Sad to see.

When will Brodsky realize that the people of Prince George and Ares love hockey and will be out in droves when he produces a good team.

This is the only hockey franchise that could perform so poorly and not make the necessary changes in management. He could save Dallas by bringing in a new General Manager and have Dallas mentor under him.

Please Mr Brodsky, we love our hockey and just ask you to bring us a good team.

Sad to see.

When will Brodsky realize that the people of Prince George and Ares love hockey and will be out in droves when he produces a good team.

This is the only hockey franchise that could perform so poorly and not make the necessary changes in management. He could save Dallas by bringing in a new General Manager and have Dallas mentor under him.

Please Mr Brodsky, we love our hockey and just ask you to bring us a good team.

This is embarrassing Mr. Brodsky. These poor kids deserve a better owner!

Prince George does not love hockey, if they did the seats at both the Cougars and the Spruce Kings would be full no matter what the teams were doing. If your a good hockey player playing in this city and there are no fans in the seats what do you think that player says to other good players that Prince George is trying to recruit........ They say dont go there because nobody goes to the games. Hockey players preform there best in front of buildings packed with fans. Dont tell me Prince George loves hockey. I think Prince George is the worst hockeytown around.
P.S. quit whining about your teams if you wont support them. You are never going to win any hockey championship when you dont show up to the games.

truehockeyfan obviously hasn't "been there and done that" when it comes to the fan experience of supporting major junior hockey in this town, to the tune of thousands of dollars. There comes a point where even the most ardent hockey fan will refuse to support a product and franchise that is not providing the level of value and entertainment that they expect for their dollar. It's not rocket science.

I was a season ticket holder for many years, but got tired of seeing them lose on most nights year after year after year.

Much of the time, it seemed as if the players didn't care... you can only watch so much of that.

truehockeyfan, I am interested in hearing your proposed mechanism by which people showing up to games makes a team win. I am confident that teams winning causes people to show up to games, but the reverse seems like a dubious proposition, at best.

PG is a bandwagon town ...plain and simple ...
yes there are a few diehard hockey fans the have a genuine love of the game here in PG ...but not many anymore

If people were boycotting Bradski and his cronies for the reason that he is Broadski ... then the Spruce Kings games would be packed .... and they are not sold out either ... at 5 bucks a ticket foor season tix .....

Truth of the matter is ...people in this town want a winning product ... I recall the 07 playoffs I was sitting in my normal seats and now I am surrounded by people I have never seen before .... 95% of those people that I could over hear had no clue what the rules of the game were, or for that matter who the opposing teams were called

Seasonal trend? (again?)

Truehockey, and Bowzone. Finally I find someone on this site who knows what they are talking about. Your both right.

Prince George is a Bandwagon Town. Prince George is definintly not a Hockey town. It never was, and never will be.

When the Couger franchise came to town, all the pseudo hockey fans went for a few years, waved their towels, walked around the arena during the breaks waving at the other pseudo fans and generally pretended to be fans.

Once the newness rubbed off and reality set in, they decided to stay home, go back to the bars, or the casino, and that was the end of that. Fan attendence slowly dropped off, and now runs at approx 2300 fans per game. (This number includes tickets bought by commercial enterprises that may or may not be used at any given game) so it is a fair number.

So we now see just how much actual support there is for a franchise in this City. (Very little).

I predicted this situation when the Cougers first came to town, and stated time and time again that there was not a sufficient dedicated hockey fan base in Prince George to support this franchise.

People can blame the owners all they want, but the bottom line is the seats are empty, empty, empty.

The first game of the year, and the teddy bear toss are the best attended games. This should give you some indication of the level of fan interest.

And the sad part is when the cougars leave town next year and the Spruce Kings fold because of lack of support the people will whine and cry about there is nothing to do in town anymore, im sick of people complaining about the Brodsky family as well, people have to know that if you want major junior hockey or any hockey in PG you have to support in the good times and the bad. The teams that are always winning championships have deep pockets and resources. It truely takes a community to build a winner. I do agree that when the place was packed that the team went deep into the playoffs, that electricity fuels the players and the players cant sometimes control the outcome of a game IE bad bounces etc. it is very hard to win a championship, but when you win it, it is very special.

