The Coyotes win with defense. There's no mystery about that. They're
6-0-1 this year in games in which they've allowed two or fewer goals,
and they're 0-6-1 in all other games. The Dave Tippett philosophy: You
can't lose if you don't give up any goals.
That system has won a
lot of games the past two years, although it hasn't necessarily shown up
in the attendance numbers, partially because casual fans aren't
enthralled by the idea of a 1-0 game. But the Coyotes have a solution to
that: a ticket promotion that will turn every fan into Tippett (albeit
without the sharp suits and salary and whatnot).
An offer the
Coyotes are calling the "GOALden Ticket" essentially works like this:
You purchase a lower-bowl ticket -- which normally costs $75 -- for
$100, and that ticket is good for potentially all of the team's last 10
home games. The catch is that it's only valid as long as the Coyotes
have allowed fewer than five total goals in those games; once that
number is reached, the ticket is void.
So if Mike Smith can
channel his inner Brian Boucher circa 2004 for that seven-week period,
it's possible that a GOALden ticket holder could see 10 games for a
total of $100, which suffice it to say would be a ridiculously good deal
(especially since the 10-game package includes contests against the
Kings, Red Wings, Canucks and Sharks). But if the Coyotes were to get
torched in the first of those 10 games -- on March 9 against the Stars
-- the deal would look a lot less favorable. In fact, it wouldn't be a
deal at all; it would just be an extra $25 spent on one lower-bowl
ticket. So there's some risk involved for the fans, who would have some
motivation to steal Chase Field's "We want tacos" and make it "We want
shutouts."
It's worth mentioning that the same GOALden Ticket
package can be had for $250, with the higher dollar amount extending the
goal limit from five goals to 25. Considering that the Coyotes allow
only 2.6 goals per game, there's actually a good chance one could see
all 10 games for that price at an average of $25 a pop. Not bad.
Of
course, most fans will probably opt for the lower-priced package and
take their chances that $25 will buy them an extra game or two (or
nine). The Coyotes would actually seem to be taking on most of the risk
in that scenario, but consider this: If the Coyotes go 10 games without
allowing five goals, there's a pretty good chance they're winning
most/all of those games, in which case a playoff berth would seem
likely. And you can bet that those playoff tickets will be just a tad
more expensive ...
