Kingston Frontenacs 2023-24 Season Thread (Part One)

[frontsfan67]

Cal Uens was one of the most confusing players Ive seen come through Owen Sound.

The Attack generally don't gush about draft picks but you could tell the management was pretty excited about getting him in the program that summer. Year 1 Cal played more than I would have thought, had 18 points which was a record for 16 year old defenceman (Markus Phillips had 12 as reference), he had 3 fights and did well, competed so hard, every reason to see him as a Sean Durzi type, one of the best 16 year old seasons I've seen from a defenceman in Owen Sound in years.

Year 2 was just not that. He came in and just never seemed to find himself, I'm not sure what it was but he didn't show growth and if anything regressed a bit. Give him credit he is one of the toughest players we've had, he took a skate to the face against Erie, tons of blood in the crease. Broke his nose and only missed one shift, came back in a cage and played a few shifts, blocked a shot right away. Type of player you go to war with but without the offensive output, he isn't close to the same.

I thought we'd regret the trade and Cal would get back to what he was this year, its too bad he has not, he was one of my favorite rookies and to be honest we really miss what we though he would be at 18 right now.

Seems like the same story here about him regressing. He wasn’t good last year but imo played far better than this year. He prob lost motivation when he realized he won’t make the nhl as a tiny d man

 

[AttackBeacher]

Seems like the same story here about him regressing. He wasn’t good last year but imo played far better than this year. He prob lost motivation when he realized he won’t make the nhl as a tiny d man

I don't know for sure, and don't take this the wrong way, but I think that he loved playing for the Attack, he said it was his first choice in the draft and said no to a few other teams.

Trades effect everyone differently, but I wouldn't be surprised that he has less passion now after the trade. Im happy for him that he gets to play close to home, but its obvious that he's not the same player.

 

[frontsfan67]

I don't know for sure, and don't take this the wrong way, but I think that he loved playing for the Attack, he said it was his first choice in the draft and said no to a few other teams.

Trades affect everyone differently, but I wouldn't be surprised that he has less passion now after the trade. Im happy for him that he gets to play close to home, but it’s obvious that he's not the same player.

I get that for sure. Imo kingston has one of the worst fan bases in the O’ and you guys although not as big as London are close to as passionate. Wish we had that fan support. A lot of the players probably think it’s a joke playing with 50% capacity every night.

 

[beastintheeast]

I get that for sure. Imo kingston has one of the worst fan bases in the O’ and you guys although not as big as London are close to as passionate. Wish we had that fan support. A lot of the players probably think it’s a joke playing with 50% capacity every night.

You know it is funny you talk about the lack of a fan base but you need to look at what the team has done for the fans.

I am looking at this as a fan that went to all the Fronts games in the early 2000- 2009

I still think the location of the new arena sucks and that is part of the issue. Most of the fan base is on the west end of the city in Kingston township, Calvin Park area. Transportation and getting away from the games was easy. BUT the biggest thing that the M Center had that they lost was the seating. In the M Center, a smaller crowd still looked big. The fans were closer to the team. Prices were reasonable and there was a family atmosphere. You went to the game and met friends that you only saw at the games.

The next problem was the on-ice product. In the beginning, there were doing the 1 year good 3 years rebuild and the product sucked.

There was no loyalty to the season ticket holders many of them had been long-time holders. Deals and special ticket events were held but nothing was done for the price that season ticket holders paid.

Add in the difference between Browns catering and the food and prices at the M Center compared to the new arena, With Browns you could afford to buy a poutine and coffee as well as other fair. The new arena again was higher prices and the food sucked in comparison.

The only constant with this team has been tha they have raised the prices of tickets to the point that the demo they want is 25--45 and is only 27% of the population. These are also people who are raising a family and taking their kids to sports which is expensive. The other catch is that this new group did not grow up with the hype of the fronts or Canadians.

You can not compare Kingston to Guelph or London because they have a set market and the demo in these cities is completely different. Consider that ASSurant and Star tek were 2 of the largest companies in the city and neither paid high wages.

The only way this team is going to compete is if it can get a price point that a family can enjoy and a product that is exciting every game.


OH YEAH, the other thing is you have to get the players and coaches off their assets and get them into the community.

 

[frontsfan67]

You know it is funny you talk about the lack of a fan base but you need to look at what the team has done for the fans.

