2012/13 General Heat Discussion Thread

[StrykerSteve]

Originally Posted by kehatch

As a Heat fan I think they should cover the local media. As a Calgary fan I wouldn't want to listen to constant talk about the Vancouver affiliate if they were located in Airdrie.

I think having your farm team located in enemy territory is a mistake. The deal is nice. So is the proximity. But it asks to much of the local fan base and media IMO.

Agreed.

Heat games aren't even on the radio in Vancouver, only online. That simply isn't healthy for a professional sports team. They need to relocate this team, as soon as possible to a region that actually wants it there.

A recent radio spot on Team1040 promoting this weekend's past games, shouted out everything that was great about the OKC, and mentioned nothing about the Heat. Come see the OKC play! AHL leading scorer Justin Schultz! Hot young stars Eberle, Nugent-Hopkins and Hall! Can't miss it!

It was embarrassing. The sad thing is, the Heat would have had to ok the spot, so they certainly aren't doing themselves any favours.

[Ashasx]

I don't think they should relocate the team at all.

The Flames have a good thing going there, regardless of fan support. If we were to switch locations with the Wolves, then development of players becomes second fiddle to having a winning team. You don't want that, and instead you give that advantage to your biggest rival.

[moon]

I think Pinder did the right thing. It is somewhat understandable that the Vancouver media isn't focusing a ton of time on Abbotsford but to spend time talking about the "young stars" of the Barons with the start the Heat have had seems like lazy journalism and not surprising coming from Botchford.

Botchford seems to be an attention whore and d-bag so not surprised to see him get involved here.

Pinder seems to have done the right thing and with your position and history as a fan you should feel proud of Pinder for sticking up for your team.

[868904]

The Flames should stay in Abbotsford and stick it to the Canucks and their fans. It's a great situation for the Flames, win or lose, they aren't on the hook. Flames can focus solely on development and not care about winning at all and still not have to worry about the money thanks to the sweet deal, but the Flames are a classier organization than that.

If the "hockey fans" don't want to support the Heat that's fine. The City of Abbotsford is paying for it.

They can show up and boo the heat for all I care, that'll toughen the players up and prepare them for Calgary, cause you know'll there's no fans harder than the home team fans.

As for Botchford, I can't believe I am surprised to hear that from that guy. I always knew Canuck media were a bunch of homer losers, but try and act at least a little professional. Amazing and completely reflective of the fan base. Completely immature.

[BloodFetish]

Originally Posted by Pierre "Monster" McGuire

...Jason Botchford...

Originally Posted by 868904

...Botchford...

Man I friggin HATE Botchford. He has this annoying thing he does where instead of saying his thought in 10 words, he turns it into a 2-minute run-one sentence where he reiterates the same point 5 times.

And if he gets in an argument he just gets louder and tries to shout down his opponent.

Useless waste of skin, and he oughta be packed into a can.

[icarus]

This Botchford character sounds like a clown. "I'm done with Abby"? The guy is paid to cover local sports, and then says he is done with a regional team. If I were his editor I'd take him out of the sports department altogether and put him into ballet where he wants to be.

The time to moan and complain about the Heat affiliation was four years ago. It's time to move on and support a community team.

[kehatch]

Originally Posted by icarus

This Botchford character sounds like a clown. "I'm done with Abby"? The guy is paid to cover local sports, and then says he is done with a regional team. If I were his editor I'd take him out of the sports department altogether and put him into ballet where he wants to be.

The time to moan and complain about the Heat affiliation was four years ago. It's time to move on and support a community team.

Sports media covers what their audience is interested in. Would you be interested in a Vancouver affiliate located in the Calgary area?

[icarus]

Originally Posted by kehatch

Sports media covers what their audience is interested in. Would you be interested in a Vancouver affiliate located in the Calgary area?

If they played in my local area and I was a season ticket holder, then yeah. I bet there are plenty of Canucks fans who go to Heat games, because they live in the area or can't afford to take their families to NHL games. They made that choice. They are interested in the Heat.

[Calgary4LIfe]

I think the Heat can build a good following where they are. It will just take a long time. Drafting some local guys is a good idea to help build that - guys like Bouma who had a following on the Giants. Either way, if the Heat continue winning, and if they continue playing some pretty fun hockey, eventually more fans will start coming and enjoying hockey.

There are definitely some Heat fans in Abbotsford now, and I don't think they were necessarily Calgary Flames fans to begin with, so they are either attracting new fans to hockey, or some Vancouver Canuck fans are accepting the Heat as a team to follow and cheer for.

[old-fart]

Not sure why, but there are a couple of day games in the AHL today (the Heat play tonight). After one, the baby-Coilers are getting humped by the Marlies 4 zip. Yup, 4 zip after 1 for the Marlies.

Dominant team "awesome first overall picks in the NHL" team is not so awesome.

