Creating momentum is one thing. Building on it is quite another.
Last season, with the introduction of the New Ice Age, the Prince George Cougars had their host city buzzing about them for the first time in at least a decade. The change in ownership of the local Western Hockey League team had been long awaited, and Greg Pocock and his group didn't disappoint. With the initiatives they took and the money they invested, they brought CN Centre back to life on game nights. Their efforts resulted in an increase of about 1,000 fans per game from the previous season and, suddenly, going to see the Cougars became a fun experience again instead of a depressing one.
The question is this: as an organization, will the Cougars be able to crank things up another notch this season? Will they draw the fans back in even bigger numbers, or will there be a cooling in enthusiasm for the team? Because often, when something new comes along, there is a spike in interest for a certain period of time and then there is a natural leveling off or even a regression of that interest.
As the Cougars prepare for the official start of training camp today at noon, all signs point to the organization being able to build on the buzz of last season. The biggest factor is the quality of the team itself. Led by world-class forward Jansen Harkins, who was a second-round draft pick of the Winnipeg Jets this summer, the 2015-16 Cougars are loaded with NHL prospects. Others nabbed by big-league clubs this summer included forwards Brad Morrison (fourth round, New York Rangers) and Jesse Gabrielle (fourth round, Boston Bruins). As well, forward Chase Witala got a post-draft invitation to Dallas Stars camp and forward Jared Bethune was asked to attend the camp of the Minnesota Wild. Then there are defencemen Sam Ruopp and Tate Olson, who were drafted in the fifth and seventh rounds by the Columbus Blue Jackets and Vancouver Canucks respectively. Put these guys on the ice and back them up with one of the top stoppers in the WHL, goaltender Ty Edmonds, and you've got a team that should do a lot of winning. And, as has been proven time and again, nothing puts bums in seats and generates excitement like a winning team.
There are other reasons why the Cougars are in position to keep their forward momentum going this season. Having the Canucks here for part of their training camp (Sept. 18-20) sure won't hurt. With Dan Hamhuis and the Sedins in town, folks will be in the mood for hockey. And in a perfect bit of scheduling, the Cougars will play a home exhibition game on the 19th against the rival Kamloops Blazers. It's easy to envision a lively CN Centre that night, much like the era when Hammy (who is now a Cougars owner) was throwing hip checks for the Cats. A nice result and an entertaining game against the Blazers could be the perfect springboard into the early part of the season, a time when the Cougars will be looking to make their mark as a quality team within their division and the WHL as a whole.
Other factors that will help keep interest high: the chance to see the development of highly-touted prospect Justin Almeida, chosen fifth overall by the Cougars in the 2014 bantam draft; a new logo that represents yet another break from the previous ownership; a new pre-game laser light show that will take on various looks as the season progresses; and the planned return of a massive 50/50 draw, done for the first time last season when Pocock contributed $25,000 to the pot. The eventual winner, Anthony Santos, walked away with more than $33,000 and the other half went to the Shelly L. Mrkonjic ALS Research Fund.
"There is a strong demand and we are working with the gaming commission to find ways to make that happen again," said Pocock, the team's president.
"It would have to be structured very differently this year," he added. "What I can tell you is that in preparation for more success this year we are basically doubling the amount of (50/50) kiosks and hand-held scanners that the Cariboo Cougars volunteers will have for ticket sales so that we can handle increased demand for 50/50 tickets this year with smaller lineups and shorter waits."
Ultimately, Pocock and the other Cougars owners are committed to running their entire operation - the hockey side and the business side - the right way. Their reward will be continued support from the corporate community and the ticket-buying public. Already, in fact, more than 90 per cent of last year's season ticket holders have renewed for 2015-16 and those numbers will continue to climb as the season gets closer.
The last word goes to Pocock.
"We have built some momentum and everything I've heard all summer long has been extremely positive and supportive," he said. "I look at what we did with our charity golf tournament (in July) and the amount of money we raised at the golf tournament. The interest in being on board and doing things with the team, it's very, very high. The corporate world is very high (in support) and that was an area that was very slow to adapt last year. So I just don't see us going backwards at all. I see us going forward."
