Final

Finny

Well-Known Member
#43
i think we all know what you did with the maths there. lets at least use numbers yhat actually reflect my post. half empty areana, half the food, drinks, 50/50 and car parking alone.
What did I do with the maths?
What numbers are you expecting me to use??????????
 

Samael

Well-Known Member
#44
Wish l could have been there tonight to cheer on the flames, those words may feel dirty in few years if they reach their full potential though. Saying that it will make a refreshing change to see another team aside from Sheffield, Nottingham, Belfast and us winning everything every year.
 

terry hunt

Well-Known Member
#45
As good a game as i have seen this year.Guildford had chances to score in the ist period but great goalkeeping kept them out.
So well matched and the fans were awesome and would put us to shame.
The arena looked maybe 1/2 full with blocks 13 -18 virtually empty.
The odd thing was when i booked tickets my season ticket area block 19 and 20 were supposedly sold out but a lot of seats werent occupied?
One worrying thing though the car parking was shambolic again.The council apparently closed off 1/2 of Toy'rUs without telling the Devils.
Hiscock House was closed so not a good advert for the city when staging an important event.
I think the Devils need to sort an arrangement with Morrisons for paid car parking.The remaining games will probably be sold out.
My apologies to Katrina for bending her ear about this.
 

Paul Sullivan

Well-Known Member
#47
Quite possibly the best game of hockey I've ever watched as a neutral. The flames desire was incredible and the overall Belfast skill level is superb. They have a few guys I think we would all love to see in a Devils shirts one day but I wouldn't swap this year's Devils roster for theirs.
The fans were awesome and the atmosphere was great. I gratefully had very little to do music wise.

Also I love the fact we went with 20 min5 on 5 sudden death OT. The only way to decide a game Imho.

The giants fans were excellent in the bar post game. Great to see quite a few of our fans there also dancing and just enjoying the night. As has been said on twitter by Dom, for all those criticising the Viola as avenue - imagine 200 rattling round Nottingham or Sheffield for that final. A good event for the League.
 

Samael

Well-Known Member
#48
Quite possibly the best game of hockey I've ever watched as a neutral. The flames desire was incredible and the overall Belfast skill level is superb. They have a few guys I think we would all love to see in a Devils shirts one day but I wouldn't swap this year's Devils roster for theirs.
The fans were awesome and the atmosphere was great. I gratefully had very little to do music wise.

Also I love the fact we went with 20 min5 on 5 sudden death OT. The only way to decide a game Imho.

The giants fans were excellent in the bar post game. Great to see quite a few of our fans there also dancing and just enjoying the night. As has been said on twitter by Dom, for all those criticising the Viola as avenue - imagine 200 rattling round Nottingham or Sheffield for that final. A good event for the League.
Lots of Panthers fans calling for a revision of the challenge cup entirely over on the cage (probably because they haven't won it in a few years lol). I tend to agree with them though. The format is stale and too similar to the playoffs. Seems daft to have all the cups dolled out at this time of the year. Regardless of where the final is held be it Viola or the NIC/Sheffield the format needs a kick up the arse to get fans interested again. The Viola is probably the best and cheapest location for the final right now in it's current format but that really does need looking at. I'd rather see a best of series to decide the cup winner anyway rather than a one off final, just to add a bit of variety for EIHL cups and also to avoid empty seats at a neutral venue.
 

Koop11

Well-Known Member
#49
Best game of hockey I’ve seen in IAW this year (sorry Andrew). It was always going to be. Both Belfast and Guilford play a branch of hockey that you can not like. Fast, high tempo, hard forecheck, finish hits, end to end. This was a final I wanted once we were knocked out and it didn’t fail to deliver. I’d love to see us play this way in the future.


I feel for Guilford as they performed remarkably and could have easily won the game. Neither team deserved to lose. I think stella goaltender, once again from Belfast this year, was the difference. It was unfortunately going to be an error that would win the game.


Decent atmosphere considering the rink was a third empty. I must say it was a little disappointing to see so few Devils fans take advantage of the final in our home rink. We’re lucky to have lot of Devils fans but probably not so many hockey fans. I think if it were public knowledge that the money made from the final went to the club and not the league then maybe we would have seen more. There is a risk after yesterday that the club won’t bid again for the final again which I think would be a real shame. This coupled with an early exist from the CC means a lot of potential money for the Devils this year has not come to fruition.


