THE EARLY SHOW: ABOUT THE TICKET PROMO
Scuderi…Nate’s charge…Filatov…Mirtle…the sy…
About That BOGO: Some fans took shots at the Islanders Buy One Get One offer for Thursday’s game in the Comments and my email. Yep, you are probably right in predicting the crowd will still be far from jammed. One reader questioned my decision to give some press to the offer, as if my criticism of the franchise the last three weeks hasn’t established independence. Like my kids say, Whatever.
The non-cynical view is hockey fans with the money and the time can see a game in a barn with great sightlines between Rick DiPietro and the Islanders and Mike Modano, Seanie and the Stars for $25. Whenever I get advance word of these offers, I plan on passing them along for your review. If you don’t think I should, let me know in Comments.
Scuderi’s Dream Dinner Guests: In the current issue of Sports Illustrated, the Penguins’ LI-raised defenseman Rob Scuderi names the three people he’d love to have over for dinner: Mickey Mantle, Denis Potvin and Bryan Trottier. The Mick is out, but the Pens and NYI should make arrangements with Denis and Trots. Maybe Bossy can pinch-hit for Mantle. That’s a great offseason story celebrating the impact the dynasty had on the growth of hockey in these parts.
When Scuderi made his Coliseum debut as an NHLer, my staff made sure he was named the No. 3 Star of the game. The Islanders won big that night, something like 5-1, but the Penguins PR guy at the time stopped Scuderi on his way off the ice to make sure he took the curtain call and waved to his supporters. That night, everyone in the Coliseum cheered a Penguin.
Thompson Gunnin’: Thursday will be a good test for fourth-line energy dude Nate Thompson. Not only will Sean Avery get in his face, say something about one of his relatives and try to goad him into taking a penalty, the Islanders will need him for a wakeup call. These early-season weeknight games - an expected drop-off in crowds from the opener and Kids Day - call for the home team to create some momentum of its own.
Jason Blake was good in this spot, so was Steve Webb, Dave Scatchard, Claude Lapointe, Oli Kvasha (just kiddin’ about that last one). Of course, what the Islanders really need Thursday is to score the first goal.
Nik-Fil-A: The first email arrived about 14 seconds after Nikita Filatov scored his first goal as a Blue Jacket last week. It had the tone of “You see“!
Look, I was plenty blunt on PB 1.0 with my feelings on day one of the Islanders draft in June. (A recap: Filatov, Schenn, Boedker, whomever…take the best kid and call it a night). But what I’m not going to do is post a “Nah-na, na-nah-na” story every time Filatov does a pirouette in the neutral zone or Schenn gets another “next Borje Salming” hype-job in the TO press.
Considering Josh Bailey and the rest of them are still teenagers, it just isn’t something to get over-heated about in October. Just as I’m not going to point out every time Filatov plays just six shifts and 4:51, as he did Tuesday against Vancouver. (He was dazed by an open-ice hit, but later seemed to be okay).
(old Staple shot)
Theme From Arthur: Here’s Arthur Staple’s article for Wednesday’s Newsday on the Islanders trying to get a hang of the you-know-what. Interesting line from Doug Weight: “Maybe we’re talking about the system too much, but we absolutely know we have to be great at that system to get results.”
Hey, I’m all for a moratorium on system stories! Unless someone from the team brings it up, I pledge to stay off it until at least Monday night. Whaddaya say, Logie?
Mirtle Moving: Big-time news in the hockey-bloggin’ community, where James Mirtle - one of the pioneers and one of the best - takes his blog with him to SB Nation and re-locates to fromtherink.com. We wish James the best.
Practice?!!!: The Islanders practice at the NVMC on Wednesday morning at 11. We’ll have a report after, and maybe during.
Comments?!!! Fire away.
32 Responses to “THE EARLY SHOW: ABOUT THE TICKET PROMO
Scuderi…Nate’s charge…Filatov…Mirtle…the sy…”
Please Wait
Thanks CB, I appreciate that.
I didn’t know that about Scuderi being named a star and getting/taking a curtain call in his Island debut. Nice, classy touch.
Why wouldn’t fans want to know about ticket deals??? Those who complain are the same people who complain about everything. So just ignore them and keep on keeping on. I noticed Fritz got sent down on the 19th. CB was that because of the long layoff and he will be back up shortly? Hopefully for the Ranger game. Keep up the good work.
