GDT: Flyers @ Jackets | NWA | 7pm

[AndBoomGoesTheCannon]

Torts hockey even when we were winning was often a low event snoozefest. You’d think he would be used to it by now.

 

[Doggy]

Agree that NWA was flat last night. We could hear the players and officials clearly from our club seats. It reminded me of watching a practice.
I love Torts, my favorite CBJ coach though Evason may be challenging that. Torts complained the other day that arenas are too loud during time outs when he just wants to talk/settle his team. He said coaches end up shouting over the music/contests, etc and it defeats the intent to calm.

I just found it funny these 2 comments were made so close.

Honestly, I hate how loud hockey game ops plays the music and everything else in the arena. I don't know if they are trying to make up for the crowd sometimes being so quiet (or needing to be cued by Stinger banging a drum) but I have said this many times before: I have not been a single other building who blares their sound system as obnoxiously loud as NWA.

I have sometimes wondered if NWA just has poor acoustics.

My sister-in-law avoids going to games because of it. I bought a pair of earplugs but they muffle everything too much. Last game I brought my noise canceling earbuds in so I could get some sound without my ears ringing after the game is over and it did the trick for me. It just drives me nuts that hockey game ops in Columbus has to suck this up so much...they are totally deaf to the complaints (yes pun intended).

I also find it incredibly sad that the crowd gets louder for free t-shirts and pizza than they do for action on the ice. I guess I am just a traditionalist. I don't need distractions to get entertain me. You know what entertains me...good winning hockey. Now get off my lawn.

 

[Viqsi]

Your top-3 forwards for ice time that evening: Adam Fantilli (20:11), Cole Sillinger (20:01), Kirill Marchenko (19:18).

I'm beginning to suspect Cole isn't going anywhere anytime soon.

(Oh, and Mateychuk was #4 among defensemen, behind Werenski/Provorov/Fabbro and ahead of Severson.)

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Honestly, I hate how loud hockey ops plays the music and everything else in the arena.

being super pedantic here, but: that's game ops, not hockey ops.

cbj game ops is (imo) among the worst in the league. there have been some improvements (they refreshed/updated the 1st period walk-out package a couple years ago and it's way better now) but the whole thing feels really stale compared to other barns.

I also find it incredibly sad that the crowd gets louder for free t-shirts and pizza than they do for action on the ice

they pump in crowd noise for a lot of those (especially the "loudest section wins a prize" thing) but every venue does that.

 

[Derby]

Honestly, I hate how loud hockey ops plays the music and everything else in the arena. I don't know if they are trying to make up for the crowd sometimes being so quiet (or needing to be cued by Stinger banging a drum) but I have said this many times before: I have not been a single other building who blares their sound system as obnoxiously loud as NWA.

I have sometimes wondered if NWA just has poor acoustics.

My sister-in-law avoids going to games because of it. I bought a pair of earplugs but they muffle everything too much. Last game I brought my noise canceling earbuds in so I could get some sound without my ears ringing after the game is over and it did the trick for me. It just drives me nuts that hockey ops in Columbus has to suck this up so much...they are totally deaf to the complaints (yes pun intended).

I also find it incredibly sad that the crowd gets louder for free t-shirts and pizza than they do for action on the ice. I guess I am just a traditionalist. I don't need distractions to get entertain me. You know what entertains me...good winning hockey. Now get off my lawn.

I agree 100% and freakin’ Mike Todd literally SHRIEKS into his mic. Last night, I complained to my husband (again ) about that gawd awful tonality and M.Todd volume during every promo.

 

[Doggy]

being super pedantic here, but: that's game ops, not hockey ops.

cbj game ops is (imo) among the worst in the league. there have been some improvements (they refreshed/updated the 1st period walk-out package a couple years ago and it's way better now) but the whole thing feels really stale compared to other barns.


they pump in crowd noise for a lot of those (especially the "loudest section wins a prize" thing) but every venue does that.

My bad on the game ops vs hockey ops. I guess you knew what I meant. As for the "walk-out package", are you including the stupid ass 60 second count down clock? Because that's insanely lame.

