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Post by yoyomamajoe on Feb 10, 2020 9:58:28 GMT -4
I can't see the league ruling in the Sea Dogs favor for this. There will be another game. If Halifax didn't attempt to drive to Saint John then maybe they would have a case but why travel all the way to Moncton and then spend the night in Moncton. I agree that they should have left on Thursday but who am I to say. I'm not responsible for transporting a bunch of kids in a storm. There are a number of valid points Georgie brings up, but whether it is going to be enough to have the league rule in their favour I highly doubt. Besides, when was the last time the league ruled in the Sea Dogs favour? Ever? |
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 10, 2020 9:58:53 GMT -4
Has anything like this ever happened before? Could Halifax be fined by the league? ----------------- The league can do whatever it wants. It's an exclusive group of closed member teams that agree to have a President that determines if rules are violated and is the judge and jury in all events. They dont want bad PR. So they would likely not want to do much in case it looks like the league was advising Halufax to do something unsafe. In PR facts really dont matter as much as the way bystanders will perceive it. Conflict damages the brand. Saint John getting this in the hands of the local press is them putting their spin out there or otherwise league sweeps it under a rug. The league needs ir to look like its member teams are responsible and looking out always for best interests of players and duty of fair play. They need control of the narrative. Saint John has many reasons to make it a big deal. They had costs but were willing to pay all those costs to make a marketing splash. It's like when you plan an outdoor concert and it rains. People dont go home saying it was as great as if it were nice weather. So risk exists every time. Usually the risk is that Team X travels all the way and then game is canceled due to weather. And they incur travel and hotel costs. That happens all the time. And the last couple of years we have seen more incidences of games cancelled because Team X was not able to travel due to weather. It's not the hill that the league wants to be accused on so this probably is settled behind closed doors. It is very possible the public statements made by Georgie and spilling this all to media what the league said these conversations that are internal could also be reprimanded. Agree that the league won't side with SJ as it would go against player safety, regardless the opportunity to travel earlier. It would be a bad look. Not sure I get the outdoor concert comparison. Not the same situation at all. Outdoor Concerts go no matter what and tickets are all bought in advance so the risk is all on the buyer. For this game all revenue is deferred and most of the costs were still incurred. The big difference between traveling up the night before is that cost to the traveling team would be peanuts compared to the cost of the host team having to cancel. The cost to the host team becomes almost nothing if the game is postponed and rescheduled. Those tickets purchased get used ... the Classified show went on anyway. |
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Post by Briwhel on Feb 10, 2020 10:10:29 GMT -4
Once again, the league did not tell Halifax to leave too late to safely make it to SJ. Halifax chose that.
Leaving at 1pm when it GUARANTEES having to drive part of the trip in the dark is not a safe decision.
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Post by Briwhel on Feb 10, 2020 10:10:51 GMT -4
I can't see the league ruling in the Sea Dogs favor for this. There will be another game. If Halifax didn't attempt to drive to Saint John then maybe they would have a case but why travel all the way to Moncton and then spend the night in Moncton. I agree that they should have left on Thursday but who am I to say. I'm not responsible for transporting a bunch of kids in a storm. There are a number of valid points Georgie brings up, but whether it is going to be enough to have the league rule in their favour I highly doubt. Besides, when was the last time the league ruled in the Sea Dogs favour? Ever? Safin |
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Post by Briwhel on Feb 10, 2020 10:13:09 GMT -4
Agree that the league won't side with SJ as it would go against player safety, regardless the opportunity to travel earlier. It would be a bad look. Not sure I get the outdoor concert comparison. Not the same situation at all. Outdoor Concerts go no matter what and tickets are all bought in advance so the risk is all on the buyer. For this game all revenue is deferred and most of the costs were still incurred. The big difference between traveling up the night before is that cost to the traveling team would be peanuts compared to the cost of the host team having to cancel. The cost to the host team becomes almost nothing if the game is postponed and rescheduled. Those tickets purchased get used ... the Classified show went on anyway. We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. |
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Post by yoyomamajoe on Feb 10, 2020 10:16:39 GMT -4
There are a number of valid points Georgie brings up, but whether it is going to be enough to have the league rule in their favour I highly doubt. Besides, when was the last time the league ruled in the Sea Dogs favour? Ever? Safin Wasn't there a ruling also where picks were swapped? Basically ruling guilt but no major penalty? |
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Post by Jack Bauer on Feb 10, 2020 10:21:28 GMT -4
Re-read the article. It states they cancelled their bus and had no intention of traveling friday morning. They only began to travel towards SJ when the charter bus company remained open and the roads were not yet that bad. I'd say Halifax was expecting the storm to be bad earlier in the day and shot themselves in the foot by traveling and getting caught halfway. Good on Georgie for not taking the high road, and placing blame where it belongs. IMO, his emotion shows how much he cares for the organization, lost revenue, and anyone that had tickets bought for the game. Classified playing was a big deal to many. He told them to get to SJ the night before and they didn't. I don't think the 2pts are very important in this, but the lost revenue, an exciting product, and i'm sure many hours into marketing and preparing for the game is huge. You probably still have to pay your staff regardless at that point. Has anything like this ever happened before? Could Halifax be fined by the league? I agree that this is all on the Mooseheads