Congratulations to the Giants and well played Guildford. It was a pleasure to witness a great game of hockey.
 

pjj365

Well-Known Member
#52
Lots of Panthers fans calling for a revision of the challenge cup entirely over on the cage (probably because they haven't won it in a few years lol). I tend to agree with them though. The format is stale and too similar to the playoffs. Seems daft to have all the cups dolled out at this time of the year. Regardless of where the final is held be it Viola or the NIC/Sheffield the format needs a kick up the arse to get fans interested again. The Viola is probably the best and cheapest location for the final right now in it's current format but that really does need looking at. I'd rather see a best of series to decide the cup winner anyway rather than a one off final, just to add a bit of variety for EIHL cups and also to avoid empty seats at a neutral venue.
Not sure about a "series" for the Cup this type of competition is, by tradition and in most sports, a one off final

The PlayOffs on the other hand - yes
 

Paul Sullivan

Well-Known Member
#53
Lots of Panthers fans calling for a revision of the challenge cup entirely over on the cage (probably because they haven't won it in a few years lol). I tend to agree with them though. The format is stale and too similar to the playoffs. Seems daft to have all the cups dolled out at this time of the year. Regardless of where the final is held be it Viola or the NIC/Sheffield the format needs a kick up the arse to get fans interested again. The Viola is probably the best and cheapest location for the final right now in it's current format but that really does need looking at. I'd rather see a best of series to decide the cup winner anyway rather than a one off final, just to add a bit of variety for EIHL cups and also to avoid empty seats at a neutral venue.
Sorry but I must disagree here. The format is vastly different to the playoffs. That's four games. The challenge cup is far harder to win than the pofw trophy. Just like our conference trophy is harder than the others.
The playoffs should be a series. But I love the excitement of a one game cc final.

I would love to see the CC all wrapped up before Christmas though, more like the old B and H cup days. But there's no denying it's harder to win the CC than the playoffs purely by the number of games and opponents.
 

Samael

Well-Known Member
#54
Sorry but I must disagree here. The format is vastly different to the playoffs. That's four games. The challenge cup is far harder to win than the pofw trophy. Just like our conference trophy is harder than the others.
The playoffs should be a series. But I love the excitement of a one game cc final.

I would love to see the CC all wrapped up before Christmas though, more like the old B and H cup days. But there's no denying it's harder to win the CC than the playoffs purely by the number of games and opponents.
Either way something has to change. I agree the playoffs are easier to win due to the amount of games (milton keynes fans would probably argue against that mind you)required to progress to the final but we're not going to get a best of series as opposed to a one off cup final because pofw pays for next season's officials etc. I'd be sad to see pofw go anyway as it's a good end of season showpiece. Challenge cup format though is stale and needs revising imo. Maybe a best of series isn't the answer for the cc but it needs looking at regardless as l think 2 one off finals a year is one too many which is where l see the similarity of both competitions. One is just longer.
 

jimmy snels

Well-Known Member
#55
What did I do with the maths?
What numbers are you expecting me to use??????????
you clearly counted all ticket sales when my suggestion of selling at a vastly reduced rate to get people through the door was based on them offering a slight discount. over 1000 seats empty that could have gone for a 5'ver tells its own story for me
 

Finny

Well-Known Member
#57
you clearly counted all ticket sales when my suggestion of selling at a vastly reduced rate to get people through the door was based on them offering a slight discount. over 1000 seats empty that could have gone for a 5'ver tells its own story for me
So did you want a vast,y reduced rate or a slight discount? You seem to be contradicting yourself.

Is it simply that you wanted to pay £5?
 

Kevin roog

Well-Known Member
#58
Just get rid of the tedious group games or play them instead of pre season games . Who wants to see a dead rubber at the end of October. And they are on our season ticket otherwise rink would have about 800 in it
 

jimmy snels

Well-Known Member
#59
So did you want a vast,y reduced rate or a slight discount? You seem to be contradicting yourself.

Is it simply that you wanted to pay £5?

i said, and i think you know this, that with so many tickets going spare charging a fiver and filling the rink makes more sense and i would have gone at that price myself. i wont be paying 15 quid to watch a team that not my own.
 

Kevlar68

Well-Known Member
#60
I can see it from an empty seat situation, better to get something than nothing plus then food and drink sales for those empty seats.
When it comes to events its a tricky thing to approach the sell off tickets. Concerts, cinemas, sporting events, its very rare you get the venue selling off cut price tickets just to fill seats, its a complete minefield with complaints if you do.
Its much better to start off with early bird prices then up the price that way the problem is taken away from you.
 
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