|
| |
|
|
|
Where are all the fans? WHL’s first-round story is attendance |
|
|
|
Written by JIM SWANSON, Citizen Sports Editor -- WHL NOTES
|
|
Thursday, 27 March 2008 |
Maybe the low turnstile numbers at CN Centre aren’t that concerning after all.
Check out the low crowd counts in the first round of the playoffs -- the Kamloops Blazers set an all-time low of 2,570 on Wednesday as they bowed out in the four straight (again); the Brandon Wheat Kings, who averaged 4,123 in the regular season, had but 2,888 for Tuesday’s playoff home opener; the Kelowna Rockets and Medicine Hat Tigers both saw lengthy home sellout strings come to an end in their playoff home openers; and Seattle announced attendances of 3,002 and 3,145 for the final playoff run at KeyArena. The Thunderbirds are moving to a new building in Kent sometime next season.
How about this one? Comcast Arena in Everett, known as one of the loudest buildings in the league, was anything but as Silvertips fans evacuated the bandwagon for Game 3, the first Everett home playoff game. The crowd? Try 4,217, about half of capacity.
The most concerning place, without question, is Kamloops, where the once-proud Blazers have become one of the league’s laughingstocks. The franchise hasn’t won a first-round playoff series since 1999 -- Marc Habscheid was the coach then -- and the team is a combined 5-32 in its last eight playoff outings. That includes last spring’s four-game sweep by the Prince George Cougars, and this year’s meek attempt at upending the Tri-City Americans.
“This organization hasn’t sold... ever,” Tom Gaglardi, one of the new Blazers owners, told Gregg Drinnan of the Kamloops Daily News. “It never sold. We could sell you tickets if you called us, but other than that... This isn’t one year. What you’ve seen happen on the ice and what you’ve seen happen with attendance has nothing to do with this season. It’s the last nine seasons.
“And this season has done nothing to turn it around.”
Gaglardi defended the team’s entertainment package -- something that is always criticized when teams start to see a fall-off in attendance. He also put nearly all the blame at the feet of those who have run the on-ice portion of the franchise, despite the fact off-ice scandals involving missing money, a controversial president in Colin Day and a tumultuous process leading up to last fall’s sale, have generated more real news.
“We’re going to fix our hockey program,” said Gaglardi, who bought the team with ex-Blazers Jarome Iginla, Mark Recchi, Shane Doan and Daryl Sydor. “Everybody says your intermission package, your entertainment value... I heard that when I got here and I have really studied it hard. I’ve now been to nine other arenas this season... I don’t see anybody outdoing us. It’s about eighth on my list of things to do.
“You’re not going to win every year . . . but as a Kamloops Blazers fan,” Gaglardi added, “you should expect the team to come out and play hard. We haven’t done that this season. That’s all hockey program and culture... that’s all it is. This Blazers organization has accepted mediocrity. The message Kamloops needs to understand is that these five owners won’t accept it anymore. It’s not going to be tolerated.
“It wasn’t tolerated when they were players; it won’t be tolerated here.”
It appears the head coaching efforts of Greg Hawgood will also not be tolerated. Gaglardi said the interim bench boss will be welcome to apply for the position, but all indications are the Blazers will hire Vancouver Giants assistant coach/GM Craig Bonner, a former Blazers defenceman, as the new general manager and let him hire a head coach. Expect to see Hawgood and current assistants Steve Gainey and Shane Zulyniak stay on staff, but the Blazers are planning to follow the current leaders.
“The model we’re going to have is full separation between business and hockey,” Gaglardi said before the Blazers bowed out of the playoffs with a 6-2 home-ice loss to the Americans.
“It’s the Giants model, the way the Giants run their club. I believe that’s the best thing for our ownership. The model would be that the head of hockey reports to me and the head of business reports to me, as well. These will be people with full autonomy and full responsibility. I won’t be active day to day but I will be there for those people. I envision talking to them on most days but the decisions will be made here.”
AHL DEBUTS -- Greg Gardner, the captain of the Cougars this past season, and Dana Tyrell, the likely captain next season, have skated in pro hockey. Tyrell has two assists in three games for the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals, the top farm team of the Tampa Bay Lightning, while Gardner made his pro debut for the Portland Pirates... Prince George product Ryan Howse earned solid reviews for his first full-time foray into the WHL playoffs. Howse had two points as his Chilliwack Bruins were swept in the first round by the Giants, but he nearly ended a long overtime in Game 3, the fourth-longest in WHL history, when his shot hit both posts and somehow stayed out. Brandon Manning, another local product who zipped to Chilliwack as soon as the Spruce Kings were once again eliminated in the first round of the BCHL playoffs, acquitted himself well on the Bruins’ blueline under the patient coaching style of Jim Hiller... Series updates -- the Medicine Hat Tigers, Brandon Wheat
Kings, Everett Silvertips and Moose Jaw Warriors are all against the ropes, down 3-1 in their respective series. The Seattle Thunderbirds and Kelowna Rockets have played a road-advantage series, with the away team winning the first four games including Seattle’s OT win in Game 3 in Kelowna. Game 5 was played Thursday in Seattle, with the T-birds winning 6-2 for their third-straight win in the series, taking a 3-2 lead. Regina and Swift Current are tied at 2-2 after the Broncos won Game 4 at home in double overtime... The Americans and Giants are awaiting their next opponent... In case you’re curious, only one WHL team has come back from a 3-0 deficit to win a seven-game series, and that was the 1996 Spokane Chiefs, who turned the tables on the Portland Winter Hawks... The next year, the top-rated Hawks were stunned in the first round by the Cougars in six games, the series that will always stand as the awakening of Cougars fans... The Saskatoon Blades fell behind 3-0 to Lethbridge in a 1990 playoff series, then battled back to force Game 7, only to lose on a goal 2:31 into overtime.
WANT TO BEAT A BRODSKY? -- Who doesn’t? The Cougars announced Thursday a unique idea, a Maple Leaf Meats and Save-On Foods sponsored table-top hockey event on April 1st -- no, not an April Fools joke -- that will let fans challenge owner Rick Brodsky, business manager Brandi Brodsky and local roster players Garrett Thiessen and Brett Connolly. The fun starts at 4 p.m.... Vancouver forward Spencer Machacek, the team captain this past season, signed with the Atlanta Thrashers. Machacek was a third-round choice of the Thrashers last summer... New Red Deer coach Jesse Wallin will help Pat Quinn lead Canada’s U-18 team at the world tournament in Russia next month... On the CIS champion Alberta Golden Bears roster, former Cougars captain Eric Hunter was hardly the only Prince George connection. Lee Zalasky was on the club and had a short stint with the Cats, while defenceman Aaron Agnew, who didn’t dress, is from Prince George. Harlan Anderson, a former Moose Jaw defenceman and a stalwart for the Golden Bears, has signed a free-agent deal with the Edmonton Oilers. Anderson is going straight to Springfield of the AHL.
 |
|
Last Updated ( Wednesday, 08 October 2008 )
|
|
|
Who's Online
We have 130 guests and 6 members online
|
Subscribe to this comment's feed
