Realistically there is no where for this team to go but up, or out.

When reporting the attendence one should keep in mind that the number reported is the number of seat sales, therefore this would include season ticket holders, and corporate ticket holders who have bought tickets,, but havents attended the game.

I suggest that at any given game the actual number of people in attendence would be 300 less than the announced number.

Really... who schedules a hockey game on Halloween night? This should have been either an afternoon game, or a Sunday game. Adults can't go, because they're at home doling out candy or minding their children while they do the same. Kids can't go, because they'd rather be out collecting chocolate.

Stupid stupid stupid on the part of the league.

"Stupid stupid stupid" best describes Cougar management and ownership.

Wenatchee, remember that name.

They should just keep recycling that headline and save themselves reporting on the team. Cougars haven't been able to "make it happen" for the entire time they've been in Prince George...save for 3 exciting Cinderella playoff runs that all petered out in the third round.

Based on the history of the BC Division (where every other team has won banners and/or the Memorial Cup once or twice since the Cougars came to PG), it is only a question of which comes first: the Chilliwack Bruins raising a banner over their ice surface, or the league actually letting Brodsky take his family gong-show to torment some other new WHL city.

Attendance is down in other cities as well. As stated on the radio last night...

Portland - 1100 fewer fans per game
Calgary - 1800 fewer fans per game
Vancouver - 2000 few fans per game.

Also last season, Red Dear and Prince Albert had worse attendance records than the Cougars did.

As for the Cougars play, they are getting better believe it or not. The new goal tender Stremmel is very good. Likely one of the best 'tenders the Cougars have had in many seasons. They are still missing Connoly and Thiesen and they miss them both terribly. With Jackson back from injury only four games ago, the Cougars PP has become something to be wary of.

These kids are very young. 11 of the 21 forwards and d-men are 17 and under. I can see the potential on the ice and I think Dean Clark is doing a great job so far.

This year might suck in the end but at least I can witness the positive growth of the team, instead of the stupid patchwork job that's been done the last 6 years or more.

...and no this comment was not paid for by Brodsky or Thompson! :-)

For some exciting, fast paced, hard hitting, well coached hockey go and watch the Midget Cougars play!

please explain how Dean Clark is doing a great job so far? Worst penalty killing in the leauge, worst power play, least goals scored by a large margin and most goals let in by a large margin.

How is Dean Clark doing a great job? Quite the opposite, he has been horrible in my opinion.

how about giving away free tickets to get fans in the stands and get the involved again...if its the opinion of the fans that ownership doesnt care, how can we?

they have already given away a huge amount of tickets for the 1st few games, problem is people didnt like what they saw so they are staying away.

When I had season tickets, there were many nights I couldn't use the tickets and I literally couldn't give them away.

Now that I don't have season tickets, I find it REALLY hard to justify paying to watch the pitiful product that has been put on the ice the last number of years and I was a DIEHARD fan for many years. The life has been sucked out of the local fanbase for years and I'll actually take it a step further than Palopu. The only thing that will bring fans back, IMHO, is a change in ownership. Barring that, the team will move. The sad thing is that it's to the point where most people in town don't even care if the team leaves. That's how disenfranchised they have become with "their" team.

It's sort of like trying to convince yourself to go to a reastaurant that serves greasy, cold and generally crappy food, just on the off chance that it may have improved. After enough bad meals you just find other restaurants that appreciate your business and give you a product that you are happy to support. At this level, hockey is strictly business and people are speaking with their wallets. It's no different . . .

My guess...somewhere around 800 people in the seats. There was a section with 0, a section with 1, another with 19..........

Yeah, Halloween night was not a great choice!

Some great thoughtful comments on this page.

However, the bottom line is that the failures of the young players is the direct responsibility of the inept management and ownership. Yes, we have a very young team (again!), but the fault lies with poor draft selections and of course poor management. No one wants to play for such a poor franchise with proven mis-management. There is absolutely no loyalty to the Brodsky clan.

During the depression in the US, movie theatres gave way sets of dishes to lucky patrons. Maybe the Cougar management could try that to fill some empty seats.

"For some exciting, fast paced, hard hitting, well coached hockey go and watch the Midget Cougars play!"

Well said Denaljo. Couldn't agree more. I've watched a few Cariboo Cougars games and it's great hockey.

Lets try very hard to keep the Brodsky mis-management team away from the midget Cougars.

"For some exciting, fast paced, hard hitting, well coached hockey go and watch the Midget Cougars play!"

Why is it that the WHL Cougars do not seem to hit very often? I am thinking I should go an watch them practice to see what exactly it is they do to try and improve their game.

Do coaches at this level teach basic fundamentals at all? Passing, shooting, hitting, keeping the puck in at the blueline, shooting the puck out off the glass, etc.

Or is it mostly systems and set plays they work on?

Seems to me they dont do very much well at the moment, so it would be interesting to know what they are doing to improve things.

Clark came in as the big hired gun as coach that would make a difference. But I agree with Stompin Tom above. A well coached team should not be so bad in things such as the power play and penalty killing.

The new goalie certainly seems to be a great find though, perhaps we are seeing a change in the positive direction...

It will be interesting to see how the big eastern road trip goes. Hopefully some time out on the road brings the team together.

GO CATS GO!!!!!

with a retraction in the economy the ticket prices should have also retracted.

$17 is preety high for a poorly skilled team.

The Cougar orginization has only one problem...... No one in the Brodsky family owns a mirrior.

Can someone answer this? There are numerous teams in town that run as COUGARS...does Brodsky finance them all or does this town just not have any imagination when it comes to naming their teams?
Not trying to cause stuff...but I am really curious...

BC Racer-When the Cougars came to town, PG Minor Hockey decided to hang their flag on the Cougars name and logo. The Cougars do support PGMHA to a certain degree through its 50/50 sales. IN return, PGMHA uses the Cougars name and logo for all of its rep teams. There was a time when the PGMHA still used its Kings name for Rep "B" and Cougars was used by AAA rep, now known as Tier 1.

Cariboo Cougars have the advantage that any player who lives from 100 Mile House north to the yukon border, have to play for the Cariboo Cougars due to residency rules. The PG Cougars don't have that luxury and lets face it, when you have a choice between here and Vancouver, where would you play?

The Cougars do some interesting things to. One of their trivia questions this weekend was to ask where current Cougars goalie Hudson Stremmel played college at? The answer of course is Colorado College, but lets remember he dropped out of college. Next thing you know they'll be asking what Brother Bluto's GPA was at Farber College.

Good to see the Cougs rescued Andy Neal from a life of purgatory at 94X though. He's a great announcer.

Thanks Howrd...that answers tha question in reference to the hockey anyways...

and the Cougars have managed a winning streak....
of one.....

Dean Clark is doing as good as he can given the talent Dallas Thompson has drafted and obtained through trades in his tenure as GM. Thompson's record stinks and therein lies the problem.
Atleast none of us season ticket holders will need to stand in line for playoff tickets.
Dallas should be proud of the team he has assembled as it solidifies its hold on 40th place in the CHL.