Binghamton Black Bears
- Thread starter Ratitude
- Start date
I was adamant that I would not support this team.
Changed my mind and just signed my sponsorship contract today. I figured if I didn’t I’d never leave the house at night in the winter. Got to seeing everyone excited about going to games again and I couldn’t sit this season out.
Changed my mind and just signed my sponsorship contract today. I figured if I didn’t I’d never leave the house at night in the winter. Got to seeing everyone excited about going to games again and I couldn’t sit this season out.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Good on you, supporting the game if not its sponsor. And don't worry, you'll always have this as a gameday outfit option ...
Ratitude
Registered User
- May 2, 2020
- 146
- 223
Really disappointed about Elmira this year. They set a good example of support regardless of the drop in play. That rivalry would be good for the league and both cities.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
People in Binghamton are in for a rude awakening next month...
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
If the hockey fans in Binghamton aren't already familiar with the FPHL, perhaps they NEED a rude awakening. It's been in all the papers.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
Most have no concept of the level of drop off coming. Many still have ptsd from the UHL so the reaction from this a month in will be... interesting
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
5 bucks each this Thursday night, and they can learn firsthand.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
And the BC Icemen went away a scant 17 years ago... but at least they got Dieter Kochan to the NHL.
Last edited:
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
There is a belief that this will be "a little slower" than the AHL and that "brawls and beers" might be better. To that I say "huh?"
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
The Fed makes the UHaul look like the show.
I’ll bite.
I do not plan to attend any FPHL games. Just for context, I was a mini-plan/season ticket holder for all 18 seasons of the post-interlude AHL era. My attendance at the games varied by where I was at the time, obviously changing with life events. But every season I ensured that I made some sort of commitment to the AHL in Binghamton (including when I lived out of town).
The FPHL product is not something that I am particularly interested in, either in terms of quality of play, opposing teams, or the overall stakes of being in the league. It’s not a product that I would want to spend a rare free evening on, or adjust my schedule around. I enjoyed AHL hockey in large part because we cultivated rivalries with our sister cities in that league over four decades, in competition for the second-highest honor in pro hockey. Those rivalries and stakes simply do not exist in this league, so my interest in minor league hockey is now broken.
This reaction is not exclusive to me. A friend of mine who had season tickets for almost 40 years has decided to move on to watching college hockey. My wife’s aunt, an STH since the nineties, has opted to invest in theater tickets instead. Me, I plan to put my hockey money into an RV excursion out west in the spring.
Indeed, there seems to be very little fanfare locally for the start of the season. I have not seen a commercial on local TV, nor heard anything on the radio heralding the start of a new hockey season. Nor have I heard of any buzz about the team at work or when I am out and about. Most people I encounter exude a general apathy about the upcoming season, if they are even aware there will be some kind of season at all.
The hockey die-hards will have a team to watch and cheer for this season, and I am glad for them. But the Arena will be fairly quiet with the subdued cheers of a few hundred faithful, and that relative silence will be deafening when one remembers the roar heard in that building in 2011 and other years.
I will reinstate my previous financial support pending the arrival of a future higher-level team, proportionate to the level of said team. Until that day, I’ll see you out on the open road…
I do not plan to attend any FPHL games. Just for context, I was a mini-plan/season ticket holder for all 18 seasons of the post-interlude AHL era. My attendance at the games varied by where I was at the time, obviously changing with life events. But every season I ensured that I made some sort of commitment to the AHL in Binghamton (including when I lived out of town).
The FPHL product is not something that I am particularly interested in, either in terms of quality of play, opposing teams, or the overall stakes of being in the league. It’s not a product that I would want to spend a rare free evening on, or adjust my schedule around. I enjoyed AHL hockey in large part because we cultivated rivalries with our sister cities in that league over four decades, in competition for the second-highest honor in pro hockey. Those rivalries and stakes simply do not exist in this league, so my interest in minor league hockey is now broken.
This reaction is not exclusive to me. A friend of mine who had season tickets for almost 40 years has decided to move on to watching college hockey. My wife’s aunt, an STH since the nineties, has opted to invest in theater tickets instead. Me, I plan to put my hockey money into an RV excursion out west in the spring.
Indeed, there seems to be very little fanfare locally for the start of the season. I have not seen a commercial on local TV, nor heard anything on the radio heralding the start of a new hockey season. Nor have I heard of any buzz about the team at work or when I am out and about. Most people I encounter exude a general apathy about the upcoming season, if they are even aware there will be some kind of season at all.
The hockey die-hards will have a team to watch and cheer for this season, and I am glad for them. But the Arena will be fairly quiet with the subdued cheers of a few hundred faithful, and that relative silence will be deafening when one remembers the roar heard in that building in 2011 and other years.
I will reinstate my previous financial support pending the arrival of a future higher-level team, proportionate to the level of said team. Until that day, I’ll see you out on the open road…
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
No advertising in part bc advertising costs money, which they don't appear to have w ticket sales lagging.
Ratitude
Registered User
- May 2, 2020
- 146
- 223
I think we can do a little better in acknowledging B.C. Icemen's contributions to the game. Keith Aucoin didn't do to shabby. Certainly other notables on the all time roster. Had the priviledge of seeing games in the Colonial and UHL days and can say I have seen some very decent players and games throughout the CoHL-UHL years. It was good enough for Barry Melrose and Steve Levy to invest in with their team in Adirondack.
B.C. Icemen all-time player list at hockeydb.com
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
The UHL was mostly a league for guys hanging on. Aucoin, who I had forgotten played for BC and Kochan were the rare exceptions. They did get a few guys called up to the AHL occasionally, though. The games were decent to watch, with a lot of fights even before Galante's Goon Squad was around.
The FPHL is a league for guys who shouldn't even be getting a paycheque to play hockey to hang on to the dream a little longer. To call it a prospects league, as they do, is laughable.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
Well said ODY. I think what you said is how a lot of us feel.
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
Judging from pics around social media, but the team declared a sellout during the game. Doubt that's true but it's good marketing.
Keep in mind they gave free season tickets to all kids in youth hockey and also did a 7 dollar promo with the arena sponsor for the opener. Binghamton has always done well for openers and the first few games each season until the holiday season. This is the first game there in almost two years so I'm sure that gave them a bump, but I think that the number is actually pretty surprising for that league. Good for them if it's sustainable
Opener is going to be a bit of an anomaly. As you mentioned, it’s the first game in almost two years. Plus, the comp tickets for youth hockey probably will be counted as attendees, even with no-shows.
I saw some of the pictures from the game. The crowd looked to me like a generic autumn Friday night Sens game crowd in the low-to-mid 3,000s. That seems very high by FPHL standards, but we will see what they announce. They might try to announce something in the 4’s to make it look even better. Or a sellout, which is laughable with all the empty seats. You will always know what a sellout looks like in that building, and what I saw from the pictures definitely is not it.
I expect a precipitous drop-off over the next few games as the opener excitement and pent-up demand wears off. I guess we will see.
One more thing to share…A simple text from a family member who ended up going tonight:
“Totally different crowd. Feels weird”
bleedblue94
Registered User
- Jun 8, 2004
- 8,771
- 9,140
Ratitude
Registered User
- May 2, 2020
- 146
- 223
Successful night any way you look at it. Sadly the never FHLers just want to see a flop, they simply despise the league despite most not even living in FHL markets. If ya have no hockey nearby other then Cornell and want a team to watch and support then the FHL is better then nothing, cheaper then a movie...