I am looking at this as a fan that went to all the Fronts games in the early 2000- 2009

I still think the location of the new arena sucks and that is part of the issue. Most of the fan base is on the west end of the city in Kingston township, Calvin Park area. Transportation and getting away from the games was easy. BUT the biggest thing that the M Center had that they lost was the seating. In the M Center, a smaller crowd still looked big. The fans were closer to the team. Prices were reasonable and there was a family atmosphere. You went to the game and met friends that you only saw at the games.

The next problem was the on-ice product. In the beginning, there were doing the 1 year good 3 years rebuild and the product sucked.

There was no loyalty to the season ticket holders many of them had been long-time holders. Deals and special ticket events were held but nothing was done for the price that season ticket holders paid.

Add in the difference between Browns catering and the food and prices at the M Center compared to the new arena, With Browns you could afford to buy a poutine and coffee as well as other fair. The new arena again was higher prices and the food sucked in comparison.

The only constant with this team has been tha they have raised the prices of tickets to the point that the demo they want is 25--45 and is only 27% of the population. These are also people who are raising a family and taking their kids to sports which is expensive. The other catch is that this new group did not grow up with the hype of the fronts or Canadians.

You can not compare Kingston to Guelph or London because they have a set market and the demo in these cities is completely different. Consider that ASSurant and Star tek were 2 of the largest companies in the city and neither paid high wages.

The only way this team is going to compete is if it can get a price point that a family can enjoy and a product that is exciting every game.


OH YEAH, the other thing is you have to get the players and coaches off their assets and get them into the community.

I agree kingston is run very poorly as has always been that way with Springer.

He’s the problem. But also without springer we may have relocated by now. Some other owner wont like having 40/50% capacity games they’d rather put their money somewhere else. So I have a love hate relationship for Springer.

Yes it sucks that he’s an a hole and doesn’t do anything for us really and we never ice a good team but at the same time atleast we have a hockey team. Hamilton just won 2 championships in 6 years but they moved out of there. Supposedly they might go back but I haven’t heard much of that.

You see where I’m coming from? It may not be the optimal location but it’s still not bad- it’s down town and lots live there.

Ticket prices are rising yes but they rise as a whole. It’s not just kingston. It’s happening everywhere. It’s inflation. I went to shopper the other day got 5 things and it was 50 bucks total. Insanity. I get where people are coming from with their families however at the same time people really invested with the team- season ticket holders and people that grew up with the team still find time and money for it

One of the problems with kingston and growing a fan base is constant mediocrity and not getting kids and young adults involved enough to grow the game for future generations. A lot of the kingston fan base is old and dying off- and then Covid happened and lots lost interest

 

[ottsabrefan]

I agree kingston is run very poorly as has always been that way with Springer.

He’s the problem. But also without springer we may have relocated by now. Some other owner wont like having 40/50% capacity games they’d rather put their money somewhere else. So I have a love hate relationship for Springer.

Yes it sucks that he’s an a hole and doesn’t do anything for us really and we never ice a good team but at the same time atleast we have a hockey team. Hamilton just won 2 championships in 6 years but they moved out of there. Supposedly they might go back but I haven’t heard much of that.

You see where I’m coming from? It may not be the optimal location but it’s still not bad- it’s down town and lots live there.

Ticket prices are rising yes but they rise as a whole. It’s not just kingston. It’s happening everywhere. It’s inflation. I went to shopper the other day got 5 things and it was 50 bucks total. Insanity. I get where people are coming from with their families however at the same time people really invested with the team- season ticket holders and people that grew up with the team still find time and money for it

One of the problems with kingston and growing a fan base is constant mediocrity and not getting kids and young adults involved enough to grow the game for future generations. A lot of the kingston fan base is old and dying off- and then Covid happened and lots lost interest

It’s kind of funny to appreciate Springer keeping the team in Kingston with horrible attendance since he IS the reason for the horrible attendance! What was once one of the great OHL cities is a skeleton of what it once was thanks to a long tenured poor ownership.

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

It’s kind of funny to appreciate Springer keeping the team in Kingston with horrible attendance since he IS the reason for the horrible attendance! What was once one of the great OHL cities is a skeleton of what it once was thanks to a long tenured poor ownership.

