Future of the ECHL

[Cyclones Rock]

Cyclones home schedule is miserable. I assume by choice.

http://cycloneshockey.com/news/2016/04/cyclones-announce-2016-2017-schedule

6 early December games which are tough draws.

2 games in all of January. 4 in all of March. 11 in February. One of the January games is the 31st and two of the March games are on the 3rd and 4th. 14 home games (out of 36) in 33 days. Ridiculous.

Average of 4550 this year. Will be lucky to average 3800 next year. I fully expect a 20% drop in attendance based on the schedule dates.

 

[crimsonace]

Cyclones home schedule is miserable. I assume by choice.

http://cycloneshockey.com/news/2016/04/cyclones-announce-2016-2017-schedule

6 early December games which are tough draws.

2 games in all of January. 4 in all of March. 11 in February. One of the January games is the 31st and two of the March games are on the 3rd and 4th. 14 home games (out of 36) in 33 days. Ridiculous.

Average of 4550 this year. Will be lucky to average 3800 next year. I fully expect a 20% drop in attendance based on the schedule dates.

Indy's schedule last year was a bit tough - nearly half of the home season was in a six-week span from Christmas to the first weekend in February, including 12 home games in January (and only 2 in February). With the exception of 9 Sunday games and a few 3-in-3s, this is a pretty good home schedule - only 4 weeknights, and 3 are during holidays (the fourth during a lot of schools' Spring Break), pretty well-balanced from month-to-month.

The Cyclones own their arena & have date priority, but is it possible some of those prime dates are being blocked off for concerts or other outside events (I know there have been rumblings of UC basketball moving back in because the Shoe is a bit inadequate nowadays)? Indy does share the arena with college basketball (IUPUI), but the Fuel have first priority on dates, and so there are quite a few afternoon CBB game/night hockey doubleheaders in December and January. Only thing the Fuel generally battle are a couple of weeks where Fairgrounds events take over.

 

[GindyDraws]

Indy's schedule last year was a bit tough - nearly half of the home season was in a six-week span from Christmas to the first weekend in February, including 12 home games in January (and only 2 in February). With the exception of 9 Sunday games and a few 3-in-3s, this is a pretty good home schedule - only 4 weeknights, and 3 are during holidays (the fourth during a lot of schools' Spring Break), pretty well-balanced from month-to-month.

The Cyclones own their arena & have date priority, but is it possible some of those prime dates are being blocked off for concerts or other outside events (I know there have been rumblings of UC basketball moving back in because the Shoe is a bit inadequate nowadays)? Indy does share the arena with college basketball (IUPUI), but the Fuel have first priority on dates, and so there are quite a few afternoon CBB game/night hockey doubleheaders in December and January. Only thing the Fuel generally battle are a couple of weeks where Fairgrounds events take over.

Also, with Indy, the vast majority of the home games are on the weekend.

I'm also surprised that they'll be playing Quad City the most and Fort Wayne the least in the Midwest Division, as well as the fact that the most-played opponent in the Eastern Conference will be Brampton.

 

[crimsonace]

Also, with Indy, the vast majority of the home games are on the weekend.

I'm also surprised that they'll be playing Quad City the most and Fort Wayne the least in the Midwest Division, as well as the fact that the most-played opponent in the Eastern Conference will be Brampton.

Fort Wayne's geography means they get lots more games with Kalamazoo & Toledo, whereas Indy is the closest division opponent to QC (although FW isn't terribly farther, QC has to go through Chicago to get there).

The Brampton visits surprised me, but I never mind a few extra chances to introduce two anthems at the Coliseum (especially when it's your better half doing the singing).

 

[Cyclones Rock]

The Cyclones own their arena & have date priority, but is it possible some of those prime dates are being blocked off for concerts or other outside events (I know there have been rumblings of UC basketball moving back in because the Shoe is a bit inadequate nowadays).

There's a lot going on right now that I don't know about-except in a very general sense.

UC has delayed the revamping of their on campus arena (The Shoe). US Bank Arena which also is looking to renovate is seeking a ton of outside funding. UC might be a piece of that funding package and that might be a reason behind the delay of The Shoe's renovation. Should UC be a major player in the funding, then the assumption would be that the Bearcats would call US Bank Arena home in the future. But, again, that's just rumor mill stuff.

A major concert (Billy Joel, Paul McCartney, etc.) or popular 2,3, or 4 day event is worth a lot of money to the arena-a lot more than what ideal Cyclones dates would yield to them, so that could be the reason for the dearth of January hockey games. In fact, had the Cyclones made the second round of the playoffs this season, they would have opened at home for 2 games despite not having home ice advantage. Games 3 through 7 would have been played on the road. US Bank Arena, owner of the Cyclones, would not have been available for the Cyclones other than the first 2 games.

It's ironic that the Cyclones, despite being owned by the arena, don't get priority in that same arena. But, they are just a piece of the total equation and management just treats them as such, as well could be expected. Should the arena get major upgrades, the Cyclones future could very well become shaky for a variety of reasons. I've heard that the arena would be closed for a year and a half should renovation occur. The Cyclones would then be without a home. It's almost inconceivable that they would move to the Cincinnati Gardens during that time for a number of reasons. The team would likely suspend operations, ala the Toledo Storm/Walleye until the renovations were complete.