Trying to Make Sense of Real, Actual, Meaningful Games That Felt Irrelevant

Caption Contest! Go! Daniel Berehulak/Getty Images

As you know, the NHL kicked off the regular season in London, England this weekend. If you're feeling a little hollow and unenthusiastic about this whole opening weekend thing, you're not alone. While we're closer to the (North American) start of the regular season, there really wasn't much to get excited for this weekend unless you live in California. After all, there won't be another NHL game played until Wednesday (Why does everyone else have to take a break? Couldn't we of all started play this weekend and given the Kings and Ducks a week off?) and there was a significant feeling of disconnect by having a season start an ocean and couple time zones away from, well, anywhere.

This all leads me to wonder; how many ways to start a season uniquely can I come up with off the top of my head that are better than the NHL's idea?

• Start the season in a European country that gives a shit about hockey (see: Sweden, Russia, Czech Republic, etc.)
• Start the season in a North American non-NHL city that would probably implode if it hosted an actual regular season opener (see: Hamilton, Halifax, Winnipeg, Hartford, Seattle).
• Begin the year with a "Rivalry Weekend" that will grab fans' attention fast. Play all sorts of rivalry games on Saturday and Sunday. Potential match ups include, but are not limited to; Rangers/Islanders, Leafs/Sens or Leafs/Habs, Oilers/Flames, Avs/Red Wings, Florida/Tampa Bay (God forbid the NHL forget about those warm weathered markets.)
• Do some kind of ridiculous, shameless, media attention grabber. For example; all home openers are free admission because there are, after all, forty-fucking-one other home dates and those losses are really only a drop in the bucket. A steel cage match between Donald Brashear and Gary Bettman would also do.

I don't mean to be cocky, but I might have just out-thought the NHL's marketing department in about 10 minutes.

As for the actual games, well, it sounds like they worked out pretty well... Except for when the lights went out for 15 minutes before Saturday's contest. Other than that, it all was pretty swell. From all accounts the fans loved it. Both teams won a game, so they surely head home somewhat content, and Ducks fans are relived because their players can now finally stop faking retirement and/or injuries to avoid traveling overseas. I didn't actually see any of the games, so I'm not about to make any comment about how well the teams played, but I did sign up for NHL.tv. Pretty pumped about that.

That pretty much sums up the NHL's opening weekend British spectacular. Yeah, it happened, but who cares?

Wednesday night, folks. That's when hockey really starts. Unless you care about the Kings or the Ducks, I imagine.


P.S. ...for those of you waiting in dire anticipation, the final edition of Preseason Forplay for the Predators will be up tomorrow. Don't do anything rash before then.

P.P.S. I couldn't figure out a way to include it, but isn't this Canucks jersey absolutely hilarious? I can't comprehend why this isn't actually their new sweater.

I'm Only Signing Up if You Throw in a Pair of 'Ice Girls'

Historic Moments in NHL Marketing (I'm being serious this time)

Jesus. NewYorkIslanders.com

The folks in the New York Islanders' marketing department have always been ahead of the curve (unlike the rest of the organization). They were the first to make virtually every second of the team's day (from morning skate to post game report) available on their website in a feature called 'Islanders TV', and they were the creators of the hockey cheerleaders on ice/ice girls/Hooters on skates fad that has been going around the NHL. Today they reached out to us, the People, in a different way.

"The Islanders are challenging their fans with a passion for writing to start their own Islanders blog. Fans with existing Islanders blogs are welcome, too.

But here's the kicker: all chosen bloggers will be given the opportunity to cover select home games and practices with special media accommodations.

We're setting up a BLOG BOX in the Nassau Veterans Memorial Coliseum – sort of like a press box, but away from the scribes and broadcasters because we know you want to cheer, shout, have a pretzel and enjoy the game experience on your own terms.

We will provide you with a media pass for a few games next season and a seat in the NYI BLOG BOX. You will also receive your own set of Game Notes when you enter the Coliseum Press Gate. All you have to do is bring your note pad and/or voice recorder and cheer as loudly as you want. After the game you attend, we will set up an area where you can toss a few questions at a coach or players, based on your requests and their availability."

I'm really not too sure what to make of this.

From a fan's perspective, it seems pretty cool. 'I get to talk to the players, cover the team, go to a game (presumably) for free? Sweet!' From a marketing perspective, the team is trying to spark some interest in it's product by reaching out to an emerging demographic. Great idea. From a blogger's perspective, I think to myself 'other than some nice perks, what exactly is this doing for me?'