Just out of curiosity - what should be done differently? I've been to almost every road rink watching the Fronts, and I can say they have the best in game experience (Sam for example is bar down the best in arena host, sideshow is among the better pa announcers) The rink itself is one of the better for sightlines and facilities, and I live in the west end and have no issues driving down to the game -- never have an issue with driving or parking. As for the onice product - they had "exceptional player" but nobody could predict a pandemic that would screw things up. Ticket prices are also comparable to other teams arenas, as are concessions for the most part. So what's left for Springer to do? I think personally there could be more marketing/partnerships with minor hockey and queens. I think the scouting, at least historically wasn't that strong but the last couple of years (post covid) seem to have been fairly decent.....years past I can see frustration as they seemed to overlook local kids just cause they were local and they went on to have good ohl careers elsewhere

 

[ottsabrefan]

Just out of curiosity - what should be done differently? I've been to almost every road rink watching the Fronts, and I can say they have the best in game experience (Sam for example is bar down the best in arena host, sideshow is among the better pa announcers) The rink itself is one of the better for sightlines and facilities, and I live in the west end and have no issues driving down to the game -- never have an issue with driving or parking. As for the onice product - they had "exceptional player" but nobody could predict a pandemic that would screw things up. Ticket prices are also comparable to other teams arenas, as are concessions for the most part. So what's left for Springer to do? I think personally there could be more marketing/partnerships with minor hockey and queens. I think the scouting, at least historically wasn't that strong but the last couple of years (post covid) seem to have been fairly decent.....years past I can see frustration as they seemed to overlook local kids just cause they were local and they went on to have good ohl careers elsewhere

It has been better in the last 5, maybe 10 years. I’m more talking on ice produce than arena, parking, promotions.

But, they used to cheap out big time to save a dime here at the expense of long term gain. Things like not paying for high quality coaches, not getting enough assistant coaches, not getting imports due to their fees, limited scouting, hanging on to poor coaches too long since they have contracts, trading futures to make the 8th seed in rebuilding years (Beast still goes on about this! Haha). It was pretty well known Kingston was a poorly run organization that did everything on the cheap. Hence why we have no OHL finals appearances, no Memorial Cup hosting experience, and have no more fans.

And while I’m glad things are better these days, things like the cheap hiring of Caputi (and Cooper even) are still triggers for us long term fans. Plus without an OHL finals appearance or even a win at some point all of these nice things they are doing now are not enough to undo all the damage they did over all those years

 

[Logosarejusttargets]

It has been better in the last 5, maybe 10 years. I’m more talking on ice produce than arena, parking, promotions.

But, they used to cheap out big time to save a dime here at the expense of long term gain. Things like not paying for high quality coaches, not getting enough assistant coaches, not getting imports due to their fees, limited scouting, hanging on to poor coaches too long since they have contracts, trading futures to make the 8th seed in rebuilding years (Beast still goes on about this! Haha). It was pretty well known Kingston was a poorly run organization that did everything on the cheap. Hence why we have no OHL finals appearances, no Memorial Cup hosting experience, and have no more fans.

Thanks, I've only been in Kingston 7 years and a STH for 4 years, so don't have a tonne of context. I think this year may have been a turning point with the termination of Caputi and hiring a "pro" coach that likely costs more. I have heard that they are also apparently doing more overnights for games that are further away than Osh/Ottawa/Peterborough to try and give the players a better chance to be fresh - which isn't cheap to do.

In my short time living in Kingston - I do find that Kingstonians tend to crap on Kingston more than most places seem to on their own cities .... so I was just wondering if the same was happening with the Fronts.

 

[ottsabrefan]

Thanks, I've only been in Kingston 7 years and a STH for 4 years, so don't have a tonne of context. I think this year may have been a turning point with the termination of Caputi and hiring a "pro" coach that likely costs more. I have heard that they are also apparently doing more overnights for games that are further away than Osh/Ottawa/Peterborough to try and give the players a better chance to be fresh - which isn't cheap to do.

In my short time living in Kingston - I do find that Kingstonians tend to crap on Kingston more than most places seem to on their own cities .... so I was just wondering if the same was happening with the Fronts.

I remember the amazing crowds during the Colts series in 2018. Sold out, rocking arena. That was the second round. If they can get a team to the OHL finals, I honestly think it will do wonders to erase some of the painful memories and start to get people back in the seats. And I think getting Mann will give this team some solid street cred. I am glad Springer seems to realize the old ways were very shortsighted.