Scuderi is one of those guys you just need to feel good for, much like Eric Nystrom.
I have played against both players, but Scuderi’s mom was a teacher at my school - so the connection is a bit closer. We always knew Rob would make it, Eric on the other hand - I remember catching him with his head down one game……I love watching them both on TV and remembering I once shared the same ice!
Please keep posting the ticket promotions! I don’t find it offensive to save money!
I am glad you mentioned the ticket promotion.
You promoted the ticket deal first and then the Islanders Insider email failed to do the same. Someone fell asleep at the wheel. Obviously, they need you.
I remember Scuderi’s debut. It was a great feel good night. We need more NHLers from LI.
Note to Islesblogger: ’show off’ xoxo
I agree I dont’ mind you posting things like ticket deals and such, today everyone is hurting with the economy and is looking for ways to save.
Can I just tell you that you mentioned so many of my fav players above Jason Blake Steve Webb, Dave Scatchard, Claude Lapointe, Oli Kvasha..ahh don’t pick on Kvasha.. lol! I liked him..I think I’m one of the few that cheered him on..I did! I thought he had some good potential but was never given the time.
Really enjoying the blog..thank you!
chris the blog is going great keep us posted on all you can ,,ticket promotions etc whatever is happening its nice to know !!!
All i know is that waiting 4 days for a game is KILLING ME! I Need Islander Hockey!Period!!
Please don’t become like every other blog out there and only post fluff. Just keep posting what you want. Your perspective is refreshing. Those that don’t like it can choose to skip it and those of us that do will keep reading.
Anyone offended by the ticket deals can pay full price at the box office.
There’s no reason why you should be criticized for passing along the discount ticket information. What true Islanders fan in their right mind wouldn’t be interested in a 50% discount? As you stated, tomorrow night is an excellent opportunity to see a very good Western Conference team at a very reasonable price. Keep up the great work. Please don’t let the critics get you off course.
I think most people are just embarrassed by the fact that the Islanders have to “give” tickets away. Another point is despite giving tickets away there will still be only 12,000 to 13,000 people at the Barn Thursday, if they are lucky.
I personally don’t give it too much thought, but I do have to say it is annoying to me as a Islanders Season Ticket Holder(STH) that the Islanders keep running all these promos that sometimes give people off the street the same type of discounts that I receive.
The hole point of being a STH is getting savings and benefits not open the the regular individual ticket purchaser.
Yea…you have some nerve trying to save us money.
Ignore the haters Chris, you post as many ticket deals and Ice Girl biographies you want. I for one, enjoy them alot more than reading how a bunch of underweight muscleless 24 year olds and a handful of rusty underachieving one-foot-in-the-grave 37 year olds has beens cant score more than 1 goal a night half the time they play
Isles75, I’m with you 100% on the discount thing, this is one of the reasons why I gave up my season tickets this year. Why should I lay out 2K for tickets when you know during the course of the season on many nights there are going to be all kinds of ticket freebies and givaways. What really has annoyed me the last couple of seasons was the stupid loudville thing, I’m so glad I’m ponying up 30-35 bucks a ticket when there are a bunch of drunk/stoned college kids two sections over from me who get comprable seats for $10 a pop. Now I understand the Islanders are just trying to sell tickets and get people in the building through any means necessary, but until there is a “real” reason to have season tickets, I’m not doing it anymore and feeling like a sucker. Besides, there isn’t even a decent secondary market for the tickets, thats another thing all of these freebies does, if you are a season ticket holder and you can’t use your seats, good luck trying to sell them even for what you paid. You’ll end up eating them. I don’t know too many season ticket people who can go to every game.
I was at the Hawks - Canucks game this weekend and Chicago had the same deal with BOGO tickets. The team that tripled their season tickets sales are giving away tickets. Think about that before you hate on your own team.
Keep the ticket deals coming - thanks
Matt,
Im a college student that works real hard for little to no money. Promos like that are the only reason why I am able to go to games. Take that elitist, garbage attitude elsewhere.
Hey Joe, no offense, I was a struggling college kid myself at one time, but point is when you are shelling out thousands of dollars for something and then its almost given away to others, it kind of undermines the value you are supposedly paying for.
I’m an sth and I go to every game. It can be a little aggravating to see deals and cheap ticket packages but in the grand scheme, I wanna see a sell out. Anyone else think the kids day stinker might have been a little less stinky if the crowd wasn’t so quiet?
