Blackhawks 2006-2007

[goonys evil twin]

A 2-1 record is worthy of their own thread.

[Banedon]

I don't consider myself a hockey fan, but if the Hawks have a reasonably successful season, I'll try to keep somewhat of an interest.

[biittner77]

Hockey Fever?

[goonys evil twin]

8000 in attendance last night. It's going to stay that way for a while, even if they maintain a .500 record. If they're in playoff contention by Christmas, you might start seeing 15,000 as an attendance figure, and if they are still in it by the end of the year, 18k could be a regular occurence. They aren't going to fill capacity (20K?) until they make the playoffs, make some noice in the playoffs and look to be good the following year. I still believe going to a hockey game is one of the best fan experiences, although I'm somewhat of a novice as a hockey fan. Never played organized hockey, just on ponds, in backyards and later, the occasional late night rink game.

[USSoccer]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

[goonys evil twin]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

[USSoccer]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

 

Do I need to bust out the attendance figures again? :P

[goonys evil twin]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

 

Do I need to bust out the attendance figures again? :P

 

Do I need to bust out the "hey let's give 5000 tickets away because nobody wants to pay to see us" argument?

[USSoccer]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

 

Do I need to bust out the attendance figures again? :P

 

Do I need to bust out the "hey let's give 5000 tickets away because nobody wants to pay to see us" argument?

 

Who did that?

[UMFan83]

Oh no not this again..

[USSoccer]

Oh no not this again..

 

I'm only giving Goony a hard time. All things being equal, the Fire (and MLS) have a long way to go

 

I think it would be a great thing if the 'Hawks rebounded to their former success. The fact that an original 6 team drwas 8,000 people is just sad.

[goonys evil twin]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

 

Do I need to bust out the attendance figures again? :P

 

Do I need to bust out the "hey let's give 5000 tickets away because nobody wants to pay to see us" argument?

 

Who did that?

 

I recently saw an article about how many tickets the fire give away to get bodies in the stadium. Don't recall where though. And I'm not really sure what the number was.

[USSoccer]

As soon as they start outdrawing the Fire we'll talk :D

 

Oh don't get me started.

 

Do I need to bust out the attendance figures again? :P

 

Do I need to bust out the "hey let's give 5000 tickets away because nobody wants to pay to see us" argument?

 

Who did that?

 

I recently saw an article about how many tickets the fire give away to get bodies in the stadium. Don't recall where though. And I'm not really sure what the number was.

 

I believe it, now that I think about it.

 

It's not a bad idea though. It gets people out there to the park to see for themselves the product. I was curious myself to see how I'd react to watching an MLS game for the first time live, and I was really pleasantly suprised. Toyota Park is just an outstanding facility, and the game itself plays better live than on TV. I'd go again in a heartbeat, and I'm sad to say I wasn't sure I would feel this way before going, just because MLS isn't as technically advanced as the European or international game..

 

The Hawks should try this. Hockey is supposedly the best sport to see live. Maybe getting some different people in the seats for free gets them hooked, especially if the team continues to show improvement.

[goonys evil twin]

I believe it, now that I think about it.

 

It's not a bad idea though. It gets people out there to the park to see for themselves the product.

 

I completely agree. It's smart for a team trying to grow.

 

The Hawks should try this. Hockey is supposedly the best sport to see live. Maybe getting some different people in the seats for free gets them hooked, especially if the team continues to show improvement.

 

Probably, but Wirtz is worthless. He's not much for promoting his product.

 

But the thing is I think there's already a substantial supply of fans who are just waiting to see a good product. People in Chicago know what it's like to go see hockey. Maybe the young generation doesn't quite know, but I guarantee a winner would draw quickly. The Fire need more help from promotion, winning isn't enough for them, yet. The Hawks just need success.

[USSoccer]

 

But the thing is I think there's already a substantial supply of fans who are just waiting to see a good product. People in Chicago know what it's like to go see hockey. Maybe the young generation doesn't quite know, but I guarantee a winner would draw quickly. The Fire need more help from promotion, winning isn't enough for them, yet. The Hawks just need success.

 

I think the 'Hawks need good PR AND winning. The Wirtz ownership has really destroyed a lot of that fanbase. They need to take steps to earn forgiveness, so to speak. Put the home games on TV. Drop your ticket prices. Have half price nights or whatever. Winning will help you get the bandwagon fans back, but how many of the hardcore fans wwere driven away by poor ownership, and not just poor play?

[goonys evil twin]

 

But the thing is I think there's already a substantial supply of fans who are just waiting to see a good product. People in Chicago know what it's like to go see hockey. Maybe the young generation doesn't quite know, but I guarantee a winner would draw quickly. The Fire need more help from promotion, winning isn't enough for them, yet. The Hawks just need success.

