Armed Forces Night at the ACC

[GlavaMan]

A special night to honour our members of the Canadian Armed Forces whereby season ticket holders donate their tickets to the members & their families.


Over 6,000 tickets donated by season ticket holders on Armed Forces Night in Edmonton.

Over 5,000 tickets donated by season ticket holders on Armed Forces Night in Ottawa.

A total of 200 (yes, that's two hundred) tickets were donated by season ticket holders in Toronto.

Don Cherry didn't say a thing. Imagine if that was just 200 seats in Montreal?

He would have gone ballistic.

 

[Never Compromised]

The good citizens of Toronto know that if they donated their tickets, there would not be enough members of the CF left to fight in Afghanistan. So really, Toronto was doing its part to keep our Afghan mission well.


But more seriously, I would expect that it is because season ticket holders in Toronto are corporations that use the tickets for business, rather than individuals that are free to give away the tickets.

And it is one thing to give away a $80 ticket, it is entirely another to give away a $800 ticket.

 

[GlavaMan]

I understand that it is the corporate climate but you have to wonder why Ron MacLean would say 200 when that pales in comparision to other cities. He should have just said it without giving a number. I commend the season ticket holder in Toronto that did donate.

My Sens tickets were $86 each and I was proud to donate them.

 

[diehard]

I'm confused here.

What kind of tickets are those?

And who can use them? familiy members?

 

[The Fruity Hare]

I'm confused here.

What kind of tickets are those?

And who can use them? familiy members?

It was a promotion whereby the seat holders could donate their tickets to members of the armed forces for the game last night against ottawa.

 

[diehard]

It was a promotion whereby the seat holders could donate their tickets to members of the armed forces for the game last night against ottawa.

Any member of armed forces? Even those who do desk work?

 

[diehard]

What does it matter diehard?

Curious..............................................................

 

[pentdragon]

Armed Forces Night..

Free tickets was a nice touch for those back in garrison

Too bad they didnt recommend a young GFE or 2. My son (20yr) could use the distraction before he ships out to Afghanistan this month Task Force 1-08 It might be nice to ensure he heads out with as little on his mind as possible...

 

[MuffDiver]

What does it matter diehard? POint of the matter is, Toronto's season ticket holders are a shameful bunch compared to the rest of the country.

I don't think it's just the season ticket holders. I've lived in 3 cities and 2 countries in the past 15 years and am looking to leave Toronto as I find Toronto the most selfish and self-centered city I have ever been in.

This is just 1 person's opinion, so let's not get into a flame war. I've met many people I will keep in touch with and certainly do not believe ALL or even most people here are selfish and self-centered - just a higher percentage than I have ever encountered as a resident or tourist anywhere else.

 

[Scarey]

I live in edmonton and can say other then the obviously generous hockey fans much of your comments can be spoken of this town also.

 

[jimmyt]

I gave my seasons' up for Saturday.....personal for me as my nephew is a soldier. Then I was given a pair by a supplier and gave those up as well.

Poor communication by the Leafs though....no one heard about it until very close to the date, after their tickets had been given away, or otherwise committed. They should have flagged this before the season started like Edmonton did......althouh I am still not sure if that would have given them more than a few hundred......

 

[Kang]

They did that for the Raptors game against the Lakers as well. I wonder how many Raptor fans gave up their tickets?

 

[xarir]

I gave up as many Raptors & Leaf tix as I could, but MLSE only sent the email out about 2 weeks (or less) before the games were played. By then we (the company) had already committed some of the tix we had.

Interestingly, I got the Raptors communication first, then the Leafs one several days later. So on the Leafs game, there was less than 2 weeks notice. Our Leaf tickets are generally spoken for more than a month in advance. It just turned out I had one pair left for this game which is all I was able to donate to the cause. Kinda pissed me off really as I would rather have supported the troops for this one game.

 

[GlavaMan]

Two weeks notice is really sad. Especially, in a corporate city where tickets are committed. I had to have my Sens tickets turned in a month before the game. Notice went out with the season ticket renewal & it was followed up six weeks into the season. Had MLSE given the same notice, there would have been thousands of our Military at the ACC.

 

[Never Compromised]

Had MLSE given the same notice, there would have been thousands of our Military at the ACC.

You do realize that out military could not fill the Skydome? It is sad to say, but more people would rather watch a crappy baseball game, than defend this country.

 

[yaya17]

Some good points. For one - MLSE only notified the season ticket holders a few weeks prior to the game via email. Since many of the ticket holders use them for corporate reasons it's easy to probably assume that the tickets had already been given to cutomers ahead of the email. What are the corporate ticket holders to do? Call their customers and ask for the tickets back. I know some people that are in charge of their company's tickets for the entire year and many of them are handed out before the season even begins.

Although I was able to donate my tickets I can see how many of the season ticket holders were not able to. I think that a lot of the blame should rest on MLSE. Although there was mention of a 'troops night' earlier in the season nothing was set in stone until MLSE sent out the email just after the new year.

Considering that about 70% of season ticket holders are corporate and many of the remaining people use many tickets for gifts and donations it's hard to expect a full turnout in terms of donations. If MLSE had taken the road that Edmonton had taken (notifying season ticket holders prior to the beginning of the season) then I believe that the number of troops present on Saturday night would have been much higher.

Donating tickets to the people that serve and protect our country is the least we could do. It's just a shame that MLSE dropped the ball on this great idea.

 

[CapitalGuy]

Any member of armed forces? Even those who do desk work?

Desk work today then field work tomorrow. Desk work in Ottawa this year then desk work in Kandahar next year. Even finance clerks and cooks and airframe technicians and plummers and "fat-cat" colonels have to do their jobs at odd hours in faraway places, and spend time away from home on courses or exercises or operations. That major who died in Israel, bombed by the IDF, spent most of his career behind a desk. Then gets killed in the field. Replaced in Israel by some other major who got yanked away from behind his desk on a week's notice, to go to the other side of the world and replace a dead man. Even the infantry sergeant who's riding a desk at some HQ in Toronto, used to be in the field or overseas, and probably will be soon enough again. Does it matter what the guy's doing right now, or is it what he or she does over their whole career.

You may as well ask about those lazy firefighters who are sleeping at work all day or playing cards or watching TV...............until of course you need them and they risk their necks for you. Get over yourself.

 

[Bigbossfan]

Great reply Capital Guy....couldn't have said it better myself!

 

[Rodman]

Some good points. For one - MLSE only notified the season ticket holders a few weeks prior to the game via email. Since many of the ticket holders use them for corporate reasons it's easy to probably assume that the tickets had already been given to cutomers ahead of the email. What are the corporate ticket holders to do? Call their customers and ask for the tickets back. I know some people that are in charge of their company's tickets for the entire year and many of them are handed out before the season even begins.

Although I was able to donate my tickets I can see how many of the season ticket holders were not able to. I think that a lot of the blame should rest on MLSE. Although there was mention of a 'troops night' earlier in the season nothing was set in stone until MLSE sent out the email just after the new year.

Considering that about 70% of season ticket holders are corporate and many of the remaining people use many tickets for gifts and donations it's hard to expect a full turnout in terms of donations. If MLSE had taken the road that Edmonton had taken (notifying season ticket holders prior to the beginning of the season) then I believe that the number of troops present on Saturday night would have been much higher.

Donating tickets to the people that serve and protect our country is the least we could do. It's just a shame that MLSE dropped the ball on this great idea.

We did not get enough notice to do anything. We had already given away our tickets to clients. It seems that this is typical of how things are run at MSLE - and you wonder why the Leafs are struggling?