I seriously believe they could hire a couple of kids from OSU or one of the other nearby colleges that has a BFA program and do way better.

 

[ThirdPeriodTurtle]

When I did my NHL trip last year, I don't remember NWA standing out in an obnoxiously bad way compared to other arenas (VGK, ARI, COL, [CLE], CHI). Everywhere is loud and they do the same crowd things (make some noise). I'm fairly sensitive myself and always had my earplugs on (the music kind). Maybe there's tiny differences arena to arena but I'd say every game ops team is just as deaf as the next one. I'll do a retake this year on the Canadian side to have more opinions.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

My bad on the game ops vs hockey ops. I guess you knew what I meant. As for the "walk-out package", are you including the stupid ass 60 second count down clock? Because that's insanely lame.

the 60 second part of it is lame but the rest of it (song, lights, viz) are an improvement over what they had before imo

I seriously believe they could hire a couple of kids from OSU or one of the other nearby colleges that has a BFA program and do way better.

osu's football game ops isn't much better.

the issues with cbj's game ops in particular are:

1. they seem to be heavily committed to having a family-friendly environment rather than a rowdy one
   • this is, admittedly, probably a lot better for their gate revenue (even if it means the environment isn't quite as exciting)
   • i'd wager most of the butts in seats are driving in from suburbs rather than from downtown/arena district/short north
2. the folks running it (iirc) have basically been in place since the franchise started

they're either unwilling to change the atmosphere (due to demographic considerations) or incapable (same people running it)

it's one of those things that sticks out to the diehards who want a rowdy environment, but is misaligned with the team's business priorities (family attraction) -- the solution probably has less to do with deliberate game ops choices and more to do with the team becoming a contender.

the crowds at NWA for playoff games are insanely loud. if the team becomes a contender, the regular season games will get a lot louder, too. there will be more diehard fans, and a higher percentage of butts in seats will be those diehards instead of casuals, families and corporate tix.

 

[Youngguns1380]

I agree 100% and freakin’ Mike Todd literally SHRIEKS into his mic. Last night, I complained to my husband (again ) about that gawd awful tonality and M.Todd volume during every promo.

It’s funny—Mike Todd is genuinely one of the nicest guys you'll ever meet, but his voice feels like nails on a chalkboard to me. We joke about it every time we go to a game. I’m a half-season ticket holder, so it comes up pretty often, especially since other friends and family attend different games with me. It’s almost always a topic of conversation, and it’s usually them who bring it up first!

 

[cbjthrowaway]

When I did my NHL trip last year, I don't remember NWA standing out in an obnoxiously bad way compared to other arenas (VGK, ARI, COL, [CLE], CHI). Everywhere is loud and they do the same crowd things (make some noise). I'm fairly sensitive myself and always had my earplugs on (the music kind). Maybe there's tiny differences arena to arena but I'd say every game ops team is just as deaf as the next one. I'll do a retake this year on the Canadian side to have more opinions.

i haven't been to a ton of NHL barns but i've heard amazing things about vegas and seattle in particular. but those are two new franchises that had a blank slate and strong local culture to draw from.

where the blue jackets struggle on the latter is that columbus, as a city, lacks a tangible identity in that sense. it's an amazing place to live, but it's not really a distinct place in the way that seattle or vegas are, for example. the game ops at cbj games don't feel uniquely local in the way that they do in other barns.

part of that might be the franchise's myopic focus on being a columbus team rather than an ohio team but that might be oversimplifying it.

 

[Viqsi]

part of that might be the franchise's myopic focus on being a columbus team rather than an ohio team but that might be oversimplifying it.

That's almost certainly a direct result of the wishes and intentions of Mr. Mac (z''l). His motivation for making the team happen was to raise this city's profile.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

i mean… it was five degrees outside, literally just walking to the arena after parking was miserable. also a tuesday night against a shitty team. so not exactly a packed building to begin with.

the place erupted for both werenski goals, olivier's big hits, and the big werenski chance in overtime. and everyone was on their feet for the shootout.

it wasn't a "dead building" overall but the elements weren't exactly there for it to be a rowdy crowd.

