Will the Growlers attendance increase following the Kelly Cup win?
- Thread starter Newfoundland
- Start date
Barclay Donaldson
Registered User
ECHL is the only hockey Newfoundland will ever have again. The AHL will never revisit Atlantic Canada and the Q is highly unlikely. ECHL is the long term and permanent solution for ex-AHL markets. If the hockey fans of St. John’s don’t want to watch ECHL, they follow Manchester Monarchs’ path and don’t have any hockey to watch. They also wouldn’t lose the Growlers like the Ice Caps, since Winnipeg and Montréal moved both to be closer to home.
Having said that, they did pretty good in attendance for their first year. The 4,000 mark is what most organizations strive for, Growlers were at 3,800 in their first season. Far better than fellow first-year team Maine Mariners. If they market the team well and have on-ice success, they should do very well.
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Tommy Shelby
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2012
- 7,450
- 4,789
Let's hope they stick around so I can keep going to games
Congratulations to the Growlers, and to the fans in Newfoundland. This championship must not be sitting well with the rest of the teams in the league lol, but that is hockey.
I was going to post a question to the fans, what is your opinion on the ECHL and the level of play? Hypothetically, would the fan's opinions be the same if the club failed to beat Toledo? What the Growlers did with their partnership with Toronto could be a very good model, and could yield a good future for the ECHL if most teams buy into it..
I was going to post a question to the fans, what is your opinion on the ECHL and the level of play? Hypothetically, would the fan's opinions be the same if the club failed to beat Toledo? What the Growlers did with their partnership with Toronto could be a very good model, and could yield a good future for the ECHL if most teams buy into it..
Cyclones Rock
Registered User
- Jun 12, 2008
- 10,558
- 6,475
First off, congrats Growlers! Fantastic season-especially given that the original coach had to step down midway through the season.
I thought having the roster represented by a few very good players who hailed from Newfoundland was a very sound idea. Pardy, O'brien, Melindy and Power weren't window dressing; they were the core of the team. If they can continue to have a local flavor and be highly competitive, then that should bode well for a long term future.
I watched the Rogers TV feeds on youtube and was very impressed by the spirit of the announcers. There was a genuine passion for their team. They shed some tears when the final horn sounded. While the Growlers may be an expansion team, Newfoundland has a long history in hockey and finally getting a championship at the professional level meant a lot to the announcers and I'm guessing the entire fan base.
I've done a little reading and watching of some videos of "The Rock" and am intrigued by it in so many ways. I'm hoping to get a chance to go there at some point. It seems to have a real sense of community which simply doesn't exist anymore in most of North America. It would be interesting to spend some time there.
Anyway, congrats on your win and hopefully a long term professional hockey future for you guys!
I thought having the roster represented by a few very good players who hailed from Newfoundland was a very sound idea. Pardy, O'brien, Melindy and Power weren't window dressing; they were the core of the team. If they can continue to have a local flavor and be highly competitive, then that should bode well for a long term future.
I watched the Rogers TV feeds on youtube and was very impressed by the spirit of the announcers. There was a genuine passion for their team. They shed some tears when the final horn sounded. While the Growlers may be an expansion team, Newfoundland has a long history in hockey and finally getting a championship at the professional level meant a lot to the announcers and I'm guessing the entire fan base.
I've done a little reading and watching of some videos of "The Rock" and am intrigued by it in so many ways. I'm hoping to get a chance to go there at some point. It seems to have a real sense of community which simply doesn't exist anymore in most of North America. It would be interesting to spend some time there.
Anyway, congrats on your win and hopefully a long term professional hockey future for you guys!
Tommy Shelby
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2012
- 7,450
- 4,789
The quality was surprisingly good, and very different than the OHL team I watched live growing up. Lots of fan interaction too.
The Growlers had a really good team, and I never attended a game where I didn't feel that the boys could win. They just had "it".
Tommy Shelby
Registered User
- Feb 26, 2012
- 7,450
- 4,789
I've lived here almost 2 years now and my advice would be this: if you're going to visit, come between mid-June and Mid-September. The weather isn't the greatest otherwise.
Newfoundland
Registered User
It was better then expected, obviously we’d want the IceCaps back but anything over the fogdevils they were awful.
JMCx4
Censorship is the Sincerest Form of Flattery
Part of that credit is owed to Head Coach John Snowden. Snowy gets hockey.
PCSPounder
Stadium Groupie
It's not like the league has run off Idaho yet (2003 entry, 2003-04 Kelly Cup). Congrats!
Growler
Registered User
- May 16, 2018
- 343
- 168
Agreed completely.
In this current era of hockey, the ECHL is actually perfect for Newfoundland because today's AHL would never afford a roster spot for a player just because he is a Newfoundlander. But in the ECHL, you can have guys like O'Brien who can lead the team, and get guys like Pardy who can join for a final Victory Lap season. Maybe Colin Greening will do the same next year.
