MARCH 1ST

[Gisland]

Yes and we divided the seating equally between us and Sheffield

and the year the giants played at Caridff?

 

[Earnie]

Half the seating was available to Giant fans. If the take up was not there then the slack taken up by Devils fans.

 

[Gisland]

Half the seating was available to Giant fans. If the take up was not there then the slack taken up by Devils fans.

That's not correct... An allocation was made, but it was not 50/50.
As for a neutral venue, since the introduction of single-game finals,2014, were the Devils were in the final, they have hosted that final at home more than any other team. l.

 

[James]

And lets face it neither Steelers nor Flyers are going to fill half the O on a Wednesday night. Its possible even the allocated away block wont fill with away fans ... but they should be given the opportunity to at least have the chance. Selling 90% to home fans before the opponent is even known isn't a good look. The final is supposed to be neutral ice (even if it isnt) the same as the playoffs in Nottingham.

 

[Earnie]

Personally I am not bothered if Belfast allocation is not 50/50 because no way is the opposing team going to bring 3000 fans or whatever the figure is.
We in Cardiff are only 3100 total capacity.

 

[Gisland]

Personally I am not bothered if Belfast allocation is not 50/50 because no way is the opposing team going to bring 3000 fans or whatever the figure is.
We in Cardiff are only 3100 total capacity.

Valid point from you and James. A final should be neutral, selling tickets before a final is not a good look.
But a valid point still remains, you can't bitch about something when your own club has been the biggest "offender"( or benefactor depending on your view)
Win or lose, the league will have a full house, all fans can watch the game live on TV, and if the Giants get beat, thousands of fans will take great pleasure from it and have that warm, smug glow.

 

[lloyd_jeff]

Let’s face it it’s just a money making competition.

 

[Rempel16]

Valid point from you and James. A final should be neutral, selling tickets before a final is not a good look.
But a valid point still remains, you can't bitch about something when your own club has been the biggest "offender"( or benefactor depending on your view)
Win or lose, the league will have a full house, all fans can watch the game live on TV, and if the Giants get beat, thousands of fans will take great pleasure from it and have that warm, smug glow.

How has it been the biggest benefactor / offender when it offered 50/50 allocation in both years against the Steelers and the year against the Giants...?

 

[Ejercito Rojas]

Didnt Cardiff hold the CC final where the Devils played in that final?

Yes and it was played in Cardiff at the weekend and each team had one half of the bowl with a 50/50 ticket split to allow the greatest chance for away fans to travel and attend!
Which, essentially are the main bones of contention with midweek finals In Belfast.

 

[Ejercito Rojas]

That's not correct... An allocation was made, but it was not 50/50.
As for a neutral venue, since the introduction of single-game finals,2014, were the Devils were in the final, they have hosted that final at home more than any other team. l.

Belfast would have had the option to take a full 50/50 allocation split but as Belfast only tend to take a handful of fans to away games (look at the pitiful attendance in the CHL) they didn’t take up that option and/ or returned unsold tickets!
When Belfast played Guildford in the 18/19 final if it wasn’t for Devils fans in attendance the arena would been barely half full!

Sheffield on the other hand have great travelling support and took up their full quota in their appearance.

 

[BostonBart22]

I think if Sheffield get to the final and it was a weekend game 3000 would travel, so it's belfast loss as a city , hotels, bars, rest etc

 

[TL91]

I guess as a sport, it rarely generates an away following of significant number in comparison to say, football. That’s why it should be on a weekend to encourage more attendance.

 

[tim78]

I thought Sheffield has held the final more than any other team, not Cardiff. The reason it moved to Cardiff was due to cost as there's no way if Sheffield aren't in the final that any other teams could come close to that capacity and Cardiff as proven it's a a sure bet it'll be full and can offer 50/50 allocation.

 

[moggy#9]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was that when Cardiff hosted, it was on the basis of a competitive bid before knowing who would be in the final. The giants have hosting rights on the basis of a very flawed seeding process.

Imo if the giants can't provide a date that is fair to the other finalist, then they should forfeit that right.

It has the appearance of Belfast gaming the situation to gain a competitive advantage.

 

[BostonBart22]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my understanding was that when Cardiff hosted, it was on the basis of a competitive bid before knowing who would be in the final. The giants have hosting rights on the basis of a very flawed seeding process.

Imo if the giants can't provide a date that is fair to the other finalist, then they should forfeit that right.

It has the appearance of Belfast gaming the situation to gain a competitive advantage.

And if they win it a possible gateway to European comps next season maybe

 

[Devils86]

And if they win it a possible gateway to European comps next season maybe

Given the upheaval with European hockey I can't see UK hockey getting 3 spots in European competition. League winners and then playoff winners get preference over CC winners surely

 

[moggy#9]

Given the upheaval with European hockey I can't see UK hockey getting 3 spots in European competition. League winners and then playoff winners get preference over CC winners surely

If there's only one spot in the continental cup it should go to the league winners. I'm expecting major changes to that competition though, in the light of what's happened to the champions hockey League, so who knows.

 

[Finny]

That's not correct... An allocation was made, but it was not 50/50.
As for a neutral venue, since the introduction of single-game finals,2014, were the Devils were in the final, they have hosted that final at home more than any other team. l.

Belfast were offered 50% of the tickets available to fans. The Giants managment chose not to take it and instead requested a smaller allocation.

Teams were allowed to bid on hosting the final. For a couple of years only Cardiff bid for it.

 

[E.D.S.]

You see a lot of Belfast fans saying “win more games and top the seeding if you want to host it”. I wouldn’t mind a group of just Scottish teams.
Can’t blame Belfast though, they are just playing within the daft system that is the CC. There’s no desire to revamp it so it will forever be a joke of a competition. That said…. I’d still want to win it. Even with a group full of Scottish teams they still would have tanked us at the start of the season.

Then we move on to the playoffs, another woefully designed competition… that I’d still want to win.

Surely someone a lot brighter than me could come up with a way of enhancing the product that both cup competitions deliver.

I don’t get why they don’t just scrap preseason games…. Use the CC for that and make the final over two legs. Complete all of the CC games before the league starts.

 

[BostonBart22]

Scrap the cc comp and have best of 7 series end of season for playoffs