 

[ohloutsider]

Just out of curiosity - what should be done differently? I've been to almost every road rink watching the Fronts, and I can say they have the best in game experience (Sam for example is bar down the best in arena host, sideshow is among the better pa announcers) The rink itself is one of the better for sightlines and facilities, and I live in the west end and have no issues driving down to the game -- never have an issue with driving or parking. As for the onice product - they had "exceptional player" but nobody could predict a pandemic that would screw things up. Ticket prices are also comparable to other teams arenas, as are concessions for the most part. So what's left for Springer to do? I think personally there could be more marketing/partnerships with minor hockey and queens. I think the scouting, at least historically wasn't that strong but the last couple of years (post covid) seem to have been fairly decent.....years past I can see frustration as they seemed to overlook local kids just cause they were local and they went on to have good ohl careers elsewhere

I would argue that Mississauga has the best in-house hosts and staff and it's not even close for anyone else! And yes I've been to Kingston.

 

[leafs4life94]

Slush Puppie Place could be new name for Kingston's downtown arena

City council to consider proposed naming rights deal next week

www.thewhig.com

Making less and less money with each deal - K-Rock Centre was 10 x 330k, Leon's was 5 x 257k and this new deal (if approved) will be 15 x 135k - although the stability of a 15 year contract is a positive. No idea what the going trend is around the league.

Slush Puppie Place as a name? Love it

 

[HockeyPops]

In the Sault we are 5 years into a 10 x 75k agreement. So you're doing better than we did.

 

[frontsfan67]

It’s kind of funny to appreciate Springer keeping the team in Kingston with horrible attendance since he IS the reason for the horrible attendance! What was once one of the great OHL cities is a skeleton of what it once was thanks to a long tenured poor ownership.

I get why people don’t like him however would you rather have them relocate? As far as I’ve been watching the team they’ve never averaged more than about 3500 with 120k+ kingston residents

Me personally I’d rather have a team rather than not have one

 

[frontsfan67]

Thanks, I've only been in Kingston 7 years and a STH for 4 years, so don't have a tonne of context. I think this year may have been a turning point with the termination of Caputi and hiring a "pro" coach that likely costs more. I have heard that they are also apparently doing more overnights for games that are further away than Osh/Ottawa/Peterborough to try and give the players a better chance to be fresh - which isn't cheap to do.

In my short time living in Kingston - I do find that Kingstonians tend to crap on Kingston more than most places seem to on their own cities .... so I was just wondering if the same was happening with the Fronts.

I never understood what people don’t like about kingston. And if they don’t like it here they should move elsewhere lol. If you ever tell them that though they’ll just laugh it off as a joke. People here complain about the dumbest stuff. Like Ottawa and Toronto area expenses aren’t significantly higher. People just can’t be happy with anything anymore always have to see the negatives in life

 

[frontsfan67]

Ludwinski didn’t make the team. Question is has he played his last game with us yet? Will be interesting to see what they do over the next week

 

[Petes1987]

View attachment 782968
Ludwinski didn’t make the team. Question is has he played his last game with us yet? Will be interesting to see what they do over the next week

I think the thing are freeze for the Christmas Break starts after the weekend games. Unless he is traded in the next couple of days I think he likely will play in the weekend games.

 

[beastintheeast]

I think the thing are freeze for the Christmas Break starts after the weekend games. Unless he is traded in the next couple of days I think he likely will play in the weekend games.

It is a ru;le that you do not trade kids the weekend of the break. You can tell them during ht break if they are coming back but no official trade can be made.

I think you will have Ludwinskin for at least the first part of January. He should not be the first trade to fall I would suspect that the Petes and Beck are going to be first and set the price for this year.

 

[beastintheeast]

I never understood what people don’t like about kingston. And if they don’t like it here they should move elsewhere lol. If you ever tell them that though they’ll just laugh it off as a joke. People here complain about the dumbest stuff. Like Ottawa and Toronto area expenses aren’t significantly higher. People just can’t be happy with anything anymore always have to see the negatives in life

It's funny I have lived in cities across Canada and in SE Asia. I also grew up in Kingston and lived there for more years when I retired.

Every Canadian city is the same. We have a family attitude about our city. The prices for buses are too high. They should do this. They should do that. There is too much smog, Why are there no major stores downtown?

I say family attitude because if you have lived a long time in Kingston it is your city. Just like your family, you complain about your brother or sister. You can complain about your house and other Kingstonians and you can complain together BUT heaven help anyone from outside who says anything bad or tries to trash your city.

