A couple links to great articles over at the Globe and Mail were sent to us by one of our readers.

Stephen Brunt makes some good points here…

What is obvious are more vast stretches of empty seats than ever before, most dramatically in what were once very good hockey towns: St. Louis, Chicago and Boston. The Blues, for a game against the Blackhawks this season, opened the doors and watched as only 5,400 fans (announced) walked through the turnstiles.

Tickets might be sold, but people aren’t at the games. This might make money for teams now, but isn’t good for the future of the game IMHO. Companies are buying seasons tickets, and no one is using them… this has negative effects on businesses that surround the hockey arenas, and also hurts the spirit of the fans. It makes me mad when I see empty seats at “sold out” games… I’m sure there are thousands of young kids and other people who are more into hockey, that would rather be in those seats than some corporate folks who really don’t know a thing about hockey… and just use it as entertainment for their business clients. I think this method of selling (and wasting) tickets is turning possible fans off from the game, and making people lose their interest in the NHL. It has pushed some ticket prices through the roof, out of the reach of your every day fan.

This article takes a look at the financial side of the NHL in Canada. For hockey’s sake, let’s hope the American dollar stays weak Being that Gary Bettman is/was a businessman, I have a feeling he knew what he was doing… and this was part of his plot to Americanize hockey and take the NHL out of Canada, and have Americans profit from it as much as possible.

I think each team should start brewing and selling their own beer… that may solve their financial problems