2009 NHL Playoff Thread

Edmonton's still horrible, but they still pack the place. A good portion of the problems had to do with the weakness of the Canadian dollar at the time.

 

Did they this year? IIRC, and I could be wrong, but attendance dropped off towards the end once it was clear they were going nowhere. But I was thinking more of the early and mid-1990s, when the Canadian dollar's relative weakness didn't help the franchise's overall financial picture, but the fans didn't come either.

 

I believe they still packed the joint every night, or close to it. In the early/mid 90s the Oilers fans were also dealing with having just witnessed every player of any worth -- save for Bill Ranford -- being sold off for scraps. The disenfranchisement did not last long, however. It took the removal of Pocklinton as owner through the Alberta Treasury Branch assuming ownership of the team when Peter Puck delcared bankruptcy in the mid-90's and subsequant campaigns by the team to reinvigorate the fan base. And they came back and the ATB made it possible for a local group of investors to buy the team instead of Les Alexander from Houston who said he would keep the team in Edmonton, but it became clear he had alterior motives to move the team, to Houston. The NHL also brought in the Canadian Equalization program that made it possible for the smaller market Canadian teams to survive with the dollar worth about 65 cents.

Any market would have it's attendance drop if the team actively sold off every marketable player on the roster, especially after that franchise had just finished re-writting the NHL record book. However, the Oilers fan base has been very supportive of the franchise outside of that five-year window. For example, the last eight seasons under Craig MacTavish, the oilers made the playoffs just three times in that period with their most marketable player being Ryan Smyth, and over that time they opperated at about a 98 per cent capacity. Sure that may be a few more playoff appearances than the Coyotes over that time but in my books that's still struggling, especially as in those playoff appearances I believe the highest they ever qualified was eighth.

 

Somehow, I knew you'd be here soon to back me up on this one...

 

my interweb deally has been down the last couple of days.

End of the day, the Oilers sold out Rexall just about every game with ticket prices that dwarf those in Phoenix on the potential of young players coming off of two non-playoff seasons including one of the worst in franchise history. Phoenix didn't come close to selling out the building with cheap tickets and one of the top, young teams in the league in terms of the potential of players on their roster and holding down sixth place in the conference into February. The comparisons to where Pittsburgh was three or four years ago are valid talent-wise.

So you want to talk about the validity of a market, yeah look at how the fans come out when the team struggles. Not every market forgets the team exists. Pittsburgh has a long hockey history, so the dream of a turnaround with the fan base there wasn't as nearly far fetched as it is in Phoenix. Chicago has also had a long hockey history but also a prolonged bout with incompetance in ownership. It's damn hard to chear for a team when ownership keeps screwing you over. Chicago through its support of the Wolves continued to prove it was a worthwhile hockey market. New England has always been a hockey market. Same with Minnesota, Dallas and Denver. There is a proven desire for hockey there. Phoenix, Florida, Nashville and Atlanta I can't say the same. The league in moving into these markets needed to hit a home run almost imediately for success but didn't, the closest they came was Miami and haven't been close since. The acknowledgement of these teams in these markets is negligable. For example, a couple of years ago Nashville had a home game in March against Detroit for first place in the division. They got 14,000 out for the game and it has been down hill since then.

 

It's easier just to hate the Flyers without being that specific.

 

No, until the day my biological father stops drawing breath, I love the Flyers. Their management though, I despise them and I think my cats would do a better job.

 

Flyers hockey. Breaking hearts since the spring of '76.

 

This double standard thing is complete horseshit. People, it's not about Fucking attendance. Do the Coyotes even register in Phoenix they, had a whopping 300 people show up to a save the franchise rally. How much revenue can each market gernerate? How much is the local tv deal and the local radio deal? Attendance is such a small part and is used by lazy journalist as a benchmark. Teams paper the buildings with free tickets and tickets that cost less than junior hockey games just so they can get their welfare cheque from the league.

The Pens problems were never fan related, it was about the building.

Phoenix does not have a hockey tradition worth saving. Hockey was still talked about and covered even when the Oilers struggled it was still the number one thing covered by the media. Apart from a small percentage of hard core fans, nobody gives a shit in Phoenix. You could fill that building in phoenix every game and for the prices they're charging they'd still be getting an NHL welfare cheque.

 

Comparing the Oilers to the Coyotes is like comparing the Steelers to the Texans, or the Yankees to the Nationals. Of course the team with a storied tradition (not to mention all those Stanley Cups) will probably get through tough times with more fan support than a franchise that's 12 years old and has made the playoffs only once.

When the NHL decided to go places like Phoenix, Carolina, Tampa Bay, Miami and Atlanta, I'm sure they knew it wouldn't be all smiles the moment they got there. It takes years to grow a fan base where it scarcely existed before. If the league was going to grow its fan base and increase its TV markets and its own worth, it needed to hit the Sun Belt and take a chance. It was a gamble. As has been noted before, in southern Ontario, it's not about the teams but the sport -- fans would watch NHL games, no matter who's on TV.

And yes, I understand it's more than attendance. It's revenue and TV/radios deals, too. But without success on the ice, those don't come as easily. In Carolina and Tampa Bay -- where they've won Stanley Cups -- they've been able to consistently draw attendance numbers on par with Edmonton are are seen as better markets. In Miami, Atlanta and Phoenix, there's been some lean years on the ice. Go figure, those franchises are seen as the weakest links.

It would be much easier to gauge Phoenix as a hockey market if the Coyotes have put a good product on the ice. They haven't, and the support hasn't been there. Just like it wouldn't be there in Long Island, Chicago, Boston, Detroit, New Jersey, Pittsburgh or most any other American market.

 

Tampa Bay didn't draw squat until they won the Stanley Cup -- the franchise was constantly rumored to be on the verge of moving. This year, they were 22nd in the league in attendance. Another year out of the playoffs, they'll be drawing 8,000 a game. Ditto for Carolina, which was 21st in attendance.

 

http://sports.yahoo.com/nhl/blog/puck_daddy/post/Turns-out-the-Stanley-Cup-actually-was-back-in-M;_ylt=AlBbqrcfHr8Nfc10eU5e_AU5nYcB?urn=nhl,170649

Recreating a little history: The Stanley Cup in Mario Lemieux's pool.