Oh and by the way Mr PG the players dont care because they dont have any life in them playing in a empty barn every night. Go to the games to support the players not the owner and go to have a fun night out not to be too critical of the games. You may have a better experience and I know the players will be pumped.

Sorry to tell you, 'truehockeyfan', but fan support is earned, not owed. 15 losing bannerless seasons of hockey will kill your fan base. If this team showed a committment to turning things around, the fans would come back.

Unfortunately, the team seems to be content with mediocrity. If you as a fan are content with that as well, all the power to you.

"people have to know that if you want major junior hockey or any hockey in PG you have to support in the good times and the bad."

Can you remind me when the good times were in terms of this franchise?

Vancouver is a Hockey Town having sold out for many seasons now.

If you recall the days in the late nineties when Vancouver was the laughing stock of the league their fan based dwindled and many nights had 12,000 in the seats.

It is the same for PG, put a winner on the ice and the fans will be knocking the doors down.

It is entertainment, a good movie versus a bad movie. Very Simple - Get it

Another thing to remember is that PG has a relatively small population base. For every disillusioned fan, there is not someone to immediately replace them, unlike the bigger population centres.

This team has to work (and win) to gain every fan, it is not a given like when they first arrived.

No offense Palopu, but in regards to this topic you haven't a clue what you are talking about. You have correctly identified that there has been decreased attendance but your diagnosis of the problem is simply wrong.

I myself had season tickets for years and years. Actually, myself and a group of friends had tickets. Some of us even had more than one. We went to the games faithfully, went to out of town games, etc. In short, we were some of the diehards that supported this franchise without fail for YEARS. What happened you ask? It wasn't a loss in the interest in hockey, it was a loss of faith that the business we were supporting actually cared about putting a winning product on the ice that the fans could be proud to support with their dollars. I'm not alone on this one either. You just have to talk to most any ex season ticket holder to get the exact same response. Heck, I know lots of guys who have simply said "screw the Cougars I'll buy the NHL Center Ice package for my hockey fix". These are guys that WOULD still have season tickets IF the product was there. It isn't.

For a guy that seems fairly knowledgeable about things, it's amazing that you haven't made the relatively simple correlation between on ice performance and attendance. Both those stats are available on the web if you actually care to look, but I suspect you won't. The fact remains that this team hasn't won a single thing since they've been in PG. They haven't won a regular season championship or a playoff banner of any sort and they've consistently been one of the poorer performing teams in the league. To be blunt, they have exibitied failure on a grand scale when you consider that they are in a business where success is measured by wins, losses and championships.

Even die hards need to get something in return for their dollars and when it comes to this franchise, that return has been zilch for far too long. That's why the seats are empty.

Well when there is no major junior hockey or any hockey in PG you guys will be proud to have been part of the problem and not a part of the solution. I dont think you guys understand what it takes financially to put a winning hockey team on the ice, some NHL teams never win a Stanley Cup and they are playing with hundreds of millions of dollars a year. I used to go to the games with my dad just to spend time together and enjoy the outting, people are getting to critical. At the end of the day hockey is supposed to be a form of entertainment. I think that it would be great to have a winning team on the ice you guys are right about that. But I can gurantee all of you one thing if you dont support the team it will only get worse. And the Cougars are a business so if you dont suppot them they will leave just like any other business. And that would be terrible for hockey in this town. You guys are making some very valid points and i understand the frustration, but put all of that aside and help the kids win by being there and creating that awesome atmosphere that used to be in that building.

"Well when there is no major junior hockey or any hockey in PG you guys will be proud to have been part of the problem and not a part of the solution."

There's certainly the aspect of going out on an outing with a friend or family member that is fun, but The Cougars have to remember that there are other choices when it comes to entertainment. Nobody expects that the Cougars will win every game, but the culture of winning is just not there and the people that attend the games can sense that. Nobody wants to be associated with a loser.

What's the solution? I don't have all the answers, but putting some wins on the board and playing consistently (not just one or two periods) would go a long way to bringing people back.

truehockeyfan you are BANG ON. Hockey at this level is indeed a business just like any other for profit entity and people will only support it if they perceive that they are getting value for the money they spend on it. Obviously that is not occuring and the brutal honesty of the situation is that just like with ANY other business, the owners of that business are SOLELY responsible to turn things around.

