From the Desk of the GM: Beating a Dead Horse. Yes, Another Post About Ice Girls

First off, we've decided to open up the comments on HLOG as I feel that our troll problem has been taken care of for the time being. However, if any of you still feel like you can't play nice in the sandbox, we'll have to turn the moderating back on. Really, I don't mind doing it at all. It sort of makes me drunk with power.

Next, I feel like I need to address an issue that is very controversial among the hockey fandom of both genders...the issue of Ice Girls. Now, I object to scantily-clad females in a space where there are young children present, although the argument can certainly be made that they'll probably see a whole lot worse on TV or in magazines. Most female and even male hockey fans I've spoken to don't like them. They feel that they have no place in our game. I'm actually one of those who don't mind them as much as some people might, but I have to agree that I would much prefer that they not be there. We go to the hockey game to watch the game, and until somebody gives me some actual evidence that a 5 second appearance from a scantily clad female will actually boost attendance, I remain unconvinced of their usefulness. The Senators have a crew of both men and women in tasteful, temperature-appropriate track suits to do the snow clearing during breaks and it is very conducive with a family-friendly atmosphere.

My complaint is that the skanky uniforms is just a blatant form of pandering to the lowest common denominator. Think about it this way, if the ball boys and ball girls in baseball games were dressed that way we'd all think it was absolutely inappropriate and ridiculous. Their jobs might be more physical but it's essentially the same idea isn't it? Not to mention the fact that the ball girls and ball boys are usually young teenagers and the ball parks certainly don't have any problems drawing a crowd (Um, some MLB teams exempted of course) so I don't think the problem is the attractiveness of the personnel.


That being said, I'm not so naive to suggest they don't have any value. Somebody needs to clear the snow, and men are apparently so easy and dumb that they're always a sucker for a scantily-clad attractive female (or at least that's the impression I'm getting) and the truth is, these dumb, hormone-driven males are the majority that pay for the tickets and go to the games.

Puck Daddy recently had a link to a post by Theresa Ferries of The State of Hockey criticizing the use of ice girls in games. I didn't agree with all of her points, for one I think calling Ice Girls simply bimbos on skates might be a bit of a generalization. I think a majority of these girls are just women who are only doing it to supplement their income or shore up their resume for whatever else they want to do in life. Maybe as somebody who's in marketing I can understand why teams see their value and I can't muster up the same amount of ire for them anymore.

I do really like her bringing up the idea that if men want to ogle women on skates in revealing clothing they should just watch figure skating but they would never admit to doing so because it's a "feminine" sport. Which, I think just exposes the whole double standard of classifying sports as "masculine" or "feminine", but that is a whole other discussion for a whole other day.

Her piece is still well-written and she brings up a lot of good points one ought to consider without descending into a childish diatribe about it. I understand one needs to have a sense of humour when reading Puck Daddy, but by Jove, I really cannot read through the comments without wanting to kick some of them in the box. I'm sorry you feel the need to over compensate, but maybe you can do that without resorting to childish behaviour and making rude comments about the author's gender or appearance? Really, it just makes everybody else embarrassed for you.

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Ice Girls: Yay or Nay?

I shake my head in complete disappointment.

Months ago I applauded the Kings organization for not subjecting its fans (particularly the female fanbase) to Ice Girls. I poked fun at some of the Ice Girls employed by other teams (Dallas and Nashville). And it was to my utter disappointment that I noticed Ice Girls at the Kings/Dallas game on Saturday, March 29th. The Kings website even has a small article stating:

"No your eyes were not deceiving you, those were Ice Girls at the Kings - Stars game on Saturday, March 29. It was a trial run, and the Kings are giving the chance for their fans to submit feedback. Fill out the form below and let us know what you thought of it."

