Meaningful March

[JD1]

agree that next year the bar will be raised from the ambiguity of “meaningful games” in March/spring, to at the very least “challenging for the playoffs” or my preferred “making the playoffs” rung on the goal for the season ladder.

I think without doubt the bar next year is make the playoffs

 

[Micklebot]

I think without doubt the bar next year is make the playoffs

Assuming we re-sign any key roles, we should be starting the year with all key roles filled, unlike this season where we were chasing a top 4 D right up until the deadline.

Only position of concern to me is goaltending.

 

[Tuna99]

I think without doubt the bar next year is make the playoffs

I think you mean “REALLY REALLY REALLY meaningful games until the end.”

 

[Cosmix]

I think you mean “REALLY REALLY REALLY meaningful games until the end.”

My preference is for the team to gain 12 points every 10 games played, starting at game #1. If they do that consistently, they would get 96+ points by the end of the season. I don't want to talk about "meaningful" games played!

Assuming we re-sign any key roles, we should be starting the year with all key roles filled, unlike this season where we were chasing a top 4 D right up until the deadline.

Only position of concern to me is goaltending.

For me the positions of concern are: GM, coaches, goaltending, Ds 5 & 6, 3rd line wingers, 4th liners, and getting an F who can be a policeman.

 

[Tnuoc Alucard]

I think without doubt the bar next year is make the playoffs

Dorion hedged his Bets, when he used “meaningful games”, and I would not put it past him to use “Challenge for the Playoffs” when asked of the teams goals for next season.

 

[Beech]

Idk, maybe you'd have a different perspective if you attended games.

Yes, the building seats 18,500. The building has also had over 20,000 this year.

The attendance the other night was 16,074 according to the Score app. That doesn't mean that there was 2,426 empty seats. It depends on box seat sales and standing sales. The rink was pretty full the other night. I'm pretty good at looking around inside the building and coming up with a head count based on what I'm seeing. I figured it was around 16. The boxes were pretty full, so were the party decks. What was fairly empty was the upper 300s on the long end of the rink.

The Brady's better chant was pretty funny

I have spent the last month watching Tennis. The Indian Wells tournament.. ATP and WTA 1000. And the Miami tournament, another ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments... Empty seats... I mean empty. I have watched.. yet you can google search and see how they declared "single day attendance record".. Dito for other tennis tournaments.

the men's and women's NCAA tournament.. Empty seats.. Not as bad as the Tennis, but given the tournament.. terrible

You are right. the 16,074 is the number. The 17,600 and change that I wrote was from a different game. I realized my mistake afterwards and did not go back in to correct.

But the essence is: I have come to recognize empty seats. As it was shown on TV. I believe that only about 8,000-9,000 people were chanting.. So, if earlier posters wrote that people left, I get it.

1) But for a game that was close, a Tkachuk Bowel..On a pleasant Monday, in late March, where was everyone?

2) As for the wall papering.. They have done this before.. early 2000's numbers were wallpapered..

When you see what appears to be 8000-9000 fans and then you see 16000 plus, stated attendance... you're instincts become to question!!!

there is a long history here and in sports in general of wall papering..

Both issues are and should be a concern.

 

[Beech]

sadly, many fans leave the game midway through the third period, because they place a higher value on exiting the parking lot, than to watch to the end of the game to receive their full monies worth.


poor layout at the CTC since it was built, forcing pedestrians and cars to cross paths with each other, before and after games.

at 8 am and you have TSN on and later switch to Sportsnet.. It was a lead story.. their pride and joy.. The Brady Chant... A panoramic view.. Media has been exceptionally careful the last few years.. Covid, inflation and so on has meant empty seats. So, media (TV) is careful to minimize showing fans.. The "hot babe" that they would flash to regularly, to show you how HIP attending a game is,, is a no-no.. If they do show fans, it is a tight shot. They make sure that these fans are adorned in home team gear.. They make sure to not zoom out to capture empty seats.

I have been shocked by how so few fans have attended tennis and the NCAA tournament this year. Swinging the camera to capture a few hundred drunk college kids is now a no-no..

So, they make the mistake of panning, of showing the crowds.. Half empty.. so, if you are correct and many left early. Wow.

In the Tkachuk Bowel. Ottawa holding a slim 3:2 lead with 3 minutes left... That many left? The 4th did not go in until 17:37.. One sot the other way and a tie game.

Anyway. It was a surprise.

