pontcanna
10-03-2011, 09:10 AM
Some lessons to be learned from Prince George
BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMES COLONIST OCTOBER 1, 2011
PRINCE GEORGE — There is a sobering message in this northern B.C. town for Victoria hockey fans and Royals owner Graham Lee: Don’t let the euphoria of last weekend’s opening-night Western Hockey League home sellout lull you into thinking it will happen all the time.
It used to be so deafening and packed here in the CN Centre, after the Prince George Cougars relocated from Victoria in the mid-1990s, that there were serious concerns about ear damage. Now, with announced average attendance the past two seasons of just 2,164 and 2,207, library-like silences envelope the building on most Cougar game nights.
The first of those for the 2011-12 WHL season was Friday night as the Victoria Royals defeated the Cougars 5-4 in a shootout before a modest opening-night crowd announced as 4,530 but looking much smaller. In the second-game of the set Saturday night, the Royals defeated the Cougars 6-5 before an announced gathering of 2,096.
Several losing seasons, disenchantment with the direction of the team, and the economy have all contributed to the Cougar malaise.
“I don’t know why this has happened and everyone seems to have a different idea,” said Bob Davis, a retired car salesman, who has been a season-ticket holder since the Cougars moved here from Victoria for the 1994-95 season.
“The economy hasn’t helped. All the north has been hit hard and that makes it tough.”
Team volunteer Darla Horinek remembers well the halcyon early years when the team was freshly arrived and fairly successful on the ice.
“It was electric in the building when the team was winning,” she recalled.
“But as much as we love the Cougars, Prince George fans are a little fickle. The team has done poorly on the ice for years and that’s showing in the stands. But now the team again has good promise.”
But it’s still very much a show-me situation up here.
Cougars fan David Johnson, with family on the Island, was wearing an old Victoria Cougars edition of the franchise jersey.
“They run this as a business and not as a hockey team,” he said.
“Ownership is bringing this team down. The ticket prices are too high for the Cougars and that’s why we go to more Spruce Kings [B.C. Hockey League] games.”
Craig Stafford, a Cougars season-ticket holder for 15 years, was equally as blunt: “People in Prince George don’t like the ownership,” said the supermarket employee.
“But I don’t come to the games for the ownership. I come to watch the players play.”
Father and son Alan and Callum McLean, Prince George season-ticket holders since the team’s first season, reflected on the changing fortunes of the Cougars.
“The economy just died . . . the downturn in the forest injury hit us hard in the North,” said the elder McLean, a native of Campbell River, and retired from the federal government.
With the wins also evaporating, it turned into the perfect storm.
“The team has not been so great, to put it lightly,” said Callum McLean.
“But rebuilding the team will bring back the fans.”
Callum admitted to being “obsessed” with the Cougars.
Too bad there are not too many others.
“In 2007, we reached the Western final and filled the building, but we haven’t done anything the last three years,” admitted Cougars GM Dallas Thompson.
“We need a good start and to win some games. That’s obviously the magic ingredient.”
It’s a message Royals owner Lee said he’s taking to heart. He knows the attendance bump created in the early years, because of the novelty, will wear off.
“This [Victoria] is a very educated hockey market,” said Lee, during the sold-out Royals home opener last week.
“We will have to perform.”
Prince George could tell him that. It’s a case study.
BY CLEVE DHEENSAW, TIMES COLONIST OCTOBER 1, 2011
PRINCE GEORGE — There is a sobering message in this northern B.C. town for Victoria hockey fans and Royals owner Graham Lee: Don’t let the euphoria of last weekend’s opening-night Western Hockey League home sellout lull you into thinking it will happen all the time.
It used to be so deafening and packed here in the CN Centre, after the Prince George Cougars relocated from Victoria in the mid-1990s, that there were serious concerns about ear damage. Now, with announced average attendance the past two seasons of just 2,164 and 2,207, library-like silences envelope the building on most Cougar game nights.
The first of those for the 2011-12 WHL season was Friday night as the Victoria Royals defeated the Cougars 5-4 in a shootout before a modest opening-night crowd announced as 4,530 but looking much smaller. In the second-game of the set Saturday night, the Royals defeated the Cougars 6-5 before an announced gathering of 2,096.
Several losing seasons, disenchantment with the direction of the team, and the economy have all contributed to the Cougar malaise.
“I don’t know why this has happened and everyone seems to have a different idea,” said Bob Davis, a retired car salesman, who has been a season-ticket holder since the Cougars moved here from Victoria for the 1994-95 season.
“The economy hasn’t helped. All the north has been hit hard and that makes it tough.”
Team volunteer Darla Horinek remembers well the halcyon early years when the team was freshly arrived and fairly successful on the ice.
“It was electric in the building when the team was winning,” she recalled.
“But as much as we love the Cougars, Prince George fans are a little fickle. The team has done poorly on the ice for years and that’s showing in the stands. But now the team again has good promise.”
But it’s still very much a show-me situation up here.
Cougars fan David Johnson, with family on the Island, was wearing an old Victoria Cougars edition of the franchise jersey.
“They run this as a business and not as a hockey team,” he said.
“Ownership is bringing this team down. The ticket prices are too high for the Cougars and that’s why we go to more Spruce Kings [B.C. Hockey League] games.”
Craig Stafford, a Cougars season-ticket holder for 15 years, was equally as blunt: “People in Prince George don’t like the ownership,” said the supermarket employee.
“But I don’t come to the games for the ownership. I come to watch the players play.”
Father and son Alan and Callum McLean, Prince George season-ticket holders since the team’s first season, reflected on the changing fortunes of the Cougars.
“The economy just died . . . the downturn in the forest injury hit us hard in the North,” said the elder McLean, a native of Campbell River, and retired from the federal government.
With the wins also evaporating, it turned into the perfect storm.
“The team has not been so great, to put it lightly,” said Callum McLean.
“But rebuilding the team will bring back the fans.”
Callum admitted to being “obsessed” with the Cougars.
Too bad there are not too many others.
“In 2007, we reached the Western final and filled the building, but we haven’t done anything the last three years,” admitted Cougars GM Dallas Thompson.
“We need a good start and to win some games. That’s obviously the magic ingredient.”
It’s a message Royals owner Lee said he’s taking to heart. He knows the attendance bump created in the early years, because of the novelty, will wear off.
“This [Victoria] is a very educated hockey market,” said Lee, during the sold-out Royals home opener last week.
“We will have to perform.”
Prince George could tell him that. It’s a case study.