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If A Puck Drops In The West Valley And No One Sees It Does It Really Matter?

9
Vote

by user Bobman024

The Coyotes are 25 and 30 good for 52 points and 14 points out of the final spot in the Western Conference playoffs. They haven’t made the playoffs since 2002 and the “Great One” has been nothing but the mediocre one as the bench captain of the Yotes. Although his coaching and his choice of assistants, see Rick “The Gambler” Tocchet, hasn’t been the best or helped this team win the blame can’t be placed at his feet for the lack of success on the ice and in the stands. That blame should be placed on the NHL marketing and the teams GM (General Miss-manager) Michael Barnett.

First off the NHL has found a more effective way of killing it’s teams ticket sales then a lockout. It’s a lack of a major marketing campaign and the fact that if you want to watch an NHL game you might as well drive to Canada because it will be easier to get there than find Versus on your local cable/satellite provider. If you can’t market it and no one can see your product on tv you obviously won’t be able to fill a venue even one as gorgeous as Jobing.com arena, yes thats the name of the arena and yes we know its lame but bare with us its the only sponsor we could find…….University of Phoenix was already taken.

With the deck already stacked against them the Coyotes have failed to field a half way respectable team which has dropped them further into the depths of the purgatory known as the NHL. Michael Barnett has been given every chance to prove he is a decent GM and instead of building a young team with an infusion of veteran leadership he has managed to build a team of over the hill has beens, see Jeremy Roenick, Brett Hull and Mike Ricci, who should have been sent out to pasture long ago. Barnett is lucky that he is a long time friend of Wayne Gretzky because his track record is less then impressive. The new NHL requires someone who realizes how to build a team around that style of play not a former agent who is still managing to get athletes more money than they deserve, too bad he is doing it from the other side of the desk at the cost of the Yotes. Unless Gretzky and the higher ups realize its time for a change then Glendale and the greater Phoenix area will be without a WhiteOut for years to come.

I never thought I would say this but I long for the old “One and Done” Coyotes because at least there was such a thing as playoff hockey in the desert.

http://azsportshub.com/if-a-puck-drops-in-the-west-valley-and-no-one-sees-it-does-it-really-matter/


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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
How is the NHL's lack of marketing to blame for The Coyotes failure as a team? I also think the NHL is about to undergo another major change within the next season or 2. The NHL realizes that has a horrible TV deal with versus, but NOBODY wanted to put the NHL games on tv so they had to go where they could to get play time. The Versus deal is only good for about another year maybe two, so once that is up you can beank the NHL will move to a bigger network. Couple that with the emergence of the new deal with RBK and there will be a lot more marketing dollars flowing into the league.
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AkaespoLittle Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
The Coyotes failure to draw fans to the arena is linked to the NHL's lack of marketing. In a city with the big 4 sports and numerous venues and teams vying for the peoples entertainment dollar the fact that the NHL has dropped off the face of the planet means that less people are going to spend that money on the Coyotes. The major onus is on Barnett and Gretzky but the NHL and its marketing department deserve some of it too.
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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
No league can be responsible for every team and their success and attendence. At some point the teams have to be responsable for what they do. Also Manny can you tell me who outside of the Suns does draw well out there?
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AkaespoLittle Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
The Cardinals drew very well in their new stadium this year selling out every game. The Diamondbacks before their 111 loss season drew very well. Even the arena team averages 10k a night which is huge for the AFL. I agree that it can't be completely responsible for their lack of attendance but you can't claim it doesn't have anything to do with it. It is just one of the factors involved in it. Also a league is responsible for its teams. If the league can't market itself how the heck are the teams going to? It starts from the top down in every sport and obviously the top in this sport can't get their heads out of their asses. The game is interesting and has a lot of potential but they can't market themselves. It shouldn't be "My NHL" at this point it should be "Whos NHL?".
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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
Im not taking all the blame away from teh NHL. I agree that the NHL needs to do more, but I think people sit back and say that and then have no answers. Its not like the NHL went out and thought they would revolutionize TV by airing on Versus. They didnt have a choice. ESPN was going to reduce them to nothing, and with Network TV they would have a package similar to the one they have with NBC. In DC the Capitals have a deal with Comcast Sports, and it gets all their games aired in HDTV and it has brought a lot of life to the game. More teams need to look into those local markets, WHILE the NHL works on a new deal with a new network.
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AkaespoLittle Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
My biggest issue with the TV deal is that Versus doesn't show games in HD. HD is suppose to save the NHL on TV and from what I've seen it does bring the game to life. Also putting the Allstar game on a Wednesday night on Versus was a great way to kill ratings. Even if ESPN had reduced there coverage to "nothing" as you say it would still be better than Versus because the NHL would have highlights more often on sportscenter and probably NHL Tonight would be airing on ESPN2. Nothing on ESPN is better than relative obscurity on Versus. The NHL also should be marketing their young stars like Crosby and Ovechkin and Malkin. Also they should still have a network deal even if it were completely lame like the one on NBC because at least someone can stumble onto a game on a Saturday or Sunday. They need to do better internet marketing too and make a very fan interactive site and maybe even have streaming media like MLB.com. Make it easier for fans to find and get into the sport. They need to build the fan base back up and get the younger kids into it too through streaming media and street hockey programs in cities.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
1024 days ago
Score 2+-
Are they still bottom of the NHL? They were at one point, so there's a slight improvement.

