Pat Quinn Way or Pat Quinn Arena: The Case for Both

The legacy of Pat Quinn reaches far and wide, but no community was more impacted by the Big Irishman's hockey acumen and leadership than Vancouver. The fact he lived in West Vancouver and is well-known for his time with the Vancouver Canucks supports the notion of civic recognition in Vancouver.

 

My recent piece in The Vancouver Sun argued that Quinn's contributions were big enough to merit more than one form of recognition:

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/immortalize+Irishman/10445211/story.html

 

Vancouver Mayor Gregor Robertson this week tabled a motion to have the city's naming committee consider renaming the portion of Abbott Street in front of Roger Arena as Pat Quinn Way:

 

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Mayor+favours+street+named+Quinn/10457925/story.html

 

That's a great start, although I would suggest there's plenty of rationale to justify both Pat Quinn Way downtown and Pat Quinn Arena at the Pacific Coliseum:

 

The case for recognition

The late Pat Quinn, who is an honoured member of the BC Sports Hall of Fame as the W.A.C. Bennett Award winner in 2013 and is a member of the Order of Canada (2012), should have his name and legacy further enshrined with some form of civic landmark on the strength of his body of work in hockey and in the community:

-          He is one of the most respected and admired British Columbians and is a recognized icon in the provincial, national and international hockey communities.

-          Original member of the Vancouver Canucks Hockey Club in 1970;

-          Head Coach, General Manager & President of the Canucks (leading the club to one of its three berths in the Stanley Cup Finals in 1994);

-          Quinn championed Canucks community relations, including the club’s support of Canuck Place and the Canucks charitable foundation (now the Canucks for Kids Fund);

-          Co-owner of the Vancouver Giants of the Western Hockey League (Canadian Hockey League) since their inception in 2001;

-          Coached Canada’s 2002 Olympic Men’s Hockey Team to a gold medal at the 2002 Olympic Winter Games in Salt Lake City, Utah (Canada’s first gold medal in 50 years);

-          Coached Canada to gold medal championships at the World Cup of Hockey, IIHF U20 World Junior Hockey Championships and IIHF U18 World Junior Hockey Championships.

The case for Pat Quinn Way

The proposal: The section of Abbott Street in Vancouver between Pacific Boulevard to the south and Expo Boulevard to the north be officially renamed Pat Quinn Way.

The rationale: He presided over the move of the Canucks from the Pacific Coliseum to Rogers Arena (formerly GM Place) in 1995;

-          His former office overlooked the intersection of Pacific Boulevard and what would be renamed Pat Quinn Way;

-          There is a strong symbolic connection between Quinn and Gate 16 on what is currently that section of Abbott Street – named for former captain and current team President Trevor Linden (drafted by Quinn in 1988);

-          There is a long-standing relationship between Quinn and the Griffiths family and hence a natural symmetry between Griffiths Way to the west and Pat Quinn Way to the east;

-          Quinn is recognized on the Ring of Honour at Rogers Arena but should also be remembered as a franchise executive, coach and builder by future generations of Canucks fans;

-          The creation of Pat Quinn Way is simple and convenient given that Canucks Sports & Entertainment is the only business operating on that segment of Abbott Street.

The case for Pat Quinn Arena

The proposal: The Pacific Coliseum be officially renamed Pat Quinn Arena (or Pat Quinn Place).

The rationale:  Quinn coached the Canucks at the Coliseum from 1991 to 1994;

-          His greatest coaching accomplishments came at the Coliseum, including the 1994 run to the Stanley Cup Final;

-          Arguably the greatest Canucks win in franchise history – Game 6 of the 1994 Final – was played at the Coliseum;

-          Quinn served as a founding co-owner of the Vancouver Giants of the WHL in 2001 and the team won the Memorial Cup at the Coliseum in 2006;

-          Quinn died as a co-owner of the Giants;

-          Renaming is no detriment to facility operations (a generic name is replaced by an individual’s name).

 The case for both

The proposal: The Canucks endorse the creation of Pat Quinn Way at Rogers Arena and the Giants champion the renaming of the Coliseum as Pat Quinn Arena or Pat Quinn Place.

The rationale: The arc of Quinn’s career – as a player, head coach, general manager and team president  of the Canucks and as a co-owner of the Giants – spans both buildings;

-          The modern history of professional hockey in Vancouver involves both buildings;

-          Quinn coached the Canucks at the Coliseum from 1991 to 1994;

-          Quinn played and coached at the Coliseum and coached at what is now Rogers Arena with the Toronto Maple Leafs and Edmonton Oilers;

-          The dual naming ensures that Quinn’s name is forever remembered as part of the histories of both Vancouver hockey franchises;

-          The story-telling around Pat Quinn Way and Pat Quinn Arena forms another strong relationship bridge between the NHL Canucks and WHL Giants.