 

[BonHoonLayneCornell]

at 8 am and you have TSN on and later switch to Sportsnet.. It was a lead story.. their pride and joy.. The Brady Chant... A panoramic view.. Media has been exceptionally careful the last few years.. Covid, inflation and so on has meant empty seats. So, media (TV) is careful to minimize showing fans.. The "hot babe" that they would flash to regularly, to show you how HIP attending a game is,, is a no-no.. If they do show fans, it is a tight shot. They make sure that these fans are adorned in home team gear.. They make sure to not zoom out to capture empty seats.

I have been shocked by how so few fans have attended tennis and the NCAA tournament this year. Swinging the camera to capture a few hundred drunk college kids is now a no-no..

So, they make the mistake of panning, of showing the crowds.. Half empty.. so, if you are correct and many left early. Wow.

In the Tkachuk Bowel. Ottawa holding a slim 3:2 lead with 3 minutes left... That many left? The 4th did not go in until 17:37.. One sot the other way and a tie game.

Anyway. It was a surprise.

Have you seen the price of groceries, etc. these days?

I can't help but wonder how much of an impact that has had. I know what I'd be cutting out of my life before food on the table or a roof over my head. Granted, people that can afford to attend pro sports events probably aren't in the demographic of walking the financial tightrope as much, but maybe it's a factor.

 

[Micklebot]

When you see what appears to be 8000-9000 fans and then you see 16000 plus, stated attendance... you're instincts become to question!!!

People who were physically at the game tell you 16k is likely accurate, but you saw the camera pan a small section of the crowd during a TV timeout showing empty seats and come up with your own estimate, what number should you trust...

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

2 more days. Do we get a thread for April? Maybe go from "Meaningful March" to "Assured April"
We got 10 Meaningful pages in this thread.

 

[Golden_Jet]

I have spent the last month watching Tennis. The Indian Wells tournament.. ATP and WTA 1000. And the Miami tournament, another ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments... Empty seats... I mean empty. I have watched.. yet you can google search and see how they declared "single day attendance record".. Dito for other tennis tournaments.

the men's and women's NCAA tournament.. Empty seats.. Not as bad as the Tennis, but given the tournament.. terrible

You are right. the 16,074 is the number. The 17,600 and change that I wrote was from a different game. I realized my mistake afterwards and did not go back in to correct.

But the essence is: I have come to recognize empty seats. As it was shown on TV. I believe that only about 8,000-9,000 people were chanting.. So, if earlier posters wrote that people left, I get it.

1) But for a game that was close, a Tkachuk Bowel..On a pleasant Monday, in late March, where was everyone?

2) As for the wall papering.. They have done this before.. early 2000's numbers were wallpapered..

When you see what appears to be 8000-9000 fans and then you see 16000 plus, stated attendance... you're instincts become to question!!!

there is a long history here and in sports in general of wall papering..

Both issues are and should be a concern.

Wrong when you posted initially, and still wrong,
People left the rink with a few minutes left during chant.
And TV crew doesn’t show the whole rink, you can usually see 1/2 of one side of lower bowl, at best.
So ya just wrong.

 

[Tuna99]

Dorion hedged his Bets, when he used “meaningful games”, and I would not put it past him to use “Challenge for the Playoffs” when asked of the teams goals for next season.

“Meaningfully challenge for the playoffs in March” has a nice ring to it

 

[JD1]

Dorion hedged his Bets, when he used “meaningful games”, and I would not put it past him to use “Challenge for the Playoffs” when asked of the teams goals for next season.

I think those two phrases are reasonably interchangeable

I would not have expected him to say make the playoffs. But I do expect that to be the stated goal next year

 

[JD1]

I have spent the last month watching Tennis. The Indian Wells tournament.. ATP and WTA 1000. And the Miami tournament, another ATP and WTA 1000 tournaments... Empty seats... I mean empty. I have watched.. yet you can google search and see how they declared "single day attendance record".. Dito for other tennis tournaments.

the men's and women's NCAA tournament.. Empty seats.. Not as bad as the Tennis, but given the tournament.. terrible

You are right. the 16,074 is the number. The 17,600 and change that I wrote was from a different game. I realized my mistake afterwards and did not go back in to correct.

But the essence is: I have come to recognize empty seats. As it was shown on TV. I believe that only about 8,000-9,000 people were chanting.. So, if earlier posters wrote that people left, I get it.

1) But for a game that was close, a Tkachuk Bowel..On a pleasant Monday, in late March, where was everyone?

2) As for the wall papering.. They have done this before.. early 2000's numbers were wallpapered..

