How are we feeling out there?

[reggiedunlop7]

With the Rocket return to home this Friday against Val D'Or we've gone 0-5 since the change and I'm sure it has added to our frustration even more.

While not all the fans that go to the rink get on here....what's the mood in sections around where you sit? In my capacity I get to move around the rink and from what I can gather people are falling into a few categories...
1. Totally pissed off and constantly looking for failure and when the team does even the smallest thing right they still find fault with it.

2. Cling to the hope that things will get better if we would get a break or two..i.e. goals sitting on the doorstep going in, etc.

3. Looking at their watches wondering why did I come here tonight.

4. Trying valiantly to cheer even though the play on the ice says otherwise.

How about it folks....is the support for this team headed for implosion?

[kdr]

I spent way too much on my tickets. silly me.

[wingman]

I would like to add a #5 to your list Reggie:

5. Wanting to see good hockey, see the team do well but are pissed off and discouraged when they leave the rink due to that night's performance.

People do want to see this team do well and want to see an entertaining game and they do understand not every game is going to be a great game, but people also want to get their money's worth too. I have heard ALOT of comments from people of how this is the last year they are getting season tickets or they are finding it's not as enjoyable or fun as it used to be to attend games, they feel their time and money could be better used elsewhere. I think the implosion has already started and it started a long time ago.

[bois]

I would have to agree with wingman... this year has not been at all enjoyable thus far

last year was good hockey to watch most of the time... but this year it's been very boring

i really don't quite know why

[Stuck in a Loop...]

Section 17 falls in Cat..1 and 3, Alot of ppl wonder why they show up, we know the outcome already, Whipping boys as you might say for 17 are the big 2, Walker and Morrison and Southy and Gervais as of lately.... our section is most of the time the loudest but as of late its only loud when Someone gets into a fight....

[hockeychick21]

I find myself having no interest whatsoever this season....I go to the rink, the game is boring, the team isn't playing great and I sit there waiting to go home and hoping the clock can move a bit faster. Sometimes it is a struggle to get my mind even wanting to go to the game because alot of times this year I havent really wanted to go at all...knowing the outcome probably isn't going to be that good. Hopefully that changes soon, I would hate to waste a entire hockey season ya know

[mikey]

I too, find myself dis-interested this season. It seems over alf the players are not interested either which makes the games boooooooooorrrrrrrring, most nights it seeems they are just going through the motions too.

I get the feeling the Rocket organization has finally hit bottom, and they have no where to go but up from here. But, if and when the up side returns, the question will be of the Rocket will still located here!

As for myself, I can't see me getting 2 season passes, we will probably get 1 flex pack instead.

[reggiedunlop7]

wingman
I agree....deep dpwn everyone wants the team to do well, but I guess levels of frustration are different for everyone.
Of course I did mean this not so much as a critique of the fans, but rather just gauging the mood that seems to be prevailing rightly or wrongly at most games.

Myself, well I went through the Abbies 9-win season last year, so my nerves may be a little more battle tested to deal with this and despite their record last year I went to each game believing that this could be the night that things turn around. As long as the teams was mathematically possible to make the playoffs it gave me something to hang onto. When playoffs were ruled out I went and watched guys try to finish with some sort of dignity.

Quite frankly the players need to look at themselves in the mirror and ask if they are happy with the way things are going. I'm willing to bet the farm they would all say no.
Maybe they should stop worrying about goals, assists, wins, losses, am I getting drafted this year, am I getting an invite to a NHL camp, etc., etc., etc. and just come out and play the game. Instead of worrying about themselves they look across the room or beside them and say "how can I help my teammate play to his potential?"
Too many guys trying to be the hero. I don't want heroes...I want PLAYERS who play the game!