Follow Tom Mayenknecht on Twitter @TheSportMarket.

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Vancouver's Olympic city brand takes a hit

Vancouver saw the worst of two worlds collide Wednesday night - the heart-breaking disappointment of Stanley Cup defeat and, worse, the stinging embarassment of public disorder gone wild.

On the ice, the NHL's Vancouver Canucks were shut out 4-0 by Tim Thomas and the Bruins, giving Boston its first Stanley Cup championship in 39 years and denying the Canucks franchise their first in 40 seasons and 41 years.

That in and of itself is disappointing to Canucks fans and the team's corporate, broadcast and merchandising partners, and the many other businesses who rise and fall with the NHL team, let alone the very brand equity of the franchise that had been building at an impressive rate this anniversary season.

Yet disappointment around the Canucks missing a golden opportunity to win the 2011 Stanley Cup paled in comparison to the disappointment – the utter embarrassment – the City of Vancouver suffered off the ice in the aftermath of Game 7.

In three hours of rioting, vandalism, looting and violence, Vancouver saw its global brand – one so elevated by the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games – badly diminished. The tremendous global goodwill and image generated by Vancouver 2010, almost all but gone. The local economic impact of two months of Stanley Cup playoff hockey – arguably north of $45 million – fully erased by the negative exposure the city received across Canada, throughout North America and around the world.

The few million dollars in damage and costs directly associated with Wednesday night are mere water drops when juxtaposed against the wave of damage done to the city’s reputation nationally, continentally and globally.

The ugly side of the public celebrations that made Vancouver such a fun place to be for a Stanley Cup spring have undoubtedly bruised the city’s civic pride.

Yet it is that same ugly side -- both the criminals who may have triggered the riots and the other disaffected, angry young people who elevated and sustained the disorder -- which cannot be allowed to shape the future of the city in particular and the region and province in general.

Many are concerned about the public plazas that seemed to anchor the post-game stupidity, but in my view the best defense against hooliganism is to continue building civic pride through public celebration, not reducing it out of fear.

Protecting the city’s capacity to stage big events and hold public celebrations began with those who rose on Thursday to help clean the streets of downtown Vancouver and it is something we should stand behind. The follow through to protect future public events -- Stanley Cup-related and others -- will require smart security measures, inspired public policies and leadership, and creative public-private partnerships, not to mention more of the spirit and community caring shown Thursday morning and into the weekend.

It will also require more of us to embrace sport as an essential element in the fabric of any community and in society at large...belief that the infrastructure of professional sport creates value for a community, ranging from the tangibles of jobs and economic impact to the intangibles of continental and global name recognition and, closer to home, civic pride.

First and foremost, civic pride contributes to our sense of identity. The privilege of gathering to celebrate and share as a community is worth protecting because it’s in large part how we are defined as a civil society. It’s how we feel at home in our community and it’s how most of us best express the pride we take in living in Vancouver and in being Canadian.

It would be senseless to compromise that civic pride and it would be wrongheaded not to continue to leverage the many positives that spin off of professional sport by making the most of hosting opportunities such as the Stanley Cup, the Grey Cup and other special events. 

Losing that would be the biggest cost of all.

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The NHL on television in 2009-'10: Canadian Bulls and Southern U.S. Bears

When more Canadians watch the NHL Draft Lottery on TSN (an average national audience of 556,000 this year) than Americans watch actual live game action during the regular season on Versus (averaging 297,000 in 2009-'10), it puts into perspective how the National Hockey League in general and NHL television in particular is a tale of two countries.

The NHL and the NHL on TV is hot in Canada. Not so much in the U.S., especially the further south you go.

Depending on how you look at it, Canadians are 10 to 20 times more likely to watch the NHL on TV than our American friends to the south. In a market 10 times the size of Canada, the NHL averages 1.6 million viewers on NBC during the regular season, less than the early game average of 1.8 million CBC drives through its Hockey Night in Canada franchise. Similarly, TSN (714,000) outperforms Versus (297,000) on cable, more than two-to-one in absolute terms and more than 20:1 per capita.

There's no better picture, however, of how different a proposition the NHL is in Canada compared to the U.S. than in the local and regional television ratings of the league's 30 clubs. Despite some good gains in the era of the NHL Winter Classic on NBC, the U.S. market is still a tough nut to crack for the NHL. If Canada is a rampaging bull market for NHL hockey -- which it is -- then the southern U.S. is a lame bear.