Its semantics at this point.

Yes it was a Tuesday night. It was a divisional matchup and when people buy tickets to a game in January in Ohio cold should be expected.

The instances you mentioned account for about 15 minutes of actual time in the 3 hours I was in the arena last night. The majority of which was the last 5 minutes of regulation onward. 15k in attendance was a generous number.

As a whole, the place was a morgue the far majority of the night and only woke up after Werenski tied it.

 

[Iron Balls McGinty]

i haven't been to a ton of NHL barns but i've heard amazing things about vegas and seattle in particular. but those are two new franchises that had a blank slate and strong local culture to draw from.

where the blue jackets struggle on the latter is that columbus, as a city, lacks a tangible identity in that sense. it's an amazing place to live, but it's not really a distinct place in the way that seattle or vegas are, for example. the game ops at cbj games don't feel uniquely local in the way that they do in other barns.

part of that might be the franchise's myopic focus on being a columbus team rather than an ohio team but that might be oversimplifying it.

That's almost certainly a direct result of the wishes and intentions of Mr. Mac (z''l). His motivation for making the team happen was to raise this city's profile.

We should be Columbus's team.

Identities are created on the ice and if we were the "Ohio Blue Jackets" it's too broad of a name for a team surrounded by Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago.

As much as I despise it, Columbus has its identity because of a successful (we'll call it semi-pro) football team in town. Wins and time creates an identity. Wins and time creates local pride. The Browns are still the Browns because they built their identity over time and some wins 50+ years ago. it wouldn't have mattered if they were called the Cleveland Browns or the Ohio Browns. Time and history built what they are.

 

[Viqsi]

We should be Columbus's team.

Identities are created on the ice and if we were the "Ohio Blue Jackets" it's too broad of a name for a team surrounded by Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago.

As much as I despise it, Columbus has its identity because of a successful (we'll call it semi-pro) football team in town. Wins and time creates an identity. Wins and time creates local pride. The Browns are still the Browns because they built their identity over time and some wins 50+ years ago. it wouldn't have mattered if they were called the Cleveland Browns or the Ohio Browns. Time and history built what they are.

I completely agree. Said football team has its place of prominence because of a literal century's worth of first-mover advantage. It's a long-term project.

 

[majormajor]

i haven't been to a ton of NHL barns but i've heard amazing things about vegas and seattle in particular. but those are two new franchises that had a blank slate and strong local culture to draw from.

where the blue jackets struggle on the latter is that columbus, as a city, lacks a tangible identity in that sense. it's an amazing place to live, but it's not really a distinct place in the way that seattle or vegas are, for example. the game ops at cbj games don't feel uniquely local in the way that they do in other barns.

part of that might be the franchise's myopic focus on being a columbus team rather than an ohio team but that might be oversimplifying it.

The cool local thing about Seattle is you can take the monorail right to the arena, and it's in an amazing park with no parking lots to walk through.

The bad local thing is that they've thoroughly appropriated Nirvana, including as the goal song, and everytime I hear it I feel Kurt Cobain hating it. That and the obnoxious corporate branding everywhere. There's a lot of fake things around town that just come from the mountain of corporate cash trying to shape perception one way or another.

 

[Doggy]

i haven't been to a ton of NHL barns but i've heard amazing things about vegas and seattle in particular. but those are two new franchises that had a blank slate and strong local culture to draw from.

where the blue jackets struggle on the latter is that columbus, as a city, lacks a tangible identity in that sense. it's an amazing place to live, but it's not really a distinct place in the way that seattle or vegas are, for example. the game ops at cbj games don't feel uniquely local in the way that they do in other barns.

part of that might be the franchise's myopic focus on being a columbus team rather than an ohio team but that might be oversimplifying it.

I have not yet been to Vegas but from what I have seen on TV and videos they do an amazing job. But...it is Vegas which is the entertainment glitz capital of the US. The best experience I have had at a game was Montreal. From a diehard fanbase Boston and Tampa are really great.

