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Post by Gman on Jul 12, 2010 14:53:58 GMT -4
I think Halifax (Smith and Russell, & staff) have done a great job building excitement over this team again, and I think it will show in the attendance figures this year. The funny thing is, they didn't do anything special- they just did what should have been done all along.... draft quality players with high picks. It's amazing what optimism comes by not relying on journeymen and grinders. I think excitement is in the die hard fanbase. I think John Q Public just reacts to last year's product as well as the year before. I think for that reason attendance will probably drop again this year. If the team overachieves this year it should build momentum at the end of the year for 2011-2012. Fan support is usually a bit behind the on ice product, especially in terms of season tickets. Whenever you have a 2nd overall midget pick and a 3rd overall Euro pick added to your roster, it will bring out people who want to see. There has been lots of media coverage, and the word will get out that the team is young but skilled. It won't bring out 8000 per game, but (1) People who got fed up and cancelled their tickets will be back, and (2) people who didn't bother attending games last year (paid vs actual was always waaaaay off) will be there this year because there's something to see. I didn't say it would mean a huge jump in attendance, but it will be noticeable. It certainly wont go down- for every bitter fan who gave up on them after last year, there will be two that come back because of the bright future.
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Post by eastcoastfan on Jul 12, 2010 15:10:04 GMT -4
I was in the Mooseheads office last week to pay off my season tickets. I was told by the girl who works there that they were getting a lot of complaints from former season ticket holders who did not renew last year, but who now wanted their former seats back but they couldn't get them because hey were sold to new season ticker holders. Tells me it's likely that season tickets could be up substantially. I was surprised when I read this that people would actually expect their seats to be held for them even though they didn't renew but I guess that's just some fans' unrealistic expectations. Then I realized that the more surprising part of your story was that there were actually multiple new season ticket holders last year! I am holding off on getting my 15 game pack. I got it last year before I knew my daughter's hockey practice and game schedule and we ended up missing a lot of the Moose games because of conflicts with her schedule.
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Post by sharrow on Jul 12, 2010 15:27:26 GMT -4
The big difference in this process was that they personally went to see the players in action prior to drafting, also they likely interviewed them and I think they even had them visit Halifax prior to the draft ( the only exception was Frk, who came via Alan Walsh who has a great record of sending great euros to the Moose, including Gaborick and everyone knows what happened there. I have been saying for years that the G/M- Coach combo has been the way to go for years if you get the right person, it worked well for us under Clem, then it didn't work under Mongrain who seemed to be unable to do either job well. Most successful teams in the CHL use the combo system.
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Post by hfxfan on Jul 12, 2010 15:53:44 GMT -4
I was in the Mooseheads office last week to pay off my season tickets. I was told by the girl who works there that they were getting a lot of complaints from former season ticket holders who did not renew last year, but who now wanted their former seats back but they couldn't get them because hey were sold to new season ticker holders. Tells me it's likely that season tickets could be up substantially. I was surprised when I read this that people would actually expect their seats to be held for them even though they didn't renew but I guess that's just some fans' unrealistic expectations. Then I realized that the more surprising part of your story was that there were actually multiple new season ticket holders last year! I am holding off on getting my 15 game pack. I got it last year before I knew my daughter's hockey practice and game schedule and we ended up missing a lot of the Moose games because of conflicts with her schedule. I understood from her that most of the new season tickets holders were people who have come on board early this year, not last.
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Post by eastcoastfan on Jul 12, 2010 16:02:25 GMT -4
I understood from her that most of the new season tickets holders were people who have come on board early this year, not last. That makes sense. I was assuming it was last year.
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Post by lalalaprise on Jul 12, 2010 18:35:18 GMT -4
The big difference in this process was that they personally went to see the players in action prior to drafting, also they likely interviewed them and I think they even had them visit Halifax prior to the draft ( the only exception was Frk, who came via Alan Walsh who has a great record of sending great euros to the Moose, including Gaborick and everyone knows what happened there. I have been saying for years that the G/M- Coach combo has been the way to go for years if you get the right person, it worked well for us under Clem, then it didn't work under Mongrain who seemed to be unable to do either job well. Most successful teams in the CHL use the combo system. Teams interview players all the time, most teams interview face-to-face as well as over the phone, multiple times...its nothing new. That being said Cam did get out to a lot of games, which is very helpful. Also I dont think many players visited Halifax. Its not like they shipped in 60 kids, they probably brought in a couple, I know Ciampini was here. I agree with you that Coach/GM combos tend to work better...but if you have a good working relationship between your coach and GM than it should work fine as well. Problem is, when Marcel was here he didnt seem to get along with McKenzie or Russell. That situation will never work.
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Post by sharrow on Jul 12, 2010 19:10:31 GMT -4
It wasn't only Russell, there was articles that stated Smith made trips to Boston to see Terenzio and Vecchione so they all took these drafts very seriously and I think they will be repaid with a solid return of fans. I'm thinking we will average close to the 7000 mark by the seasons end also hopefullyl this teams performance will improve as the season progresses.