It's all mapped out in this week's Helijet Top Ten Bull Pen at http://www.thesportmarket.biz/ and www.Facebook.com/TheSportMarket (which lists the Top Ten, Middle Ten and Bottom Ten NHL television markets).

http://www.facebook.com/thesportmarket?ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=3769385&id=280702824731

We'll let the listing of regional television audiences in the NHL speak for itself. What we will do is give you our Top Ten takes on where the NHL is at in television in Canada compared to the U.S.:

10 - The top four television markets in the NHL during the 2009-'10 regular season were Canada's four largest media markets: Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver and Calgary. They all trumped larger U.S. designated market areas such as New York, Los Angeles and Chicago;

9 - Six of the top nine regional television audiences in the NHL were held by Canada's six NHL franchises;

8 - The hottest U.S. NHL television market is Pittsburgh, home of Sidney Crosby and the defending champion Penguins. Fox Sportsnet Pittsburgh this year drove 93,000 households and 214,100 viewers per regular season game. Next in line are the fast-rising Chicago Blackhawks on Comcast Sportsnet and WGN TV (196,800 viewers per game) and the seemingly perennial Stanley Cup-contending Detroit Red Wings (186,500);

7 - There's parity on the ice but not in television ratings: the NHL's big three when it comes to regional television numbers -- Montreal Canadiens, Toronto Maple Leafs and Vancouver Canucks -- have larger audiences than the next 10 clubs combined (1,742,900 to 1,673,700);

6 - The Canadian regional television average audience is 383,167, which is more than two-and-a-half times the NHL average of 141,040 and almost five times the U.S. regional average of 80,508;

5 - The NHL's so-called Original Six franchises (Montreal, Toronto, Boston, New York, Detroit and Chicago) average 313,333 viewers per regional telecast. The last six NHL expansions average 34,583. The last six relocated franchises average 78,233 (but that drops to an average of 49,620 when you take out Calgary);

4 - The average Canadian NHL television market is more than 10 times stronger than the average U.S. sun belt TV market. And that's in absolute terms (383K to 34K);

3 - Canada's six NHL franchises draw more regional television viewers than all 24 U.S. clubs combined (2,299,000 cumulative in Canada compared to 1,932,200 aggregate in the U.S.). In fact, the top four Canadian teams (Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and Calgary) do that with 1,964,200 combined;

2 - It takes the NHL's bottom 11 television markets (cumulatively representing average viewership of 376,500 per game) to come close to matching the Vancouver Canucks' team average of 398,500 on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific. You have to add five more NHL clubs -- for a total of 16 or more than half of the league -- to rival the 650K plus regional averages of Toronto and Montreal (with the asterix that the Canadiens' regional rightsholder is RDS, a French-language national cable carrier);

1 - The Florida Panthers, playing before the smallest TV audiences in the NHL, have to log 49 regionally-televised games (1.2 seasons of home games or more than a half-season of total games) to match what the Toronto Maple Leafs or Montreal Canadiens each draw in ONE game.

When you rate the NHL's other bear TV markets (Atlanta, where it takes 36 Thrasher telecasts to equal one Habs game, or Tampa, Nashville or Raleigh, where it takes those teams 26 games to match the Leafs, or Phoenix, 25 games), it paints a picture that at some point the league will have to address: its southern U.S. plan in general and sunbelt strategy in particular.

When less people are watching your product on television than they are in-arena -- which is the case in Miami -- you have a fundamental problem. Not enough people care.

That's not the problem everywhere in the U.S., of course. It's not so much the issue in southern California, at least when the Ducks and Kings are winning. It's not a problem in the northern U.S. markets.  And, it's certainly not a challenge in Canada, where we drink the NHL on televison like we do beer.

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Doughty and the Kings have a bright future

After pushing the favoured Vancouver Canucks to overtime twice and splitting the opening set at General Motors Place enroute to a 2-1 series lead, the Los Angeles Kings suffered three straight losses and are on the outside looking in this week while the Canucks prepare for the Chicago Blackhawks and Round 2 of the NHL's 2010 Stanley Cup playoffs.

That does not mean, however, that the Kings have little to celebrate going into the off-season. They in fact have every reason to be bullish about the next cycle of their franchise history in La-La Land.

Reaching the playoffs for the first time in eight years is a big step in the right direction. It also gives their young line-up a taste of what the Stanley Cup tournament is all about. As star defenceman Drew Doughty said after elimination Sunday, you sometimes have to learn how to lose before you can learn how to win.

Doughty himself is another reason to celebrate if you're a Kings' fan, a member of LA's hockey operations brass or an NHL league marketing executive coveting a presence in the second-largest media market in the United States. In #8 Doughty, the Kings have a gold-medal winning Olympian, a James Norris nominee as the league's best defenceman and a player who invokes comparisons with none other than #4 Bobby Orr...all at the age of 20!

