Classics bob plager on Ice ACTIVITIES

The 1960s

TM

Bob Plager Transportation In the article about Bob Plager, he notes several changes in hockey over the years. Merchandising, jobs, helmets and travel are all very different now than when he began playing for the St. Louis Blues in the 1960s. Plager joined the team right after the expansion of the National Hockey League when they went from six to twelve teams. Typically, NHL teams visit an opponent for one game, then move on to the next town. The Original Six teams were in cities that are fairly close to one another. Montreal, Toronto, New York, Boston and Detroit were just a few hours apart with Chicago as the furthest team from the others. Travel to and from road games was normally by train and was easy, efficient and cost effective. Expanding the league also expanded the distances necessary for travel to and from road games. Suddenly the league stretched from coast to coast. Adding six new teams - the St. Louis Blues, Los Angeles Kings, Minnesota North Stars, Philadelphia Flyers, Pittsburgh Penguins and the California Seals - caused the league to move to flying as the preferred mode of travel. Objectives: • Develop research and planning skills • Demonstrate the ability to form new ideas from previously learned information • Recognize and understand trends in U.S. population movement • Understand how these trends translate into the relocation of established NHL teams and the creation of new ones • Understand the factors, such as demographic, cultural, technological and social, that caused movement and relocation of teams Activity One: St. Louis Blues Road Trip Materials Needed: St. Louis Blues schedule, paper, writing utensils, calculators, internet access, St. Louis Post-Dispatch ePost or print edition, list of National Hockey League teams, maps Students should research the St. Louis Blues schedule and choose a road trip to follow the team. Bob Plager mentions using commercial flights and trains. Although most teams now use charter transportation, students should use commercial flights or trains, just as he did. Divide the class into small groups to plan a weekend trip to an away set of games. They will assume two adults and two children will be traveling, attending every road game, staying in a hotel, eating and visiting tourist spots in those cities. They should research flights or trains and create an itinerary that allows them to get from city to city in time for the games. They should record expenses for the travel, including the mode of travel, hotels, game day ticket prices, food and beverages, souvenirs and admission prices to area attractions. Have the groups share their plans and finances with the class. Extension Activity: Using their previous calculations, students should calculate what it would cost to take the entire team, coaches, trainers and staff on the same trip.

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The 1960s

TM

Activity Two: Set the Schedule Materials Needed: St. Louis Blues schedule, paper, writing utensils The St. Louis Blues schedule shows that most road trips include several games. From January 12 - 15, they play Los Angeles, San Jose and Anaheim, which are fairly close to one another. The next week they face Winnipeg, Pittsburgh and Minnesota. Winnipeg and Minnesota are close but Pittsburgh isn’t. Have your students analyze the schedule and reorganize it as geographically efficient as possible. Extension Activity: Geography isn’t the only consideration when setting a schedule. Have your students brainstorm what other factors need to be taken into consideration, such as fatigue or home ice advantage. Activity Three: Migration of the NHL Materials Needed: map, internet access, paper, writing utensils Have students research and map the location and relocation of NHL teams from 1967 until now and include on the map new franchises that have been created in the past 50 years. Extension Activity: Students should develop theories as to the reasons for expansion of the league and relocation of teams. Activity Four: Newspaper Connections Materials Needed: ePost or print edition of the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, St. Louis Blues schedule, paper, writing utensils Bob Plager mentions weather as having been a travel concern when he played. Have your students use the ePost or print edition to find the weather in upcoming cities where the Blues will be playing. Using the newspaper’s weather map and page, have them create a Venn diagram to compare the weather in St. Louis and the weather in the opposing teams’ hometowns. They should write a description of each team’s weather in one circle and write the commonalities in weather in the overlapping circles.

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