NAHL Expansion 2019-2020

[tealhockey]

Not exactly surprised they're relocating. Had attendance of under 500 this past season, reflective of a team that had only made playoffs three times since relocating to Brookings. Very surprised they're going to St. Cloud, their NCAA team is incredibly popular and so is the local high school hockey. Alexandria, where the Blizzard are originally from, averaged double what Brookings had in attendance despite being in the NA3HL. Not too sure how this one is going to turn out, my hopes aren't very high.

Maybe the Huskies will have ignited the local taste for hockey and a rising tide helps all ships? Although if I lived out there imo I would be more than set with scsu, all the games on TV, and some nice high school hockey..

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Maybe the Huskies will have ignited the local taste for hockey and a rising tide helps all ships? Although if I lived out there imo I would be more than set with scsu, all the games on TV, and some nice high school hockey..

Very doubtful. Hockey has always been huge in St. Cloud. But it’s a small market that’s singularly obsessed with SCSU hockey. Assuming that since local hockey institutions have a following means a new team will get support is extremely flawed judgement. Philly Rebels has north of 5 million people within an hour drive, they couldn’t draw flies despite huge and constant marketing campaigns. Boston is a hockey hub, NE Generals gets parents and that’s about it. Same goes for WBS and NJ. The same thing was seen in Albert Lea, Chicago, Flint, Marquette, etc. There needs to be space and interest in a team. Everything points to St. Cloud having neither.

 

[tealhockey]

Very doubtful. Hockey has always been huge in St. Cloud. But it’s a small market that’s singularly obsessed with SCSU hockey. Assuming that since local hockey institutions have a following means a new team will get support is extremely flawed judgement. Philly Rebels has north of 5 million people within an hour drive, they couldn’t draw flies despite huge and constant marketing campaigns. Boston is a hockey hub, NE Generals gets parents and that’s about it. Same goes for WBS and NJ. The same thing was seen in Albert Lea, Chicago, Flint, Marquette, etc. There needs to be space and interest in a team. Everything points to St. Cloud having neither.

Extremely flawed judgement? That's a little much. I didn't make a judgement at all, but I don't expect anyone to actually read what I've written before replying. besides: this is lower-tier junior hockey, they don't need the world. Comparing Boston to St. Cloud is a facile argument (and so rich when you tell me I am extremely flawed in my conjecture). Boston has so much to offer vis-a-vis other entertainment options. St. Cloud is over an hour from the cities, Boston is a global hub. Too funny.

 

[Barclay Donaldson]

Extremely flawed judgement? That's a little much. I didn't make a judgement at all, but I don't expect anyone to actually read what I've written before replying. besides: this is lower-tier junior hockey, they don't need the world. Comparing Boston to St. Cloud is a facile argument (and so rich when you tell me I am extremely flawed in my conjecture). Boston has so much to offer vis-a-vis other entertainment options. St. Cloud is over an hour from the cities, Boston is a global hub. Too funny.

St. Cloud has 120,000 people in the entire metro area, which is significantly more than the 30,000 in metro Brookings. So while they don't need the world, they do need to draw in something. They were drawing in less than 500 despite being the only entertainment of any sort in the town. Now, St. Cloud doesn't have as much to do as major metro areas, but just because there isn't much to do doesn't mean they'll get much of a decent crowd. If that was true, then Albert Lea, Alpena, Flint, and all the other markets with no other entertainment would be packing it in every night. Metro Jamestown is similarly sized to St Cloud and has absolutely nothing to do and they barely beat out the 500 mark despite being the second best team in the division and having one of the best marketing departments in the league. Kalamazoo Jr. K-Wings were also in a hockey-obsessed market with nothing besides two semi-well supported teams in Western Michigan and ECHL Kalazoo, had triple the population to draw from, and couldn't draw flies.

Assuming that since local hockey institutions have a following means a new team will get support is extremely flawed judgement

Nowhere in my entire statement did I say you were flawed, or your judgement, or whatever perceived slight you felt. I said that "assuming new teams will do well in an area simply because hockey is popular is a flawed argument." But I don't expect anyone to actually read what I've written before replying. Besides, this is HFBoards, rich of you to tell me I am extremely flawed in my assertion of a thought process that you somehow think is directed at you. Such a facile argument. Too funny.

 

[mk80]

I mentioned it earlier in the thread, but again I'll point to the Granite City Lumberjacks of the NA3HL who play in Saulk Rapids (across the river from St. Cloud) and in fact used to play at the same arena the Blizzard are moving into now. The Lumberjacks are one of the attendance leaders in the 3HL drawing an average of around 800 during the regular season, and 1500 for a couple playoff games. I know they get crowds of 1k or more for certain games throughout the season and have carved out a nice niche for themselves under the shadows of Huskies hockey, and other SCSU athletics, and some competitive high school programs too.

So there is some appetite for junior hockey in the market, now the question is how will the Blizzard tap into those fans, will they support the Blizzard if it's another unsuccessful year on the ice for them, keep in mind Granite City regularly is at the top of their division. Also I found it interesting that the Lumberjacks were obviously considering moving up a level with their established fanbase already in place until this announcement from the Blizzard Move of NAHL's Blizzard upsets nearby NA3HL team, delights college coaches | Grand Forks Herald