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Post by lalalaprise on Jul 12, 2010 19:44:57 GMT -4
It wasn't only Russell, there was articles that stated Smith made trips to Boston to see Terenzio and Vecchione so they all took these drafts very seriously and I think they will be repaid with a solid return of fans. I'm thinking we will average close to the 7000 mark by the seasons end also hopefullyl this teams performance will improve as the season progresses. What else did they have to do between March 21st and June 5th?? Baie-Comeau's GM was all over the place during the Quebec Midget playoffs... And its good they took the draft seriously...they are supposed to, its part of their job and in my opinion its the single most important day of the year. You tend to make the littlest thing and the most obvious thing they should be doing into such a huge deal...
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jul 12, 2010 19:45:00 GMT -4
I think excitement is in the die hard fanbase. I think John Q Public just reacts to last year's product as well as the year before. I think for that reason attendance will probably drop again this year. If the team overachieves this year it should build momentum at the end of the year for 2011-2012. Fan support is usually a bit behind the on ice product, especially in terms of season tickets. Whenever you have a 2nd overall midget pick and a 3rd overall Euro pick added to your roster, it will bring out people who want to see. There has been lots of media coverage, and the word will get out that the team is young but skilled. It won't bring out 8000 per game, but (1) People who got fed up and cancelled their tickets will be back, and (2) people who didn't bother attending games last year (paid vs actual was always waaaaay off) will be there this year because there's something to see. I didn't say it would mean a huge jump in attendance, but it will be noticeable. It certainly wont go down- for every bitter fan who gave up on them after last year, there will be two that come back because of the bright future. Having highly touted player brings out the more die hard fans but not necessarily the more leisurly ones that want to see wins before they fork out money.
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Post by lalalaprise on Jul 12, 2010 19:46:38 GMT -4
Whenever you have a 2nd overall midget pick and a 3rd overall Euro pick added to your roster, it will bring out people who want to see. There has been lots of media coverage, and the word will get out that the team is young but skilled. It won't bring out 8000 per game, but (1) People who got fed up and cancelled their tickets will be back, and (2) people who didn't bother attending games last year (paid vs actual was always waaaaay off) will be there this year because there's something to see. I didn't say it would mean a huge jump in attendance, but it will be noticeable. It certainly wont go down- for every bitter fan who gave up on them after last year, there will be two that come back because of the bright future. Having highly touted player brings out the more die hard fans but not necessarily the more leisurly ones that want to see wins before they fork out money. The diehards is all the Mooseheads had left last year...theres no way the attendence will drop...as the diehards are going to be the diehards. Season ticket sales are on the rise. No one is predicting 8400 fans per game, but they average more than they had last year.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jul 12, 2010 19:53:16 GMT -4
Having highly touted player brings out the more die hard fans but not necessarily the more leisurly ones that want to see wins before they fork out money. The diehards is all the Mooseheads had left last year...theres no way the attendence will drop...as the diehards are going to be the diehards. Season ticket sales are on the rise. No one is predicting 8400 fans per game, but they average more than they had last year. Some people had season tickets and cancelled, I'd be shocked if the season ticket base does not drop after 2 non playoff seasons.
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Post by canbeer on Jul 12, 2010 20:40:25 GMT -4
Whenever you have a 2nd overall midget pick and a 3rd overall Euro pick added to your roster, it will bring out people who want to see. There has been lots of media coverage, and the word will get out that the team is young but skilled. It won't bring out 8000 per game, but (1) People who got fed up and cancelled their tickets will be back, and (2) people who didn't bother attending games last year (paid vs actual was always waaaaay off) will be there this year because there's something to see. I didn't say it would mean a huge jump in attendance, but it will be noticeable. It certainly wont go down- for every bitter fan who gave up on them after last year, there will be two that come back because of the bright future. Having highly touted player brings out the more die hard fans but not necessarily the more leisurly ones that want to see wins before they fork out money. Leisurely fans still hear when talent is coming in. I had a couple people mention to me about hearing the Moose got some big Euro star in the draft and those are people that went to only 2-3 games last year. The word gets around and the team seems to have an improving energy in the city over the last few month. Newspapers and watercooler talk hits more casual fans than you think.
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Post by Gman on Jul 13, 2010 8:06:13 GMT -4
Having highly touted player brings out the more die hard fans but not necessarily the more leisurly ones that want to see wins before they fork out money. Leisurely fans still hear when talent is coming in. I had a couple people mention to me about hearing the Moose got some big Euro star in the draft and those are people that went to only 2-3 games last year. The word gets around and the team seems to have an improving energy in the city over the last few month. Newspapers and watercooler talk hits more casual fans than you think. Yup, that's what I was getting at. Word spreads fast about high level skill coming to the organization. The aquisition of players like Ashley, Ciampini, and Frk will be in the papers all the way up to the season opener, and if they have tremendous camps, the hype will sell tickets. People in Halifax (even the non-diehards) have been craving an exciting team for 3 years now. Also, last year there were zero NHL drafted players on the Mooseheads. This year there will be 3- it does make a difference to the casual fan. I agree that some people might have been feeling fed up with the team, but I'd say the majority who cancelled their tickets did so after the 2008-2009 season. Any that were going to after this past season have likely changed their mind after the drafts. If not, they don't know hockey too well.
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Post by fireball on Jul 13, 2010 10:05:55 GMT -4
One thing is different Price, this is Halifax not Moncton.
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Post by Captain Obvious on Jul 13, 2010 10:08:41 GMT -4
One thing is different Price, this is Halifax not Moncton. That's my point, Moncton's attendance history has had less dropoff in down years. Thanks for agreeing with me.
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