Gens Schedule Breakdown

Gens Schedule Breakdown - HOME
Days of Week
Mon 2
Tue 1
Wed 1
Thur 3
Fri 8
Sat 5
Sun 14
34

Game Time
11:00 1
2:00 0
2:05 7
6:05 10
7:00 0
7:05 8
7:11 0
7:30 0
7:35 8
34

Gens Schedule Breakdown - AWAY
Days of Week
Mon 0
Tue 0
Wed 5
Thur 4
Fri 14
Sat 9
Sun 2
34

Game Time
11:00 0
2:00 2
2:05 0
6:05 0
7:00 10
7:05 6
7:11 1
7:30 15
7:35 0
34

Gens Schedule Breakdown - TOTAL
Days of Week
Mon 2
Tue 1
Wed 6
Thur 7
Fri 22
Sat 14
Sun 16
68

Game Time
11:00 1
2:00 2
2:05 7
6:05 10
7:00 10
7:05 14
7:11 1
7:30 15
7:35 8
68

Hate the formatting, but there it is.

Looks like they're trying a school day game with an 11am weekday start. Overall, I love it. Only 10 Sunday night games and they're spread out, those are always the hardest for me. 12 games on Friday and Saturday nights, that's over 1/3 of the home games. Well-done schedule maker! =)

Grr. The reason I have Gens tickets is for Sunday night games. I've always hated day games and the Generals are the only team in southern Ontario that still plays Sunday night. I wasn't expecting the drop to 10 Sunday night games.

But the bigger problem to me is the trend towards more day games. Eight games I know I won't be attending off the top this year, that's almost 25% of the schedule. At some point, it becomes not worthwhile to buy season tickets.

I'm surprised the Generals pulled the ultimate desperation card a la Mississauga by playing a weekday morning game. Do season ticket holders get any kind of refund? Obviously, the vast majority of people can't make a morning game

we can get a pair of tickets to the last game of the month instead.... i'm thinking there will me a large crowd that night lol

It's not really a desperation card when the Gens were 6th out of 20 in attendance in a year where they failed to make the playoffs. The attendance is looking great. It's annoying for season ticket holders but a great marketing move to get young people across Durham region excited about a game and hopefully convince their parents to take them to more games. You need to get young fans on board to keep interest in the team in the future. The obvious trade-off is the annoyance to people who can't make the game - even for staff and volunteers at the arena, this will be an issue.

But why would I want two extra tickets to the last game of the month? It's not like I split them with anyone, I'm not even sure what I'd do with them as I don't live in the Oshawa area...the only people I know there are the ones with season tickets! LOL I'd rather have the refund to be honest.

I agree there's no need for desperation....but honestly, I've always viewed the morning game as a desperation move. And you are right, if I recall from the NOOF, your job would prevent you from being there as well.

This doesn't seem too well thought out. Why not do what they did for a local football team when I was a kid....pick different dates and give every kid in the area a free ticket for a particular date. Kids get in free, their chaperone or parent pays. In some cases, one adult brought in 20 kids who were dropped off with their parents. It got everyone involved, the kids came out, yet it didn't alienate season ticket holders.

Great.......it gets my son excited about a game in the morning? Sorry, but who the hell is going to take him when I'm at work?

Ridiculous.

I think people should have the option of turning them in for playoff vouchers, yes playoff tickets are usually more expensive, but if they don't make the playoffs then its our loss right?

This makes sense, i don't mind the regular policy of trading in tickets but for this game the situation is different, the club has to realize that the regular season ticket holders work to pay for there tickets...

Gens Fan 112 wrote:Great.......it gets my son excited about a game in the morning? Sorry, but who the hell is going to take him when I'm at work?

Ridiculous.

School trip. Kids will be very excited to watch a game with their friends and classmates. You can never underestimate the energy and enthusiasm of kids on a class trip. It will be the loudest crowd of the year at the GMC - guaranteed. Even louder than a Game 7 of the conference finals against Peterborough!

The idea here I'm sure is that they want the arena full of kids - they're assuming lots of season ticket holders are going to vacate their seats. Otherwise, what's the point if all the season ticket holder seats are empty? The Gens have a pretty large season ticket base which makes this more challenging to pull off. Mississauga only has a handful.

So what happens to a kid who is a diehard fan, misses only two games over a decade (with chicken pox and quarantined), and cries miserably when a game is being played and they're not there?

I described myself. I'm not sure if kids today are as passionate as backthen, but I know I couldn't have concentrated on school when I was missing a game.

