Should the Q hold an outdoor game?

With the long awaited announcement that the OHL would have two regular season outdoor games at Comerica Park in Detroit as part of the NHL Winter Classic, I wonder if Gilles Courteau has begun to fathom the possibility himself. 

I hope the commissioner of the QMJHL has at least contemplated the idea of the QMJHL holding an outdoor game

The positives to the idea are endless. The exposure the QMJHL would get would be priceless. Not only would fans in Quebec and Atlantic Canada be watching, but more than likely fans across the nation and maybe internationally as well.

And if the Q was able to put on a great event and gain attention, chances are networks like Sportsnet would air more games.

All this and I didn't even get into the revenue yet.

Revenue is the biggest positive. The revenue to be had in an outdoor game would be huge.

Scenario: The Quebec Remparts host the Halifax Mooseheads outdoor game at Olympic Stadium in Montreal. 

This scenario would work out amazing if Mikhail Grigorenko did not make his NHL club in the fall. A showcase of Grigorenko versus MacKinnon in a stadium that can hold 65,000 plus spectators would definitely bring in a ton of cash.

Let’s say the average price of tickets to the event were about $15. If Olympic Stadium sold out (and all indications are it would), that’s $975,000 on ticket sales alone. Add in concessions, and merchandise, as well as parking and you could easily clear three million dollars in revenue before taxes.

On top of ticket sales, merchandise, concessions, as well as different events leading up to the game would also bring in serious dollars.

You can also bet that the host city would do everything in its power to hype up the game. Even with the host city taking in 20 percent of gate revenues, you’re still looking at the upper end of two million dollars.

I honestly do not see many negatives at all with an outdoor game, certainly not from a business perspective. The only negative I’ve been able to come up with is that ice surfaces outdoors are not as good as indoor ice surfaces, but that hasn’t stopped teams in the past.

The OHL is generally a trendsetter and I can imagine David Branch and company will make these two games a spectacle next year. So, I plead with Mr. Courteau, consider the idea?

If you do, I guarantee you will become an even smarter man.

jonathan@theqspot.ca

Frk finding success in 2012 despite Moosehead struggles

The Halifax Mooseheads struggles in 2012 continued this weekend with losses to both Cape Breton and Saint John.

Friday night at the Metro Center, Cape Breton capitalized on their chances to beat the Mooseheads 4-3 in a game where Halifax outshot their opponents 42-27.

Then Saturday, in Saint John, the Mooseheads were able to keep up with the Sea Dogs until a three goal onslaught in just over three and a half minutes in the third period, ended any ideas of a Halifax victory. However, not all is dark in Moose Country. Despite a slow start, Martin Frk has taken his game to a new level to start 2012.

Frk’s struggles this season have been well documented. He began the pre-season on fire, with six points in three games, until a concussion put him out of action until mid-December. Then a technicality kept him out of action again until after the World Junior Championships. His initial return was lackluster with only one goal in seven games. It was clear he wasn’t in game shape, and it showed. He was slow, and didn’t look nearly as dangerous as he had last season when, as a 16-year-old rookie, he was second on the Mooseheads in scoring with 22 goals and 50 points. His draft ranking plummeted. Some were projecting Frk a top 5 pick in the NHL draft entering his rookie QMJHL campaign to where he sits currently; 25^th North American Skater by CSS, 32^ndoverall by ISS, and 36^th overall on Craig Button’s Craig’s List on TSN.ca.

But while the Mooseheads are having a slow start to 2012, Martin Frk is breaking out. Frk has been held off the scoresheet only once in seven games to start the New Year. In that span he’s had three multi-point games. Frk now has 10 points on the season, five goals and five assists. Nine of those points have come in 2012. If Frk can maintain this torrid pace, he’ll finish the season with 38 points and 19 goals in only 36 games played.

Mikhail Grigorenko, the QMJHL’s top prospect, is first on the ISS rankings and second among North American skaters on the CSS rankings has 26 goals and 59 points in 37 games for the Quebec Remparts this season. Frk’s 2012 pace would put him at 24 goals and 48 points over that same timeline. Not much of difference for someone who’s currently expected to be drafted at least a full round lower this June at the NHL Entry Draft. It was Nathan MacKinnon who was supposed to be the star of Rogers Sportsnet Friday Night Hockey showdown against Chicoutimi, but it was Frk’s highlight-reel goal and NHL ready shot that dominated discussion. Frk is starting to turn some heads again and if he continues his strong play don’t be surprised to hear his name called much earlier than currently expected on draft day this summer.

