The puck should have dropped on the National Hockey League season last Thursday.
The longer it goes, the greater the likelihood that revenue will drop after the billionaire owners and millionaire players settle.
Whenever that is, expect the league’s take to erode if fans like Jeremy Gruman of Vancouver have their way. The owner of IT consultancy Pro Mac Support is among the legions who endured the 2004-05 lockout and welcomed the game back with open arms (and wallets), but he is pledging to be a tad grumpy and stingy when the 2012 version ends. Gruman contacted me to offer these thoughts:
“I’m a Canucks season ticket holder since the late ’90s. I have lost any respect I may have had for the NHL. I WILL renew my season tickets as they are simply too valuable, and I enjoy the sport immensely. Everything else about the league, however, is pathetic, and I won’t support it. I’ve vowed not to buy any merchandise, to eat before or after games and to drink tap water rather than stadium-priced bevs.
“In short, the Canucks and the NHL will get exactly as much money from me as my tickets cost and nothing else. I have two young kids, so when I don’t go to games, I often PVR them and watch after kids are in bed. This allows me to skip commercials, making me a less valuable set of eyeballs for the broadcasters.
“I’ve contemplated writing to CBC and Sportsnet, as well as to their advertisers, telling them that the hockey lockouts don’t make me want it more; they make me care about it less, and with less interest, I’m less likely to watch as many games, and those that I do watch will be PVR fast forwards. The NHL is such a marginal league in the U.S. that I think it’s ridiculously shortsighted to lose ANOTHER season. They certainly haven’t done anything to earn any respect or credibility in the eyes of fans or the general public.
“I’d jump to another top level hockey league in a second (KHL expansion to North America? Players forming a 10-team, short season super league, etc.).”
Off course
The B.C. government gave a $25,000 grant to Golf Canada for it to organize the CN Canadian Women’s Open at Vancouver Golf Club in Coquitlam.
B.C. government logos were prominently displayed on the course for the August 20 to 26, CBC-televised Ladies Professional Golf Association tour event, won by amateur teen phenom Lydia Ko of New Zealand. But CN couldn’t convince a B.C. cabinet minister to attend the biggest pro golf event on the west coast in 2012.
According to documents obtained via Freedom of Information, Sean Finn, CN’s executive vice-president and chief legal officer, sent his first invite to Premier Christy Clark on November 9, 2011. He sent another on March 2, 2012. Finn offered Clark a pair of tickets to enjoy the tournament in the CN skybox on the 18th hole. He also offered her a place in the pro-am. A Clark assistant gave Finn her regrets in a July 3, 2012, voice mail. Finn also unsuccessfully invited Jobs, Tourism and Innovation Minister Pat Bell and his then-deputy Dana Hayden (now president of BC Pavilion Corp.). Ida Chong, who was minister of sport until September’s cabinet shuffle, didn’t attend. She forwarded the invite to area MLAs Harry Bloy, Richard Lee and Doug Horne.
CN operates what was once BC Rail. Clark was deputy premier in 2003 during the controversial privatization. The NDP has promised an inquiry into how the railway was sold, if it wins next May’s election.
Power surge
BC Place Stadium has been nominated for a BC Hydro Power Smart award on October 18, but Hydro spokeswoman Simi Heer admits the stadium’s monthly power bills were not judged.
I found, via FOI, that electricity use increased from $360,000 for 1.7 million kilowatt hours (kWh) between November 2008 and February 2009 (the last normal fall/winter before renovation) to $556,000 for 1.9 million kWh from November 2011 to February 2012.
That’s an extra $166,000 for electricity during the darkest, coldest months of the year.