I just think this is terrible all around -- for arena staff, season ticket holders, kids who normally go but can't get to go. It's just awful.

And sure it'll be loud, but it'll be painful, high pitched, respond to scoreboard loud, not true, passion and energy of the game loud. At least that's how the ones in Mississauga seem on TV.

Gens Fan 112 wrote:Great.......it gets my son excited about a game in the morning? Sorry, but who the hell is going to take him when I'm at work?

Ridiculous.

to make it worse, explain to your son that no tickets go on sale, and while his friends from another school are at a hockey game, his school didn't go and he has to go to school. Good luck getting him to concentrate that day!

This is stupid.

how does STH seat exchange program work? you make it sound different then I thought it was. I've never used it and am now curious.

I thought you could turn in unused tickets at the box office for the final game of the month instead. However it sounds like your saying that you have to change in your seats in advance.

If its the way I thought there will be alot of empty seats, cause they can't sell the STH seats. If its the other way around I want to know cause i will need to decide in advance if i'm going to go to the game or to work that day lol.

I would call and speak to Jason Hickman. He will let you know the correct policy in place.

hockeynightinontario wrote:

Gens Fan 112 wrote:Great.......it gets my son excited about a game in the morning? Sorry, but who the hell is going to take him when I'm at work?

Ridiculous.

to make it worse, explain to your son that no tickets go on sale, and while his friends from another school are at a hockey game, his school didn't go and he has to go to school. Good luck getting him to concentrate that day!

This is stupid.

1. If we're talking about any kid in Durham theoretically, how do you know in June that his school isn't going? You must be a glass half-empty type since you immediately think of kids missing out rather than kids given an opportunity. How about you think of the kids who NEVER have the chance to watch a hockey game as opposed to the ones who will sadly only get to watch 33 instead of 34 this season? If this happens the way I think it might, it means that there will be many kids in the stands who are watching a game for the first time.

2. How do you know that there isn't some other compensation to season ticket holders? It's JUNE! There's no way they even have season ticket packages even close to being ready yet since the schedule just came out. If they want an arena with 5000 kids, they are obviously going to do something to try and free up those tickets. Instead of assuming that the mission of the Gens office is to try and make your life miserable, why not wait and see what exactly they are planning to do? If at that point you don't agree, fine complain. It's your right as a consumer. You have to wait and see what exactly the deal is though.

And sure it'll be loud, but it'll be painful, high pitched, respond to scoreboard loud, not true, passion and energy of the game loud. At least that's how the ones in Mississauga seem on TV.

So what? Better than fans sitting on their hands. Kids do respond to scoreboard prompts but I also hear kids trying to start chants like Go Gens Go or Let's go Generals all the time but they die out quickly because they aren't supported by the adults around them. Kids are the best fans for crowd noise. When I think of the best crowds we've had, it's always been the ones where there have been lots of kids.

I equate a hockey season to a 34-part mini series. I don't view it as 34 games, I view each game as 1/34 of the story. With seven day games in addition to the morning games, 8/34 of the story will be missing for me this year. At a certain point, you question whether to keep the season tickets. I already know, with the schedule now out, my per game ticket price will be higher than if I bought them game by game. Like many people, I have no interest in day games. I went to one last year, and judging by the empty season ticket seats around me, I'm not the only season ticket holder who doesn't bother with day games. Last year, I believe the Generals had five or six day games. Eight this year. It's trending the wrong way. How do I know there won't be ten next year?

I know if I was a kid who didn't have tickets, I'd be doing anything to get an extra. And my parents would have supported me, my teachers would have known where I was and knew there was nothing they could do about it, because I would have been a mess at school missing a game. That's me, okay? That's not everyone. But that's my point of view. And I think this promotion is pathetic. That's my opinion. I don't want to be the parent who tells their kid they go to school while their friends go to the game they're upset about missing.

As usual, the teams figure you can do anything negative to true fans in order to draw casual fans. Maybe some of us die-hards will eventually get sick of it and quit going. I'm close I know, and I've talked to others who do. If the focus is getting thousands of kids out (which happens at every Sunday night game game anywyay), fine. Then put the wiggles out there 34 times a year. If the focus is making a game all ages can enjoy, then play hockey and play it at logical times. But make a choice. That's my opinion, politically correct or not, and I'll voice it as someone who pays $1500 for a pair of seats and is starting to question whether the team cares more about the family that comes once a year and spends $76.

