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Post by SteveUL on Mar 16, 2008 11:10:56 GMT -4
They may not have the greatest #s, and the #s may be fickle, but in terms of how the fans actually act in the rink during an average game.......... per capita the fans in Bathurst are the best. To me the example of this I saw this year was in the second game of our Feb 1/2 doubleheader there, which I and a few friends attended. The Titan were blowing the Eagles away 3-0, and local boy Remi Blanchard then scored his 1st of the season to make it 4-0. When it was announced over the PA that it was Blanchard's first goal in the Q, the place erupted into a heartfelt and entirely spontaneous standing ovation that I simply don't think would have happened in any of the other 7 rinks in the East Division. I don't want to start a pissing match with a certain poster...but I think you answered why the rating in our opening statement. Bathurst has the largest flucuations of numbers from good seasons to bad seasons amongst the eastern teams. Would you get the exact same response about Blanchard if the Titan were a losing team? I doubt it for the simple fact the numbers would be worse...so there wouldn't be as many people. I do think they would cheer on a local louder than say Halifax, because Bathurst is a small community. Smaller communities are more prouder of their locals doing something. As for if it's the worst, I don't know. But they polled the GM's who go to a lot more games in the opposing teams rinks than I can ever hope for. If they felt that way, I am sure they have their reasons, and no offense, I take their opinion more serious than posters on these boards (myself included). Bathurst has had poor attendance for 3/4 of the year .... and I expect that Blanchard's goal probably occurred during that stretch. Most nights up until the last month or so they were struggling to top 2000. From my perspective ... Bathurst fans get behind their team better during a game than other rinks I have visited ... but I have not been to a game in CB or SJ's so I can't comment on their fans.
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Post by Sébastien on Mar 16, 2008 13:00:17 GMT -4
I have to agree with the writer of the article about at least one thing: the emphasis put on Voracek.
There is no opposing player who I, as a fan, fear when he has the puck. This kid can slow the play down, and then suddenly go in with full speed, put a defender down on the ice and score a beauty of a goal. I know that chsb was talking about the lack of recognition given to Perreault, but the truth is he is not capable of controlling the game at the level that Voracek can.
As far as the fans go, I have only been to games in Moncton, Bathurst and Saint John (Halifax too, but that was in the Alpines' days, and I barely remember anything except going on the ice for the Alfredo Weinstein and Ho intermission contest!) and I have to admit that Bathurst is probably the place where the fans get the most behind their team during a game. However, there attendance overall in numbers has been pretty crappy, often barely hovering around the 2000 mark. But when the rink gets pretty full (like the season opener this year), it can get pretty loud in there.
Saint John was really... really.... quiet. I remember noticing during the goal horn and music that they put in crowd noise too. When the music stops, the rink gets automatically really quiet. However, I love how people stomp to music and stuff on the metal bleachers! It's a cool local quirk. Me and one of my friends were yelling at Passingham, and then a couple of guys started yelling a Troy's Our Boy cheer, which made things a lot better, but they were the only 3 making noise that game.
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Post by brec7 on Mar 16, 2008 23:29:45 GMT -4
I think for Bathurst, they're in by far the smallest town in the Maritimes so they're probably hurt a lot more by a losing team then other markets. I've been to KCI a few times and I've ALWAYS been impressed with their crowd. But then again I've only been there during years where they have been pretty good.
Impressions on crowds based on my visits:
- Bathurst = all around best. The volume in the rink is just plain loud, the crowd is very rah rah, and they are quite on top of the game.
- Halifax: What Halifax has going for it is the sheer numbers which can mean the place gets really loud, particularly after Moose goals. Also, outside of Bathurst, it's probably the best for "rah rah" cheering (ie fans randomly starting "Go Moose Go" chants)
- Cape Breton: This might be a homer pick but I'd rank CB as #2 behind Bathurst, based on my experience. CB is a bad crowd in the sense that there's not a lot of initial cheering like you'll see in other rinks- you won't hear crowds cheer "Go Eagles Go" (until the playoffs). But where CB makes up for that is IMO their crowd is more on top of the game than any in the division, maybe even Bathurst. In CB fans actually cheer, and cheer LOUDLY and REGULARLY, for dumping the puck on a PK, sustained pressure on a PP, etc. Such things occasionally merit noise in other rinks, but never as much as in CB.
- Moncton & Saint John: Can't really say I've noticed anything over special either way... obviously the Coliseum was super loud during the Memorial Cup but I'd assume that'd be the same for everywhere.
- PEI: By the far the quietest of the rinks I've been too. In fairness, they've never had a great team to get behind (although I was over there twice in the first year when they had a very strong team but I guess at that point they hadn't built a fanbase. I know our crowds were TERRIBLE in the early years, probably the worst in the league!)
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Post by mooseguy on Mar 17, 2008 7:21:31 GMT -4
Kinda sad that the Fog Devils started to draw fans after it was announced the team was moving to Montreal. If only this organization and city worked together from the start this could have been a great QMJHL city. 5000 plus fans for the past 2 home games says this is a hockey city but too little too late. Maybe the fans are making a statement that should a team want to relocate in the future they would be willing to support it.
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Post by Jack Bauer on Mar 17, 2008 10:54:53 GMT -4
Kinda sad that the Fog Devils started to draw fans after it was announced the team was moving to Montreal. If only this organization and city worked together from the start this could have been a great QMJHL city. 5000 plus fans for the past 2 home games says this is a hockey city but too little too late. Maybe the fans are making a statement that should a team want to relocate in the future they would be willing to support it. And again I ask, what WAS the magic number they needed to be successful? If it's 5000+ every game then that's quite the unrealistic number imo and they never had a chance to begin with.
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Post by SteveUL on Mar 17, 2008 11:48:18 GMT -4
Kinda sad that the Fog Devils started to draw fans after it was announced the team was moving to Montreal. If only this organization and city worked together from the start this could have been a great QMJHL city. 5000 plus fans for the past 2 home games says this is a hockey city but too little too late. Maybe the fans are making a statement that should a team want to relocate in the future they would be willing to support it. And again I ask, what WAS the magic number they needed to be successful? If it's 5000+ every game then that's quite the unrealistic number imo and they never had a chance to begin with. I think the magic number changed by quite a bit from what was planned when CanJet changed the way it would operate ... Foggies had a sweet travel deal with them and then incurred a large price increase per seat when they had to deal with Air Canada.
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