Tag Archives: Detroit Red Wings

Back to Back Spooning with Our Fans

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It is Super Bowl Weekend but here in Washington we have back to back sold out hockey games to play.

We have bookended two games this weekend. This is a very unique programming and marketing platform and a really terrific way to say thank you fans for loving the game and for enjoying the way our team plays.

We play Detroit on Saturday. This is a total sellout game and one that everyone has been looking forward to as Detroit is the defending Stanley Cup champions and one of the best teams once again in the NHL this year. This will be a good game to see how we measure up to the best in the league. I hope we are up for the challenge.

And then on Super Bowl Sunday, we play Ottawa and try to get back at them for their win over us right before the All-Star break. I have had this weekend circled on my schedule all season as this back to back concept over a big football weekend is a very unique and one of a kind event. Wear Red. Be loud and proud and know we are grateful for your support. Go Caps!

Now That Was a Great Game

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If you had the chance to see this game last night, you were treated to NHL hockey at its finest. There was great teamwork; great skating; uber intensity; and big stars. It was an OT win for the Penguins in a strangely quiet and sad-looking Detroit arena as the local economy takes its toll.

But I have to say, that was quite the hockey game last night.

And Thus Another Season Ends

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We have a new Stanley Cup winner, the Detroit Red Wings. This is a great team with the best record in the league in the regular season and winner of the Cup. Congratulations to everyone in the Red Wings family.

The Pittsburgh Penguins also have a lot to be proud of. They have gone from a team in bankruptcy with really bad attendance mired in the bottom of the standings to being a great team with lots of young stars playing in the Stanley Cup Finals before sold out crowds every night. And they will move into a new mega building in two years. What a great turnaround story for the Penguins.

The NHL had a great year. Can you name me one other media oriented company that can say they grew and grew fast across the board in terms of:

Ratings – both nationally and locally;

Season ticket renewals and season ticket sales;

Overall ticket sales;

Overall ticket pricing;

Merchandising sales;

Sponsorship sales;

And revenues?

The salary cap will move up again as the players share in more than half of the revenues so the players are happy.

For the most part, the product has improved.

Great stars including our own players on the Washington Capitals have emerged as the new face of the NHL.

The future looks bright. Embrace these times.

And now we go to the NHL Awards ceremony in Toronto next week; then to the NHL draft; then to rookie camp; then to training camp; and then a new season will be upon us before we know it! 

It is Why They Actually Play the Games

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Wow - what a game! I stayed up until the middle of the second overtime period and then had to go to sleep. When I awoke this morning I read that the Pens won in triple OT.

That is why they play the games. It was all but a certainty that the Red Wings would close it out at home. The media trumpeted it, the fans felt it. But Pittsburgh was grinding away and scored the goal that tied the game with less than a minute left. What an ending to regulation!

Now the series goes back to Pittsburgh for Wednesday night. If Pittsburgh can win at home, it sets up a glorious game 7 possibility in Detroit. The Stanley Cup Finals are the ultimate in a passion play. Put the champagne away for a few more days. Keep the Stanley Cup in its crate. There is still hockey left to play.

A Generational Team

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This is a goal that all franchises have – to win Stanley Cups - and to be in the hunt year after year after year. It is amazing that the Red Wings have been in the playoffs for 17 years and are now close to winning their fourth Cup in 11 years with this core team. The team’s core was built through the draft then through trades and free agency. They created a philosophy and culture and have stuck with it and it works. They should be proud of what they have created. If they win this evening and close out the series, one would have to say that they are a dominant team – best record in the league for the season and winners of the Cup – but that they have become a generational dynasty.