go comets
Registered User
- Jul 10, 2013
- 3,532
- 1,471
Yea the fans in Utica seem pretty obnoxious for whatever reason. They got the AHL by the skin of their teeth basically. They can thank their hometown boy Robert Esche who was assisted by former Providence Bruins owner Frank DuRoss is getting the deal done. Vancouver was in big trouble needing a place to put their AHL franchise quickly after their intended move to Abbotsford was locked out for contractual reasons. Uticans are fortunate enough that last year the team was solid, and the local boys who are allowed to manage the franchise (the club is owned by Vancouver, locals are allowed to manage the team) and they do whats right by the locals. They got tons of state taxpayer money to upgrade basically an outdated arena which could have helped the Adirondack Civic Center which is a much better building, they adopted a historic local hockey identity, and rightfully so after hockey has failed before at AHL, CoHl, and UHL levels people were appreciative to see hockey back and its nice to see the support.
With that being said all the sudden the fanbase has turned pretty arrogant. If ya look back at Albany way back in 1993 when the River Rats were established and became a Devils affiliate (Albany didnt take the Devils from Utica. Albany was locally owned then, and just affiliated with the Devils who sold their franchise from Utica to Portland) the first year attendance was so so. The following season attendance went up, they won the Calder Cup etc. Season after the champiosnhip saw Albany average 6101 fans per game, and still competed with the Adirondack Red Wings who were also playing to capacity crowds, hockey in the Albany-Adirondack market was thriving to. Two healthy AHL clubs and two NCAA DI teams all nearby. Fast forward twenty years where half the time Albany was not even in the playoffs ever, the old Devils regime not giving a lick of care for the Albany fanbase and thats what you have in Albany, nobody cares anymore, fanbase has been beaten down to a pulp, its not the fanbase that is totally at fault.
When I hear other AHL fans, especially Utica rag on Albany they havent a clue. I cant imagine sitting through a decade and half of watching a team that you know likely is not going to make the playoffs and their own parent team that acknowleges their AHL team serves an important role in developing winners at the NHL level, winning championships at the AHL level is not a priority for our organization. Thats a well known philosiphy which has been talked about and made known in the Albany area media. With your leadership of the very owners and management of your AHL team saying this how would this affect your desire to invest in this team in terms of season tickets, advertising, passion, merchandise. This is why for year Albany's AHL team is just there, going through the motions. After years of suffering through this ho can anyone question why thing are the way they area. Albany fans dont need the AHL. They can take in NCAA DI hockey for a hockey fix, they can go to Glens Falls and catch the ECHL Thunder (who are 7 and 0 and have an AHL calibre roster), or they can take a 2.5 hour trip to catch the NY Rangers, Islanders, and Devils. I would like to see the fans in Utica support the same hockey Albany has had to. Playoffless hockey would never fly for more then two season in Hershey or other AHL historic towns. Heck, fans in Rochester whine and moan their Amerks havent won a playoff series in past five years lol, at least they were there. Utica fans have not paid their dues, thery have not gone through adversity of any kind that has tested their will and support. Should be very interesting in the very near future. I want to see Utica not have the same on ice success for a couple season as they did last year, see how the support holds up. It should also be interesting to see if in fact sooner rather then later Vancouver decides the Abbotsford BC move or somewhere out west closer to home. So far this new trend of AHL teams playing in their parent teams arena has not been a disaster, and you can be assured its saving the ownership of these AHL teams playing in their parent clubs building a ton of money. Whether your in Albany, Springfield, Utica, Binghamton, Portland, or anyother smaller market you should be worried. If I was Utica I would be very cautious about the ego. Show strong support yes but dont get arrogant and obnoxious, your one pen signature or verbal agreement away from being an AHLess hockey town. No different then anyone else, dont think for a second you have an advantage over Albany because you dont. 800 more fans per game is not going to secure your AHL future over Albany and that is a reality.
The Utica fans understand one thing. Support the team while its here or lose it forever.......even if they do eventually leave, the diehards will just drive 50 miles west. Some of you act like it's the end of the world if a city looses an Ahl team. We survived 25 years without a team. We all survived and life went on.........some of You need to get a grip........
