Former Habs appealing but at what price?
Published Thursday November 26th, 2009
The Montreal Canadiens Alumni hockey game drew about 1,100 fans the other night, which meant more than two-thirds of the 3,600-plus Aitken University Centre seats were empty.
I'm no promoter, but I believe Steve Walton could have made a lot more moolah off this game.
Walton didn't misread the market - Fredericton fans follow the fortunes of the Montreal Canadiens or Toronto Maple Leafs more than any other NHL teams - but he charged too much for tickets.
At $20 for adults and $15 for under 12 and students with ID, that's too pricey.
Canadiens' fans aren't CH-eap.
But Guy Lafleur is just one guy, after all.
Cut those prices in half and I bet you come close to a sellout.
Cheaper tickets means you - or your kids - have more money to spend on concessions.
It's something for Walton to think about if, in fact, he brings the Boston Bruins Alumni to Willie O'Ree Place in late April.
***
It was interesting to watch, listen and learn from the scouts working the 29th annual Monctonian AAA Hockey Challenge last weekend.
There were 150 scouts registered from various major junior, junior A, prep school and university teams.
One scout was there from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. both Friday and Saturday. He planned to take in good chunks of 35 games over those two days.
But he had no interest in hanging around for Sunday's finals.
"We don't care about who wins or loses at this time of year. We only care about who can play hockey," he said.
Another scout had grades for every player for the major midget game he was scouting. Great if you're the kid with A-. Not so good if the scout saddles you with a D-.
Some 40 players (out of about 900) were selected to play in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Prospects Game on Friday night. One scout felt a certain Fredericton Darcy Simon Canadiens forward was overlooked.
"It's a travesty No. 22 isn't playing. He's got great skills and he's always pursuing the puck."
No. 22 is Brett Barnhill, whose goal with 34 seconds left lifted the FHS Black Kats to a provincial title over the Leo Hayes Dairy Queen Lions in March.
Barnhill - and linemate Peter Trainor, for that matter - each had four goals and seven points in four games at the Monctonian.
***
Bob and Liz Malone, the husband-and-wife team behind www.hockeyscene.com, simply did a great job keeping everyone on top of results at the Monctonian. They got the info out as quickly as humanly possible and they still had a smile on their faces at the end of each long day.
***
The 4-Ice Centre remains a great facility for hockey tournaments. You can check out the scores on all four ice surfaces by walking 10 feet one way or the other.
With four ice surfaces under one roof, that's how you get 84 games played in four days and keep everything on schedule.
Many Fredericton residents felt city council should follow Moncton's model and build a four-plex. Instead, to keep northside and southside people happy, they decided to split the difference at two surfaces a side.
We'll give you the Willie O'Ree Place now and the Grant*Harvey Centre someday.
Speaking of political footballs, it will be interesting to see what land the city has in mind if a new location can be found for the Fredericton Raceway and Fredericton Exhibition.
***
The Lakehead Thunderwolves have added a big gun for the second half, a second half which includes hosting the University Cup men's hockey championship tournament for the second straight year.
Matt Caria, a six-foot, 200-pound centre, played five seasons in the OHL.
With 92 points (34 goals, 58 assists) in 67 games, he was tied with Vancouver Canucks' first-round pick Cody Hodgson for fourth in league scoring last season, ahead of such players as Ryan Ellis, Matt Duchene and Nazem Kadri.
This season, Caria had 4-8-12 in 13 ECHL games.
***
In the AUS, the Dalhousie Tigers are tied for last place but Pete Belliveau continues to upgrade his roster.
Benjamin Breault, a five-year QMJHL veteran, is eligible in January.
He had 337 points, including 153 goals, in 308 games in the Q.
Breault played seven games (1-1-2) this season with the Florida Everblades in the ECHL. Ex-Tiger Jordan Morrison, who has 2-3-5 in 16 games with the 'Blades, convinced Breault to give the Tigers a try.
***
Scott Ostler, San Francisco Chronicle: "As a counterpoint to Michael Jordan's pathetic Hall of Fame induction speech, check out Brett Hull's HOF speech. Hull accepted his honour on behalf of all hockey moms, all caring dads, 'every teammate that sacrificed, every trainer that patched (him) up and every stick boy who brought (him) a cold one after the game.' You don't need teeth to spout beautiful poetry."
***
Comedian Stephen Colbert, after taking a bobsled ride with U.S. Olympic driver Steven Holcomb in Lake Placid, N.Y.: "It felt like I was being hit in the head with ice hammers. It was like losing the worst snowball fight of your life."
Bruce Hallihan can be reached at 458-6442 or hallihan.bruce@dailygleaner.com. His column appears Thursdays, but he'll be using up the rest of his 2009 vacation the next two weeks, returning to this space Dec. 17.
Disabled
Search Articles
More CE Network Sites & Partners:
Comments (1)
All comments are subject to the site Terms of Use. For a full commenting tutorial click here.
Our editorial team relies on filtering technology and our visitor community to identify inappropriate comments. In the event that a site user has submitted offensive content that has evaded our filter, please select the option to Flag As Inappropriate presented within the comment. Thank you for helping to keep this site clean.