and they should have been able to make it to Saint John saometime between Thursday morning and Friday evening but I have a hard time believing the League will rule against them since they did attempt to make it after stopping in Moncton. I also agree that this game meant more than two points to the the Dogs and Georgie cares alot about this organization. Can you imagine the public relations and out cry if they rule against the Mooseheads. Trying to make them travel on bad roads in the dark with teenagers. Or setting a standard that if you know bad weather is coming you need to try and make accommodations to get there on time. Sounds like they purposely waited until the last possible minute to travel. Knowing very bad weather was coming that you can't travel long distances in even in a bus. Halifax put their own players in danger by not leaving the day before. Playing hockey in the winter is just what we do in Canada. This would be a summer sport if we didn't want to travel bad roads in the dark with teenagers. Georgie pushing them to get there 2 days before the game is the key thing here. This was an important game for them marketing wise and they got screwed over by a rival when there was no need for it. |
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Post by SteveUL on Feb 10, 2020 10:22:56 GMT -4
The cost to the host team becomes almost nothing if the game is postponed and rescheduled. Those tickets purchased get used ... the Classified show went on anyway. We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. |
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Post by pinkbeaver on Feb 10, 2020 10:37:46 GMT -4
We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. If you have to postpone that late there is for certain significant loss. everything is already paid for. You could make fans only attend the make up game , but that leaves a bad taste in fans mouths. Potentially a lot of new fans going to be in that night as well. The opportunity cost could be quite large. |
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Post by Jack Bauer on Feb 10, 2020 10:38:20 GMT -4
We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. The loss is in all the marketing they put into that 1 game/event where they hoped the crowd coming for the music would also end up enjoying the hockey game in a market that hasnt had much to cheer about the past 2 seasons. There can be financial losses beyond the ticket sales surrounding any 1 game depending on how much effort and finances you're putting behind a special 1 off type of event. And sounds like SJ did everything they could to voice that to the league and to their opposition for that game leading up to it. |
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Post by Briwhel on Feb 10, 2020 10:48:08 GMT -4
We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. It was a Friday night game and the make up date cannot be a Friday because one or both teams plays every Friday until the end of the season. |
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Post by j3e4 on Feb 10, 2020 10:53:22 GMT -4
We had a winnable hockey game and a near sell out with thousands of fans in the arena before Halifax bothered mentioning that they weren't coming (by tweet no less). The loss is that there is a significant risk that they now see a Chicoutimi/Moncton/CB where we get killed. If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. That's what they were going to do initially but the problem there is that whatever date they pick, it won't work for all 6000 people. I think they needed to give then the flexibility of choosing any of the remaining games. If people get stuck with unused tickets through no fault of their own, they'll be less likely to purchase tickets in advance for upcoming games. They definitley wouldn't want to discourage people from buying on advance. So no direct revenue loss but there certainly appears to be an indirect long-term revenue loss that is extremely difficult to measure. There's also the additional cost of having to rent the venue for another night. That could be at least somewhat offset by additional concessions. |
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Post by Briwhel on Feb 10, 2020 11:03:40 GMT -4
If you postpone the game and make the tickets only usable for that game, then there is no financial loss. That's what they were going to do initially but the problem there is that whatever date they pick, it won't work for all 6000 people. I think they needed to give then the flexibility of choosing any of the remaining games. If people get stuck with unused tickets through no fault of their oen, they'll be less likely to purchase tickets in advance for upcoming games. They definitley wouldn't want to discourage people from buying on advance. So no direct revenue loss but there certainly appears to be an indirect long-term revenue loss that is extremely difficult to measure. There's also the additional cost of having to rent the venue for another night. That could be at least somewhat offset by additional concessions. They'd pay for an extra night with little to no ticket revenue and they only get 50% of concessions iirc. |
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Post by j3e4 on Feb 10, 2020 11:34:59 GMT -4
The part I'm wondering about is this:
"...and were practising at 10:15 at their facility. If you actually intended to play in this hockey game, how do you already have a practice lined up within an hour?"
Is this really as much of a smoking gun as Georgie makes it sound? If they meet and depart from that facility, have all their equipment there, and find out they're not going, and since school was (presumably) cancelled, is it that far-fetched that they could have organized a last-minute practice? He would likely know better than I, but to me it doesn't seem so unreasonable.
Can anyone with some insight comment on this? And yes, I realize there are other issues and reasons to be suspicious but I'm wondering about this part specifically.
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Post by juliansteed on Feb 10, 2020 11:48:23 GMT -4
I can't see the league ruling in the Sea Dogs favor for this. There will be another game. If Halifax didn't attempt to drive to Saint John then maybe they would have a case but why travel all the way to Moncton and then spend the night in Moncton. I agree that they should have left on Thursday but who am I to say. I'm not responsible for transporting a bunch of kids in a storm. Besides, when was the last time the league ruled in the Sea Dogs favour? Ever? Well there were all those rigged draft lotteries in which the Sea Dogs have a near perfect record.  |
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