I'm a teacher (and season ticket holder) and my school always has a game each year where I take the choir to sing O Canada and the school community comes out to the game. This is great because our ticket sales help with fundraising in the school and entire families come to watch and enjoy the evening, some for the very first time. Is the school game day going to provide for fundraising as well? Personally if given the choice, I'd rather have parents and students come out for an evening game that will help our school fundraise, than go during the day when parents won't be able to come and enjoy the experience with their kids.

I know I won't be able to use my tickets for the Tuesday morning game, because my husband works days, and if I went with my school I wouldn't be sitting in my regular seat anyways. I don't think that two tickets for another game would be compensation as the hockey fans I know already have season tickets. I'd much rather get a voucher for playoff tickets than two tickets to a game I'm already going to.

hockeynightinontario wrote:I equate a hockey season to a 34-part mini series. I don't view it as 34 games, I view each game as 1/34 of the story. With seven day games in addition to the morning games, 8/34 of the story will be missing for me this year. At a certain point, you question whether to keep the season tickets. I already know, with the schedule now out, my per game ticket price will be higher than if I bought them game by game. Like many people, I have no interest in day games. I went to one last year, and judging by the empty season ticket seats around me, I'm not the only season ticket holder who doesn't bother with day games. Last year, I believe the Generals had five or six day games. Eight this year. It's trending the wrong way. How do I know there won't be ten next year?

I know if I was a kid who didn't have tickets, I'd be doing anything to get an extra. And my parents would have supported me, my teachers would have known where I was and knew there was nothing they could do about it, because I would have been a mess at school missing a game. That's me, okay? That's not everyone. But that's my point of view. And I think this promotion is pathetic. That's my opinion. I don't want to be the parent who tells their kid they go to school while their friends go to the game they're upset about missing.

As usual, the teams figure you can do anything negative to true fans in order to draw casual fans. Maybe some of us die-hards will eventually get sick of it and quit going. I'm close I know, and I've talked to others who do. If the focus is getting thousands of kids out (which happens at every Sunday night game game anywyay), fine. Then put the wiggles out there 34 times a year. If the focus is making a game all ages can enjoy, then play hockey and play it at logical times. But make a choice. That's my opinion, politically correct or not, and I'll voice it as someone who pays $1500 for a pair of seats and is starting to question whether the team cares more about the family that comes once a year and spends $76.

For the vast majority of fans, this is a one-game inconvenience. The fact that you don't like day games is not relevant to the discussion because there are lots of families that do. There are other packages other than full season tickets and single-game tickets. Get yourself a flex pack, 18 tickets that you can use whenever you want and you can even share them with others. You don't buy unnecessary games that you can't make and you get a better per-ticket price than individual game tickets. Also, while they don't have it, you can always ask if they can do something like TFC does - I have a package that has 12 of 18 games and I always get the same seat. You seem to be operating on the assumption that season tickets and single-game tickets are the only options that exist. The Ottawa 67s have a "Friday night package" that includes all the Friday night games. Ask if they can make something like that. If enough people ask for it, I'm sure they would do that. If I were buying tickets, I would probably go for the flex pack because my schedule isn't predictable enough in the winter to commit to season tickets. Unfortunately, you don't always get the same seat, that's the downside but it gives you the flexibility to attend only night games and then decide spur of the moment later to go to the day game if it turns out after that you can.

The tradition continues - NOT

Sunday night was our night - Friday and Sunday - not more Sat night games and dumb 11:00 am games

Also both of the O H L team players miss 1 day of school - and that's OK

If you want to fill the GMC - put a winning product on the ice and you will not need dumb marketing ideas

This game vs. Missy - top team in the O H L - kids will really love this one vs rebuilding GENS

Also on the raincheck issue if you sit in a section that is full - how does it help to bring a friend who sits in another part of the building.

I wonder if the concession stands will serve egg McMuffins at the 11:00 AM game

We are scheduled 4 times back to back games - Jan 15 - Jan 16- FOLLOWING WEEK - Sat Jan 22 - next afternoon Jan23 vs London - 2 PM

March 5 - next day 2 P M - finish the year sat Mar 19 + Mar 20

Terrible scheduling

Oh trust me, the high number of day games is very relevantto this discussion on the schedule!! You have no right to tell me what's relevant to me. If the team loses two club seats over that, they'll find it relevant too.