That said, it also depends on how the home team is doing. I have been to Sunshine multiple times but only when the team has sucked and the Florida fanbase was non-existent (wouldn't have even filled Chiller North). Now all the band-wagoners have crept out of the woodwork to support a winner. Grew up in NYC area so been to Nassau Coliseum and MSG on many occasions. MSG is historic...most famous arena in the world so seeing a game there is kinda special...but not sure the atmosphere is better than elsewhere (also its been relocated and renovated so many times it doesn't feel historic like Fenway and Wrigley).

We did Nashville this year, meh. I mean it wasn't a bad experience but nothing special about it. I'd really like to add one more road game arena to my jersey this year but not sure where or when yet. Might be Buffalo and might be Detroit. Was going to be Utah and tack on a ski trip but I had some hammy issues this fall and did not want to commit to a ski trip I might not be able to ski.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

That said, it also depends on how the home team is doing. I have been to Sunshine multiple times but only when the team has sucked and the Florida fanbase was non-existent (wouldn't have even filled Chiller North). Now all the band-wagoners have crept out of the woodwork to support a winner.

I long for the days when we will bemoan CBJ bandwagoners.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

We should be Columbus's team.

Identities are created on the ice and if we were the "Ohio Blue Jackets" it's too broad of a name for a team surrounded by Detroit, Buffalo, Pittsburgh, Chicago.

As much as I despise it, Columbus has its identity because of a successful (we'll call it semi-pro) football team in town. Wins and time creates an identity. Wins and time creates local pride. The Browns are still the Browns because they built their identity over time and some wins 50+ years ago. it wouldn't have mattered if they were called the Cleveland Browns or the Ohio Browns. Time and history built what they are.

I completely agree. Said football team has its place of prominence because of a literal century's worth of first-mover advantage. It's a long-term project.

i'm not saying that they should change the name to "ohio" -- i'm saying that ohio's cultural identity as a state is stronger than columbus's as a city and more aligned to the brand identity that the team has developed for itself.

it's interesting to contrast the jackets with the columbus crew, for example. despite being owned by a tennessee billionaire and that owner's efforts to cultivate a fan base in cleveland, the org feels more ostensibly tied to the identity of the city in a way that the jackets just don't.

obviously that could be due to:

1. the outcome of the precourt saga
2. the nature of soccer supporters' sections
3. the recent run of success on the pitch
4. cincinnati getting its own team and immediately embracing it

but even things like the design language of the new branding, the design of the new stadium, etc. just feel more aligned to columbus's identity as a city (vibrant, sleek-but-accessible).

the cbj organizational identity seems disconnected from that – the team name itself is closer aligned to the state's history than the city's, the primary logo is the state flag, and the colors are traditional and aligned to the state flag in a city that is much less traditional than the state at large.

even if they rebrand to emphasize the cannon logo, they'd just be digging deeper into a civil war motif that is state-aligned rather than city, and leaning into a throwback aesthetic that would feel cheap, given the jackets relative youth as a franchise.

my point is that they're kind of torn between being the state's team and the city's team. purely from an identity standpoint, the former seems like a stronger bet to me, and they're uniquely positioned to be ohio's team rather than just columbus's.

we're centrally-located, in the capital, and don't have in-state rivals. the brand identity is state-aligned. the message should be that the jackets are the pinnacle of ohio hockey. that message doesn't exclude anyone in columbus.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

i'm not saying that they should change the name to "ohio" -- i'm saying that ohio's cultural identity as a state is stronger than columbus's as a city and more aligned to the brand identity that the team has developed for itself.

it's interesting to contrast the jackets with the columbus crew, for example. despite being owned by a tennessee billionaire and that owner's efforts to cultivate a fan base in cleveland, the org feels more ostensibly tied to the identity of the city in a way that the jackets just don't.

obviously that could be due to:

1. the outcome of the precourt saga
2. the nature of soccer supporters' sections
3. the recent run of success on the pitch
4. cincinnati getting its own team and immediately embracing it

but even things like the design language of the new branding, the design of the new stadium, etc. just feel more aligned to columbus's identity as a city (vibrant, sleek-but-accessible).