When you see what appears to be 8000-9000 fans and then you see 16000 plus, stated attendance... you're instincts become to question!!!

there is a long history here and in sports in general of wall papering..

Both issues are and should be a concern.

I was at the game.

The Brady's better chant was funny. But it wasn't 8 or 9 thousand chanting it. It started behind me and it was never loud enough that I thought the whole arena was chanting. I don't think it made it from the side I was in to the other side.

In a bowl with 18500 seats, there was maybe 4k empty. The boxes were pretty full, so were the standing areas.

I wasn't surprised to see that attendance number.

As for tennis, I don't watch so can't compare

 

[JD1]

at 8 am and you have TSN on and later switch to Sportsnet.. It was a lead story.. their pride and joy.. The Brady Chant... A panoramic view.. Media has been exceptionally careful the last few years.. Covid, inflation and so on has meant empty seats. So, media (TV) is careful to minimize showing fans.. The "hot babe" that they would flash to regularly, to show you how HIP attending a game is,, is a no-no.. If they do show fans, it is a tight shot. They make sure that these fans are adorned in home team gear.. They make sure to not zoom out to capture empty seats.

I have been shocked by how so few fans have attended tennis and the NCAA tournament this year. Swinging the camera to capture a few hundred drunk college kids is now a no-no..

So, they make the mistake of panning, of showing the crowds.. Half empty.. so, if you are correct and many left early. Wow.

In the Tkachuk Bowel. Ottawa holding a slim 3:2 lead with 3 minutes left... That many left? The 4th did not go in until 17:37.. One sot the other way and a tie game.

Anyway. It was a surprise.

I'm also pretty familiar with people leaving early. No one left early. The rink started emptying when Stuetzle scored. And there was a rush for the exits when Pinto got the empty better. That's when I left ... And headed to Berts

 

[maclean]

I will say this - much as I'd hoped we'd be making the play-offs this year, I wouldn't want our return to them to be without both our goalies, our star defencemen, one of our best centres, etc.

 

[Gil Gunderson]

I will say this - much as I'd hoped we'd be making the play-offs this year, I wouldn't want our return to them to be without both our goalies, our star defenceman, one of our best centres, etc.

I think you take what you can get out of it. How many cores have won the Cup in their first playoff appearance? You might as well get the first one out of the way.

Pittsburgh and Tampa both got demolished in the first round in 2007 and 2014. They both made the finals in the following year.

 

[maclean]

I think you take what you can get out of it. How many cores have won the Cup in their first playoff appearance? You might as well get the first one out of the way.

Pittsburgh and Tampa both got demolished in the first round in 2007 and 2014. They both made the finals in the following year.

Fair enough, I certainly wasn't expecting them to do much other than get some experience if they did make it, I guess I just had this horrible vision of a scenario of us giving Toronto their first playoff win in a generation

 

[Cosmix]

Personally I want to see the team drop in the standings now.
Just get down to 11th last and we get a chance to be picked in the lottery (about 3%) and advance 10 spots to get the #1 pick. THAT would make this long walk in the wilderness outside the playoffs almost worth it!

 

[theunsunghero]

If Ottawa wins their remaining 8 games, do they make playoffs?

 

[ReginKarlssonLehner]

If Ottawa wins their remaining 8 games, do they make playoffs?

Yes. Every single game, though.

 

[Ice-Tray]

Personally I want to see the team drop in the standings now.
Just get down to 11th last and we get a chance to be picked in the lottery (about 3%) and advance 10 spots to get the #1 pick. THAT would make this long walk in the wilderness outside the playoffs almost worth it!

No!

 

[bicboi64]

Personally I want to see the team drop in the standings now.
Just get down to 11th last and we get a chance to be picked in the lottery (about 3%) and advance 10 spots to get the #1 pick. THAT would make this long walk in the wilderness outside the playoffs almost worth it!

For me its win as much as possible to give the Yotes the worst pick possible.

We have horrible lotto luck so not even going to imagine what winning would be lol

 

[ColinM]

2 more days. Do we get a thread for April? Maybe go from "Meaningful March" to "Assured April"
We got 10 Meaningful pages in this thread.

We need a special one for April 1

 

[Sens of Anarchy]

One way these games should be meaningful is how the young players learn from the experience.
They were close enough to have a sense that they could make it. The number of points back over a lets say 60 game stretch and their response to being battle ready for the next 10 game stretch should be learning experiences. The fact they were that close with a poor start to the year should teach them something for next year. Having some vets have that have been through it can certainly help that sink in for them.