I tried flex packs. Didn't work. There's enough season tickets that getting decent seats (ones with no netting obstruction whatsoever at any point on the ice) is hard. When those nets went up, the ability to buy anything but season tickets kind of disappeared. And please, don't say I'll get used to them. I won't. I've been diagnosed with a dyslexia-related condition that makes seeing through things like the nets all but impossible for me. So it's either be a seaon ticket holder or don't go. And they're making season tickets unattractive unfortunately.

Good point on players missing a day of school. I keep being told we need these frigging afternoon Sunday games so players are home early and get lots of sleep before school Monday, then they go and schedule a game during a school day! Committment to education rings hollow when that happens. And Mississauga's players have two games like this as they have a home morning game as well (unless Remebrance Day is a day off for schools, I presume not as it's not a holiday in Ontario).

The Gens have a few small groupings of home or away games together, but nothing that is really lengthy either way (the most number of away games in a row is 4 and that only happens once...the most number of home games in a row is also 4 and that happens twice). Because things are pretty balanced with no lengthy road trips or home stands, the monthly totals are balanced as well:

Sep (1 home, 1 away)
Oct (5 home, 7 away)
Nov (5 home, 5 away)
Dec (5 home, 6 away)
Jan (7 home, 5 away)
Feb (6 home, 6 away)
Mar (5 home, 4 away)

Within the eastern conference, the Gens will see Ottawa and Niagara fewer times than the other conference teams. The Gens play everyone in their division 8 times (Peterborough, Kingston, Belleville) except for Ottawa (6 times), and they play everyone in the central division (Barrie, Mississauga, Brampton, Sudbury) 4 times except for Niagara (twice).

Just a couple of interesting things that jumped out...the Gens don't see Owen Sound for the first time until the last month of the season when they play twice, and 18 of the Gens last 21 regular season games (which is all of February and March) are against our own conference.

hockeynightinontario wrote:Oh trust me, the high number of day games is very relevantto this discussion on the schedule!! You have no right to tell me what's relevant to me. If the team loses two club seats over that, they'll find it relevant too.

I tried flex packs. Didn't work. There's enough season tickets that getting decent seats (ones with no netting obstruction whatsoever at any point on the ice) is hard. When those nets went up, the ability to buy anything but season tickets kind of disappeared. And please, don't say I'll get used to them. I won't. I've been diagnosed with a dyslexia-related condition that makes seeing through things like the nets all but impossible for me. So it's either be a seaon ticket holder or don't go. And they're making season tickets unattractive unfortunately.

Good point on players missing a day of school. I keep being told we need these frigging afternoon Sunday games so players are home early and get lots of sleep before school Monday, then they go and schedule a game during a school day! Committment to education rings hollow when that happens. And Mississauga's players have two games like this as they have a home morning game as well (unless Remebrance Day is a day off for schools, I presume not as it's not a holiday in Ontario).

Of course it's relevant for you. But I know lots of parents that much prefer afternoon games. You can't please everybody when making the schedule. One thing this year's schedule offers is a lot more variety: some Saturday nights, a few afternoons, still some Sunday nights, more Friday nights than last year and a few weekday evenings sprinkled in. I like the variety, you don't. We'll have to agree to disagree.

You can't please everybody - BUT let's not please our season ticket holders after all they do pay the freight - not the average
1 or 2 here and there from these silly marketing

Gens Camper, you're making the assumption that all the season ticket holders think the same way you do. How do you know that most season ticket holders don't like afternoon games? For all any of us know, maybe they are getting requests from season ticket holders to have more afternoon games or people saying that they might consider season tickets if there were more afternoon games. I don't think they would be making this change if it wasn't being asked for. Everyone has their preference but I am amazed on this board at how negative people are acting as if they were making this change purposely to spite them as an individual season ticket holder rather than considering that perhaps there is logic to the decisions being made.

While i agree that your never going to solve the afternoon vs evening game debate on a saturday or sunday afternoon, I would find it hard to believe that a majority of season ticket holders want a tuesday morning game, same with the family day game since alot of people don't get it off. So I don't believe for a second the team has its STH's best interests in mind. The Whitby dunlops poll there fans about start days and times, if the team really wanted to know what people prefer it would be easy enough to deternmine. 1) poll all season ticket holders when they pick up there tickets, do a draw out of all those who answer the questionaire for a prize, autographed jersey or stick or something simple enough. 2) Do the same thing at a few games over the course of the season, make sure its different days and times to poll everyone.

Then release the findings and go with the majority. Can't argue with actual facts.