[Alberta_Beef]

Originally Posted by Calgary4LIfe

I think the Heat can build a good following where they are. It will just take a long time. Drafting some local guys is a good idea to help build that - guys like Bouma who had a following on the Giants. Either way, if the Heat continue winning, and if they continue playing some pretty fun hockey, eventually more fans will start coming and enjoying hockey.

There are definitely some Heat fans in Abbotsford now, and I don't think they were necessarily Calgary Flames fans to begin with, so they are either attracting new fans to hockey, or some Vancouver Canuck fans are accepting the Heat as a team to follow and cheer for.

So Horak should be helping since he was a Chiliwack Bruin? Alot of people in the area are Canuck fans and not hockey fans.

[868904]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

Alot of people in the area are Canuck fans and not hockey fans.

Exactly!

THat can be said for most "hockey fans" in the LOwer Mainland and this is evident when you talk to them about hockey, most of them have no clue about the game.

The Canuck fans that are regulars on this board are about as educated of a hockey fan who roots for the Canucks as you will find.

The rest, are just the typical bandwagon fan. They weren't around when the Canucks sucked and they won't be when revert back to their natural place at the bottom of the league standings

[Ashasx]

Originally Posted by old-fart

Not sure why, but there are a couple of day games in the AHL today (the Heat play tonight). After one, the baby-Coilers are getting humped by the Marlies 4 zip. Yup, 4 zip after 1 for the Marlies.

Dominant team "awesome first overall picks in the NHL" team is not so awesome.

Look what you've done. You could see this coming from a mile away.

[getbak]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Look what you've done. You could see this coming from a mile away.

http://theahl.com/stats/game-summary...ame_id=1010047


3 goals in the last five minutes. Way to go, Toronto.


Am I reading that right? Toronto's coach got a game misconduct penalty?

[Ashasx]

Pretty sure that's a mistake. Should read too many men.

Or so the radio guy said. Might be wrong.

[Ashasx]

And good guy Gardiner wins it in OT.

[Pierre "Monster" McGuire]

Originally Posted by 868904

Exactly!

THat can be said for most "hockey fans" in the LOwer Mainland and this is evident when you talk to them about hockey, most of them have no clue about the game.

The Canuck fans that are regulars on this board are about as educated of a hockey fan who roots for the Canucks as you will find.

The rest, are just the typical bandwagon fan. They weren't around when the Canucks sucked and they won't be when revert back to their natural place at the bottom of the league standings

I think most Flames fans on this board know more about the Canucks current team, farm team, and history than more "Canucks fans" do.

I strike up a conversation with a Canucks fan and ask, "hey, so how's Yann Sauve progressing?" Inevitably, they'll answer, "who?"

It grows tiresome after a while seeing a half-full arena, but at least the guys have learned to play extraordinary hockey regardless of the attendance. That just speaks to the amount of "internal fuel" of the players (as Ward would say).

[old-fart]

Originally Posted by Ashasx

Look what you've done. You could see this coming from a mile away.

Mea culpa.

Should have known better to ever trust any team associated with the Leafs to do their jobs. Sigh.

At least they closed it out in OT.

[Calgary4LIfe]

Originally Posted by Alberta_Beef

So Horak should be helping since he was a Chiliwack Bruin? Alot of people in the area are Canuck fans and not hockey fans.

That is very true - but I think it is common in most areas. Most 'fans' are just fans of their respective teams across the league. I would bet most Calgary fans don't log into online forums like Calgary Puck. They only watch hockey if Calgary is playing.

For instance, none of my close friends have any clue how the Flames' prospects are doing, and most of them didn't even know the affiliate was the Heat. These are fans that have started watching hockey ever since the Flames came to the city, and they split season tickets. These fans would NEVER go to an AHL game. They have only gone to a few WHL games because they scored free tickets. I would classify these as the 'average' fan.

However, I still think that the Heat can do 'ok' in that market as time goes on. They do have what - 2000 tickets at the arena on average? Something like that, anyways. I think if the Heat go on a run this year, they can improve on that. People support 'winners'. They would start drawing a crowd after a while.

As for Horak (Howse - though in the ECHL now, Bouma and whomever else is from BC or played Junior hockey in BC), I do think that helps get a few fans to at least check out a game or two, and then hopefully they start to enjoy the product on the ice. I think the Heat are definitely more 'likeable' this year - more skill, more success and a much more entertaining product, I think. It is definitely good hockey, and I think it will actually surprise some people at how good it really is.

By the way - are the attendance figures league-wide down from last year still? I believe after the first week, they were down from last year. Are they still lower? I am sure the Heat have higher than last year due to the Chicago and OKC games - skewed average in such a small sample - but I wonder how the rest of the league is doing.

[Nemisz/Breen]

I was talking to a long time Canuck season ticket holder at the OKC game on Fri.. He was blown away by the speed and the tenacity of the game and could not believe the price of season tickets. He said he was for sure coming back and was even considering season tickets. Also he kept talking about the Heat and referring to them as us and we and was so glad, We beat them 4-0.

One at a time we will win them over !!!!