FeedHabs Start Southern Swing Successfully
March 1, 2011 in Carey Price, Montreal Canadiens, Phoenix Coyotes, Tampa Bay Lightning, Tomas Plekanec Tags: attendance in the NHL, Brian Gionta, Carey Price, James Wisniewski, Max Pacioretty, Phillipos Arena, Scott Gomez, Sunrise Florida
It was a solid road game for the Canadiens as they tackle the deep south, beginning in Atlanta, and upend the Thrashers 3-1 before almost a dozen fans. And although the game was close on paper, and the Thrashers outshot Montreal 41-23, not once did I feel the least bit concerned that the Habs might lose.
I don’t know why I wasn’t concerned. It was just one of those nights. This was the least pressure-packed 40-shot game I’ve seen in some time.
For most of the first period, Phillips Arena looked like a ghost town. Huge blocks of empty seats sat collecting dust. If a drug dealer wanted to do a deal without anyone seeing him, he could just buy a ticket and sit in the corner. Coca-Cola could move its headquarters to a corner.
It’s very apparent, by the empty seats, that Atlantans (a) aren’t crazy about hockey, (b), Atlantans aren’t crazy about sitting in corners, and (c) this team will soon have Quebec City on the jersey.
Seeing so many empty seats at an NHL game, and especially with Habs in town, is not an attractive site. You can see by the chart below that Atlanta has the third worst attendance in the league, just above Phoenix and the Islanders. It’s a shame but I guess it’s great for the few hockey fans in Georgia as they can sit anywhere they want, at any game. Those in Canadian cities have no idea what this must be like.
Carey Price once again was steady as a rock in this big game that so many missed, and the two points allows the team to stick solidly entrenched in sixth spot and almost in fifth, and I’m convinced now that there should be no more fretting about whether or not the boys will be in the playoffs.
Random Notes:
Mac Pacioretty, Wiz, and Brian Gionta scored on this night, with Gionta’s being an empty-netter after taking a pass from our favourite whipping-boy – Scott Gomez.
Habs now proceed further south into Sunrise, Florida to tackle the Panthers. It’s a two-game winning streak now and I expect it to be three after the clobbering of the cats in front of thousands of eastern Canadian snowbirds.
Tickets for games in Sunrise, Florida to see the Panthers are as low as $15 plus free parking, and lower bowl seats range from $30 to $50. Something else those in Canadian cities just wouldn’t be able to fathom.
| Team |
Total
|
20 Games 10-11 AVG
|
% Capacity
|
10 Games 10-11 AVG
|
09-10 AVG
|
08-09 AVG
|
|
| 1 | Canadiens |
425,460
|
21,273
|
100
|
21,273
|
21,273
|
21,273
|
| 2 | Blackhawks |
424,368
|
21,218
|
107.6
|
21,069
|
21,356
|
22,247
|
| 3 | Flyers |
391,883
|
19,594
|
100.5
|
19,460
|
19,535
|
19,545
|
| 4 | Maple Leafs |
386,169
|
19,308
|
102.7
|
19,379
|
19,546
|
19,865
|
| 5 | Flames |
385,780
|
19,289
|
100
|
19,289
|
19,289
|
19,289
|
| 6 | Red Wings |
385,506
|
19,275
|
96.1
|
19,284
|
19,260
|
19,312
|
| 7 | Blues |
383,000
|
19,150
|
100
|
19,150
|
18,883
|
18,554
|
| 8 | Canucks |
377,200
|
18,860
|
100.3
|
18,860
|
18,810
|
18,630
|
| 9 | Capitals |
367,951
|
18,397
|
100
|
18,397
|
18,277
|
18,097
|
| 10 | Sabres |
366,391
|
18,319
|
98
|
18,280
|
18,529
|
18,531
|
| 11 | Penguins |
364,353
|
18,217
|
100.7
|
18,184
|
17,078
|
16,975
|
| 12 | Kings |
361,311
|
18,065
|
97.7
|
18,083
|
17,313
|
16,488
|
| 13 | NY Rangers |
360,232
|
18,011
|
99
|
17,970
|
18,269
|
18,949
|
| 14 | Senators |
358,281
|
17,914
|
96.8
|
17,911
|
18,076
|
18,172
|
| 15 | Wild |
352,749
|
17,637
|
97.6
|
17,565
|
17,388
|
17,039
|
| 16 | Bruins |
351,300
|
17,565
|
100
|
17,562
|
17,558
|
17,488
|
| 17 | Sharks |
351,240
|
17,562
|
100.4
|
17,462
|
18,415
|
18,568
|
| 18 | Oilers |
336,780
|
16,839
|
100
|
16,839
|
16,839
|
16,839
|
| 19 | Lightning |
335,444
|
16,772
|
84.9
|
16,182
|
14,979
|
15,010
|
| 20 | Predators |
319,991
|
15,999
|
93.5
|
15,964
|
15,497
|
16,497
|
| 21 | Hurricanes |
310,804
|
15,540
|
83
|
15,362
|
15,240
|
16,572
|