The remarkably composed sophomore rearguard is the epitome of a young, up-and-coming Kings team that appears ready to contend for much of the new decade ahead. At an average age of 27.4, LA's future lies in Doughty, goaltender Jonathan Quick, rising star Anze Kopitar, Russian sniper Alexander Frolov, captain Dustin Brown and other youngsters in the line-up. Los Angeles also has to be considered a possible destination for free agent sniper Ilya Kovalchuk.

The bottom line is the new-look Kings are beginning to make strides in both hockey operations and business operations. Their attendance climbed five per cent and reached 96% capacity (averaging 17,313) at the Staples Center they share with the Los Angeles Lakers and Los Angeles Clippers of the NBA. Their television audiences on Fox Sportsnet West and Prime Ticket are up 27% (although keep in mind, the Kings' average regional audience of 27,140 households and approximately 62,000 viewers is 15 per cent the size of Canucks' TV numbers on Rogers Sportsnet Pacific).

On the NHL Composite Power Rankings for the 2009-'10 regular season released this month by TheSportMarket.biz, the Kings placed 12th overall (ninth on the ice with 105 points and 15th off the ice with an estimated per game box office of $817 K US). http://www.facebook.com/thesportmarket?v=photos&ref=ts#!/photo.php?pid=3724749&id=280702824731
 
Much of their strength in overall operations comes from the solid business infrastructure provided by owners Anschutz Entertainment Group and the connection to their glory years provided by former stars such as Luc Robitaille, who now serves as the Kings' President of Business Operations.

For the LA Kings, the present is good; the future better. On and off the ice, they have such bright days ahead, Kings' branded sunglasses could become compulsory equipment in Hollywood for the first time since Wayne Gretzky made hockey fashionable in southern California 20 years ago.

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History Will Be Made promotional campaign is a winner for the NHL (and Young & Rubicam)

In this era of social media, you know you're onto something when people can't help but want to share digital files...story links...audio files...video files. You name it; if people want to share it, you've struck a chord.

That's the case with the National Hockey League's promotional campaign for the 2010 Stanley Cup championships; the History Will Be Made broadcast and in-arena video series.

Commissioned by the NHL's marketing department and developed by the global advertising agency Young & Rubicam, History Will Be Made is a winner.

When the series was unveiled last month, the NHL announced it would include six iconic moments in Stanley Cup playoff history.

“These are the moments from our game that have gone down in history as some of the most iconic in sports,” NHL Executive Vice-President of Marketing Brian Jennings said March 19th. "It’s that image of a flying Bobby Orr frozen in mid-air, when Bourque's 22-year journey finally ends with a championship, when Messier went from being a captain to 'The Captain.' The Stanley Cup Playoffs are where history is made, and this year will be no different.”

At the time, the NHL had plans for three other 30-second videos: one featuring former Montreal Canadiens goaltender Patrick Roy in his Calder Trophy-winning rookie campaign in 1986; one starring Stevie Yzerman scoring his double-overtime winner in the 1996 western conference final against St. Louis; and another putting the spotlight on Mario Lemieux in 1991.

This week, however, the NHL rolled out a seventh 30-second spot in the History Will Be Made campaign running across the league's national and local broadcast partners, NHL Network, NHL.com, in-arena, franchise web sites and various affiliated digital and social media websites. It featured 1984 vintage Wayne Gretzky, scoring a Stanley Cup final game winner for the Edmonton Oilers against the New York Islanders.

Gretzky actually had a cameo role in a Blues' uniform in one of the original six spots; watching helplessly as Yzerman raced away over the blueline before slapping his memorable winner. But no such vintage series is complete without Gretzky alongside Lemieux and Messier. Oversight or not, the NHL deserves credit for getting it right...better late than never.

More important, the NHL deserves credit for the campaign, period. It deserves kudos for the simplicity of the creative. Simple concept. Standard musical theme. A consistent three-part close, with 1. The specific storyline; 2. The campaign title; and 3. The NHL 2010 Stanley Cup logo.

It's what makes it work so well. It's what has allowed franchises such as the Vancouver Canucks to customize History Will Be Made videos starring Henrik and Daniel Sedin (two official versions so far, entitled "What if they hadn't called this "home"?).

Most importantly, it's what has created a buzz among the digital set, spawning more than 300 parodies in a little over three weeks. That means the campaign has captured the imagination of the young, interactive web set. And that's good news for the NHL and for Young & Rubicam.

The original six network-wide History Will Be Made videos, along with the seventh national spot featuring Gretzky, are listed below.

