I certainly would not renew my season tickets to watch ECHL hockey. I'm not interested in watching an entire season of hockey to maybe see 5-6 guys who might end up as 3rd-4th liners in the NHL. I rarely went to watch the ColHL-UHL Generals or Michigan Warriors. Like many ex hockey playing or serious hockey fan friends I know who have been attending Firebirds games regularly. They know that every single night at an OHL game, you are seeing a future NHLer. You won't be seeing Marner, Chychrun, Ho-Sang, Strome, Tkachuk in the ECHL. I certainly won't show up to put $ in Rolf Nilsen's pockets if the Firebirds move. I don't think many other residents will either. We've already seen a big dip in attendance after the second coaches firing. Attendance had really picked up in the few games just before that too despite their on ice struggles. I don't think Rolf cares as much about owning a hockey team as he does owning a team for his kid to play. Someone else pointed out elsewhere, that they saw the same thing I did....Rolf Nilsen visibly pissed off in the lobby after the Firebirds beat the Otters earlier this year. At the time, Erie was easily tops in the OHL and the #1 ranked team in the CHL. Really? You're pissed off after your team just beat the best Jr team in the world? With your 16yo goaltender who should be with you for the next 3 years in net? I also keep seeing it repeated he's a Billionaire. BILLionaire? From selling water tight doors? Maybe I guess. He's not so rich he can stop charging $10 for parking or repave the parking lot. Now there's a water leak above the ice surface too? Huh. New, elaborate state of the art facilities for locker rooms but it sounds like he didn't drop the $ for state of the art plumbing or a roof. Doesn't apparently have enough to pay the ushers either, instead relying on volunteers. One of his vintage Zamboni's went MIA forever too. That being said, I read from a local media outlet that he had actually spent $7 mill on upgrades and Hakon was quoted as saying "He hasn't been too happy about some of the bills." As far as the rest of the OTSN article, I didn't really take it as derogatory. It all depends on what part of the city you're in. Hockey does fine in Saginaw, Detroit, Los Angeles, Chicago, Youngstown, Milwaukee ect. Ever visited the neighborhoods around the Staples Center, United Center, BMO Harris or the Dow? I have and while they're cities I have always enjoyed visiting, it's not like Sarnia or Windsor are the Valhalla of North America. Sorry guys, I like both cities and arenas, just saying. As far as the articles relocation suggestions, none are very good long term options. Either replacing an OHL team that has already failed, outdated facilities that would need major upgrades or ones that would struggle to fill 25% of capacity. We'll see how things shake out but in my view, any solution that includes Rolf Nilsen is no solution at all. The next few weeks leading up to the draft should be interesting.