[wallee]

the mood "up" in section seven is not very positive. and i dont like the feelings of negative but after four years of crap seasons it is getting very hard to come to the games. i thought last year we had a bit of a turning point. the team played decent hockey at times , but this year has been a struggle. at the start of the year i thought we had potential but its been a long downhill slide that seems to get worse even when you think we have hit rock bottom. i never thought i would be thinking as others have been thinking that i would stop buying two season tickets. but it is crossing my mind now. and others have already left our area and this year more are talking about it. the way its going this team will be moving sooner than later. and its not the coaches fault.

[ClapperGirl]

My section is section 21. I think a lot of people are 1 and 3.. while my aunt and I are 2 and 4 haha. We sit there, every game, cheering on EVERYONE and make as much noise as we can with clappy hands, noise makers and cheering I think the only time we had some noise with us was when we played Quebec, cos we had two rows of French drunk guys behind us. They sang the nation anthem that night. Oh how funny. But I digress.


Our section is pretty quiet and bored. We need more people to come sit with us and CHEER WITH US

[rocketfan44]

I think the feeling is the same everywhere in the rink, people are very discouraged and leave each game unhappy, even with a win it's still the same, usually because they either just squeezed it out or won it and probably shouldn't have. Hoping for a turn around here soon but I don't see much change until the trade opens in December and I hope they start going up. The feeling right now is less season ticket holders next year, and that's not going to be good!

[fireside]

I have to agree with wingman and bois, i go to the rink hoping for a win, but am bored most nights watching hockey. i won't go as far as to say i won't be renewing tickets again next season, but i sure as hell hope things improve soon...

Show me a team that shows up and plays hard every game, plays like a team, looks like they give a shit, and i'll be there...win or lose....but when you go watch the lacklustre boring hockey that we have been presented with most of the games this season, it makes it hard to show up with any enthusiasm at all.

Show us a TEAM that plays as a TEAM...and honestly, i think a lot of the other shit will work itself out....on ice product i mean....

[Fusion]

I'm optimistic now that Serge is not so much at the helm... or at least that's how I understand it... he probably won't be telling Guy what to do and how to do it.

The mood I get from other people is just fed up with paying a high price and getting little return year after year. This is it for me... two tickets won't be getting renewed next year if one of two things don't occur... a) we sell off our older players and load up with top end young talent or b) sell of some rookies/prospects, get some experience and finally go for the gold. If we add 1 marginal defensemen to improve the back end I'll know nothing has changed.

I remember an interview with Serge on Compass a few years ago I believe where he talked about the Remparts briefly and their access to funds. He mentioned that we'd never have the money to go as far as them (at least that's how some understood it at the time) and that's always stuck with me... was a shitty thing to say imo. Settle for 2 rounds of the playoffs year after year (even though they don't even get that), BS.

With Guy I'm hoping things will change and the upcoming trading period will show us something positive.

I certainly hope that our next saviour in Chris Doyle gets his attitude adjusted a little bit, apparently we have a new Gragani... scary thought.

[coreyapple]

I'm more worried about the mood and the interest amongst the fans than I am about the team itself.

With me, I'll go to 20 or so games per year, whatever the level

I never get too excited during the regular season, especially not the fall and the games I've watched this year, against Québec, Cape Breton, Rimouski and St John's (the first game!) have all been fairly entertaining - not great, but OK.

But the mood of the fans, especially the most rabid fans, has changed drastically this season.

There's a lot of talk of not renewing season tickets, and I'm sure people mean it.

Game threads on this board are skinny, compared to previous seasons.

Some of the notable and prolific posters from years past are virtually absent.

I sense all kinds of indifference, and it's alarming.

I'll be there on Friday night against the Val d'Or Drillers, though....because VD have one of the nicest uniforms in the league.

Bringing bells, bringing my Rocket shirt and tuque, bringing the wife, bringing the cat, whatever it takes to secure a Rocket win.

....after all, we have to win the battle against VD, don't we?

[reggiedunlop7]

The "apple" doesn't fall far from the tree....

Will you be in your spot in 17 near the front....wink, wink.

Dark clouds really set in when dogpound stopped buying beer for his friends and engaging in "frank" discussions about the team.