GDT: Game 43 - Red Wings @ Coyotes - 1/14/16 - 7pm

[Tom Polakis]

After looking around the bowl at the game it was no surprise I couldn't give away my extra ticket even for free. Actually ended up selling it on StubHub but no one ever showed up at the seat. At least it left me with some funds to attend another game. It was the lowest attended Red Wings game since I've been out here and I've only been to one Coyotes game with less attendance,

Yeah, attendance is shown as 12,014, but I wonder if there were even 7000 at the game. I think the number of Wings fans at our games since the team moved here has been constant at around 4000. This was a rare case where they really did outnumber Coyotes fans.

 

[_Del_]

All fan bases have their drunken, obnoxious fans, but for my money Detroit and Buffalo games have the top tier on percentages.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

All fan bases have their drunken, obnoxious fans, but for my money Detroit and Buffalo games have the top tier on percentages.

And then there are the guy fans.

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Did one of the douchebro Wings fans actually try to fight our mascot last night?

Is that what happened? I noticed something going on down there from my perch on the far end of that same side (214). I saw the guy standing against the rail, everyone in the area looking at him, then Howler holding up his jersey and pointing to the 'M' for Mascot on it. Was anyone closer?

 

[Dirty Old Man]

Exactly?

Not even remotely.

These things always look worse because a far higher percentage of visiting fans wear stuff identifying themselves as such. Plenty of home fans show up wearing whatever they wore to work that day.

The good news is that if we ever have to see Detroit fans more than once a year now, it's been a very good year.

 

[AZviaNJ]

I don't think it was goalie interference, but there were many questionable calls on both teams. Go on to the next game.

Doan could have easily been called for GI on his goal, he was initially pushed into Mrazek, but then pushed Mrazek again from the side (on his own) once in the crease which clearly impeded Mrazek's ability to the make the save.

Also, Vermette got away with a clear trip with the 30 seconds left in regulation.

While not great, I thought the officiating was at fair.

As for Vermette.....some healthy scratch time needed. He continues to make mistakes no vet C should.

 

[YandlesMother]

I've had ST just as long but to be honest, opposing fans never bother me as much as most others. I sit in 214, which has FAR fewer away fans than most sections. So I'll chalk it up to that.

Maybe I just rate freshly minted Kane-jersey wearing hawks fans, Kings fans as the worst of the NHL. The Wings fans who still come to our arena seem to be more sedated than in the mid 2000s.

 

[GiveAFlyingPuck]

 

[0point1]

The attendance is dropping back down to NHL ownership levels. Can't really blame fans for not investing emotionally and financially in a team that has one foot out the door this whole time under Ice Arizona. Even worst now that in 1 year the team won't even have Gila River Arena. Please welcome to the ice your 2017 Las Vegas Knights.

 

[Mosby]

Fans only have so much disposable income for sports. Let's see if attendance picks up after the Cardinals season.

 

[Spirit of Lindgren]

Now theres one Ive heard a lot

4 years ago, my first year as a STH, I heard that..there was always a reason
Fans aren't coming because of a holiday break
Fans will be there BECAUSE of a holiday break
Fans aren't coming because of the drive
Fans aren't coming because of the other sports in the area
The Dostyevsky excuse as the ole disposable income excuse is a good one too though.
Like we are destitute city compared to the other NHL cities who have no problems?

No, everyone knows that the owners NEED FANS to participate, they know the fans KNOW that they are needed.
They aren't coming. Not so far.
A direct message it seems to me..to the owners.

 

[The Feckless Puck]

4 years ago, my first year as a STH, I heard that..there was always a reason
Fans aren't coming because of a holiday break
Fans will be there BECAUSE of a holiday break
Fans aren't coming because of the drive
Fans aren't coming because of the other sports in the area
The Dostyevsky excuse as the ole disposable income excuse is a good one too though.
Like we are destitute city compared to the other NHL cities who have no problems?

No, everyone knows that the owners NEED FANS to participate, they know the fans KNOW that they are needed.
They aren't coming. Not so far.
A direct message it seems to me..to the owners.

I've gone through every excuse over the past 11 years to try to figure out why more people don't show up.

When you get right down to brass tacks, the biggest problem is that our die-hard core is too small. According to the ownership's research less than a quarter of the hockey fans in Arizona are Coyotes fans. Put the huge transplant population into a brew with a decade of awfulness on the ice followed by another decade of imminent relocation, stir it up, and you have the **** soup that is responsible for this team remaining on the fringes of Valley sports.

I saw signs that it was changing in 2012, but then the team came within a few hours of moving to Winnipeg... so much for momentum. And it's hard to rebuild that momentum when the Coyotes are very publicly homeless in the very near future.

 

[YandlesMother]

I've gone through every excuse over the past 11 years to try to figure out why more people don't show up.

When you get right down to brass tacks, the biggest problem is that our die-hard core is too small. According to the ownership's research less than a quarter of the hockey fans in Arizona are Coyotes fans. Put the huge transplant population into a brew with a decade of awfulness on the ice followed by another decade of imminent relocation, stir it up, and you have the **** soup that is responsible for this team remaining on the fringes of Valley sports.

I saw signs that it was changing in 2012, but then the team came within a few hours of moving to Winnipeg... so much for momentum. And it's hard to rebuild that momentum when the Coyotes are very publicly homeless in the very near future.

This, like nearly every other west coast market reacts well to winners. And it can't be a flash in the pan. All the noise on the side hasn't helped, but the fact is die hard fans are born out of those long runs.

 

[CC96]

This is the most Detroit thing I have ever seen. If you could take the spirit of all the people of Detroit and put them in one person, in one place, in one single moment, you would get what we saw here in this corner of the universe, in this specific time and place.