Exhibition Habs Beat Preseason Panthers
September 17, 2009, by Homme De Sept-Iles
Prologue
Florida 2 at Montreal 3
Years ago, the NFL didn’t like the sound of “exhibition season” and worked to change that language. The league thought that the term “exhibition”, though accurate, was not very flattering. Perhaps they felt that it evoked images of clown amateurs or strike-style scabs living their dreams through their paying customers’ hard-paid-for tickets. That league now refers to that portion of the season as “the pre-season”.
The NHL has followed suit. They also refer to the silly season as “the pre-season”. And have done so for almost as long a time. Both leagues benefit from the perception that somehow these games are worth the same price as a regular season game. At least on a semantic level.
But the fact remains, in both leagues, that starting players, the stars and best individuals of a team, don’t get the playing time that they would in regular season contests and that coaches are still tinkering with their rosters and systems. Not even close.
It might mean that we don’t see a team’s best lineup. For example, Carey Price played only half of the Canadiens’ exhibition, er, I mean pre-season, match tonight against the Florida Panthers. For many fans, that means we don’t see the best quality for as long as we may think we deserve. Say, the whole game?
For other fans, the tinkering and the experimentation is a source of fascination. Seeing different line combos, speculating about whether what we see is what the coaches see and developing our own theories about what will happen are part of the fun for these thinking fans.
In either case, don’t be fooled; sports leagues are telling players and those associated with the game to use the terminology they want to see used. And they don’t really care if we realise it. Just so long as we pay for the seats.
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3 comments
Great post.
Personally I kinda like seeing the younger guys. It gives me an idea of how hungry and what these young guys play like.
I guess it is somewhat a source of fascination for me in some respects.
It’s always been a love-hate thing with these games for me. You definitely need a program, and the beer and popcorn aren’t any cheaper. The big game held in Terrace the other night, billed as Hockeyville, had a roster of players no one’s ever heard of. And it was televised! All those people, excited for a year at the thought of NHL in their little rink, and no big names are in the lineup.
Also, I always wondered what happened to the words “exhibition game.” Although sometimes I still call them that. I should be ashamed of myself.
I don’t mind either term, really. I just like noting league propaganda efforts, in general.