Naturally, I wanted to voice my anger so I filled out the feedback form (complete with email address and phone number! because I really hope they call me so I can voice my opinion directly to someone) (remaining post after the jump and if you're interested in reading ckim's rant, click here.):

"This entire season (at least until Saturday) I was proud to say that the LA Kings did not have ice girls. Rather, the team had the Kings Crew, which did a fine job of getting the crowd riled up and most importantly, scraping the ice during TV timeouts. Yes, I am a female fan (I've been a fan since 1988), and yes, I think it is ridiculous and a complete disgrace to have "ice girls". The only thing I am thankful for, is that the Kings organization does not have them scantily clad like other franchises (NY Islanders, Dallas Stars, Nashville Predators, etc). I do not understand the purpose of them, because seriously, if the fans want to see hot girls, they know to go to a Lakers game. The LA Kings are about hockey, not ice girls. If their sole purpose is to scrape the ice, then why not have a group of guys who can do it more efficiently? I wonder if this is just a sorry ploy by the Kings management to fill seats and/or entertain the male fanbase. Because the answer is no. If you want to fill seats and keep everyone happy, then fill a roster that can be competitive with the rest of the NHL and employ a coaching staff that can lead this young group of talented players into the playoffs. There is no absolutely no need for ice girls at Kings games."

Too harsh? I think not. I'm worried that I come across as some hot-headed feminist, when in reality I'm just hot-headed. I could really care less about the feminist movement and all that hoopla...really, women can vote? I didn't know that since I can't remember the last time I voted...women can drive? Are you sure that's a good idea? Because I don't know why anyone lets me drive and I'm fairly certain every other female is just as bad a driver as I am. Women are allowed to talk? That's not what my fiance says...he always says women aren't funny and I have to agree with him. Anyhoo...all I'm sayin' is that it's a goddamn hockey game...why do we need Ice Girls? They won't be able to compete with Laker Girls and the guys who have been scraping the snow all season long do an excellent job already. Those poor guys...out of a job because of some bimbo who wants to shake her booty in front of Cammy. Those guys probably think these ladies are like the immigrants that come into town and steal their jobs while getting paid a fraction of what they were receiving...oh did I go too far?

Later in the day one part of KingsCast left a long-winded comment explaining why everything I wrote was incorrect. His comment is as follows:

I have to disagree with your post here. There has been this "ice girls" movement across the entire NHL as of late and fans, mostly, seem to be responding favorably. I recently attended a Panther game where "ice girls" danced instead of picking up the ice. During intermission, they were at a table signing autographs. Men and women alike stood in line to meet them. Fan favorites? Absolutely. Hot as hell? No doubt.

You say in your blog. "I do not understand the purpose of them, because seriously, if the fans want to see hot girls, they know to go to a Lakers game." Really? The Lakers are a pretty good team with multiple championships, franchise players and an unbelievably supportive fan base. I don't think the Laker girls are the reason they continually sell out Staples Center (although it is a bit of a bonus).

"The LA Kings are about hockey, not ice girls." Are they? In 40 years there are no Cups, one trip to the finals and, maybe, 2 franchise players with two in the making. The attendance at games is down. Fans are fed up.

Now, I have a pretty strong marketing background. If I ran a psycho-graphic analysis on the fans that attend Kings games, I would expect that the large marjority would be open to, at least, trying ice girls. Yes, most hockey fans are probably male of a moderate income. That's why they didn't put Chippendales out on the ice. The ice girls are, for lack of a better term "a value-added service". That doesn't sound quite right but it does make the point.

I think Connie made the point of asking why they carried the heavy buckets of ice around. Now there's a point I agree with! No one wants to see an attractive girl haul around two hundred pounds of ice while sweating out of her unitard.

You go on to say "If you want to fill seats and keep everyone happy, then fill a roster that can be competitive with the rest of the NHL and employ a coaching staff that can lead this young group of talented players into the playoffs." You got that right! However, you are off your point. One thing has nothing to do with the other. This is a marketing tool. So is "We Play for LA" and "Play Hard". How well did that do?

I guess I'm not sure what exactly your problem is with our "ice girls". If it's a "sex sells" thing, I point to Budweiser or Wrigley Spearmint Gum or Starbucks (think product placement). They would be dead without it. For the Kings to attempt to use this marketing ploy as a way to bring money to the bottom line to enhance such things as your fan experience is not a bad thing. They are trying to play to their target market.

If your problem is exploitation of women, then it is certainly a matter of ethics. While, ethically, I don't have a problem with it I can't say that you're wrong there either. It's just a difference of values.

Regardless, my opinion is that the ice girls should stay.

I respect both yours and Connie's blogs and will continue to read them and support them. But I still think you're both wrong.

