Friday, December 01, 2006

 

I always feel like, nobody's watching me!

According to Der Kommissar, attendance in the NHL has been 'strong' this season.

Perhaps 'Strong Bad' might be a better description?

Here's a sampling of the Strong Bad attendance from last night's action.

Tampa Bay at Boston - 11,150
Dallas at Washington - 10,912
Montreal at Carolina - 13,103
Toronto at Atlanta - 15,092
Florida at Ottawa - 17,814
Philadelphia at NYI - 10,280
Nashville at St. Louis - 5,410 !!!
Colorado at Edmonton - 16,839
Los Angeles at Phoenix - 11,526
Anaheim at Vancouver - 18,630

5,410 for the Blues game? Yikes!! It goes without saying that the Canadian teams can draw well quite easily, but only the Leafs/Thrashees game draw a decent crowd among the US-based games. The Cup Champ Canes can barely draw over 13k against the high-flying Habs? If these kind of numbers don't wake up Gary Bettman to the fact that his product just isn't flying right, then nothing will.

Comments:
Good to see the Atlanta fans showing up.
I would suggest bringing more fighting back into the game to boost attendance some. Most people like watching violence!
 
You can definitely see the change in Colorado this year. Pepsi Center used to sell out every night, now I am amazed at the empty seats. I think some of this is fallout from the lockout. Last year, prices stayed the same, fans came back. This year, prices went up and the product has been watered down.
 
The Blues attendence was reduced due (partially) to weather. It snowed in St Louis yesterday. That kept some fans from the game.
 
If the bet concerns Gary Bettman waking up, my money is on "nothing will"...
 
Even if weather was a factor for such a low number at the Scottrade Center for last night's game, the Blues have had poor attendance the whole season.

It's painful. I 'm gonna throw up now.
 
YIKES!
 
Weather is a weak excuse for STL's crappy attendance. Anybody tuned into the weather channel lately to see what hit Vancouver in November?
 
And since when did having to park your car 5 blocks away and tromping through a foot of snow in minus 39 weather ever keep Oilers fans away? Never. That's when.
 
*pssst. Somebody please tell Jes that it was "Rockwell" that did that song he just referenced in the title.*
 
For once the weathercasters nailed it. Try around 3+ inches of ice and sleet where I live. Which fell all day Thursday. On top of which 6 inches of heavy wet snow came to rest that night. And all of the police, tranporation people and media outlets were practically begging people not to go out on the streets if it wasn't necessary. Cause the roads? They were a nightmare.

So, folks it was more than just some trifling bit of snow. Try a regional disaster. Half a million people were without electricity. Still a few hundred thousand without it, in freezing temperatures. Even if I had paid for tickets, I wouldn't have gone. Not even for my beloved Blue Notes. And certainly not for the shitty team the new owner has put together. O/T: Watching a lousy team is one thing, but having the nerve to put that team on the ice AND raise most ticket price? Outrageous.
 
50,000+ people attended the Grey Cup game at $250 per ticket and there was a boil-water advisory for the city of Vancouver at the time. Either you're a fan or you're not and it's about time Canada reclaimed its game. Americans can have basketball, baseball and the NFL. It's no shame that they don't like hockey. Time to relocate the Blues, Pens, Panthers, et al to Hamilton, Winnipeg, Quebec City, etc., where they belong.
 
Firstly, a boil water advisory has NOTHING to do with driving conditions, so that is a fallacious argument. No sporting event is worth getting a car wrecked for. It costs too much to replace it and pay for the increased insurance, if nothing else.

And secondly, if the cities you mentioned can put together ownership groups and corporate sponsors to buy the Blues, Pens, Panthers, etc. and fund an arena for them to play in, then the NHL should not stand in the way of them moving back north of the border. Good luck with that.
 
OK, so bad water isn't the same as bad weather, but half the games in Edmonton involve trudging through snow in minus-40 weather (there's almost no parking at the Coliseum) and that's AFTER driving on icy roads from all across the PROVINCE, never mind the city.
Bad weather is a weak excuse.
 
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