1970 - Boston Bruins: What if Bobby didn’t fly?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EUnS5gq0BZ4&feature=channel

1984 - Edmonton Oilers: What if there was no Greatness? *
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VMVgbHa0Fd0

1986 - Montreal Canadiens: What if Roy played like a rookie?
http://video.nhl.com/videocenter/console?id=65895

1991 - Pittsburgh Penguins: What if Mario wasn’t so super?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nxoxGXyolVM&NR=1

1994 - New York Rangers: What if Messier didn’t lift an entire city?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ljv6f00E2nc&NR=1

1996 - Detroit Red Wings: What if Stevie Y didn’t inspire Hockeytown?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qc7fBl7vO0&NR=1

2001 - Colorado Avalanche: What if Bourque didn’t believe in one more year?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntccXmKmAxE&feature=related


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Appreciation of Sedins must begin at home

With 112 points, Henrik Sedin is the National Hockey League's newest scoring champion. He is the first Vancouver Canuck player to win the points race and one of only three players to come close (along with former team captain and fellow Swede Markus Naslund and the Russian Rocket Pavel Bure). He now holds the Canucks' single-season mark for points, breaking Bure's record of 110.

One thing Henrik does not yet have is the recognition factor a consistent point-a-game player would typically have in the NHL (especially after this year upping the ante to almost 1.5 points per game). Many would say he doesn't have the respect he deserves for a player of his talent and, more important, track record. Some would suggest he's the victim of an eastern bias that permeates through the NHL, propogated by the eastern media.

In my view, it's more a case of the television exposure, media and promotional weighting that comes from simply having most of the NHL's teams playing in the eastern time zone.

It is true that the NHL is the only league with a majority of its franchises based in one time zone; the eastern time zone. The breakdown in the NHL is 17 in the eastern time zone, five in central time, four in mountain time and four in pacific.

The NHL is not, however, the only league to be subject to such a so-called bias that comes from having so much action take place in the eastern time zone.
 
The NFL has 50% of its teams in ET (16); with 10 in CT, two in MT and four in PT. Major League Baseball has 14 in the eastern time zone and 16 in the other three (eight, two and six, respectively) while the NBA is the least "eastern" of the four major North American loops: 12 in ET, 10 in CT, three in MT and five in PT.

Complaining about such geographic skews is one of the oldest pastimes in North America, on both sides of the border, but especially in Canada.

Yet those of us who have been closest to the careers of Henrik -- and his equally-gifted twin brother Daniel -- should consider how long it has taken for the Sedins to be accepted as the remarkable talents they are even here in Vancouver. That goes not only for west coast hockey fans, but for the media who cover the Canucks game-in, game-out.

Appreciation for Henrik and Daniel -- now in their ninth season playing with the Canucks -- must start in Vancouver before it's possible in other NHL centres and media markets.

If this season has been a threshold campaign for the Sedins on the ice, it has also marked a breakthrough in the way the local media has embraced them.  It's taken some time here in Vancouver for the twins to get the credit they're due. When Henrik skated off with this year's Cyclone Taylor Award as the Canucks MVP, it marked the first such honour either twin has received in Vancouver.

It might take some more time before that kind of recognition happens continentally, or even nationally.

The Art Ross Trophy is a big first step. A Hart Trophy nomination as league MVP should follow and would be another good step. A Hart win would of course be big in building the Sedin brand. But respect, like so many other things in life, must begin at home.

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Canucks Sports & Entertainment: 10 keys to reaching 400 home game sellouts

After using late December to pass the Buffalo Sabres at 279 and the Los Angeles Kings' record of 282, the Vancouver Canucks reached their 300th consecutive home game sellout on Easter Sunday at General Motors Place, posting a 4-3 overtime win against the Minnesota Wild, the only National Hockey League team with a longer active streak (381 regular season and playoff games at the Xcel Energy Center).

A long playoff run could see the Canucks overtake the National Football League's Denver Broncos (309) this spring or early next season. Next up would be the Pittsburgh Steelers (317 as they head into the 2010 NFL season) and the NHL's Philadelphia Flyers (who sold out 319 straight at the old Spectrum between 1973 and 1981).

