Page 1 of 2 1 2 LastLast
Results 1 to 10 of 19

Thread: Cougars relocation on the horizon?

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Location
    kamloops
    Posts
    1,265

    Default Cougars relocation on the horizon?

    By Rick Wile www.kamloopsthisweek.com
    Feb 11 2007


    THESE ARE UGLY times for Rick Brodsky in Prince George. The owner of the WHL Cougars is in the eye of the storm, amid speculation that, because of poor fan support, he will relocate the team.

    The threat of the possibility has prompted some hockey fans to establish a website: www.keepthewhlinpg.com.

    They are urging fans to show that Prince George is a hockey town by packing the CN Centre for two BCHL games on Fe. 23. and Feb. 24 to show the WHL that Prince George has plenty of hockey fans.

    But as the website points out, “we will not be ‘lining the pockets’ of the current local WHL ownership,” which seems to be a major source of the boycott of WHL games.

    Dig deeper in the bowels of the site and you have a fans accusing Brodsky of nepotism, with son-in-law Dallas Thompson running the hockey operations and, daughter Brandi taking care of the business operations.

    He’s accused of being too thrifty, of being unsympathetic toward fans and even being cavalier toward them. They’ve grown to resent the fact ownership has made millions of dollars over the years, but hasen’t put enough back into the franchise to make it the jewel of major junior hockey.

    They even resent Brodsky for holding onto the team by refusing to accept either of two purchase offers presented before the current season, one from a Prince George group the other from a group of former players which included everyone’s all-time favourite Cougar, Eric Brewer.

    One WHL governor I spoke to this week even knew of at least another group that also had an offer turned down.

    Those are just some of the nasty things they’re saying about the Cougars’ owner, but they’re forgetting one thing — Prince George is damn lucky to be in the WHL in the first place.

    The people making the noise today have no clue how much cajoling Brodsky had to do to convince fellow WHL governors that Prince George, and its new multiplex facility, was a win-win for him and the league.

    The majority weren’t interested in going to Northern B.C. because of the travel, but they were begrudgingly swayed because the league had a responsibility to save an owner from financial ruin in a Victoria market where the major junior hockey image had been ravaged by previous owners.

    Things were great early as attendance grew, with the Cougars averaging more than 5,700 fans per game for four years, from 1997 to 2001 before dropping to about 5,200, then 4,400, then 3,600, and down to 3,200 for the last couple of seasons.

    The current season has the Cougars floundering at an average of just under 3,000 per game.

    That is clearly not an acceptable number, and you can bet the mortgage that relocation will have to be visited sooner than later.

    In the end, it will be Brodsky’s prerogative of whether or not to move.

    Selling is not an option. He has already said that. He won’t be bullied by fans in a season of unrest that had the team telling everyone that it was going for it by winning the Devin Setoguchi sweepstakes, but 20 games in, found itself scrambling to stay healthy and in a tailspin that eventually led to the dismissal of the coaching staff.

    As the Cougars attempt to regain a measure of respect for their on-ice product, which would ultimately improve the image of management, the onus is still on the fans to support the franchise if they want to keep it.

    As much as we are all conditioned to believe the adage, “If you build it they will come,” you can add another one: “If you don’t support it, it will leave”.

    Go to the bank with it.


    --------------------------------------------------------------------------------

  2. #2

    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by scamperdog
    As the Cougars attempt to regain a measure of respect for their on-ice product, which would ultimately improve the image of management, the onus is still on the fans to support the franchise if they want to keep it.

    As much as we are all conditioned to believe the adage, “If you build it they will come,” you can add another one: “If you don’t support it, it will leave”.

    Go to the bank with it.
    I disagree 100%. The onus fall SQUARELY on the ownership group of Prince George Cougars to provide a product that people are willing to support on a continual basis. Thousands of people did that at one point in time and Cougars management has obviously not done their job in maintaining that customer base. The reasons are varied and numerous, but ultimately that is THEIR failing. In this particular case, it SHOULD NOT be put back onto the people of Prince George.

    I'd actually love to see a reporter (preferably one in PG) actually try and disect the reasons for this franchises steady yet predictable demise. When push comes to shove, our press generally takes the predictable "blame the fans" approach and pretty much refuses to ask any difficult questions of the team or team ownership.

