The NHL has announced five schedule changes as it continues to try and work through dozens of postponements and attendance restrictions in Canadian markets. The following changes have been made:
- Game #693, Columbus @ NY Islanders on January 18 – to be postponed with a rescheduled date announced at a later time
- Game #694, Detroit @ Philadelphia on January 18 – to be postponed with a rescheduled date announced at a later time
- Game #340, NY Islanders @ Philadelphia previously scheduled for November 30 will now be rescheduled for January 18 @ 7:00 p.m. ET
- Game #723, NY Islanders @ Toronto currently scheduled for January 22 will be rescheduled for April 17 @ 7:30 p.m. ET
- Game #1211, Toronto @ NY Islanders currently scheduled for April 17 will be rescheduled for January 22 @ 7:00 p.m. ET
These are just the latest in what will be an ongoing stream of changes for the rest of the season as the league tries to squeeze in games whenever possible. There will be many more of these announcements to come.
Here’s a thought — How does this rescheduling of NHL games affect the casual fan? If said fan doesn’t have somebody nearby as a sounding board, will they lose interest in trying to follow the league, or persevere? Those of us who have several decades under our belts probably won’t bail, but someone who is just getting interested might find it hard to get motivated to track down games, even with the so-called better TV deals. Unfortunately, it means we must blame COVID, instead of Bettman, for this.
I dont think they care. Like, what doya expect? Them to stop treating players getting positive test results as them strapped to the teeth with explosives? Cuz its hard to keep people in fear and panic if they know that even the unvaxinated are basically getting tye flu for a couple days. Lol. Plus casual fans just bump your tv rating slightly on some games, why cater to them insteada the ones actually willing to spend cash on the league
@VonDooche – Why cater to the casual fans? The league should always be looking to do things to grow the fan base, since relying on the “lifers” to do the job can only get you so far. That said, most (some could say all) of the major sports leagues have resorted to gimmicks, as though this was a circus side show. Taking free games away from NHL.com was the wrong thing to do. Putting the game replays behind a virtual toll booth on TuneIn was also the wrong thing to do. COVID alone was always going to be a big problem, but they should be pushing back, like the NFL is supposed to be doing by strictly testing only symptomatic players with a testing protocol that gives truly reliable results.
@Mac – The bigger issue for me is that the brain trust at the NHL seems to not really care all the much about the lifer fans. Instead they pander to some theoretical demographic fanbase that Madison Ave. assures them are the fans of the future. Not sure that’s gonna work out so well for Bettman & Co.
@Gbear – You got it. The dreaded “Madison Ave.” reference is more often than not the bane of defective marketing. Puppeteered by dumbass diploma factory rejects, it’s so true that the lifers are expected to educate the noobs, but let’s not do anything to reward the lifers for the “word-of-mouth” advertising. The NHL way in a nutshell. NHL tries to grow the game by baby steps, instead of leaps-and-bounds.
@Mac – The best way to make a new hockey fan is to get them to see a game in person. Good luck doing that with ticket prices being what they are.
Truth is, this game is run by the sponsors, and guess where their marketing strategies come from? Certainly not main street USA.
as a Flyers fan I greatly appreciate our games being moved not because our opponent couldn’t play, but another opponent of our opponent couldn’t play another game. smh.
Yet none of our games get postponed for Flyers going into protocol. Hmmm.
Who would dare purchase a ticket to attend a game anywhere right now? The game you thought you were going to see could be postponed just hours before puck drop, might not ever be played. Or it could be played another day when you can’t make it.
Maybe they decide fans cant attend games for a while, and then you get a new ticket to a new game of your choice. Except the 2nd row seat you paid for now only has the value of a 3rd level seat due to owners losing money on reduced arena sales, which you might accept because they have you over a barrel now. But all you wanted to do was take your significant other to a hockey game and have a good time.
Not that I know from experience or anything.