Halifax Mooseheads: Numbers Game

The Halifax Mooseheads have won two of their past three games, defeating Drummondville 6-2 on Thursday night before losing to Chicoutimi by a score of 7-4 on Friday in a game seen nationally on Rogers Sportsnet. The Moose then traveled to Cape Breton where they required a third period comeback in order to secure a 6-4 victory. Here’s ten other numbers you need to know about the past three games.

Halifax gave up only two goals on 18 powerplay opportunities. Both were surrendered to Chicoutimi.

Three Fights in a single game versus Chicoutimi. They play again, in Chicoutimi, Feb. 10,

Jonathan Drouin led the Herd with six points. He now has 10 in nine games.

Brad Cuzner scored his 10^th goal of the season, Shorthanded, against his former club Sunday afternoon. It was the eventual game winner. Four of those 10 goals have come at the expense of the Screaming Eagles.

Nathan MacKinnon scored his team leading 22^nd goal Friday night on Rogers Sportsnet. That’s three less than 17-year-old Quebec Rempart standout Mikhail Grigorenko.

Halifax currently sits at 26 wins, six more than they achieved all of last season.

The Moose powerplay pitched in at 33 per cent, up from their 24 per cent seasonal average.

Chicoutimi amassed 50 shots against the Moose. That’s the most allowed by Halifax this season.

Zach Fucale played 60 minutes against Drummondville. The only game not to feature a Mooseheads goalie swap.

It took Chicoutimi 82 seconds to score three goals in the third period, blowing Friday night’s game wide open. Brodeur scored two of the goals, completing his hat trick.

Bonus Number: 12,265 Fans packed the Metro Center for the Mooseheads two home games.

Mooseheads Weekend Preview

It has been a rocky start to 2012 for the Halifax Mooseheads so far. After losing two straight, the sixth place Mooseheads (24-13-1-3) hope to get back to their winning ways with a matchup against the 14th place Drummondville Voltigeurs (17-22-2-3) on Thursday night. It promises to be an entertaining battle at the Metro Centre as Halifax hasn't lost three straight games since the 2010-11 season, but Drummondville has gained momentum after their home ice win last week over the West Division leading Armada.

The Mooseheads may be leading the season series 2-0, but both of those games were decided by a single goal. Meanwhile, Drummondville is coming off a loss against the Wildcats Wednesday evening.. Alex Emond scored their lone goal. He has three goals in his last two games.

The last time the Mooseheads met Drummondville ended in a 2-1 Halifax victory with goals from Luca Ciampini and Matthew Boudreau along with Nathan MacKinnon chipping in two assists. The Moose power play went one for six that night and they killed off all three Voltigeurs advantages.

Expect a large crowd at the Metro Centre Thursday night as members of the Toronto Blue Jays will be in attendance. Roberto Alomar, Eric Thames, J.P. Arenciebia and Brett Cecil will be signing autographs to any game ticket holders from 5:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. as the East Coast portion of their Winter Tour kicks off in the city.

After Thursday, the Moose will then go national on Friday night against the Chicoutimi Sagueneens (21-14-3-5) to conclude their five game homestand. Rogers Sportsnet will be televising the game nationally to all Sportsnet subscribers as part of their Friday Night hockey programming. To accommodate Rogers programming schedule, the game has been pushed back to 8:00 p.m. The two clubs have yet to meet this season and fans should expect an already tough Chicoutimi squad to play even tougher than their current 9th place standing would suggest with the additions of Mathieu Gagnon, Christian Ouellet and Jean-Gabriel Pageau who are now third, fourth and fifth in team scoring. Chicoutimi got their East Coast swing started Wednesday night in Cape Breton with a 6-0 victory. Pageau and Ouellet each had three points.

The Moose will take a day off before concluding a busy weekend on Sunday when they travel to Centre 200. This will be the seventh meeting between Halifax and Cape Breton this season with the series currently tied 3-3. The Mooseheads are narrowly outscoring the Screaming Eagles 23-22 in that span. Expect the Moose to be led by centre Matthew Boudreau and Brad Cuzner, who always seem to get an added boost against the Screaming Eagles. Boudreau has scored nine points in six games including six goals against Cape Breton this season. Cuzner has nine goals on the season since being waived by the Screaming Eagles. Three of those nine goals have come against his former team this season.

Their last meeting on Dec. 30 resulted in a 6-4 Moosehead victory. The Mooseheads' powerplay has been very efficient at 23 per cent in the six games versus Cape Brenton this season, but Coach Ducharme will look to get a little more out of their penalty kill which has only been 76 per cent efficient.

Halifax has only won five times in their last ten games.