The Canucks could reach the even more exclusive 400 Club in 2012 by continuing to build on what they're already doing and consider these as the 10 key ingredients to potential box office supremacy in the NHL:

#10 - Acknowledge season ticket holders this spring with a tangible show of their appreciation for helping drive the remarkable streak of sellouts from November 14th, 2002 to April 4th, 2010. Selling out 300 games -- selling out more than a handful of games in a row for that matter -- is impossible without a large season ticket base. There is no more important factor in the Canucks' ability to navigate around the NHL lockout of 2004-'05, the recession of 2008-'09 and the Olympic year of Vancouver 2010 than a season ticket base capped at 17,000 in a building seating 18,810;

#9 - Push the envelope on season ticket holder benefits and continue to emphasize the preferential pricing advantage offered through subscribed tickets (full season, half-season and quarter-season Ice Paks);

#8 - Make the most of their 40th anniversary season in 2010-'11 with special events, promotions and incentives to consolidate their season ticket base, expand their priority waiting list of 4,000 and increase their already massive database to support group sales. Pump up the wait list! Think Green Bay Packers and their Lambeau Field-size season ticket waiting list of more than 70,000. A General Motors Place-size waiting list of 9,000 accounts representing another 18,810 season tickets would be the equivalent target;

#7  - Continue the two-pronged approach to regular and premium clients: Deployment of a team dedicated to suites and club seat holders not only helps retain those premium clients, it allows for optimal customer service for both segments. And on that note and of immediate priority, focus on contract renewals for luxury suites; a group of which come due after the current season...and develop contingencies (including suite-sharing packages) to replace those companies which cannot continue or otherwise choose not to renew.

#6 - Keep the product accessible: Ensure the vast majority of Canucks games continue to be available on Rogers Sportsnet at the regional level and TSN and CBC at the national level and resist the temptation to expand pay-per-view much beyond where it is at the start of the decade (and with some bias, continue to leverage the unrivalled power of all-sports radio and keep pushing the boundaries of http://www.canucks.com/ and social media to provide the widest possible access to all things Canuck);

#5 - Build on the power and clout of the Canucks for Kids Fund, making sure season ticket holders and the larger ticket-buying public fully understand the scope of its community philanthropy;

#4 - Ensure that We are all Canucks: The team's brand management and advertising are second to none in the marketplace (despite the team's identity crisis over which of its three logos should prevail as the primary mark). Maintain the advantage for the blue-and-green, especially with the arrival of Major League Soccer in 2011 and the leverage the BC Lions will have in hosting the 99th Grey Cup at a newly-renovated BC Place;

#3 - Exercise extreme prudence on ticket price increases, avoiding the mistakes made by the Detroit Red Wings in 2007 (when steep playoff ticket premiums offended many season ticket holders and left thousands of seats unsold during the team's playoff run). The Red Wings streak of 452 ended that spring;

#2 - Provide strong value through game presentation and amenities, an entertaining on-ice product and by pushing the NHL to repatriate a more balanced schedule in which all 29 other teams visit Vancouver at least once per regular season. Seeing Sidney Crosby, Alex Ovechkin and emerging young stars such as Steven Stamkos once each season adds significant value to every season ticket package;

#1 - Win....win the Stanley Cup.

Contending might be enough to get the Canucks to 400 if all other things remain strong, including the economy. But none of the box office champions and sellout record-holders in North American professional sport (the NHL's Avalanche, the Portland Trailblazers of the NBA, the Boston Red Sox in Major League Baseball and the Green Bay Packers of the NFL) got there without winning the Stanley Cup or its equivalent at some point during their streak.

Winning in 2010 or 2011 would not only clinch 400 in 2012, it would go a long way to making 500 in 2014 an entirely achievable target for Canucks Sports & Entertainment.

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Vancouver Canucks' home sellout streak reaches 300 plateau and makes its mark on NHL

The Vancouver Canucks of the National Hockey League can clinch their third Northwest Division title in four years with a win tonight over the Minnesota Wild.

They can also clinch a sport business milestone that only 16 other franchises in the history of North American professional sport have to their official credit: 300 consecutive home game sellouts.

http://www.teamradio.ca/news/story/?id=2917

The streak at General Motors Place dates back to November 14th, 2002 and has straddled the NHL lockout of 2004-'05, survived the worst economic recession in a half-century and navigated around the complexities of hosting the Vancouver 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games. It has also stayed intact at an expanded capacity this year created by the launch of 180 premium seats in the Best Buy Club at Level 500.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/2010wintergames/Playbook+sellout/2760496/story.html

Reaching the 300-plateau consolidates the Canucks' place as one of the box office juggernauts of the NHL, behind only tonight's visitors among active sellout streaks in the 30-team league. The Wild have sold out every one of their games played at the XCel Energy Center (381 regular season and playoffs and another 27 pre-season contests). It puts the Canucks in elite company and within striking distance of venerable streaks by iconic sport brands such as the Denver Broncos and Pittsburgh Steelers of the NFL.

http://www.vancouversun.com/sports/Stoking+coals+hockey+hotbed/2760498/story.html

Canucks fans would gladly trade in those status symbols of sport business success for one thing: the club's first Stanley Cup in its 40-year history. Yet the sellout streak still matters as more than a ticket marketing statistic.