the cbj organizational identity seems disconnected from that – the team name itself is closer aligned to the state's history than the city's, the primary logo is the state flag, and the colors are traditional and aligned to the state flag in a city that is much less traditional than the state at large.

even if they rebrand to emphasize the cannon logo, they'd just be digging deeper into a civil war motif that is state-aligned rather than city, and leaning into a throwback aesthetic that would feel cheap, given the jackets relative youth as a franchise.

my point is that they're kind of torn between being the state's team and the city's team. purely from an identity standpoint, the former seems like a stronger bet to me, and they're uniquely positioned to be ohio's team rather than just columbus's.

we're centrally-located, in the capital, and don't have in-state rivals. the brand identity is state-aligned. the message should be that the jackets are the pinnacle of ohio hockey. that message doesn't exclude anyone in columbus.

What'd be great for this is if the Jackets could cultivate affiliate franchises in other major Ohio cities.

 

[EDM]

This is an important milestone for us: a game day thread where the complaints are directed at game day ops rather than the way the team itself played. Truly an historic moment.

 

[majormajor]

the team name itself is closer aligned to the state's history than the city's, the primary logo is the state flag

Ah yes, our famously triangular state flag!

The shape was not preserved and we essentially got red, white, blue, stars, and stripes. The ultimate generic logo, which gives us our true brand identity, neither state or city, but nowhere. My friends back in Ohio had no idea that the logo was from the state flag.

 

[cbjthrowaway]

The cool local thing about Seattle is you can take the monorail right to the arena, and it's in an amazing park with no parking lots to walk through.

the seattle monorail is one of the funniest things i've ever seen/experienced. i remember seeing it pop up on my apple maps instructions (was going to MOPOP) and thinking "oh cool, a monorail" and then getting there and thinking "…that's it?"

not complaining, just thought it was funny.

The bad local thing is that they've thoroughly appropriated Nirvana, including as the goal song, and everytime I hear it I feel Kurt Cobain hating it. That and the obnoxious corporate branding everywhere. There's a lot of fake things around town that just come from the mountain of corporate cash trying to shape perception one way or another.

not only would he hate having it used commercially, but in a building that serves as an advertisement for amazon, no less.

still, given how great the seattle music scene is, i do like that they pull so much from it in their game presentation (messaging conflicts notwithstanding) and wish the jackets would do more of that, drawing from the state-wide music scene rather than just columbus.

• twenty one pilots
  • obviously a huge act and chose to stay in columbus
  • 'jumpsuit' is a great rock track that would fit really well as a "start of the third period" track instead of DMX, who has no ohio ties whatsoever
• the black keys
  • their sound is perfect for a hockey game (multiple NHL teams have used them as a goal song)
  • it's a b-side but "ohio" as a goal song would be more fun than "the whip" -- and would be our annoying version of nashville playing toby keith
• walk the moon
  • it's been 10 years since 'shut up and dance' came out which i think is enough time to be nostalgic about it and would be easy to turn into a recurring bit in a live event setting (would also be a solid goal song)
  • NWA game ops staff keeps trying to copy the avs (all the small things) and michigan (mr brightside) but shut up and dance could also work for this and be unique to us

nothing against locksley but there are way better (and ohio-tied) options for a goal song.

 

[Double-Shift Lasse]

that this is an important milestone for us: a game day thread where the complaints are directed at game day ops rather than the way the team itself played. Truly an historic moment.

LOL, you need to read the forum more.

But keep posting the same amount.

#wink

 

[cbjthrowaway]

Ah yes, our famously triangular state flag!

sir, it is a swallowtail.

the logo is still the ohio flag, you just can't see the bottom corner of the swallowtail because it wraps around the star

 

[cbjthrowaway]

What'd be great for this is if the Jackets could cultivate affiliate franchises in other major Ohio cities.

yup. i don't think there are many operational benefits to having an ECHL affiliate at the NHL level (cleveland's affiliation is with kalamazoo) but it's weird to me that they don't affiliate themselves with the cincinnati cyclones just for the sake of optics + penetrating that market.

besides, it's not like cleveland to kalamazoo is any different of a drive than cleveland to cincy (both are 4 hours on the nose)