Andy Beesley, V-P Business, Prince George Cougars – photo 250News

Prince George, B.C. – With the first half of the WHL season in the books the Prince George Cougars sit in third place in the BC division with a record of 17 wins and 18 losses.

On the ice many consider it to be a promising start for a team under new ownership.

But how are things going off the ice? After 20 home games the Cougars have drawn 55,432 people to 20 games for an average of 2,772 per game at the CN Centre.

All that considered, the team’s business V-P Andy Beesley seems reasonably pleased with how things have gone so far.

“Really, if I summed it down to one word it would be positive. We’ve got a lot of work yet ahead of us. We’re not nearly where we intend to be and where we want to be. But all the way around both on and off the ice we see huge positive improvements and we’re overall very happy.”

Since the sale he says they’ve been hard at work trying to improve the image of the team, noting “we’ve never, ever been under any illusions that just because the team sold that people would suddenly sell out the building every night.”

Rather Beesley says they’ve been busy regaining the trust of the business community and the community as a whole and says for the most part they’ve been successful at it.

“On that front I have to give us very high marks. I think we’ve accomplished that.”

He says attendance is up about 250% from last year despite the fact the team has about 40% of its games on Tuesday and Wednesday nights.

“That’s not what any team wants to see. And what our fans don’t necessarily understand is we don’t set our schedule. This current ownership group had zero influence on this schedule. It was inherited and it’s been extremely challenging.”

Beesley says the team expects to be fully involved in next year’s schedule which he hopes will include more weekend and afternoon games.

He says making the playoffs would also help with ticket sales but says it isn’t the be all end all.

“I think it’s important but I don’t think it’s everything. I think our long term fans understand that we are in a rebuilding process and we’ve inherited our team and that’s it’s going to take a couple of years to get it where we want it to be.”

Moving forward this season he says the goal is to continue to improve the game experience for ticket buyers.

“We are extremely wide open to listening to our fans through opinions, ideas, and suggestions.”

Beesley says one way the team does that is through pre and post game meetings.

“We have meetings with the building staff and with our own staff and volunteers about what we want to do that night. Then after every game with have a de-brief – almost like an autopsy. We talk about what went well, what didn’t and we pick it apart and make plans for the next game.”

One thing he says isn’t in question is the commitment from the team’s owners to the team.

“I’m so proud to be associated with such a great ownership group. They’ve spared no expense and energy on giving everything to the players. Teams around the league are talking about the Prince George Cougars. They’re getting treated like professionals and receiving a first class experience.”