First and most simply, it makes it more fun for fans to go to games when they're sold out. There's a certain civic pride and sense of community that accompanies full houses at sport events.

Second, the sellouts and per game pops of $1.2 million and more underlines the solid financial position of the franchise. Even in the salary cap era of the NHL, strong revenues increase the chances for long-term on-ice success through investment in athlete services and amenities. There are limits to what the Canucks can spend on player contracts, but no limits to what they can pour into player development and resources.

Third, it strengthens the capacity for the market to host other sport events and potentially even new professional franchises when promoters and investors see the 18,810 box office score each and every night at General Motors Place.

Most impressive about the home game sellout streak is that it happens under NHL reporting protocols that are as stringent as any in North America. Unlike the NFL, the sport marketing Goliath which requires only non-premium seats to be sold out to lift its local television blackouts, the Canucks and the NHL include all seats: luxury suites, club seats, restaurant seating and regular seats.

If the Canucks were an NFL club, for example, about 14,300 would constitute a sellout at General Motors Place.

Now there are skeptics -- including my good friend and respected colleague Bob Mackin of Business in Vancouver and 24 Hours Vancouver -- who question the integrity of the Canucks' sellout streak: http://thesportmarketguest1.blogspot.com/2010/04/canucks-tri-centennial-not-legit.html

To those of you in that camp, I say good on the Canucks for having us question the odd empty seat rather than criticizing them for sluggish ticket sales (witness the half-empty buildings that greet a half dozen teams in both the NHL and NBA and describe many of the ballparks in Major League Baseball).

Remember this is not about actual attendance or tickets scanned at the gates. It's about tickets sold.

Empty seats are not necessarily unsold seats. Mostly they are either season tickets not used that night or scalper tickets not resold. They can be un-used tickets from large group sales. They can be "corporate holds" held for NHL sponsors or "player holds" held for the visiting team in compliance with the league's collective bargaining agreement. The latter two categories typically account for about 200 seats and when they're released on game day, all but the odd single are gobbled up quickly.

The Canucks' sell-out streak measures up to what I'd consider to be best practices in the industry. And the bottom line to it all is that it's made possible by a season ticket base capped at 17,000. As long as that base and a waiting list of another 4,000 stay in place, the sellout streak has some real staying power to hit 400 straight by 2012. Last month's renewal pace of more than 95% is a big step in the right direction as the club prepares for its 40th anniversary season.

Reaching 400 would put the Canucks into an even more exclusive group of North American major pro teams. Currently, it's a club of one: the Boston Red Sox of Major League Baseball (550 going into tonight's 2010 home opener against the New York Yankees at Fenway Park). All-time the club of 400 or more includes the BoSox and Cleveland Indians, the NBA's Portland Trailblazers, Boston Celtics, Chicago Bulls and New York Knicks and the NHL's Colorado Avalanche and Detroit Red Wings.

The Wild are already at 400 including pre-season games. Depending on their own season ticket renewals after missing the playoffs again this season, they should get to 400 officially by the 2011 NHL All-Star break. The NBA's Dallas Mavericks are also closing in on 400.

By 2012, there could be a roster of 10 or so on the all-time list of franchises at 400 or more. For the Wild and the Canucks, it's not the big prize -- the Stanley Cup -- but it's still worth celebrating, appreciating and shooting for.

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NHL's own Coyotes spin Slap Shot-like tale

Whether it's called Flight of the Phoenix, From the Ashes of Bankruptcy or simply Believe It or Not, the Phoenix Coyotes are the closest thing the National Hockey League has to a Hollywood script in its 2009-'10 season.

In fact, despite not featuring the Hanson brothers or anything close, the Coyotes invoke the cult movie storyline of the Charleston Chiefs of Slap Shot fame.

Barry Riz of TSN.ca channeled the 1977 flick, the most popular hockey movie of all time, in a blog Monday night as the Coyotes occupied -- albeit temporarily -- a share of first place in the western conference of the NHL.

Instead of the Federal League, it's the NHL...it's not Reggie Dunlap (Paul Newman), it's Shane Doan...Jobing.com Arena in place of War Memorial Arena...stories of relocating to southern Ontario (last summer) and now Winnipeg or Kansas City instead of Florida...instead of a new, aggressive team fronted by the Hanson brothers, it's a new, stubborn team fronted by head coach Dave Tippett.

What would be more unlikely: The Chiefs' league title in Slap Shot the movie in 1977 or the Coyotes winning the Stanley Cup in real life in 2010?

Two things for sure: 1. The Phoenix Coyotes are the NHL’s story of the year for their surprising on-ice performance and position near the top of the western conference. 2. They continue to be its off-ice dog in terms of ticket sales and sponsorship revenues and hence, its most troubling sport business story for the third or fourth year in a row.

