A properly run Major Junior Hockey team will not have this problem. As soon as Brodsky brings in incompetent family members into the organization, he sold us out.

for all I care, Brodsky can hit the road and don't ever come back. I can't believe it that Dan Rogers would be that stupid to stand infront of a crowd to come out and say something like that. Surely he knows how the town feel about Brodsky.

Ba bye Brodsky, that will be the happiest day in hockey for Prince George. Sure it will take a few years to get a team back, but there will be something better than what the Brodsky organization will be willing to put on the ice.

Its got to be pretty simple, the Junior hockey player careers are short. invest in the players that does or have the potential to do well. Draft pick them well, nuture them and let them play hockey.

Wake up and smell the roses. The soft hockey fans are long gone. I doubt if this team or any other will be able to get more than 3000 fans per game and probably less.

The fact of the matter is, is that contrary to popular beleive Prince George is not a **Hockey Town**. More peope in the area go golfing on a regular basis and they pay for it.

The Cougers and Brodsky are a Private Business, repeat, PRIVATE BUSINESS and we should not be subsidizing them with tax dollars. If you went to any other venue at the CN Centre , tickets cost you anywhere from $20.00 to $40.00. The average ticket for a Cougers game is $14.00. Problem is if you charged anymore for a game, say $20.00 no one would come.

The CN Centre costs Prince George Tax Payers approx $600,000.00 per year and most of this cost can be attributed to the Cougers who do not pay their way for the 36 home games.

Lets move on.

The other arenas have over a $1million shortfall. Why do people not talk about that? So how much does the Spruce King's home loose? Or is it the other arenas that are so expensive to operate?

Is there somewhere where I could have a look at all such city facilities and look at their revenues and expenses? Let's see them all and measure them against their level of use by the community.

Palopu's argument falls apart for one simple reason. There are literally hundreds and thousands of EX SEASON TICKET HOLDERS who have cancelled their season tickets purely because of the utter failure of the Cougars to consistently ice a worthwhile product. I'm one of them, I have at least 6 close friends who have done the same and I would almost guarantee that virtually everyone in Prince George who enjoys hockey knows of someone who has done the same.

It's really no different than if a pizza restaurant shut down due to lack of demand after consistently poisoning its customers. You wouldn't then turn around and say "people must not like pizza in Prince George" would you?

People in PG very much enjoy hockey and they will pay for it, when the product is there. They won't pay to support a substandard product and it's ridiculous to expect that they would just because it's major junior.

Gus. The other arenas do not have a Private Enterprise Hockey franchise playing in them. They are part of the Citys Organized Hockey, or Old Time Hockey, or the Spruce Kings, which are entirely different that a private business.

People seem to have a problem segregating the Private part of the WHL Hockey from the Amateur Hocky and S;pruce Kings Hockey.

NMG. Your argument could be right, however just because you and your friends stay a home because of the Brodskys etc; doesnt mean that I and other taxpayers should pay for a fancy facility for the WHL to skate around in. Either you are a hocky fan or your not. In my opinion if you sit at home, then you cannot call yourself a fan.

Use the Maple leafs as an example.

Last Stanley Cup 1966-1967
Conference Champs **Never**
Last Division Champs 1999-2000

The Maple Leafs have a huge following and have had for years. They also are one of the wealthist teams in the NHL.

So either get out and support your team and reduce the cost to taxpayers, or run the risk of losing the team altogether.

The Maple Leafs example is pathetic and laughable. There are 5.5 million people in the GTA, and the ACC seats 18,819. That means there are 292 people in the area for each seat at the ACC.

Prince George, on the other hand, has 83,225 in the census region, and the CN Centre seats 5,967. That works out to not even 14 people per CN Centre seat.

It's a really simple case of supply and demand. In Toronto there is a very limited supply of hockey seats, so they sell out even if demand wanes due to the team being bad.

In PG, there is a much higher supply of hockey seats relative to the population in the area. Thus, in order to sell their seats, the team needs to offer a good product in order to create demand.

In other words, NMG's pizza comparison is much more valid than your Toronto comparison, Palopu.

As an aside... does anyone know if the City makes money by having the Cougars in town, or if it is costing them money? If it's costing them, then how much?

I'm not a fan of the Cougars but I am a huge hockey fan. I will not go to a Cougars game unless the tickets are free because I refuse to give Brodski one nickel of my money. I know many, many people like me.

If the team was involved in the community (I mean really involved, not this token stuff they do now), showed that it truly cared about icing a competetive team and treated it's players well I would support the team and by tickets for me and my family win or lose.

On a related note.....If the Cougars do leave town the subsidization of the CN Centre will increase dramatically. Like them or hate them they do bring a great amount of revenue into that facility through rentals and concessions and other sales. Taxpayers would be on the hook for the shortfall.

So what can we do about this situation? Nobody except the league can force private owners to sell the team. Boycotting the ownership would likely just result in the team getting moved (seems that the boycott has begun already), so what other options do we have?

I am a big hockey fan who does enjoy the occasional Cougars game. Although I have nothing against the current ownership (though maybe just because I haven't heard the stories that you guys have) I only attend a few games each year due the fact that the place has no atmosphere being only 1/3 full. So how does that get fixed? Everyone says that the ownership is the problem, but how does that get fixed?

Take it from this former Winnipegger... you don't want to lose what you have, because it is very very very hard to get it back. People might want to lose the Brodskys but I don't think that anyone in this city wants to lose the Cougars and/or the WHL. This can be for many reasons, including because you're a big hockey fan or because you don't want to see the city have to subsize CN Centre with more $ after the team leaves.

So I guess what I'm wondering is what you guys think needs to happen in order to change this? Everyone's a critic but nobody seems to have any idea of how we can end this nightmare and have a well-supported WHL team. Does the league know what's going on? Could they lean on the Brodskys to tell the team to local interests or former players? What about local businessmen... could they make they owners an offer that can't be refused? A well-run CHL team can make a lot of money, as evidenced in cities far smaller than PG. Is the team currently profitable?

Also, what other business interests do the Brodskys have? Are they being affected by the recession? Maybe a money shortage would make them motivated sellers?

Basically I am just an enthusiastic hockey fan who would like to have well supported team with a fun atmosphere at the rink. I fail to see why we can not have that here. Can people please give me some more information, including answers to the questions/wondering out loud I have done above? Thanks!