Was ownership that bad in PG to cause the turnout to be so low over the past 5 years? Hopefully they can turn it around. PG is too big of a hockey town to have it’s arena empty game after game.

I know that as soon as they sell to new owners that I will be down buying season tickets.

Cant wait to have some competence at the top.

It is so true. When the deal goes thru, I’m planning to buy a couple of season tickets. I am expecting at least a three seasons before things have turned around and we will see 3500 season ticket holders. Plus a team that shows up to play 60 minutes of hockey.

Do they need to win every game, no, just be able to make the playoffs at least 4 out of the next six years and the 2nd round twice in the next six years. That will be my measure of a successful turnaround of the team. If the new owners do that, the bottom line will improve on its own.

good luck to the new owners, you will get my support at the ticket booth.

The greatest challenge for the new owners will be to eradicate the existing culture of the Prince George Cougars organization.
If they do not start fresh, with a completely clean slate in their structure and management, it will be an uphill battle to turn the franchise around. I expect Mr. Pocock has the savvy to appreciate this fact, and that, along with the hockey experience of Mess’rs Brewer and Hamhuis, will result in an entirely new (to the Cougars) approach which will increase the success of the team.
Increase the teams success, and the fans will be back in droves, including me.
metalman.

Yes, Sergiomomesso, it was that bad. The biggest problem was certain people were allowed to have a job regardless of performance based only on family ties. In turn the product on the ice was not as good as it could have been. You’d never go back to a restaurant that served crappy food and charged 5 star prices and even after many years of complaining the ownership refused to fire the chef.

Look at the Edmonton Oil Kings. Came to the league in 2008. 2012 they won the WHL championship with proper management and coaching.

What have the Cougars done in 20 seasons?

I too will by season tickets again – assuming Dallas and the rest of the old guard have nothing to do with the team. 7 million. With interest, it’ll take 10 years to pay that back at about a million a year. They’ll need a bump of 3000 season ticket holders just to cover the loan payment and the increased rent paid to the city – because the city shares in the revenue as part of the rent deal.

It should be obvious to the owners, the fans were not against the players or the game. The protest against the attendance, was against the management of the team. The players did not want to play here, because of the atmosphere and environment of the team management.

These are young people easily influenced to think positive and to become a winning team. The team game is played on and off the ice. Make the environment so that the players want to play for the Cougars organization.

Trying not to get too excited until it actually becomes official. But it sounds like there might be a bit of a lineup at Ticketmaster once the sale finally goes through. Definitely looking forward to it.

Must be a embarrassing clear message to the Brodsky.

Its sort of like the Hockey fans of Prince George is going to commemorate it the day it is a done deal, it will be declared independence day.

I think a smart owners will turn around and have a celebration with the fans and future fans at CN Center. All proceeds going to Spirit of the North hospital foundation.

What is the payback on 7 million, That depends on the revenue source.

If they can sell 4500 seats x 36 games x $16, its 2.6million. but they also have revenue source from the advertising, game programs, I think they even get a cut of the concessions.

Sure they have a substantial operating costs as well, inclusive of scholarship funds, travel costs, yada yada. I’m pretty sure their fixed costs would be closer to 2 million a year.

What happens when they make the playoffs. It definitely will be a sell out.

these are exciting times again. Cooooooooooouuuuuuuuuu – gheeerrrrrs.

All this exuberance is coming from fans who abandoned the team over the past 5/10 years. In any event it will take a huge turnaround in the attendance to make this franchise profitable.

For starters they need at least 3000 fans per game just to break even. So over and above the 3000 is where they can make a few dollars. So you need an increase in fans of approx. 1400 fans per game just to break even, since the average attendance at present is approx. 1600.

So it seems that we are looking at an attendance figure of approx. 3500 fans per game to make some money. This requires an increase in attendance of over 100%.

What happens if the Cougars continue to lose. Do we blame the new owners, and then quit going to the games???

Hopefully this franchise will start to make some money so that it is self supporting. The last thing we need is another 5/10 years of a money losing proposition.

It all up to the fans to make this a success, however my guess is, that if there is not some significant improvement in the next few years, this team is gone.

Some interesting numbers here – from Calgary with under 50% capacity but 9300 fans to Prince Albert with over 100% capacity but only 2674 fans. Looking at the size of the communities on this list I really dont think 4000 people will be a big stretch.
http://www.hockeyattendance.com/league/whl/2012/?sort=avg_att

Palopu, I cannot speak for others but personally it doesn’t have to do with winning or losing. It has to do with the owners putting the best possible team, on and off the ice, in place to achieve success. If they do that and lose then so be it but putting the best people in place will breed a platform for success and I think there will be a change faster than expected.

All teams in the WHL want (or should want) to put the best team possible on the ice. That’s what it is all about. At the end of the day we will have winners and losers.
Some teams will be on the bottom. That’s just the way it goes.

My problem is, is that other than the first five or so years, when the franchise was new, and attendance was high, the attendance fell off dramatically and has been in the cellar for years.

So. Do we really have sufficient fans in Prince George to support the Cougars, Spruce Kings, other hockey, on a regular basis, to the tune of 36 home games per years. This is a lot of hockey, and contrary to what some people will tell you there are a hell of a lot of people in Prince George who would not walk across the street to watch a hockey game. So you do not have a huge pool of fans to draw from.

We are fortunate to have this group buy the Cougars, and at the minimum they will be in Prince George for the next two years, so we will have a chance to see if there is sufficient fans to keep this franchise going.