I've been thinking about the NHL's marketing. It is actually quite clever. Currently, nobody knows where to find it on TV. Some as a result, go to the stadiums to watch. Some complain about it. This in turn creates news that "NHL is marketing badly". Eventually this becomes news getting the NHL publicity. They then put it back on a decent channel, and suddenly everyone watches again!

As for Wayne Gretzky, I have long said that in a team as strong as he has, with the likes of Nagy, Comrie, Vishnevski, Morris and many more, they should at least be competing for the playoffs, probably not making them, but they should be competitive. Gretzky hasn't delivered for Canada or Phoenix, and I don't think he should be coaching either of the two teams.
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Alex HolowczakHall of Famer
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
As I've said before.
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BigPPupMajor Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
You can chalk Gretzky up with the rest of former great players who become horrible coaches. Mr Jordan, and Mr. Johnson
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Manny StilesMajor Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
Stop lying! There's no hockey team in Arizona!!!
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UNT66JV Squad
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
This is a misguided rant. Don't blame the league for an organization that has been a joke recently.

If you want to help your team's attendance, then improve your record by hiring a New GM, New Coach and bring in New Players that will change the culture of the organization. By turning around a losing mentality and installing a winning team and attitude, then the fans will show up.

Let me ask you a question: Why would VERSUS ever show the Coyotes unless they are playing the Top 8 teams in the NHL? They wouldn't. The NHL has a hard enough time with ratings that they don't need to put themselves in a bigger hole by showing a bad team, and the Coyotes are a bad team.

Your team has been underachieving for the past five seasons. If you don't change the personnel throughout the organization, you have no chance for fans.
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AkaespoLittle Leaguer
1024 days ago
Score 0+-
I think the blame was as much put on Barnett and his lack of being able to have a clear vision for this team and bring in players and adapt to the new NHL. The NHL's marketing in general has had an adverse effect on all of the teams in the league and that was the point. Every team in the NHL is in a hole they have to dig out of based on the lack of marketing, the fact that the league shut down for a year and the fact that the league decided to air its games on Versus a network thats main stay is Bull Riding and the Tour De France. If the NHL marketed its product better in general people would be more interested in the NHL and then the blame could be fully put on a team not performing for the lack of interest.
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KelsdadAll-Star
1024 days ago
Score 1+-
The NHL's single greatest marketing tool is the Great One himself. The Coyotes rank pretty high in road attendance because of Gretzky. I agree 100% the lack of a national TV contract is killing the league, but its their own fault for cancelling a whole season, if you remember they lost a national (ESPN) deal when they walked. And to an extent Gretzky has a say in the Coyotes roster, but inviting 50 bad players to training camp still results in a bad team. The Coyotes have a decent core of young players to build around, a good trade or two or free agent signing will make a impactful difference in their record, they aren't that far away at all.

As far as Phoenix goes, its a fair weather town when it comes to sports. The only team which sells out on its own merits is the Phoenix Suns, and even in their early days had trouble drawing fans when their record wasn't very good. But I remember the days when the Yankees or Mets weren't very good and their were 5000 people in the stands, or the Garden being half full for the Knicks and Rangers. Just the way it is, everyone wants to be around a winner.

And another thing about Gretzky. In Canada, obviously, and Europe and US cities with a passion for hockey, he is a legend. In Phoenix, he can walk thru a shopping mall unrecognized. THAT'S why hockey doesn't work in Phoenix.
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