Heat averaging 3,445 fans, building base says president

[Resolute 14]

True, but you can't start selling tickets or advertising until you have the team. I think they expected better, but we'll see what the future brings. I'm sure there will be another good market in 2011-12 if need be.

if i had a guess, I'd bet that 4000 season ticket number is a combination of full and partial ticket packs, so the true season total is, as is obvious, much lower.

[dobbles]

Originally Posted by Resolute 14

True, but you can't start selling tickets or advertising until you have the team. I think they expected better, but we'll see what the future brings. I'm sure there will be another good market in 2011-12 if need be.

if i had a guess, I'd bet that 4000 season ticket number is a combination of full and partial ticket packs, so the true season total is, as is obvious, much lower.

valid point for sure, but i would once again counter that they got tons of free publicity every time sweeting talked about the team. every time sutter and/or king visited b.c. and such. and that was all winter and spring that they were building buzz.

[HotHotHeat]

Did they have a radio contract in QC?

[dobbles]

yes, we had a pretty unpopular FM station that played the games. if i recall correctly, when the first year started, they had their tower in a crappy location and you couldn't hear the station in a good portion of the qc.

the mallards are using the same station this year.

not sure what they did before the flames as i wasn't here.

[henriksedin33]

I'm always surprised at how low AHL attendances are on average....I mean only 3 of 20 ECHL teams are averaging less than 3500 so far this year (Wheeling, Johnstown, Trenton), and the ECHL average is actually 10 HIGHER than the AHL (4393). The difference in quality/skill definitely isn't reflected in attendance numbers.

[Vulcan]

The ECHL and other lower leagues are mostly locally owned and operated and so are more tied to the community. Players stay around longer and the team isn't at the mercy of the NHL team. If an ECHL team has good attendance, they can afford better players. An AHL team's attendance has little to do with how good the team can be as it's all up to their parent NHL team.

[JFK]

Personally, I don't think I could really bring myself to devote too much time or money into an AHL team. I would hate the idea of supporting a team all season long, until to have the best 2 or 3 players taken away by the parent team right before the beginning of playoffs. To me, that makes the whole league/season a joke.

Could you imagine if the Flames had a parent team? And Kiprusoff, Iginla, and Regehr all got shipped off to the parent team in February/March?

Unless there's a rule against the parent team doing this? If there is, someone please let me know.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by JFK

Personally, I don't think I could really bring myself to devote too much time or money into an AHL team. I would hate the idea of supporting a team all season long, until to have the best 2 or 3 players taken away by the parent team right before the beginning of playoffs. To me, that makes the whole league/season a joke.

.

Why would the best 2 or 3 players be taken away? There is a 23 player roster in the NHL, only way a player will be recalled is due to injury for the Flames for example.

The odds of that happening are extremely low.

[QuadCityImages]

I'm apparently not the average QC-area fan (Didn't care if they're called the Flames or Mallards) but I always liked when guys got called up. It really made me feel like the QC Flames were just a tiny step from NHL level hockey.

[QCPuckFan]

It's interesting to see the two very different perspectives on minor league hockey.

There are those who don't care about the level of player talent relative to the larger pro hockey world, as long as the players are present in the community, that the team is a winner in its respective league, and perhaps those players may even settle down in that community once their playing days are over.

Others are more concerned with seeing the highest level of talent available outside the NHL, even if that means the team is heavily influenced by a larger parent club and the team maybe isn't (perceived) to be as present in the community. In that scenario, your local community is just a waypoint on the path to a larger goal. And, ultimately, those players could be called up at an inconvenient time.

I have to admit, I fall into the latter category. I don't care if I don't hang with the players in the local bar, or if they don't choose to settle down in my town when the pro career gig doesn't materialize. I've thought about this at length, and I personally prefer to see first-round draft picks vying for their time at the NHL level. I like seeing a guy like Jamie Lundmark on HNIC on Saturday night, then maybe seeing him again in my local arena the next week. Or seeing Eric Nystrom play live in my hometown, then watching him become a fixture (and a solid NHL'er) with Calgary. I can sit down to watch an NHL game on any given night and watch players I saw play here in Moline over the last two seasons. I guess the inconvenient callups, to me, are just the breaks.

It's been tough for me to stomach the whole move back to the Mallards here in the Quad Cities. To me, it's an incredible letdown. I haven't been to a game yet, even though I intend to do so at some point, but the excitement for me is absent. Maybe over time, I'll get more comfortable with it. For now, I've been drowning my sorrows in my Center Ice package. Just my two cents...