    "If you build it they will come" is a nice platitude, but unfortunately, nothing resembling consistent on-ice success has really been built and as a result, people have stopped coming.

    Having grown up in this town and knowing the fabric of the people, I think a more appropriate remark would be "If you give them a legitimate reason to come, the building will take care of itself"

  3. #3
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Prince George BC
    Posts
    1,225

    Default

    I have to argree with Cougar Guy here. How can the current ownership blame the fans in PG for not supporting the team, when the franchise has done next to nothing to support the fans or the City in any way shape or form. How can he justify this being the 12th year in Prince George with no banners to show, and only two seasons of extended playoffs? I fully understand that junior hockey is cyclical, but at what part of the cycle has this (un)organization ever legitimately been? Why thought process was undertaken with this season? Sure....sell the future and show a going for it attitude, but why would you do that when this looked to be one of the weakest BC divisions in a long time? Looking at preseason rosters Vancouver was a shoe in for taking the BC div. and knowing that they had a birth into the Memorial Cup it was a no-brainer that they were going to be the team to beat (at the time). No one can say they could have predicted Kamloops to be as strong as they are, or that PG was going to flounder they way that they did. To look at the playoff picture early, the trip to the Cup goes through Vancouver. Did the Cougars mamnagement really stop and think about that? They knew at some point they would have to beat Vancouver, a team that everyone knew was going to load up for the playoffs and the Cup to even have the chance to get into the WhL finals.

    The www.keepthewhlinpg.com site has shown to be a double edged sword around here. On the opne side it would send a strong message to the Brodsky's and the WHL that there are a lot of hockey fans in PG. On the flip side it could be interpreted that PG hockey fans would sooner watch BCHL that WHL. I've heard people say the only way to keep the team here is to attend the games and have strong attendadce numbers. If we all did that there would be no reason for the Brodsky's to sell, or even try to improve the team for that matter, if the money were still rolling in. By showing dwindling attendance numbers people have shown strongly their dissatisfaction withthe ownership. Its telling them that there were 5000+ strong Cougar fans in this city, but due to ownership not managing the team into a winning franchise you have driven them away. You don't care about your product for us to watch, why would we care about giving you our hard earned money?

    I know it will be a hard seel to try and get the majority of the Board of Governors to vote to keep the Cougars in PG, and not let the Brodsky's move it yet again. I don't know if there is one team in the league that wants to make that trip west from Kamloops and turn right at Cache Creek to come up here. Another thing to concider though is this. How many friends does Rick have left on the Board? I understand from a number of sources he's p'd a lot of people off at the Governor level, so they might vote against him just because. There is a pattern clearly developed here. Buy or move the team to a new city. Have great support for a few years while hype is still strong. Once it takes a good hockey person to develop the team into something, the team spirals down hill quickly, loosing fans support. Apply to move again.

    There has historically been good fans support for hockey here in PG. The fans have had enough lip service. Enough empty 'promises' of building the team into a winner. Twelve years, no championships of any kind. People here aren't dumb. They know it can be done, and done is a pretty short period of time. They have seen Kootenay win the WHL and Memorial Cup. They have seen Kelowna do the same thing. Everett and Vancouver, two of the newest franchises in the league are poised to take the WHL again, and again before the Cougars have won anything. 12 seasons, 7 head coaches, and to many assistant coaches to count. The hockey isn;'t the problem here. The problem is the people in charge haven't got a clue what to do or how to do it. The fans are fed up.
    I understand this is a rebuilding year, but come on boys!!

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Oct 2006
    Location
    Prince George
    Posts
    74

    Default Very interesting

    The are a couple of things in Mr. Wile's article that are missing, that are strictly business. The BOG may allow Brodsky to move the Cougars, but believe me they will have a pile of questions to answer from a strictly business perspective.

    - For the first few years Brodsky made "millions" of dollars in PG. So it is clear that this can be a highly profitable place to own a junior hockey team. There are lots of teams out there that are not making "millions" that are going to wonder why the hell this guy is giving up on this market.

    - There will be several qualified ownership groups coming forward. Pretty tough to say "I can't make it here" when there are lines of smart businessmen waiting to cash in on your team.

