Tag Archives: Stanley Cup Finals

Over The Top Passion

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Congratulations to the Boston Bruins and to their fans and their ownership.

A Stanley Cup Championship. Wow! A Cup! I lived in Boston the last time the team won a Stanley Cup and I know how the community will react. It will be over the top and a love fest! Several of my relatives are beside themselves today with joy and happiness over this long awaited win.

It was sad to see the reaction in the streets of Vancouver last night. Rioting as well as fans getting injured because of a loss in the seventh game of the finals. The Canucks had a fantastic season and their fans must be proud of the team and their players. That was a noble and hard fought final series.

Hockey brings out such strong passions in its fan base. Some good and some not so good.

Safety and security is our number one deliverable in sports for our fans.

Peace.

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.

I Find This Development Ironic

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Note within this story that the Pittsburgh Penguins are NOT accepting orders for playoff tickets from people from the Detroit area code and zip codes. The intention is to lock out visiting fans and keep the arena stocked full of local fans. This is what I implemented in our first playoff series against the Penguins and we were raked over the coals in the Pittsburgh media for our efforts. Furthermore, a Department of Justice attorney called me. He hailed from Pittsburgh and threatened a lawsuit against us for discriminatory business practices. We, of course, heeded the warnings and stopped this practice. This is situational ethics at is finest and the ultimate in irony from my standpoint.