You guys who think this team should be averaging more than they are now are nuts. We play in a non-hockey market, with arguably the best weather in the country, aside from the rain, we have been terrible for most of our existence, with a revolving door of players, coaches, general managers, and owners. We are one of the few teams in the league that can be considered the laughing stock of the league. In a more traditional market, where there is less to do on a game day, you would see a rise in attendance with a team like this one, but until this team becomes a yearly playoff team, we wont see huge jumps in attendance. We will see the fan base grow, and more bandwagoners come along for the ride, but again, that will not happen until we are a playoff team. I do expect that we will see a huge jump IF we are right there at the end of February.
This team can definitely be in the top half of attendance once we are more successful. We have seen that happen before. We just need to be patient. Its happened here before, and its happened here with other teams in South Florida. As long as the ownerships understands that, and continues the financial commitment to this team, we will be fine in the long run. I think what goes hand in hand with that is that Tallon must make the right decisions this offseason. We need that Hossa-to-Chicago type of deal this offseason to really get this team over the hump. If the right moves are made, then I think we can put all this attendance talk behind us.