    - There is a real lack of suitable markets to relocate to. Edmonton is now out, and the GVRD will not support a third team. Kamloops and Kelowna would most likely not support a team in Vernon, which have been mentioned. Vancouver Island is possible, but I understand that Victoria and Nanaimo would go as a package. Well, forget Victoria this team won't be going back there. Their ECHL team is drawing OK and as long as they have a lease the dub is probably out. Nanaimo has a bigger rink on the drawing board, but it's at least a couple years off. I highly doubt the league would approve a move for a guy to play in a substandard rink for 1-2 years. The other growing markets in Western Canada are in the North (Grande Prairie, Fort McMurray) and may factor into the future but I don't think the dub is interested right now. I guess there are a few markets in the USA in Idaho and Montana I just don't think there's any guarantee hockey is a big sell there.

    - There are other teams in trouble, maybe PG is just the most public. Seattle is having big problems with their building. A new building may be coming on in one of the suburbs but nothing is concrete yet. Portland is apparently bleeding tons of red ink. Kootenay is one of the top teams in the league, yet they don't draw that well and are in a small market. They opted out of their lease on an attendance clause a couple of years ago and I don't think it was just for fun (didn't find anywhere else to go). Moose Jaw appears to have a new rink coming on but will be delayed until the 2009-10 season. The league gave them an earlier deadline and will have to make a decision there.

    The travel may be the team's biggest downfall but as businessmen, these guys really have to look at the market. And, PG is a good mid-size city in Western Canada with a growing economy and good demographics. If I were a businessman, it would be pretty tough to walk away from. Not impossible, but I would need one hell of a compelling reason to leave.

  5. #5
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Speedy Creek
    Posts
    226

    Default

    As someone who is originally from BC I agree with you guys on this one. PG has great fans and can have amazing support. They way the owner has ran the team over the last 12 years he should be happy he is getting 3000 people to ANY game. When you dont have a clue how to run an orgainization and you hire even less competent people to help run it...its only a matter of time before the Fans say screw you. I for one hope something can be changed and the team stays. PG has some great fans and is a great city you desreve the team to stay.
    Don't take life so seriously...you can't get out of it alive.

    BRONCOS 4 LIFE

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Location
    East Side
    Posts
    570

    Default

    Yes, I agree PG fans will go to watch good hockey.
    The PG organization needs to shape up, and start fixing the problems within the club. They can start with the fact that one of the players' bench doors is sticking because the plexiglass covering the advertisement is poorly installed....
    Warm Up the Bus....

  7. #7
    BIG_CLAW Guest

    Default

    People are selling Brodsky short. 12 years in PG but how many years did did he own the Victoria cougars? He's been killing hockey in BC for almost two decades in two markets. Brodsky should be told sell or make it work in PG. The league can't like this guy as a owner can they? If the league lets Brodsky move this team the board of goveners are on crack he will just go and kill another market.

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Speedy Creek
    Posts
    226

    Default

    Brodsky is to the WHL as the Libermans (spelt wrong) are to the CFL. When will the league wake the he11 up and realize that its not the markets that screwing it up its the owner screwing the markets. People can only be screwed for so long as to not even get a kiss or a hug afterwards before they just stop caring. I know the people in PG love hockey, but they dont have anything to love with Brodsky.
    Don't take life so seriously...you can't get out of it alive.

    BRONCOS 4 LIFE

  9. #9

    Default I wouldn't say this team wouldn't go back to Victoria

    There is a push on for WHL hockey in Victoria. Len Barrie is the guy really pushing for it and not into the big Save-on-Foods Arena either. But at Bear Mountain Arena. (Whether that is only temporary is questionable as if the Salmon Kings leave I am sure they will switch). Stumbling block is Barrie wants to be part of the ownership group. Doesn't sound like the current Cougar owner is giving up control though.

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Prince George BC
    Posts
    1,225

    Default

    I just can't wrap my head around the league owners wanting to travel on 'ferry time' for their road games. If they think the travel north is a pain, and no doubt it can be, then wait for the whining if Victoria gets the Brodsky's back. Given his track record there, I can't see many people in Victoria wanting to support another of Rick's teams. At least travelling up here only entails time and fuel. Anyone want to do the math for getting a loaded bus with upwards of 35 people on board across on BC Ferrys?
    I understand this is a rebuilding year, but come on boys!!

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •