Rocko604
Sports will break your heart.
Can't believe you made an account to respond to my post. You took my post too literal, of course I know they do not sustain 90% empty arena. But my whole point is that majority of the Abbotsford area are Canucks fans who are not too fond with other Western Canadian teams and the Blackhawks (for obvious reasons). No way would I want to watch the Flames system play if I was a Canucks fan. Lets take for explain, the Avs and Lake Erie. Lake Erie is based in Cleveland and majority of the fans around that area are Blue Jacket fans first and foremost. But since Blue Jackets and Avs have never been in the same division or even conference for that matter, there is not hate between any team or fanbase. In 2012-13 season, Lake Erie was 3rd in the league in attendance while your beloved Abbotsford was 2nd to last. Abbotsford didn't work due to the sole reason that no Canuck would want to watch Flames. If Abbotsford was an affiliate with the likes of the Phoenix Coyotes (during their Pacific division days), Nashville Predators, or Columbus Blue Jackets, they would probably have much more than an average of 40% filled attendance.
You can say whatever to defend Abbotsford, but they failed and common sense tells us why.
No, the Heat failed because it's not the Canucks. Could be any other affiliate (minus their rivals of course) and they would still fail. Abbotsford is Canucks territory. They drew large crowds to the streets after playoff wins in 2011. Cleveland might work for the Avs, but Cleveland is not an NHL city and is still two hours away from Columbus. I liken that to Vancouver once being a Triple-A affiliate for the Angels. We supported them very well even though you could say most fans in the city are either Jays or Mariners fans.
There's been zero argument around here as to why the Heat failed: They weren't the Canucks affiliate. And even if it were the affiliate of a non-rival, I think you would have only seen about 500-750 more seats filled.