mats Sundin (lol, right?) it was pretty clear that Prucha would be the one to be waived or traded to make room for the Swede. The Hockey Rodent wrote a wonderfully sorrowful piece on Petr Prucha, for those of us who appreciated the chance to see him skate on Broadway. In his rant, Requiem (which means “a prayer for the souls departed”), he makes several good points about Prucha and his bench boss.I watch the game for the entertainment. And when it stops being entertainment... then this becomes just another job. Prucha is entertaining. Nikolai Zherdev has the potential to be entertaining if only Renney would let the guy off his backchecking leash and allow a bit of cherry picking.
I just hate how he's so thoroughly sterilized this club and how he's converted virtuosos into robots. He's blanded the brand so much I feel as if I've crossed the Hudson River.
Prucha was a reliable break from the meat and potatoes. Admittedly dreadful on the backcheck. Yet his anarchistic attack dared give this club a modicum of personality. But no. Tom couldn't have too much of that.
Renney killed Prucha. And now he's killing Zherdev as well. And "yes". I'm angry.
I’m angry, too. I want my team back. My team with character. My team with personality. My team who actually seemed to care.
Fire Tom Renney.