[dobbles]

i actually think it points to a larger issue that seems to be pretty strong with calgary fans. its about being a fan of the team, not the players. like they say, its not about the name on the back, its about the logo on the front. and from what i have gathered here over 2 years, that is something calgary fans are in agreement with.

so for me it was easy to watch players get called up. as qcpuckfan mentions it was awesome seeing people live one night and on tv the next. and when people try to rag on the flames for not having top prospects, i always try to remind them of the great players we got to see on other teams as well.

another aspect i think gets overlooked is that there are players that stick around for a while. sure they are more role player guys, but a great example is carsen germyn. he's now in his 5th year (and 3rd city!) with the ahl team. had the team not kept moving, he is the type of player that the ahl team can use as a community liaison that shows that guys can be around a while. a lot of qc people complained that players left too fast, but germyn would be like 4th all time for games played if he was compared to mallards players over the years. but i think that was just one of many cop outs that former fans used to justify their non support. i think the qc is quickly showing it won't support the mallards 2.0 either, so i feel less crappy about losing the flames.

ahl hockey is perfect for me. it allows me to see high quality hockey for cheap. it is unfortunate that qc lost their team. but since i am most likely not a lifer in this community, its not too bad for me.

[JFK]

Originally Posted by flambers

Why would the best 2 or 3 players be taken away? There is a 23 player roster in the NHL, only way a player will be recalled is due to injury for the Flames for example.

The odds of that happening are extremely low.

I don't think the odds of multiple injuries is low at all. We saw Pelech and Negrin up with the Flames late last year... I can't remember when exactly or what games they missed with QC, if any (I'm posting from my Blackberry, it's too difficult to look into these things right now).

My point being, if I were a QC fan and those 2 players missed an important game(s), I'd be very upset. Personally, I couldn't become emotionally invested in a team if I'm always worried our best players will get poached by the parent club, or get traded at the NHL trade deadline.

[flambers]

Originally Posted by JFK

I don't think the odds of multiple injuries is low at all. We saw Pelech and Negrin up with the Flames late last year... I can't remember when exactly or what games they missed with QC, if any (I'm posting from my Blackberry, it's too difficult to look into these things right now).

My point being, if I were a QC fan and those 2 players missed an important game(s), I'd be very upset. Personally, I couldn't become emotionally invested in a team if I'm always worried our best players will get poached by the parent club, or get traded at the NHL trade deadline.

Remember QC never made the playoffs last year, thus some players were recalled when the AHL season ended.

[dobbles]

though losing lundmark late in the season very well might have been the difference between us squeaking in and missing the playoffs. so i think things like that definitely make a difference. he was probably our top offensive forward and to lose him with a month or two left was tough.

to me though it was just like a top player getting injured; it challenged everyone else to play better. it just makes for adversity which can make victory all that much sweeter for the team and the fans.

[QCsec113]

I was also like dobbles on the fact that I arrived in QC just before the flames and when they came out Igot season tickets right away.I had never been a fan of minor league sports before but was excited to give the AHL a chance,and I loved it.I think it actually got me "more" into the team than the NHL in the fact that I wanted to pay attention to the guys coming and going and wondering who was gonna replace our call-ups and so forth.The NHL is a star driven league where as in the AHL even the role players get significant ice time.I felt like it I got more involved with the team that I would have with an NHL team.REALLY enjoyed having them here!!!

[PIMking]

It was kinda nice to see guys like McE, Nystrom, Boyd, Prust, Pardy, Pelech, Lundmark, Keetly Peters, Sutter, and Ryan Wilson in the NHL. It was nice seeing those guys play in the NHL. (those are the only guys I rememberthat made it to the NHL off the top of my head) Hell even Ryan Wilson got his first NHL goal last night vs the big Flames.

Anywho time goes and player go too. I guess in our case the team goes also.

[PIMking]

I'm watching the game on AHLive right now and that place is EMPTY. even when the Heat scored it was super quiet.

But what are they talking about with power outages? He also said something about "mushy" ice.

I dont think they knew they were on the air when they were talking about that.

[FoxMulder91]

Originally Posted by PIMking

I'm watching the game on AHLive right now and that place is EMPTY. even when the Heat scored it was super quiet.

But what are they talking about with power outages? He also said something about "mushy" ice.

I dont think they knew they were on the air when they were talking about that.

Looking at the stats, what was Pelech's "elbow" like.
It looks like he got a 5 minute penalty and a game misconduct.

[Parallex]

Originally Posted by PIMking

I dont think they knew they were on the air when they were talking about that.

That actually happens quite frequently in the games I've seen. I guess they don't realize that they've got a live mic on AHL live while the radio station is on commercial.

[PIMking]

Originally Posted by FoxMulder91

Looking at the stats, what was Pelech's "elbow" like.
It looks like he got a 5 minute penalty and a game misconduct.

I missed the whole first period. Forgot what time the game started.

its okay though since I didn't pay for it.