Go gently into near summer

Someone needs to make sure that the Globe and Mail subscription is paid up at NHL headquarters, if for no other reason than that the powers to be can be made aware of the thoughtful commentary of Roy MacGregor.

It would seem that once Gary Bettman wades through the latest scoop on his plans from Stephen Brunt, he's hardly in the frame of mind for further discovery, for if he would only dig a little deeper he would have found some sound advice on the scheduling of playoff hockey heading far past the Victoria Day long weekend in Canada (for our American readers that's seven days prior to the Memorial Day kick off of the summer season).

Mr. MacGregor's latest contribution to the national discussion on hockey came on May 23rd at which time he provided this well developed treatise on how the ever lengthening of the hockey season and the shift away from the evening games to Saturday and Sunday afternoons is starting to shift the attention span of all but the most devoted of puck followers (less those fanatical types who have a home rooting interest all the way through to June).

It should be a cautionary tale for the NHL that in a land which sees winter for at least six months of a year, stretching things out into the few months where its fans dare wander outside may be asking too much of their loyal followers.

The lengthy delay between the Bruins victory of Friday and Wednesday's opening night (followed as it is by a two day delay until Game two on Saturday) has not escaped the notice of the Vancouver media.

The Vancouver Sun points an accusatory finger at the NHL's new best friends in the communications world NBC/Comcast, which it seems is providing a fair bit of input as to scheduling of the season finale (we have visions of the CBC hand tentatively raised upwards going but, but, but...)

Any concerns of the CBC no doubt dismissed rather quickly with the belief at the NHL head office that Canadians will watch hockey whenever it's put on the air (and there probably is some measure of logic in that belief, this after all a country that watches the World Championships at 7 am and has been known to get up extra early for those Olympic games from distant time zones and then there's Newfoundland which at times has been know to be in front of the tube into the dawns early light watching those late late games).

So, like it or not, most of us will probably be in front of a television somewhere come Wednesday evening and then patiently waiting for the days to pass between each game until the fabled trophy of Lord Stanley is passed on to the pair of waiting hands of ... (insert your choice here Mr. Sedin / Mr. Chara).

And for many in Vancouver and within driving distance in BC, the television is probably the best place to catch a glimpse of potential history in the making.

As heading to the rink would seem to be a rather costly little experience, the Vancouver Sun provides this serious case of sticker shock,  revealing that the StubHub online ticket broker service has an average price of $924 per ticket,  with dwindling numbers of ducats available as game one approaches.

What may leave more than a few Canadians scratching their heads however is the inflationary spiral of playoff hockey for this years version of the Stanley Cup finals, as the Sun reports in their article, the average price for tickets last year in Chicago  was 711 dollars and 521 in Philadelphia.  '

Considering the Canadian dollar currently hovers above it's American cousin on the currency exchange, the prospect of some price gouging at the expense of hockey loving  and conspiracy minded Canucks may not be dismissed too easily.

However for those with an excess of disposable income and who insist on being in the arena of hockey history, the task is simple just open up the wallet and keep rolling off the Borden's  a top end seat at centre ice at the Rogers arena checks in at 4200 dollars each.

Earlier in the week, Canada's newest multi millionaire lottery winner offered up the thought that he and the family would probably be taking in a Stanley Cup playoff game, judging by the rising cost of tickets as the Stanley Cup final approaches, he may yet make good use of his 35 million plus jackpot, hopefully he has some change to take home once the game comes to an end.

Hockey stretching into mid June and ticket prices that only lottery winners can afford, careful Mr. Bettman you're testing the base of your sport quite a bit these days, passion is one thing, but nice summer like weather and a sensible family budget may yet prove to have some pull with Canadians.