My thoughts exactly. Did you see what San Francisco was charging last year before they folded?
What you lose when you join the ECHL
- Thread starter speedrissr
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My thoughts exactly. Did you see what San Francisco was charging last year before they folded?
I imagine there will be more games with whichever Western ECHL teams remain, the former CHL teams provide a natural bridge to enable more games for Colorado and to a lesser extent Utah and Idaho. Alaska and the California teams, well, they're still on an island. Without the California teams, if the rumored AHL expansion west, it doesn't look good for Alaska.
Al?
RLR
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Yeah but you're comparing some decent sized cities to a small upstate NY city...they should be cheaper I would hope.
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Teams sometimes don't know what they are doing but here with attendance on the decline they RAISED every section up $2 AND got rid of the early bird special for season ticket holders. It doesn't seem like a good idea to raise prices when the last 2 years you've struggled to put butts in the seats, no? You're also talking a small area with limited resources and all that. The only blessing is the people that own the team own the arena. For that make tickets cheaper and have more concession sales versus just only ticket sales from a majority of attendees. I mean $60, $70 at the cheapest for a family of 4? So many other things a family of 4 could do for cheaper.
Yeah, but they're playing in the same league as the decent sized cities, which puts them in a different economic circle than just the small town economy. They have the same expenses as the decent size cities when they're on the road, and when it comes to paying player salaries.
If you want cheaper fan costs then join the SPHL or FHL. There the operational costs and salaries are much less. However, then the on ice talent is also less. That's the reality of economics in today's sport economy.
If the SPHL ended up in Elmira and tickets were $10-$12 each I think fans would come back. The style of play and blue collar nature of that league is more suited for a city like Elmira than what we have now.
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I don't think tickets are league regulated, I think playoff games are but who really draws well for those anyway in the minors? Not many teams. They are a money loser if anything.
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Must be a unique market or a bored one but its not as if Bakersfield is a poor small market or anything.
Elmira should seriously consider the NAHL. Here in Johnstown, many fans now wish that the ECHL would have left years earlier, knowing now how much more entertaining the style of play is in the NAHL compared to what the ECHL was its last few years here. The NAHL is the closest thing to minor pro for a junior hockey league because the players are almost all 18 to 20 years old, plus it has a more blue collar, physical style of play. Many people in Johnstown at first said they would not attend a "high school hockey league". All it took was getting the people to one game and they were hooked. We have an outstanding ownership group here in Johnstown that treats the fans better than they have ever been treated before. The ownership also spends money on advertising as well as promotions, something that was never done during the ECHL years. Since the schedule consists of only 60 games, every game is important. Most games have the intensity and physicality of a playoff game. All in all, it is nice to no longer have to worry every year whether or not our team will return next season. Elmira would be the furthest team east for the NAHL, but don't be surprised if the league continues to expand eastward.
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I just have no use for a league like that. It would be USHL, OHL or bust for me. We already have a college team. Its D3. The NAHL would equivelate that at higher ticket prices.
CrazyEddie20
Hey RuZZia - Cut Your Losses and Go Home.
Fortunately for the hockey world, you aren't the single, solitary fan in Elmira, New York... or anywhere else, for that matter.
Your outlook of the ECHL mirrors that of Eyore, the gloomy donkey friend of Winnie the Pooh, constantly negative post after post.
BTW, NCAA D3 hockey is clearly better than the NAHL brand. It doesn't even merit discussion.
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Who cares if the talent level of D3 is higher than the NAHL. The talent level for the ECHL is higher than D3 and the ECHL is a very boring and bland type of hockey to watch. All I know is, in the NAHL I am now watching intense, fast paced, hard hitting hockey against teams that hate each other, much like the early ECHL years and I am thoroughly entertained. Isn't that all that should matter?
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Thank you for your input on this.
How is the team drawing? Very happy for you folks.
No money back in Chiefs during Smith era.
yes. well said. it is about the entertainment and intensity.
The ECHL provides little or none of both.
we have the highest drawing D3 team in the nation here in Utica.
Utica College.
2700 season tickets in a 3815 capacity rink. While it isn't my cup of tea, many people find it wildly entertaining and intense. They regularly sell out. The Comets coming to the AHL hasn't hurt them a bit, in fact they draw more.
There hasn't been an entertaining game in the ECHL in 10 years.
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Am I the only person here who likes watching hockey in general and doesn't really care about how "entertaining" the game is because I take hockey more seriously than mere "entertainment"?
Well, I don't like to be bored with uninspired, boring hockey. If you like that stuff and can watch it, more power to you.
I like intensity, haven't seen it in over a decade.
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I'd take the NAHL here in Elmira. I just drove 4 and 1/2 hours yesterday and saw the Keystone Ice Miners game (mainly to check out the arena) and agree the brand of hockey is entertaining. The game was excellent, with intensity and enough skill to hold fans interest. Guys seem to want to be there unlike many of the ECHL players these days.
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This. There's just not much hitting or anything and guys wanna pull cheap **** like Saturday. Someone wanted a piece of Kevin Harvey early in the game and he turtles but late in the game he wanted to go against a guy who didn't look like a fighter and the refs didn't let it happen lol. Where's the good hits either? A few weeks ago I was at a game and Brayden Irwin was charging towards this guy along the boards who had the pick he could have hit him instead he brought his purse and basically tapped him. He's a skilled guy who will overachieve because he can dominate this level without having to try but has to give more at the next level. I think its an issue this league has. You have veterans who are too good for this league and can dominate but go up to the AHL and its harder and they struggle so they bounce back and forth year to year between E and A.
The hitting is weak. Most of it now is cheap crap after the whistle or while a guy isn't looking.
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Guess we could say the same for you Crazy Edward. Fact is if you've looked they have not much room to bargain with their current situation. I have only been to one game since May 2012(I don't necessarily agree with how the mess down there played out and I feel like the hockey has taken a back seat to other matters.)
I'm with you on this. Hockey is good because it's hockey. I loved the 90's trap style hockey, I loved the 80's wide open scoring fest hockey, I loved the WCHL, I love the ECHL. Hockey is good because it's a great product at nearly any level (I may draw the line at a old timers beer league game or peewees). That said, NAHL is a terrible product. I would go to NAHL games if I had no other options (I've been there and seen a bundle of them because of it), because I like hockey...but to act as if NAHL is a more entertaining product than the ECHL is laughable. I get that the ECHL isn't the best league in the world, but for the price, it's great.
The NAHL is entertaining if you like watching D-men fall on their backsides trying to skate backwards, or if you like watching guys miss checks and pass 5 feet behind the player that they are passing to. Sure, there are a few kids that have some skill and may make NCAA D1, and there are even fewer who might get drafted (I got to see Stolarz play, for example), but that's the exception, not the rule. For many of these teams, after the first line, the skill level is brutal.
Johnstown has a history of hockey dating back to 1950. We are a hockey town with very knowledgeable fans . If the current NAHL was anything like Hoodaha is describing, the Johnstown Tomahawks would not be averaging well over 2,000 fans per game for the third consecutive season.
I saw NAHL several years ago, so maybe the skill level has improved, but at least back then, the talent pool was not deep at all. It's hard to compare kids to men, so I give them some leeway because those that go on will get better, but it really wasn't a very good product. I've heard that USHL is, but haven't seen to verify. By the way, 2,000 fans is considered a failure in most leagues, so I wouldn't get too excited about it. Guess it helps when you don't have to pay the players. Maybe it has more to do with the fact that there's been hockey there since the 50's, so there are hockey fans there who want to see hockey.
