So Much For Home Ice Advantage

Am I the only person who has a problem with the new promotion the Aeros are running? In case you haven't seen it, the Aeros are running a special promotion for Detroit Red Wings fans for this weekend. If you buy tickets for the games this weekend, specifically if you buy a ticket for Saturday's game -- both featuring the Aeros hosting the Grand Rapids Griffins -- then after the game, you get to attend a meet and greet with the Griffins.

And wait, it gets better. They're selling $17 tickets in the Griffins attack zone -- I love how, on the flyer they call it the "lower end zone (Griffins shoot twice)." Like Red Wings fans don't actually know anything about hockey. So not only are they insulting Aeros fans by making a specific attempt to award Griffins fans, but they're insulting Griffins fans at the same time by treating them like idiots who don't understand hockey terminology.

I'm all for better attendance. I'm all for getting new fans into Toyota Center because it brings a great energy to the building. But putting together ticket packages that deliberately attempt to bring in fans to cheer against your team is just, I don't know, wrong. Especially when you're stacking them in an area directly behind your goalie.

Is anybody over at the Aeros marketing department doing any thinking? I've got an idea, why don't they just go ahead and move the games to Grand Rapids? I'm sure they would get a whole lot more Red Wings fans, but I somehow seriously doubt that Grand Rapids would be putting together a meet and greet package for Aeros fans.