Should the NHL amend its preseason structure?

[CaliforniaBlues310]

It definitely needs to be shorter. 7 preseason games is absurd. The season itself is long enough at 82 games. Make it 4 games max

7 games is fine. If they started later than the third or fourth day of camp, I’d get it, but the NHL roster guys are getting those 3-4 games you want anyways.

From a timeline perspective, the NFL and MLB’s preseason is longer, and the NBA is about the same as the NHL.

 

[cowboy82nd]

Then don’t charge admission. That’s also fine.

Charging market-value prices for a sub-market product isn’t ok.

If you think something is overpriced, then don’t pay for it.

 

[Perfect_Drug]

Star players are hoping not to get injured while shaking off rust.

AHL players are looking to make a name for themselves by annihilating a star player.

Prospects trying to crack the roster are playing like it's the Stanley Cup finals, while roster locks treat it like the warmup that it is.

 

[theVladiator]

Season ticket holders are indeed forced to buy preseason games, or otherwise walk away from their long-term investment in the franchise.

The absolute least that management can do in return is try and make the games tolerable. If you have an A team and a B team, play the A team at home so the ticket holders can watch an NHL-level team or at least give/sell them away with some value attached.

It's a package deal, and the same reasoning applies - if the value of the whole package isn't there for you, do not buy it.

Conversely, as long as people will keep paying for these tickets and packages at these prices, the teams will keep on doing what they are doing. That's business for ya.

 

[tarheelhockey]

If you think something is overpriced, then don’t pay for it.

It's a package deal, and the same reasoning applies - if the value of the whole package isn't there for you, do not buy it.

Conversely, as long as people will keep paying for these tickets and packages at these prices, the teams will keep on doing what they are doing. That's business for ya.

Yeah no shit fellas.

Season tickets are a multi-year, and in many cases multi-decade investment. Forcing people to buy add-ons and then deliberately undermining the value of the add-ons is bad business, poor customer relations. There’s more nuance to this than you’re letting on, as evidenced by the example upthread of Leafs management stepping in when Mike Babcock refused to acknowledge that dynamic.

At the end of the day this is an entertainment industry. If the organization is deliberately choosing to put out a non-entertaining product, they’re being ignorant.

 

[Grifter3511]

The best prospects should play in those meaningful games, if you want to measure them. You generally know who is a cut above the rest, from the Young Stars games.

But I'll give you an example of what preseason is. The Jets for their home game against the Oilers, dressed their top 3 lines, their 4th line C and 5 of their top 6 d-men.

The Oilers brought tryout Hoffman, Connor Brown, Janmark, Derek Ryan, Kulak to town. I guess Emberson was a d prospect. Maybe Dineen. Savoie and Sam O'Reilly are legit prospects. But what's the point of even playing that game? Fine tune your stars against 4th liners, 3rd pairing d-men and AHL/CHL players? Is that what preseason really is?

To their credit the Jets brought young stars to Minnesota and got bounced. But the roster disparities in some of these preseason games, like the Florida/Carolina game I mentioned is awful. I don't follow every other league's preseasons, but generally you go out there to compete?

Shake off some rust and reestablish a little chemistry? That's exactly what preseason is.

actually yes there is.

Season ticket holders are required to buy pre season tickets. At least in Edmonton they are.

Those poor season ticket holders being charged an extra ~5% on their purchase.

 

[theVladiator]

Yeah no shit fellas.

Season tickets are a multi-year, and in many cases multi-decade investment. Forcing people to buy add-ons and then deliberately undermining the value of the add-ons is bad business, poor customer relations. There’s more nuance to this than you’re letting on, as evidenced by the example upthread of Leafs management stepping in when Mike Babcock refused to acknowledge that dynamic.

At the end of the day this is an entertainment industry. If the organization is deliberately choosing to put out a non-entertaining product, they’re being ignorant.

... and the way it plays out is they lose sales. Sure, there is more nuance, but the irony of the customer complaining about the product and keeps on buying that product never gets old.

Oh, and by the way, that nugget where you say it's a "multi-decade investment", that's the stuff the business people absolutely love to hear. This is how they know they got you firmly by the balls and can get even more money out of you. I actually agree with you that they try to avoid diluting the pre-season product. I just do not agree on why. Note - in that Leafs anecdote the reason home team iced non-NHL team is because it was a hockey decision, not a business decision. From business POV they are happy to ice NHL pros, but not because they are afraid to make people unhappy. They won't be afraid of that as long as there are lines for season tickets. They will ice the pros because it doesn't cost them extra. They will find other means to leverage that vise-like grip in a different way to extract more of you money, and they will find a way that's less objectionable to you.