The Blues have finally released their season ticket holder plan to deal with lost games during the lockout. I received a forward of their e-mail from a STH, and here's what the deal is:
As you know, the National Hockey League and NHL Players’ Association have not yet reached agreement on a new Collective Bargaining Agreement. As a result, the opening of the Blues’ training camp has been delayed, a few preseason games have been postponed, and some of our regular-season games could be postponed or cancelled.
The Blues remain hopeful that this situation will be resolved quickly and that we will be back on the ice soon. We sincerely apologize for this disruption and for the inconvenience it may cause. The Blues organization appreciates your patience and loyalty, we value your support and passion for the Blues, and we look forward to seeing you at Scottrade Center once a new CBA is in place.
We realize that you may have already made a full or partial payment for your ticket plan. In the event that the CBA situation causes games to be cancelled, we offer the following options with respect to such payments:
- Option One: You may leave your payment with us and we will credit your account with interest calculated at an annual rate of 5% simple interest on the portion allocable to cancelled games, to be applied toward future Blues ticket purchases (including playoffs), select events at Scottrade Center or Peabody Opera House or subsequent season ticket renewals.
- Option Two: You may leave your payment with us and we will credit your account with interest calculated at an annual rate of 10% simple interest on the portion allocable to cancelled games, to be applied toward Peoria Rivermen ticket purchases.
- Option Three: You may leave your payment with us and elect interest calculated at an annual rate of 1% simple interest. Your interest may be withdrawn from your account at your request, although we ask that withdrawals be limited to one per month (at the end of month for games not played during that period).
- Option Four: You may request a monthly refund for cancelled games. Refunds will be issued within 10 business days after the conclusion of every month following the official cancellation by the NHL.
Please select one of these four (4) options prior to September 30, 2012. Your payment will stay in your account if you decide not to choose an option. You can select an option online via your account manager by logging onto your account at stlouisblues.com/myaccount, clicking on View/Edit Settings, and then selecting Ticket Holder Options. You can also email your account representative to select an option.Interest will be paid on the prorated portion of your payment that is allocable to any cancelled games. Interest will be calculated from the point at which a particular game is cancelled to the date on which the interest is used for another purchase or withdrawn from your account. All interest accruals will end once a new CBA is finalized.
Again, we hope that a new CBA will be signed soon, with little or no disruption of the regular season. Once a new CBA is in place, your tickets will be sent to you.
Thank you for your patience and continued support. Please do not hesitate to contact your Blues Account Representative if you have any questions.
Sincerely,
Bruce Affleck
Chief Operating Officer
St. Louis Blues
All right then. As a quick run-down, you get 5% interest towards the purchase of tickets, you get 10% interest towards Rivermen games, you can treat it like a bank account and withdraw 1% interest a month, or you can just get a refund. Interesting.
I haven't seen any other team decide to treat their canceled games like a savings account, with cash for withdrawal if necessary. Also, I haven't seen a team offer an added 10% interest that can be used towards their minor league affiliate yet. Sure, there's a 168.4 mile drive that'll set you back 2 hours and 55 minutes (thanks, Google Maps!), but it's hockey. And you'll be able to see Jaden Schwartz and Vladimir Tarasenko play, so there's that.