 

I think the 'Hawks need good PR AND winning. The Wirtz ownership has really destroyed a lot of that fanbase. They need to take steps to earn forgiveness, so to speak. Put the home games on TV. Drop your ticket prices. Have half price nights or whatever. Winning will help you get the bandwagon fans back, but how many of the hardcore fans wwere driven away by poor ownership, and not just poor play?

 

Hardcores were driven away by losing. Games on tv would help. Free tickets probably wouldn't go much.

[UMFan83]

Honestly, home games on TV would mean the world to me. I consider myself a bandwagon Blackhawks fan. I do follow them on a day to day basis, and if the game is on TV I will certainly watch it unless the Bulls are on. But I can name about 10 players on the team, and since the ABC line left, I don't think I can name a full line. If the Hawks get good, I will surely take a bigger interest, as I did in 2002. But its really hard for me to get into a team when they are only on TV half the time. If the Hawks go on a 2-3 game winning streak, I will get excited only to realize the next game is a home game, and will not be on TV. Kinda kills the excitement right there.

 

I just really don't understand why Wirtz thinks that in this day and age that not showing games on TV will help home attendance. If the Hawks only drew 8,000 last night, does he really think they would have only drew 6,000 if the game was on TV? I just don't get it...not only does it increase revenues for the team, it builds interest for the hockey club.

[goonys evil twin]

I just really don't understand why Wirtz thinks that in this day and age that not showing games on TV will help home attendance.

 

Wirtz should be a "baseball man" with his stuck in the 50's thought process.

[goonys evil twin]

FYI, as of right now, the Hawks are "in the playoffs", with 4 points, but with only 3 games played. Martin Havlet leads the league in scoring (tied with Jagr, but in 1 fewer game) with 8 pts. Handzus is in the picture with 6. The Blackhawks have scored the most goals in the league, and have given up more than 20 others.

 

They play @ STL Saturday, and Boucher is supposed to get the start.

[sherwood921]

I love hockey, and I love the Hawks. If they weren't run so poorly, I would be even more obsessed. I really just wish Wirtz would stop being such a moron and put the home games on TV. I can't watch half of my team's game, what kind of BS is that. It sure as hell doesn't make me want to go to the game either. Listen Billy, maybe more people would come to the games if you let them see the product. I went to the home opener and there was a pretty good crowd, unfortunately I was disappointed in the non-game experience. I don't really care when they do to keep fans interested, because I'm just there for the game. However, they have like a 5+ minute feature on the organ player where they just show him playing the organ. Show me some highlights from around the league, give me something. I really think by making the team more visible, they could start drawing better. They do have really expensive tickets, like any NHL team, but they actually are towards the bottom in average ticket price I think. I know they've got $10 seats, and it's a pretty good view IMO.

 

By the way, did anyone see that hit Phaneuf put on last night? Wow.

[biittner77]

In defense of soccer, didn't the NFL struggle mightily in its first few seasons? The NFL didn't have to compete with the same number of established pro sports that MLS does.

 

What they did have to compete with was college football which was more established and people believed it was technically better and somehow more pure.

 

I believe that MLS probably can't ever establish itself as a major sport league unless they make some changes that a lot of soccer pruists probably wouldn't like such as:

 

1 Play their games at night so people can see them

 

2 play their games during the week so that they don't have to compete with football

 

3 Find a way to increase scoring

[goonys evil twin]

In defense of soccer, didn't the NFL struggle mightily in its first few seasons? The NFL didn't have to compete with the same number of established pro sports that MLS does.

 

MLS is not the first incarnation of pro soccer in the US. We've heard since the 70's that it was bound to take over.

[USSoccer]

 

3 Find a way to increase scoring

 

That's such a myth. MLS has it's share of high scoring games. Plus, would you rather have a well played 2-1 game or a sloppy 4-3 affair? It's all in the skill on the field. A discussion in how MLS can improve the quality of the product will center around league revenue and player development, and it will take generations before MLS can field teams on a technical level with the Euro leagues.

 

Not to hijack the hockey thread, but MLS just needs to continue to grow slowly. The surest way to kill the league would be to act like the NASL and allow teams to sign players to idiotic contracts and make silly rule changes.

 

Even if soccer never becomes more that summer's version of the NHL, I can live with that. The key is to avoid overreaching and not trying to expand too quickly.

[goonys evil twin]

Seriously, the Blackhawks are 2-1, they deserve their own thread.

 

I'm not kidding. :D

[USSoccer]

Seriously, the Blackhawks are 2-1, they deserve their own thread.

 

I'm not kidding. :D

 

I'm trying to un-hijack it!