Blaming the fans for the failure of the Cougars would be akin to blaming customers for the failure of a restaurant, a tackle shop, a body shop or a car dealership. Customers and fans have no control over the decisions that business owners make, they can only show their support for those decisions buy buying the product that is being sold. Hockey isn't unique or special in those regards.

There is absolutely no doubt that the first few years with the Cougers, and the high attendence 5000 or more fans per game, was a direct result of the Bandwagon effect.

Once the effect wore off, then we had a situation where wives decided to stay home, kids found other things to do, and Dad (who was the real fan all along) continued to go the the games. So in effect where you might have had a family of four buying a season ticket and attending every game, you now would have only one member going, and he might only go intermitently. Extrapolate this example and you will see very quickly why the numbers have dropped off.

People can blame a losing team, and the owners for the drop off of support, and there certainly is a case to be made for it, however on the other hand you have to take into consideration, that approx 2300 people still attend each game on a regular basis. These are the real fans, they have sat through most of the games for the past 10 years, and are still waiting for a turn around.

Problem is, 2300 hard core fans are not enough to keep this franchise in Prince George, and therefore if the second line of fans ***Ill go back when they start winning** dont return soon the franchise will be gone.

A full house at the CN Centre say 5500 fans is approx 7% of the people in Prince George. To expect seven percent of the population to attend 36 home games a season is totally unrealistic, and has been unrealistic since the get go.

They last few years have proven beyond a doubt that the fan base is not there. So I suggest that even if the team starts to win they will be lucky to get the numbers up to 3000/3500.

Brodsky said a few years ago that in order to make money he needed to have 3000 fans per game. It has been a few years since he's had that number. Is he going broke?? Or was he pulling our leg??? The City has reduced the costs to this franchise to the point that the City loses money having them in Prince George, so I dont expect that they can get any more cost savings from the City.

Hopefully they can start winning, and get some fans back, however if the 7 to 1 loss in Kelowna and the 6 to 1 loss in Kamloops this week-end is an indication of whats to come, then I would say its all over.

"There is absolutely no doubt that the first few years with the Cougers, and the high attendence 5000 or more fans per game, was a direct result of the Bandwagon effect"

Have you even looked at the actual stats Palopu? For the first SEVEN years (not a few as you put it) the team was here, they drew 4749, 5716, 5824, 5800, 5706, 5216 and 4386 fans per game. That would equate to the longest bandwagon effect in sports history . . . LOL.

I'm curious, have you ever even been to a game? Or perhaps you have been a long term season ticket holder? Wouldn't you think those folks could give you a pretty good idea why they don't hold season tickets anymore?

NMG. I have attended a number of games over the years, however Hockey is not my Schtick. I have numerous freinds who used to have season tickets and attended on a regular basis, however they now dont go at all, and have found different interests.

No doubt a losing team has an effect on the fan base, however so does, economics, overkill (36 Games per season) Casinos, etc; etc; etc.

A lot of the fans who attended in the early years, are just tired of Hockey and have found other interests.

If you would look around you, you would see the same thing happening to Golf, Bowling, Curling, and all the service clubs in the area. All these organizations are losing support, mainly because of a lack of interest by younger people.

Would a small wooden suggestion box be a good idea for the Cougars management to be put up somewhere in CN Centre and hopefully be read by the Cougars owner? Just a suggestion. (Outside the box) To coin a phrase.

It's time for Brodsky to go, and to take the losing Cougars with him if he has to.

For fourteen seasons, admitedly there were a few good ones, I purchased ten season tickets for my family and my staff. This is the very first season, where I have chosen not to support that moron Brodsky and his family run,losing franchise.

It is sad, but either Brodsky has to sell the team, or take it somewhere else. Some day the WHL will return to prince George............without Brodsky.

PS I think that thetruehockeyfan is actually Dallas Thompson!

"A lot of the fans who attended in the early years, are just tired of Hockey and have found other interests"

Well in my case (and it's the same for loads of other people) I wasn't tired of hockey, I was tired of supporting subpar hockey and this particular hockey franchise. BIG difference :)

Great debate everyone, my last comment is the WHL will never be back to PG once it leaves. I league will never consider bringing back a team where it is not supported. Thank you and you all have excellent points.