Optimism reigns despite the uncertain times
Team officials prepare for next season as they await NHL’s call on hub city bid
In a crisis, there is always comfort.
It’s why those restaurant takeout treks and food delivery calls have ballooned as much as waistlines during the coronavirus pandemic.
And it’s why awareness of excessive alcohol consumption got lost in the conversation, along with jobs and an uncertain future. Have you seen the lineups at liquor stores?
The beer business is better financially right now than the hockey business. Trying to plan for the NHL amid COVID -19 uncertainty is much harder than ramping up beer production.
Vancouver Canucks chief operating officer Trent Carroll has worked on both fronts. For 19 years he was with Labatt’s Brewery as vice-president of sales in Canada, and for the last 10 years he’s been with the Canucks. He knows there’s a touch of irony in his current challenge.
“Oh yeah, I get the odd text from guys I used to work with to say: ‘(The beer business) is going pretty good right now, big guy,’ ” Carroll said on Monday.
Carroll can take comfort in the fact the Canucks did their homework to be considered one of two hub cities for the league’s 12-team conference playdowns in Phase 4 of its return-to-play plan. It hinges on federal government approval of an amendment to the additional 14-day quarantine period when players return to Canada from abroad.
For Vancouver, Edmonton or Toronto to merit serious hub consideration, it can’t be a situation where U.S. teams would have to self-isolate for two weeks here after holding camps at home. And with Las Vegas and Toronto favoured to be named hosts, even that assumption isn’t totally clear.
There is some thought about avoiding home-ice advantage, so Vegas would host the eastern playdowns and Toronto the west. There should be more thought about bad ice in the sweltering Vegas heat in August than a perceived advantage for the Golden Knights playing and staying at home. Hub sites are due to be named on June 22.
“The support we’ve received from different levels in the province — health officials, government and the business sector — has been unbelievable,” said Carroll. “It wasn’t ‘We’ll do what we can,’ it was ‘Here is how it has to roll out,’ and they provided a lot of guidance.
“This is unique. There’s no playbook and everybody just jumped in. (The hub) isn’t just about the economic benefit for the city, it’s finding a way to keep moving forward and get things going — providing a spark.”
Carroll is equally focused on the future and the present.
The prospect of next NHL season being delayed until January to build in an off-season buffer against a second COVID wave is a certainty. Fans in the stands isn’t. It could be business as usual, or just some fans in Rogers Arena, or no fans.
That has meant working in concert with other teams and leagues, especially the NBA, which also must consider arena seating and safety measures in corridors and bathrooms.
“This is a fan business,” said Carroll. “We’re all in the same place, to come out of this in an environment that’s safe and gets the fans back into it. If you can’t find a way to get them engaged as soon as you can, that’s going to be a big challenge and a big issue.
“It’s right from before they enter the arena to the whole experience and then exiting. We’re assuming we’re going to have a delayed start to next season, and we don’t know what that’s going to look like, but we’re going into it optimistically.”
In the interim, it means goodwill by ensuring ticket refunds or season ticket credits for fans who need funds because of COVID hardships.
“The way we laid this out, we said that we get it,” said Carroll. “We’re here to support you, and if you need that money, no problem. We’ll refund it if people get into a tough spot. We’re not taking away anybody’s seats. We’ll customize programs because this is a two-way street.
“It’s not like the circus, where you roll into town and leave. You’re here to stay and people have to know you’re committed to them.”
That extends to the corporate community as fans or advertisers and working out resolutions to TV contracts.
“We’re in a situation that nobody could have forecast, so we have to work it out, and it’s been that kind of an attitude,” said Carroll.
The Canucks did see an increase in merchandise sales this season that was driven by the club’s 50th anniversary, theme nights, a Ring of Honour ceremony, and retirement of the numbers worn by Henrik and Daniel Sedin. Jersey sales were up 49 per cent in the past year. Bringing back jerseys of the past has provided debate about the future. Will there be a new jersey or a new third version?
“No immediate change because you have to plan two years out,” said Carroll. “We always need to be looking at what keeps our fans engaged and looking forward, and not always looking back.”