Last season, for the first time in my life, I bought an 11-game Ice Pak of tickets (two tickets per game) to watch the Canucks. Over the summer, Orca Bay Sports has been hassling me to renew my tickets. I’ve just written them a letter explaining why I don’t plan to do so this year.
Last season, I went to 11 games at GM Place. One game, against Colorado, was great. Despite being a 1-1 tie, it was an exciting, wide-open game with plenty of shots (38-28 in Vancouver’s favour) and scoring chances. Aebischer had a stellar game, and Jovanovski beat two defenders to score the equalizer in the third.
Five games were mediocre.
Five games were extraordinarily, mind-numbingly dull. Minnesota, San Jose, Chicago, Ottawa and Los Angeles were all appalling examples of the state of the game in the 21st century. Minnesota clutched and grabbed its way to a desultory 1-1 tie, taking a mere 16 shots in the process. Ottawa and Vancouver, their playoff positioning sewed-up, played like figure skaters, avoiding contact and bent on handing the game to each other. I watched most of the games that I didn’t attend on TV. At least half of those were miserable, talentless clinics in cautious play, the neutral-zone trap and garbage goals from three feet.
I don’t blame the Canucks organization for this. Like Colorado (and it’s no coincidence that was the best game I saw all season), they’ve built a fast-skating team with plenty of skill. The coaching staff has implemented an aggressive forechecking system that ought to be entertaining to watch. However, as in all sports, a good defence beats a good offense, and so I’ve spent the past few seasons watching the game’s best players skate through a mire of stick checks and pulled jerseys. Most of the league has recognized that a decent defensive system and plenty of clutching and grabbing give them a chance to win every night. Furthermore, Orca Bay has treated me very well as a seasons ticket-holder. You run a professional and customer-oriented organization.
I’ve been a Canucks fan since I was five. I’ve now reached an age where I can comfortably afford seasons tickets. Why would I buy them, when the quality of entertainment is so shoddy?
Orca Bay Sports has plenty of people waiting to buy my tickets, but I thought I’d pass this on, from an dissatisfied customer.
DarrenBarefoot.com 
Yes, I’ve found the 11-game ice packs to be particularly lacking an incentive for me to buy them. They put in a couple of the A-list teams, then pad the package with tickets to games versus the teams that people won’t even watch on TV. I went to very few games last season (in part because of the increased difficulty in getting tickets) but they were a real mixed bag as well. Even match-ups with Colorado and Detroit were no guarantee of a good evening’s entertainment.
I’ll continue to buy/beg tickets to select games versus teams I’m interested in seeing, rather than take the plunge and buy into a multi-game or season package. Economically and entertainment-wise, it just seems to make more sense.