The fact that Toronto is going to stock the roster with rookies every year will make Newfoundland a heck of a good team year-in, year-out. I think it will be a situation of lots of rookies, several 2nd and 3rd year Growlers, and Newfoundlaner Vets for the 4 veteran spots every year. I think it will make for a strong dressing room culture.
edit: BTW -- Newfoundland is my favourite part of Canada. It's almost like a different country because it is so unique.
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Growler
Registered User
- May 16, 2018
- 343
- 168
ECHL is fun to watch when they play up-tempo and focus on skating and skill. It's crap when teams try to goon it up because they are too shitty to compete on skating and skill. The ECHL's reputation is as a goon and goalie league for anyone who has not watched the game in the last 5+ years, but they have cleaned up the league a lot. But judging by some of the shit Florida tried to pull in the Eastern Conference game, the ECHL has a long way to go.
Seriously, the ECHL needs to clamp down even harder. The Mountain Division is basically a shit-show of penalties. The AHL still has dirty shit (as does the NHL), but the casual hockey fan still thinks of the ECHL like Slap Shot. The ECHL needs to be CLEANER than the AHL and NHL -- once that happens, the league will flourish because all the NHL teams will do what Toronto is doing with their prospects, there will be fewer overagers in Junior, and you'll get more Europeans in the league.
If it means that the ECHL needs to go through a progression for a year of being nothing than a Special Teams League because there will be so many guys in the penalty box then so be it. Lot's of 5 on4, 5 on 3, 4 on 4, 4 on 3 etc. will open the game right up. Teams will lose games 10-1, and coaches will be fired, and owners will be mad, but they will be forced to adjust and not be stupid Don Cherry dinosaurs. It will take 1 year. Big guys who can't skate will be forced out of the game. That 5'7" kid playing in men's league will sign a loan to take the place of 25 year old guys who were drafted because they were big and some GM hoped he might develop into something.
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Newfoundland
Registered User
You mean after July 10th and before August 20th.
Granted if your stuck in the swamp ass heat of ontario it might be a relief to spend two weeks in 10 degree weather with no sun.
What makes Newfoundland awesome is the bizarre climate and geography. It is half way to Ireland, half way to Greenland and pretends to be part of Canada.
Personally I think the focus should be on having a stable Newfoundland Senior Hockey League.
Although my suspicion is that the economic downtown caused by low oil prices is starting to compound with demographic decline. The average age in my home town is well over 50. Lack of a work force and low commodity rates means investment in the province is currently very risky. Until commodities come up in value things will be tough.
EDIT: Some food for thought about having the Winnipeg Jets farm team, we are geographically closer to both Greenland and Ireland than we were Winnipeg.
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Growlers
Go Growlers!
- Dec 9, 2017
- 189
- 110
I think it will be better, but the issues with the Lease agreement and the "Threats" from the owner to move the team are killing ticket sales. People are sick of teams coming and going here. The team was promoted as "Our" team and then one year later the owner is threating to leave.
the Q HAS ALREADY BEEN TRIED, BD, that's the difference, not that fans should trust anything Courteau has stated, hence why Montreal until Laval went there was always the fall back city, much like Quebec is to the NHL
Atlantian
Registered User
Last season, according to Hockeydb, the Growlers were 18th in the league in attendance, averaging 3,784 per game. Winning a championship would usually bring this up quite a bit, but with all the controversy this off season, I honestly do not see it going up by too much. With the history that St. John's has with teams moving and bad ownership, i think the fans are fed up. Unless there is a long-term lease agreement (3+ years works) signed before the start of the season, I do not believe we will see too much, if any growth.
royals119
Registered User
It often doesn't seem to make a difference. The season the Royals won the championship was their lowest attended season to that point. They got a bump of 64 fans per game the next year, and another 100 the following year, and then trended down every year since. Trenton had an abyssmal year at the gate the year after their championship. Atlantic City folded/moved shortly after their win. It is expensive to win a championship - lots of playoff travel expense and extra payroll, with playoff games that are scheduled on short notice with little opportunity to market. Teams often cut the budget the next year to make up for it, and lots of players retire or get AHL contracts and move up, which reduces attendance further. Winning a championship can help you market the team, but it isn't an automatic attendance booster.
GindyDraws
I will not disable my Adblock, HF
I'd say winning would help the Fuel, but we've only made the playoffs once and still maintain a 4,200 average annually, which is 72% of the Coliseum's capacity.
Agalloch
EliteProspects
royals119
Registered User
The tweet says the Growlers and the Edge have new ten year leases. I'm assuming more details to follow soon.
Agalloch
EliteProspects
Newfoundland
Registered User
Atlantian
Registered User
210
Registered User
So to answer the question asked in the thread title, no, not much.
It's the 10-year lease that will attract fans and corporate support.
It's the 10-year lease that will attract fans and corporate support.