It's an interesting situation. For one thing, most bloggers don't usually rely on 'inside info' and player interviews, so it might not help all that much. Eric McErlain from Off Wing Opinion pretty much scoffs at the whole idea, and to an extent he's right. For serious bloggers, such as himself, there really doesn't seem to be a whole lot of exciting things to it. There's a little irony in McErlain's opinion, though. As he scoffs at the idea of bloggers in a box, many MSM people are scoffing at the idea of bloggers. Let's not repeat the mistakes of our forefathers, eh? On the other side of all this, this is (presumably) the first time any sports team/organization has seriously reached out to bloggers, which should be noted. Whatever you believe, we are probably going to have to wait until the season starts to really see how much of an impact this has.

It's really just an altogether interesting situation, and I don't really know what to make of it. I've been thinking about what I was going to write for the last few hours after the news broke, and I can't say that this is awesome, terrible or somewhere in between. It's a great, original idea. There's no doubt about that. How much of an impact this will have remains to be seen. It's hard to say that it will be a huge success/failure and if it will have any negligible impact on the blogosphere. At least they know we're out there, I guess.

What I can say from experience is that when Chris Botta (who's an awesome guy, by the way) says that the team has received 50-100 responses already, half of those blogging efforts won't make it to the start of the season. You know, people will get bored of it and what not. Despite that, I expect the Islander blogosphere to get very crowded, very soon.

One thing that I have to point out, based on the interview with DeadSpin, is that it doesn't seem like the bloggers are going to be put up high in the rafters anywhere near the other media personnel. Rather, it sounds like they'll be somewhere with the general public.

"Thinking right now is there will be room for about a dozen [Bloggers] at each game, but that is very much subject to change. Most likely location at the Coliseum is a section we have in mind at the top of the 200s, a good view right off the concourse about halfway up."

You don't have to know a lot about the Coliseum to figure it out, but it sounds as if the Bloggers will be placed somewhere in the normal audience. The Coliseum does have these odd little 1970s 'luxury boxes' scattered around it. They are these groups of about 10-15 seats that are walled and scattered around within the general seating arrangement, right above where staircases from the upper bowl exit to the concourse. That's my guess as to where the Bloggers will be boxed. Those boxes do have about four TVs per, though. It could be worse.

Something to note: You all know of my strong Islander convictions. I fucking bleed orange and blue. Before BMR was born, I was actually thinking of starting an Islander blog. Then I decided to create this piece of garbage instead. I wonder what I would have been saying had this website been called 'Mike Bossy Rocks'. Honestly, I made the right decision. That team just makes me depressed more often than not. At least now I get to laugh at other team's misfortunes.

Apparently This is All That Philadelphia Has to Look Forward to Next Season

Historic Moments In NHL Marketing

The rest of that sentence read '...thanks for the memories.' What extraordinary memories they were, indeed. MySpace

If you're not familiar with the Flyers, and chances are you're not, then you might not have noticed Shawn Hill, a.k.a. Orange Dancin' Guy, a.k.a. Dancin' Shawny. Let me introduce you. Hill is probably the NHL's best 'dancing, chubby guy who's got season tickets in the upper deck'.

During the second half of the season, he found his way onto the JumboTron at the Wachovia Center during many of the Flyers' home games. He's probably the most talented JumboTron dancer out there and, as it turns out, he does a very entertaining emulation of Thriller.

You could certainly make the argument that at some point during the season, what Hill was doing from his perch in the upper deck became way more entertaining than whatever was happening on the ice. If you weren't paying attention, this season the Flyers went 22-48-12 for a grand total of 58 points and won the dubious distinction of being the worst team in the NHL. That was also the team's lowest point total in franchise history, which includes their inaugural season in 1967-68 when there were, you know, 12 NHL teams. It's really an impressive feat, considering the extra point teams now gain for simply making it to overtime. But I digress.

Now, put this heart warming story together with the Flyers' ice cold record and the conclusion that came from the Flyers' marketing department is an interesting one, although it does show that NHL clubs are now thinking past using hot girls to market their team. Every team has their own set of 'ice girls', including Carolina, Dallas and Florida. In what has to be an NHL first, the Flyers have now used their Orange Dancin' Guy in a recent marketing campaign. Will awkwardly dancing white guys become the new NHL marketing fad? I'll believe ya when me shit turns purple and tastes like rainbow sherbet. For now, all I can really handle is one Orange Dancin' Guy, and I think that's all the ODG we need.

The following is a video tribute to Hill that, correct me if I'm wrong, the Flyers played at their last home game.

Whatever gets you through the season, Philadelphia. Whatever gets you through the season.

If you want to check out the marketing campaign, head over to the 700 Level. They even have a link to a video of ODG's spot.

And if you were wondering, he's got a MySpace. Naturally.