There are some really good responses here. As others have said, you keep doing what youre doing, Chris. Plety of us appreciate it a lot!
FWIW, there is nothing to be embarrassed about when your team does some special value sales. Plenty of teams do that… even teams that get revenue subsidies that the Islanders do not recieve- because they are defined as a “big market” team (lmao) due to the number of households tht get their games. (Even if said broadcasts they are chopped to bits, on MSG plus whatever number plus, missing periods so that they can show kinds talk on CSPAN, intermissions interrupted to go back and hear about football or the Rangers, etc.)
There is also nothing for season ticket holders to be upset about regarding having sales. You say the point of being a STH is getting savings and benefits not open the the regular individual ticket purchaser. Perhaps Im an idealist, but I think the point of being a STH is to support the team you love. So the “commoners” get a great deal for tickets to some games. You get that kind of a deal for ALL the home games- plus you get lots of other things as well. What Im saying is dont begrudge your team trying to get more fans interested- that is what they should be doing and it can only make things better for the team we all love.
“Anyone else think the kids day stinker might have been a little less stinky if the crowd wasn’t so quiet?”
Well, I was there and won’t hold the crowd accountable at all. It would have been less stinky if they Islanders didn’t take 253 penalties in the first 30 seconds of the game and didn’t let Buffalo establish their famous counterstrike. And compared to the Devils home opener vs. the Isles, the Coliseum was rockin’ on Kid’s Day!
^^ Agree completely, UIF!
I think it works the other way, too- if the game itself was a little less stinky the crowd would not have been so quiet. They sure didnt give the fans much to cheer about.
And that Devs season opener was the strangest thing!
Chris TMC, this response is not meant to start a tit for tat and I agree the main reason I am a STH is because, like yourself I’m a big true blue Islanders fan.
But I think you missed my point. A STHer along with advertisers are the bloodline of a healthy franchise. If you are a pro sports team your goal is to make every seat in the building a STHer. The Islanders with these promos do nothing to improve or grow the STH base and are aggravating their current STHer’s with these offers. They already offer cheap seats for young college kids and I believe they can still use their college id’s to get an additional discount.
I know this goes without saying but, a real cup contending team will go a lot further at accomplishing their goal of obtaining a full STH/seat scenario and obtaining more lucrative advertising sponsors and radio deals, etc.
Can’t believe you’re getting heat from people who could save some money and enjoy a game featuring their favorite team! Wow.
I understand what youre saying, I just dont see it that way. I think the Islanders do plenty to improve or grow the STH base with these promotions. The org offers discount seats for college kids, but they wont BE college kids forever. If they learn to love going to games, it is logical to assume that once they are not college kids anymore they will buy tickets like everyone else.
I used to get a college discount for games, myself. It was not like what they offer now, it was just like $7 off the cheapest seats in the house. But my friends and I used the discount whenever we could. Since Im not a college student anymore I no longer do.
I became a dedicated Islanders fan in college- and now they have me for life. I know the type of thing that they are doing CAN work because it worked with me!
One more thing I’d like to add to this debate, if and when the Islanders ever become a contending team when they are regularly selling the place out or coming close, all of the giveaways, freebies and other stuff is gone, good bye. The new area will also have the same affect, Charles W. has lost too much cash on this team. First chance(s) he gets to recoop some of what he has lost he is going to do it, and we’re going to pay for it.
I remember the days where almost the entire Coliseum was STHers. There were no gimmicks. Granted the world has changed alot since there, but point is winning is expensive. The only reason why they have all of these promotions is because the team stinks (sort of) and they can’t attract flies. Hate to say it but its the truth. Once they start winning, no more two for ones, loudville, kids day, twenty five different partial plans, $$$ rules in this biz. Sorry but its the truth.
I am a STH. Keep posting the promotions! I don’t begrudge others being able to save money too. When I was growing up, the only time my dad would take me to a game is when he got free tickets (some were through promotions). These promotions are a great way to make it more affordable to bring kids to games.
I love Scuderi. With people saying Komisarek and Higgins, etc. should play for the Isles one day, so should Scuderi.
Thanks for the news on the tickets. I would not go without this promotion. You rock.
So I’m a little late on this. Chris and UIF, it seems like I shoulda used a better example. I was just trying to say that the crowd can sometimes make an impact on the teams energy. So anyway they can get butts in seats is fine with me. Oh and LOL (sorta) at the 253 penalties line.