This site is sort of the same thing. Notice on here that local fans will Beach about their team but what happens when someone deemed as an outsider does it.

It is the same in Ottawa, Toronto, Napanee, Edmonton, Calgary the East Coast, Pakistan and even here in the Land of smiles Bangkok. Each city has its issues but heaven help a tourist that comes in and trashes the place.

The problem with Kington is that for its life it was always a 3 facetted city Military, Factory (railroad shipyard, Dupont, Alcan, Celanese Canada) prison and university.

The challenge now is that the factories that employ the greatest number of people are no more. Everything line elsewhere in the world can be done cheaper outside the country. This has killed the tax base as well as the social support system that the city had. Kingston is now a university, and military town. BUT the biggest part of the city is retirees and people on government support people on fixed or budgeted lifestyles.

Also, consider that it is possible that the Fronts are designed not to make money but to just break even and provide a tax right off for the owner.

 

[beastintheeast]

I get why people don’t like him however would you rather have them relocate? As far as I’ve been watching the team they’ve never averaged more than about 3500 with 120k+ kingston residents

Me personally I’d rather have a team rather than not have one

I agree with you that it is possibly better but we will never know. Consider Belleville. Everyone thought it would never see another team after the bad showing of the Bulls. New ownership different league and voila.

The new arena was not built for the Fronts no matter what anyone says it was built to attract the big bands and shows. with a facility that had better sound effects and was easy to get to.

The only thing they may have done wrong was I still think location but growing up around the M center I am probably a little biased. I still think the better location was the racetrack behind the M Center with an arena that was a little smaller. The M center only sold out when the team was winning and then it was at most 3000 a game probably but due to the size, it still looked full.

Ottawa is no different people have more things to do with their money than Kingston, especially with all the junior teams in the NCC
Queen's students will go to Queens games and don't have the money to go to an OHL arena.

 

[frontsfan67]

I think the thing are freeze for the Christmas Break starts after the weekend games. Unless he is traded in the next couple of days I think he likely will play in the weekend games.

Yes what I mean is if they don’t want to risk injury and there’s only 2 games before the break so they’d have a big break to decide what happens then

 

[frontsfan67]

I agree with you that it is possibly better but we will never know. Consider Belleville. Everyone thought it would never see another team after the bad showing of the Bulls. New ownership different league and voila.

The new arena was not built for the Fronts no matter what anyone says it was built to attract the big bands and shows. with
a facility that had better sound effects and was easy to get to.

The only thing they may have done wrong was I still think location but growing up around the M center I am probably a little biased. I still think the better location was the racetrack behind the M Center with an arena that was a little smaller. The M center only sold out when the team was winning and then it was at most 3000 a game probably but due to the size, it still looked full.

Ottawa is no different people have more things to do with their money than Kingston, especially with all the junior teams in the NCC
Queen's students will go to Queens games and don't have the money to go to an OHL arena.

100% agree. It was meant for concerts absolutely and the uncertainly of potentially gaining a half decent fan base. I wish they made the arena around 4500 it would look a lot nicer on tv than fans scattered everywhere.

I agree it’s 100% a tax right off, doesn’t spend a cent in the playoffs no towels no extra things during the playoffs for instance had to hire a game day operations guy for half the price. It’s all about the money and has always been about the money. Springer doesn’t give 2 shits about the team whether they’re first or last but he prefers first obviously since there’s more money involved.

 

[ottsabrefan]

I get why people don’t like him however would you rather have them relocate? As far as I’ve been watching the team they’ve never averaged more than about 3500 with 120k+ kingston residents

Me personally I’d rather have a team rather than not have one

I guess when you’ve seen him take what was once a proud franchise with a solid fan base and run it into the ground it’s hard to say, well thanks for not moving said team. And if they left, I’m sure Mississauga or some other future struggling team would be moving to Kingston to take their spot.

I saw first hand how poor ownership turned off the fans in London. They changed the name of the arena to the Ice House, changed the team colours to eggplant, and had no clue what they were doing. That team still holds the CHL record for worst record. Luckily for them the Hunters came in and bought the team and eventually the fans came back as the team started winning.

Unfortunately for Kingston, when Springer chased away all the fans we didn’t have a superman to step in and save the franchise like the Knights did.

It may take a new owner for the fans to come back…which may be from another franchise. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but we’ll see.