Since I highly value Keith's opinion and appreciate his comment and felt like I needed to respond so I wrote the following:

I agree with most of his points but I think I need to explain myself. My "feedback" was written in about 2 minutes tops with hardly any thought in between reading the article and writing my feedback, which is why my argument is quite disjointed. It was more of a "rant against Ice Girls" than an argument as to "why Ice Girls should not be in LA".

My main argument in this discussion for why Ice Girls should not be in LA is mainly because (and I may be wrong since I wasn't around in the early days of hockey) "cheerleaders" are not a hockey tradition. Ever since I've been a hockey fan, hockey games were different than basketball and football because they didn't have girls cheering the guys on. This was one aspect of the game that I loved and appreciated. You want to see girls on ice skates? Go to a figure skating competition. Whenever I rarely happen to watch a football game, I can't stand it when the cameras pan over the cheerleaders for an extended period of time. Show me the players! Show me replays! I could give a shit about what these girls look like! Unless you're at a high school football game, those cheerleaders don't get the crowd into the game. I honestly don't know why cheerleaders are even a part of football and basketball since I'm not entirely sure what their purpose is but I guess it's because they've been a part of the leagues for quite some time. But that's a completely different discussion...

Another reason I don't think ice girls are necessary is because they look ridiculous trying to shovel ice. I was at the Ducks/Kings game with Connie and we both commented on how slow the girls looked and how feeble they looked trying to shovel snow. The guys shoveling ice at the Kings game are quick and nondistracting. No girl can make shoveling ice look attractive so why even put them in that situation?

Another reason why I don't think the girls are necessary for non-scraping ice activities is because I would rather see 5-year olds play hockey, sumo wrestling, or hamster-bubble-wheel races during intermission than an ice dance show (which hopefully, for the love of god, will not occur next season). I know a lot of teams have been putting together Ice Girls and most have been favorably accepted but I just don't get it. Maybe it's because I'm a girl. Maybe it's also because I'm not the type of girl who thinks being an Ice Girl is awesome...(see my post about the Nashville Ice Girls). And maybe it's also because I don't understand what the attraction is to meet a cheerleader or Ice Girl...why are they famous? why do people care about them that much to actually wait in a line and get an autograph? Perhaps there's a reader out there who has gotten an autograph from an Ice Girl and can shine some light on the topic.

Will Ice Girls really help sell tickets? I don't really see how this is possible, but maybe that's because I'm not in marketing. Maybe it'll help sell tickets for a short while, but as long as the team still sucks, I don't see how Ice Girls will solve any problems. If the Kings are desperately trying to sell tickets I think other types of promotions may be more successful. What types? I don't know, I'm not in marketing. I guess I'm not really seeing this "added-value service" thing. Beer girls get people interested in the product...will Ice Girls get people interested in the Kings?? (How about making the players more accessible to fans? THAT will get more people interested in the team.) I brought up the Kings' poor performance because part of me thinks the Kings organization wants to bring in Ice Girls to distract fans and still sell tickets. I still don't think I'm completely off-base for bringing it up, it's just one point to my multi-pointed rant about Ice girls.

I don't care about the 'sex' sells thing, because I know sex sells...hell, even I'm inclined to show a bit more cleavage if I want better bar service...and yes, it works. My main problem is I don't see what their purpose is. If I'm at a game that is horrible, seeing Ice Girls isn't going to make me say, "Well, the Ice Girls made up for the Kings' lack of effort." But then again, maybe a guy would think the exact opposite. Maybe if I saw some hard evidence that showed that fans really do want them around, that they help drive ticket sales, and/or help increase the attitude of fans at games, then I would be more receptive of them. But right now, they seem pointless to me.

Dear HLOG readers, I ask you, what's your opinion of Ice Girls, and please mention if you're female or male (since it is possible that the male species may be lurking around these parts of the interweb). I know that some of you have witnessed Ice Girls all season long and I am curious to hear what your initial reactions were when they were first introduced to your team and what your feelings are now.

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Ice Girls

Much love goes to the Boston Bruins for today's tidbit. Maybe it's just me but doesn't this..

Candidates must be 18 years of age and do not need to know how to skate to become a member of the Ice Girls.

make the concept of being an "Ice Girl" seem a little bit redundant?

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