Royals off to a roaring start 08 Nov 11
Steve Ewen, The Province
Published: Tuesday, November 08, 2011
Formerly known as the Bruins, the team's popularity is soaring in new city
The Victoria Royals have started this WHL season averaging 5,845 fans per home game. Last season, as the Chilliwack Bruins, they averaged 3,321 a night.
Stories don't get much simpler, do they?
"I'm not surprised at all," Kelowna Rockets owner and operator Bruce Hamilton said of the success of the Royals, who, with owner Graham Lee leading the way, brought the WHL brand back to Victoria this offseason for the first time since 1994.
I felt it was going to be a very good spot right from the start.
"I just think it's a market that, whether people liked it or not, was looking for something to call its own that competed with other teams within this province, and they've taken ownership of it. I think those people were waiting for something like this."
According to Hans Hornstein's minor league hockey attendance website, the Royals are fourth in the 22-team WHL, trailing the Calgary Hitmen (7,457), Rockets (6,074) and Spokane Chiefs (5,849) and sitting just in front of the Vancouver Giants (5,536).
In their five years in Chilliwack, they finished 10th twice, followed by 15th, 17th and 16th, respectively. Their best season for attendance was their second, when they averaged 4,534.
Again, according to Hornstein's site, the Royals have had seven crowds of 5,000 or more in their nine home dates at the Victoria Save-On-Foods Memorial Centre, which has a capacity of 7,006, according to the WHL official guide book.
The Royals (10-8-0-1) could be in for another good-sized crowd tonight, with the Edmonton Oil Kings (10-5-1-1) coming through town. The Oil Kings feature defencemen Griffin Reinhart and Keegan Lowe, the sons of former NHLers Paul Reinhart and Kevin Lowe.
Edmonton is in Vancouver on Wednesday to face the Giants.
According to Hornstein's site, the Bruins had only 12 crowds in their five regular seasons of 5,000 or more. Things do get a little tricky there, though, since WHL guides listed Prospera Centre, where the Bruins played, with a capacity of only 4,817.
The prosperacentre.com website lists seating of almost 5,000 for sporting events but the ability to accommodate over 6,000 for concerts, and Wikipedia has the building with a 5,386-seat capacity.
No matter. You get the idea. The Royals are off to a roaring start.
"It's a loud group there," Giants captain James Henry said on Monday of the Victoria fans after his team split a weekend twin bill there before a combined attendance of 13,067. "They're obviously passionate to have the team back there. It's something a little bit new to them.
"There was energy in the building. You can feel that. You can feel the fans into the game. They're knowledgeable, too. They're not just cheering for goals and hits."
They do seem to have the makings of some staying power. Marc Habscheid is the Royals general manager and coach and his previous stops included the Rockets, who are one of the league's benchmark teams, both in the standings and at the gate.
"I'm sure, with having had experience with Marc, that he's going to make sure those players are busy in the community," said Hamilton
Led by team president Dave Dakers, there's also a group in the front office that worked with the Victoria Salmon Kings, the ECHL team that was the previous marquee tenant at the rink, so they should know the business area.
The Salmon Kings spent seven years in Victoria, finishing with an average home attendance of 3,718 last s eason.
They started out at 2,290 in their first year and topped out at 4,923 in their fifth year.
There's still a lot of work to be done in the community," said Dakers.
Lee has strong WHL connections, since his company owns Prospera Place, the home rink of the Rockets. He bought the Bruins from a group led by Darryl Porter in April.
The last WHL team in Victoria, the Cougars, stayed from 1971-1994, when they moved to Prince George.
sewen@theprovince.com twitter.com/SteveEwen