Kudo’s to the 1500 plus fans who supported the team through the bad years, it was their dedication that kept this franchise here as long as it did. Without them, the Cougars would have been gone a long time ago.

“All teams in the WHL want (or should want) to put the best team possible on the ice”

==============================

I think that astute observers of the WHL hockey experience in PG could debate that theory.

Is anyone else reminded of the movie “Major League” where the owner wants the team to do poorly so that she can move it? ;)

Year after year the Cougars goal was “make the playoffs” , or in other word,s finish 7 th place or better! The words Memorial Cup were never heard, never ! We need a management mentality that will strive to compete for the Memorial Cup, not 7th place ! Good riddance to the Brodsky clan, don’t let the door hit you on the way out !

Well – I am one of those fans who stuck it out for the 20 years – even billetted for some of those years! I am excited to see all the positive comments and hope that all those people who boycotted the team until a change of ownership now show up. It would be a shame to lose our WHL franchise as it is another drawing card to bring people North to live. We have great hockey programs in this city and we should be proud of all the kids that have gone through the minor hockey program and ended up with pro/semi pro careers. Since the first rumors surfaced I have noticed a different atmosphere at the games and – dare I say it – even a small increase in attendance! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to bring back our Cougar franchise as it was on its “hayday” which, incidentially, were the years that Brewer and Hamius were playing! Go Cougars! See you all in September!!

Well – I am one of those fans who stuck it out for the 20 years – even billetted for some of those years! I am excited to see all the positive comments and hope that all those people who boycotted the team until a change of ownership now show up. It would be a shame to lose our WHL franchise as it is another drawing card to bring people North to live. We have great hockey programs in this city and we should be proud of all the kids that have gone through the minor hockey program and ended up with pro/semi pro careers. Since the first rumors surfaced I have noticed a different atmosphere at the games and – dare I say it – even a small increase in attendance! Wouldn’t it be wonderful to bring back our Cougar franchise as it was on its “hayday” which, incidentially, were the years that Brewer and Hamius were playing! Go Cougars! See you all in September!!

Whoops – sorry didn’t mean to have that posted twice

palopu, Talking around, there should be no problems selling 3500 seats a game. Thank you to the die hards.

Just reading this blog sites, I think there is a hundred tickets sold.

Most of the hockey fans know it is going to take a few years for them to turn this ship around. We love the game, we love our Cougars…. we just did not care for how Brodsky ran the organization.

It will be the new owners decisions which will make us believers in the team. It is what they do behind the closed doors which will make this team, our team. They know, they are buying a liability.

At the end of the day, its still a game.

I am one of those that went out and bought season tickets when the Cougars first moved here. I toughed it out through the years that Dane McKinnon was the most arrogant business manager anywhere in the game, I toughed it out when Brodsky reneged on his deal with Dennis Polonich and sent him down the road, while at the same time unraveling all the good things Polonich had done in one short season, I even toughed it out through a few more years of Brodsky arrogance, and nepotism, and watched the product on the ice continually get worse to the point that the only goal this team has had was to finish 7th or better. Do you think Dallas would still have his job with any other franchise in junior hockey? I finally gave up my season tickets when they were still averaging 4000 per game, as I just could not support the arrogance any longer.
I am one of those that will be standing in line to buy at least 2 season tickets for the upcoming season if this sale goes through and a proper housecleaning from top to bottom takes place. I have no doubt that these new owners will run the team professionally, and put the best people available in charge rather than just another family member that needs a job!
Once that is in place, I believe that the hockey fans in PG will once again start to support the team.

7 mil sounds low.
Poll question:
Odds that Brandi stays
Odds that Dallas stays
Odds that coaching staff stays.

Odds that Brandi stays
Odds that Dallas stays
Odds that coaching staff stays.

20%
0
50%

On Odds
40%
0%
75%

Odds that Brandi stays
Odds that Dallas stays
Odds that coaching staff stays.

20%
0
50%

My reason for 40% on Brandi is that she still has friends in high places
Dallas is definitely out for sure. The new ownership would be extremely stupid to keep him, and I think the current coaching staff has a good change of staying at least for the first year.

Pretty sure the new owners will be clearing out the desks. If they had any business sense, they would keep the office manager and a couple of her underlings, to maintain some continuity. The bus driver and equipment person can stay.

First Hire a new manager. who hires a new coach, if the coach wants to keep the coaching staff he can.

Give Brandi a 10 complementary season pass for the next three years.

7 mil sounds high to me. What does a franchise cost. 3 mil….. hard to believe there is 4 mil in good will.

How ever if that’s what it cost to get the Brodsky out, I’ll support the idea by buying season tickets.

Bus driver…… Love it!

Edmonton were the ice first lost there shirt move to cranbrook

Saskatoon Blades just sold for $9million. $7million isn’t too far off a WHL team now.

I cannot see Brandi Brodsky staying. With her husband gone (hopefully), the odds of him/them wanting to stay in PG is pretty slim.

This team needs a complete and thorough rebuild, rebrand and rebirth.

Opportunities like this rarely come around and the new owners should purge every remnant of the previous ownership group from the organization. Some of the staff could certainly remain, but anyone in a key position, IMHO, should be replaced.

Start fresh, let everyone know that the team is here to win and that they will do whatever it takes to get there. Open up the wallet, go national to find talent and get it done the right way.

I should also add that Brandi was always very professional whenever I had the chance to interact with her. That said, she also has to go IMHO. The need to be decisive with the fan base that things WILL change needs to start from day one.