Junior event a harsh lesson in economics
Despite a healthy crowd for the Canada-U.S. final, the World Junior Hockey Championship was a box office disaster in Montreal.
A number of factors accounted for the poor attendance. For starters, Montreal may be the birthplace of hockey but it’s not a hockey town, it’s a Canadiens town.
If you want to sell anything else, you have to convince folks they’re going to an event, and a junior hockey tournament without a big name like Auston Matthews or Patrik Laine doesn’t cut it.
The biggest problem was greed. Hockey Canada got greedy when it selected big city venues — the Bell Centre and the Air Canada Centre — and it got greedier when it charged prices close to NHL levels.
The organizers thought they had learned a lesson in 2015, when the Montreal portion of the event tanked at the box office, but even a 30-per-cent reduction in ticket prices was more than the market could bear.
A lot of fans were more than content to sit in front of their 65-inch, 4K televisions and watch the action on TSN while sipping beers that cost them a buck a pop at Costco.
I have a friend who bought a ticket package for the Montreal games, but was unable to use the tickets because he decided to follow the Canadiens to Nashville and Dallas.
He sold his tickets to Canada’s quarter-final game for $50 each and donated his semifinal and final tickets to Big Brothers.
“I figured they would find some kids who wouldn’t normally be able to go to the game and I got a tax deduction,” he said.
The WJC experience should provide a lesson for the Canadiens organization as it prepares for the first season of AHL action in Laval. The only way the team will be a success at the box office is by offering fans tickets at a reasonable price. Toronto Marlies tickets are $10 to $41, while Manitoba Moose seats range from $20 to $37. Barberio hoping to say no thanks: Mark Barberio is probably flattered with his invitation to play in the AHL All-Star Game on Jan. 30 in Allentown, Pa., but he’s also hoping that he’s otherwise occupied with the Canadiens. Injuries have opened an opportunity for the former Lac St. Louis Lion and he has averaged close to 15 minutes a game. He has two assists and a plus-2 rating in 15 NHL appearances. Brother act: Mike McCarron is happy to see that his older brother, John, has joined the St. John’s IceCaps on a professional tryout. “I’m really happy for him,” said McCarron. “He was the reason I started playing hockey and he’s been an inspiration for me.” McCarron said it would be cool to play with his brother, but he’s also hoping to stick with the Canadiens. John McCarron, 24, played at Cornell University and
Hockey Canada got greedy when it selected big city venues — the Bell Centre and the Air Canada Centre — and it got greedier when it charged prices close to NHL levels.
had 12 goals and 18 assists in 29 games for the ECHL’s Florida Everblades before signing with St. John’s. Les Canadiennes reach out: As part of Les Canadiennes’ program to promote women’s hockey, the CWHL team will play home games against the Clarkson Cup-champion Calgary Inferno in Brossard and Dollard des Ormeaux next weekend. The teams will square off at the Bell Sports Complex in Brossard on Jan. 14 at 7:30 p.m. and at the Dollard Civic Centre on Jan. 15 at 1:30 p.m. The Dollard game will be a homecoming for three graduates of the Lac St. Louis girls’ program — Lauriane Rougeau, Carly Hill and Leslie Oles.