With a franchise record 98 points, the Coyotes are fourth overall among the 30 teams in the NHL and tied for second in the western conference – just one point behind the Chicago Blackhawks and knotted with the San Jose Sharks.

They are making the most of a season which they began in bankruptcy protection before being bought and taken over by the NHL itself in the Bettman-Balsillie-Moyes love triangle and sport business soap opera of last summer.

Yet despite being a lock to make the playoffs for the first time in seven years, the Coyotes are playing dead at the box office, despite impressive walk-up sales this month by spring break visitors from Vancouver and transplanted Chicagoans.

Phoenix is dead last among NHL teams in terms of ticket revenues earned per game. It is almost certainly also last in sponsorship revenues and tied for last in local television audiences. It is in the bottom five in the league in merchandising.

Going into this weekend, the Coyotes are averaging just north of $425,000 US per game at the box office. That's $125 K less per game than the next weakest NHL ticket machine, the Tampa Bay Lightning. Even perennial losers such as the New York Islanders -- in danger of moving out of an outdated arena and perhaps out of New York altogether -- and the Atlanta Thrashers -- out of the playoffs and in and out of court in a lawsuit among its owners -- make at least $225 K more every night out than the Coyotes. That's $9 million a year and change.

The Coyotes need an entire season to make as much box office revenue as the Vancouver Canucks do in a quarter-season Ice Pak of 11 games. Conversely, the Toronto Maple Leafs need only eight dates at the Air Canada Centre to outperform a 41-game regular season of Phoenix home games.

The Maple Leafs are the opposite of the Coyotes. Poor on the ice. Solid at the box office and in every category of off-ice hockey business: sponsorships, television revenues and merchandising.

Unless they reach the third round of the playoffs, the Coyotes will still lose at least $20 million US this year. That's a third of the losses they suffered last year but it's still nowhere near long-term sustainable.

Considering that the Coyotes have more points than any Canadian team, even the Northwest Division-leading Canucks, the only question NHL commissioner Bettman should be asking and imagining is what the Coyotes' sport business performance -- ticket sales, sponsorship sales, television and merchandising -- would be in a Canadian market such as Winnipeg or Southern Ontario or in even any northern U.S. market.

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Player development is long-term, but Gillis already seeing short-term results for NHL's Canucks

There is much sport science research that shows athlete development is a long-term play, with 10 years of optimal training the typical standard before a high performance athlete reaches his or her full potential. There are no shortcuts.

Yet it is true that training backed by comprehensive sport medicine and science amenities, resources and services can yield significant mid-term and even short-term results.

Look no further than the Vancouver Canucks on their recent record-breaking 14-game road trip in the National Hockey League for an example.

The Canucks went 8-5-1, earning 17 of a possible 28 points, holding on to first place in the Northwest Divison despite being away from home for six weeks, including two weeks on either side of the NHL break for the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games. Most impressive, they came from behind five times to overcome third-period deficits; a sign of team fitness and an upside attributed at least in large part to the player development priorities established by sophomore general manager Mike Gillis upon his arrival at Canucks Sports & Entertainment in 2008.

If Gillis has defined himself in less than two years on the job, it is through his commitment to player development in general and sport science in particular. He spearheaded expensive upgrades to the Canucks locker room and training amenities at General Motors Place. He and head coach Alain Vigneault have empowered strength and conditioning coach Roger Takahashi big time. He has ordered sleep management protocols and ordered sport nutrition counselling and even food preparation and delivery for certain players.

As a result, the Canucks are quickly earning a reputation as an athlete-centered organization and a progressive franchise -- arguably one of the league's leaders -- in the areas of sport medicine, sport science and sport training.

A former player agent, Gillis was a keen student on the various ways in which teams build equity in their rosters through free agent acquisitions, trades and the increasingly-important baseline of the NHL entry draft.

He was a quick study on the constraints of the salary cap era in the NHL and did not waste much time before moving on to the opportunities which existed to improve his on-ice product while living within the new spending limits. The rules say he can only spend so much on player contracts. But there is no limit to what a franchise can invest in training facilities, travel conditions, player development personnel and sport medicine and science expertise and programs; both at the level of the NHL roster and the Canucks' farm system.

Over time, the provision of top-drawer athlete services to players on the big club should continue to pay dividends for Gillis, Vigneault and the Canucks; on long road trips and -- they hope -- in gruelling playoff series. But the biggest rewards could come only years down the road, from the commitment to player development on the farm.

Gillis will be measured on both counts: how he balances the low beam pressure of scoring short-term results with the high beam vision of sustainable, long-term success. He is clearly betting on sport medicine and science as tools to help deliver both.

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