 

[frontsfan67]

I guess when you’ve seen him take what was once a proud franchise with a solid fan base and run it into the ground it’s hard to say, well thanks for not moving said team. And if they left, I’m sure Mississauga or some other future struggling team would be moving to Kingston to take their spot.

I saw first hand how poor ownership turned off the fans in London. They changed the name of the arena to the Ice House, changed the team colours to eggplant, and had no clue what they were doing. That team still holds the CHL record for worst record. Luckily for them the Hunters came in and bought the team and eventually the fans came back as the team started winning.

Unfortunately for Kingston, when Springer chased away all the fans we didn’t have a superman to step in and save the franchise like the Knights did.

It may take a new owner for the fans to come back…which may be from another franchise. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but we’ll see.

I doubt Springer sells in the next 5-10 years
As this is a tax write off for him. He bought the building GoodLife has been in and is going to turn it into a huge apartment. If he’s still buying stuff that tells me he still has a bit of time left before he retires.

Unless he gives the family fortune to one of his kids.
So potentially 10 more years of mediocrity.

I do suspect we go all in either this year or next year.

Who knows with ludwinski coming back and making a buyer move like Schmidt and with it being a weak east this year, and the m cup in the O he may try and assemble the avengers here for a shot at the finals/a title.

Personally as bad as the team has looked so far I believe they have a better chance this year rather than next. Next year the east is going to be extremely stacked with Kingston, Mississauga, barrie, Oshawa, ottawa all gunning for first place in the east and the best team in the league.

This is in all likelyhood the wests year but next year is definitely the easts year. Only team we will have to compete with in the west should be the usual ones London and Kitchener

 

[beastintheeast]

I guess when you’ve seen him take what was once a proud franchise with a solid fan base and run it into the ground it’s hard to say, well thanks for not moving said team. And if they left, I’m sure Mississauga or some other future struggling team would be moving to Kingston to take their spot.

I saw first hand how poor ownership turned off the fans in London. They changed the name of the arena to the Ice House, changed the team colours to eggplant, and had no clue what they were doing. That team still holds the CHL record for worst record. Luckily for them the Hunters came in and bought the team and eventually the fans came back as the team started winning.

Unfortunately for Kingston, when Springer chased away all the fans we didn’t have a superman to step in and save the franchise like the Knights did.

It may take a new owner for the fans to come back…which may be from another franchise. Hopefully it doesn’t come to that, but we’ll see.

The problem for the Springer takeover was not so much the family as it was the person that they listened to. Mav was past prime as a coach but could not and would not stop trying to be the coach or putting in place people he could tell what to do. The perfect example is he tried to have Bignell as coach then thought because Hulton was his successor in Belleville that he would coach his way. That did not work out so he fired Hulton and hired Cassidy who was just let go by the NHL. The problem with that was that Cassidy demanded self responsibility and discipline something Mav never did. Mav was from the era when you let the boys go out and party. Cassidy knew that was not the way. Mav listened to the players and instead of backing Cassidy when he benched Hughes he told him to play hughes thereby running his ability to coach.

My proof is the comment by that GREAT INTERNATIONAL DEFENCEMAN Justin Walingford. Who made the comment we got rid of him for you bobby.

Then Mav told Springer to put his faith in Dougie Gilmour. How did that work out?

I should also know that Mav was the idiot that kept trading first-round draft picks that he did develop and picks for a player to get them into the playoffs whether they were any good or not.

Since then they have had some good coaches and some coaches that they gave a chance to that did not work out.

Kory Cooper has only been at it a couple of years but I think he has the hang of it now. I think that given the reins he should be able to create a good team especially is Mann sticks around for a couple of years.

Will the fan base come back? It is possible that they may get better but the on-ice performance as well as the off-ice has to drastically improve on a regular basis.

There is a ton of stuff that can be done and the best way to do it is use the Booster club if it still exists. Under Earl and Howard the marketing for the main part was just putting an add in the Ottawa Sun beside the ad for the Pink Panther in Aylmer and a club on Bank Street downtown ( I forget the name). yess earl used to scream every time he was reminded that they also advertised in the sports section LOL

It was the Booster Club that created the stir by going out to locations in malls, Going on the dialathons, and getting sponsorship from restaurants and businesses. Dick Creamer never missed a chance to talk 67's with the media and make a name for the players and the team.

Even the mascot was controlled by the booster club. Riley was wherever a parade or a group of kids were. Yes, both these brought fans to the game.