| 22 | Panthers |
304,711
|
15,235
|
79.1
|
15,021
|
15,146
|
15,621
|
| 23 | Avalanche |
298,810
|
14,940
|
83
|
14,421
|
15,168
|
16,990
|
| 24 | Stars |
298,305
|
14,915
|
80.5
|
14,416
|
15,535
|
15,790
|
| 25 | Ducks |
294,760
|
14,738
|
85.8
|
14,153
|
13,947
|
15,429
|
| 26 | Devils |
281,204
|
14,060
|
79.8
|
13,861
|
17,215
|
17,680
|
| 27 | Blue Jackets |
262,442
|
13,122
|
72.4
|
11,762
|
15,416
|
15,543
|
| 28 | Thrashers |
248,210
|
12,410
|
66.9
|
11,625
|
13,607
|
14,626
|
| 29 | Coyotes |
216,818
|
10,840
|
61.9
|
11,069
|
12,735
|
13,773
|
| 30 | NY Islanders |
199,231
|
9,961
|
61.1
|
10,418
|
11,989
|
14,875
|
March 1st, 2011 at 9:27 pm
Dennis, you know we may not be stuck with Gomez until his contract is finished, I think we may have an escape. No he won’t retire, be buried in the minors or get written off.
At next year’s trade deadline he might be an acceptable trade for some teams. Many don’t care about his $7.3+M cap hit, they only care about the actual cash. Some are even fighting to stay above the minimum cap. At next year’s deadline he’ll have less than $2M for the year. And the next 2 years he’ll only average $5M. He may represent a possible $2.3+M/year savings bargain for some really cheap owner.
March 1st, 2011 at 9:41 pm
Christopher, another reason why you’re on my management team when I own the team.
March 2nd, 2011 at 11:29 am
them’s some purdy flattering attendance #’s for some of y’all in the south……. i think a dozen or so is much closer to the truth.
March 2nd, 2011 at 11:42 am
Hobo, I heard there were just over 5000 there which is ridiculous and embarrassing. And for the Habs of all teams, which in most rinks is one of the hottest, if not THE hottest ticket in town. Just nuts.
March 2nd, 2011 at 1:47 pm
If only Brent Sopel didn’t hand over the puck in our zone and blow Price’s shutout. Too bad. Carey sure deserved it.
I’ll forgive Sopel if he doesn’t mess up like that too often. But Jacques Martin probably pulled out his note pad after that play.
The Habs have had a few games where they played really well as a team but lost games they deserved to win.
But the team did not play all that well last night, (aside from Carey Price and a few others). Price stopped 40 shots on goal. We only got 23 on Mason. In spite of that, we won anyways. That’s okay. It’s just the way things balance out. We finally won a game we probably didn’t deserve to win for a change.
We’ll take the nice fat juicy two-points that came from this butt-ugly garbage win. It was a nice greasy road win and now we’re on a roll with two wins in a row. Sweet.
Leaf fan in Ottawa, we did it all for you. Now Toronto is ahead of the Thrashers and in 10th place because of us…
Everybody’s happy!
Except the half dozen Thrasher fans who stayed until the final buzzer.
March 2nd, 2011 at 2:18 pm
Yes, Danno, I guess we should forgive Sopel for that. Maybe that was the system when he was with Atlanta, to get it to the closest man or whatever, and now he’s a bit confused. Regardless, they got the points and like you say, it was a nice, greasy road win. I want to see a nice long winning streak now.
March 2nd, 2011 at 2:21 pm
DK, While watching the game they kept going back to two proud HAB fans. Apparently they out numbered the Thrasher fans two to one!!!
Les Canadiens Sont La!!!!
March 2nd, 2011 at 2:31 pm
Mike, that attendance was ridiculous and Gary Bettman has it all wrong. Get some teams back in Canada where you can’t buy a ticket because everything’s sold out. Nice to see Habs fans in the deep south though.
March 2nd, 2011 at 7:44 pm
I don’t think Quebec will get first crack at whatever team has to move. Winnipeg will be first in line. I live 30 miles from Winnipeg…..
Sorry Quebec
March 2nd, 2011 at 8:59 pm
Frank, Winnipeg would be excellent. Those clips of Jets players saying goodbye to the fans at their last game was heartbreaking. Winnipeg deserves a team absolutely. I believe Quebec does too and I just used Quebec as an example because Stephen Brunt, whom I respect as a hockey, and sports in general, intellectual, said they had the inside track.