The Edmonton Oilers took care of some important tasks by playing well enough to reach the second round of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. But the franchise is not without problems in the postseason.
One issue that has been bad enough for outlets to write about is the lines in the bathrooms Rogers Place.
People have been complaining about how bad the restroom situation is at the arena, with lines so long that fans miss game action and have to wait for long periods of time in order to relieve themselves.
One thing the Oilers did to try and tackle the matter is convert two women’s bathrooms to men’s restrooms for the playoffs.
“For playoffs, what we’re seeing is we’re getting predominantly men in here – the more exciting the hockey gets, I think the less guys are willing to give up their tickets,” Susan Darrington, general manager of Rogers Place, told Global News. “So we’ve adjusted our plans and we flipped a restroom on our main and on our upper concourse to be more available for men.”
The result was longer waits and more complaints from women. But Darrington seems happy with the decision.
“You’ll never make everyone happy. I think we actually feel good about what we’ve done. The men are getting through faster, the women are seeing a little more of a delay.”
The Oilers also have attendants in the restrooms to help with managing lines and pointing out stalls in order to help move things along.
So why would a new arena have so many problems of this nature? They have more than enough toilets, but the concentration of them is the problem. There are a lot in areas available to premium ticket holders that don’t have large lines. It’s people in the other areas like the upper concourse who have to contend with the long lines.
The decision to convert a few women’s restrooms to men’s has upset women, though it helped alleviate matters for the men. As Darrington said, you’ll never make everyone happy.
Photo: IQRemix
