A Picture is worth 1000 words, or a spreadsheet

Here's a graphical followup on the issue of travel schedules in the NHL. Over at CalgaryPuck.com, forum users took an image from Sportsline.com and provided some additional insight into divisional setup. First, the overall view:

Secondly, there were splits added for division and conference splits:

Now, if we add in expansion teams for Kansas City and Las Vegas, what might make sense from a geographic perspective? I took the images and mocked up some lines of my own. Let's try eight divisions with four teams each:

The tricky thing here is what do about Detroit and/or Columbus. Both would seem to be good candidates to move to the Eastern Conference, but you know the Western Conference teams like having the Red Wings come to town to guarantee good crowds. This option has Nashville moving to the East to join up with more natural rivals in Atlanta, Tampa Bay and Florida. But what if we tossed the Blue Jackets over to the East instead?

This might appear to be a pretty workable solution, actually. For those who wonder why Columbus should head east rather than Detroit, I'd note that in this picture Pittsburgh should actually be in the southwest corner of Pennsylvania, and is actually pretty close to Columbus (163 miles, equal to their distance from Detroit). As much as it would stink for the Red Wings to be the only Eastern time zone team in the West, it's gotta be somebody.

Whatever happens in the next few years, I think we can all agree that more interconference games need to occur, so the big stars in this league get into as many different cities as possible.

How I'm Trying To Make Money Sports Blogging

To kick off this series of articles general sports-blogging articles here at OTF Classic, I think it's best to start with a comment that Brad left here last week, after I shared my goals for 2012, which include specific revenue targets:
I considered diving into the world of internet marketing myself, but I felt that my friends would hate me for bugging them about stuff. I mean, it's pretty low-risk high-reward, so it's tempting. I wouldn't mind reading about tips on how to maximize impact of blogging in general to make it a legitimate income source. Trying to make money at sports blogging can be a very touchy subject - for the vast majority of us, this is an activity we pursue to both exercise our creativity and share our love of the game, whether it's hockey, football, badminton, whatever, with fellow fans. Mixing that personal conversation with a commercial message can turn people off, especially if it becomes too intrusive for the reader.

It's not unreasonabl…

Canadian Baloney, starring James Mirtle

A tireless refrain from the Canadian media is that Nashville is an absolute failure as a hockey market, and failing to move the team north of the border is an exercise in folly by the NHL.

Our latest exhibit comes from James Mirtle, usually one of the more thoughtful hockey bloggers extant:
But Nashville, quite simply, has proven it cannot sustain an NHL hockey team. Even with the lowest ticket prices in the entire league (I know: I've looked into flying there for a game or two) and a ridiculously forgiving arena lease, the team has had attendance issues despite having one of the best records in the league.

It's not a matter of Canadians not wanting teams in the southern U.S.; I've argued time and again in favour of teams like Dallas and Tampa Bay that have supported their teams and really brought something to the table in terms of bringing news fans and new energy to the game. That's a good thing.

The Predators, however, are not that, not in the beginning and certainly no…

Social Media, Internet Marketing, and Real, Paying Customers - it really works!

Applying the basic tenets of internet marketing (SEO best practices and social media network building) have helped me grow the readership and engagement over at On The Forecheck tremendously in recent years, but lately I've been wondering if those same techniques could be applied to small- or medium-sized local businesses, to help them drive real, tangible business results.

I'm talking about not just drawing idle hockey fans looking to a blog so they can muse over line combinations, but helping businesses connect with potential customers in ways that otherwise wouldn't occur. Recently, I was able to help make just such a thing happen, and it shows just how great the opportunities are for small, local businesses which may not have the resources or skills available to extend their brand effectively on the internet.

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