Could it be Ben that they have forgotten how to play "HOCKEY".
I have no intentions of going and watching WWE on Skates".
There are those who say but fighting is part of hockey..... reality check NO IT ISN"T.
It has become a part of hockey, yes, but I can not find anywhere where fighiting is allowed in the game of hockey.
SO...
clean up your act, PLAY HOCKEY, and just maybe the seats will fill...but as long as the teams want to cater to the fights the seats will reamin about the same...filled with those who come to see a FIGHT... and those of us who don't will stay home.
my opinion

My thoughts....

But maybe the problem is that those in the stands demand violent, the coaches, refs, owners, and players all want to make mney and have the seats full so they quietly sucumb to the wants and the rest of us walk away shaking our heads...
I like you don't believe there is any one problem but a whole kettle of them.
Maybe a major shake up like the NBA had recently, throughout the whole hockey industry, maybe something can be doen, and then maybe not.... I would love to see a REAL HOCKEY game...

THE COUGARS HAVE ONLY ONE PROBLEM. RICK BRODSKY OBVIOUSLY DOES NOT OWN A MIRROR. SELL THE TEAM AND THE STANDS WOULD BE PACKED.THIS IS A HOCKEY TOWN. WOULD HAVE BEEN GREAT IF THE LAST GROUP (LOCAL BOYS AND SOME NHL GUYS) COULD HAVE MADE A DEAL. ITS YOUR HOCKEY PUCK RICK, IF YOU WON'T SELL IT THEN YOU MIGHT AS WELL TAKE IT AND GO TRY TO PLAY SOMEWHERE ELSE. "IMO" RICK BRODSKY WILL NEVER GET FAN SUPPORT IN P.G. TOO BAD, BUT THATS THE FACTS.

Have to agree with giterdun and gofaster, the key to revitalizing the Cougars obviously does not lie within Rick Brodsky's grasp. I'm no expert by any stretch, but I don't believe we can blame the players or the fans, so what to do? I'm one of the loyal season ticket holders, every year since they came to town, why I don't know. The last few years have not been fun to watch, thats for sure. I too would like to go and watch high caliber hockey being played, not the fighting. Another beef; why do we get the 100 decibel 'entertainment' every time there is a whistle? Do they think we will all get up and leave if we are not entertained every minute?
Gotta stop venting................
metalman.

Attendance is a simple explanation. We are not the "hockey town" everyone claims we are - we have much broader entertainment interests.

The Cougars never did draw many more than 3000 fans. Those few years they did were due to other factors, mostly due to a new venue, and then the momentum of so many people attending. People went to see each other, not the Cougars (showbiz axiom: Nothing draws a crowd like a crowd).

The Cougars benefitted for many years by having a ticket worth much more than the price paid for it. At first it was due to low supply for the first two seasons at the Coliseum - standing room only = excitement. Tickets couldn’t be purchased at any price.

Then came the “venue effect.” Everyone flocks to the shiny new building (that makes us feel like a real city). Then came the impact of that aforementioned axiom - the place to be on game night was at the game because everyone was there. Then there was that one playoff run, which simply extended the momentum.

But things are different now. The building is 10 years old, and everyone has seen it. There is no shortage of tickets - in fact, many go unused now, which would have never happened in the early years. And there is no crushing crowd - the perception now is that a lot of people are doing something else (better?) than going to a hockey game.

The Cougars have lost what drove attendance and will never regain it. All that is left is hockey, and as stated above, hockey was not what brought the crowds in.

To rejoin my first point: follow the money and you will find that people spend more of their hard earned money on performing arts entertainment (theatre, music, concerts) than on sports entertainment (not just hockey but UNBC basketball, big tournaments, etc.) If we were to add in the boxoffice for filmed entertainment, it would be no contest. We much more diverse than simply “a hockey town.”

I have to agree with Bohemian,

PG is not a hockey town. Never was, never will be. I remember in the heyday of the Cougs, many guys in my office, who had never walked into a rink before nor after, had season tickets. It was the place to be seen.

Just look at last years Hockeyville competition on CBC. McBride and Smithers had awesome entires and did quite well.

People in PG couldn't be bothered to even make an entry.

I don't believe the cougars will leave. They will probably fold. I doubt the WHL will let Rick Brodsky and his family & friends run gong show infiltrate another city. He did the same thing when he owned the team in Victoria; put a crap product on the ice, screw the fans at every turn, and then demand to leave when the fans don't show.

Unfortunately, that will mean the end of WHL hockey in PG as we know it.

BOMEMIAN & BIG-B
IF WE ARE NOT A HOCKEY TOWN WHY WERE THE SEATS FULL (5-6000) GAME AFTER GAME. WHAT HAPPENED?
FANS LIKE A GOOD ATTITUDE AND A WINNER. NIETHER OF THESE WAS ATTAINABLE BY BRODSKY.

I'd like to see the Spruce Kings take over the Couger franchise and run it as the parent club to the Spruce Kings.

I agree with Big_B and Bohemian. Prior to the Cougers coming to Prince George I beleive that the Spruce Kings had attendence of between 1200 and 1400 fans. I think at that time you could say that these were the real Hockey Fans in Prince George.

The City in its wisdom then goes and builds the Multiplex and the Cougers come to town. The Centre is built to hold 6000 fans, and I would suggest that when they did their feasibility study to prove that this venture was feasible they used the 6000 number. (Roughly $84000.00) per game or $2,688,000.00 per year)

If you think for a moment, you will see that if the 1200 to 1400 hockey fans attending the Spruce Kings games were the real hockey fans, then the Cougers would have to come up with a minimum of 3600 **new fans** to fill the arena to 5000 per game, and that number would include the 1400 fans from the Spruce Kings. This was possible in the beginning because of the newness of the facility and the excitement of those attending, however it could not last over the long haul, mainly because a large portion of people who attended the game in the beginning were not hockey fans.

So you ended up with a situation where you expected roughly 2500 to 3000 people who are not hockey fans or at best **soft fans** to attend 32 games per season. Repeat 32 games, at a cost of approx $14.00 per game. $448.00 per person and for a family of four a minimum of $1800.00 per year.

It was pretty obvious from the beginning that this whole venture was not clearly thought out and as a result we are now in a money losing situation with the CN Centre. Another factor is that everytime we book another venue in this facility to help offset the cost of running it, it is within the realm of possibility that we are drawing more people away from Hockey to attend Wrestling, Singing, or whatever.

With a static population of approx 75000 people over the last 10 years and an increase in the available entertainment, we have made it possible for these people to attend different functions, and to some extent at a cost to the Cougers, not the least of which is the New Casino.

A winning hockey team might increase attendence in the short term, however over the long haul it would make little difference, because as stated by others, and contrary to popular opinion, Prince George is not a Hockey Town.

Big_B.....check your facts buddy before you type. PG was in Hockeyville and a lot of good community people put a GREAT DEAL of effort into our entry which got us into the top 50.....a pretty huge acheivement given the amount of entries. Perhaps if more people got involve din doing things instead of complaining about what isn't done there's be nothing to complain about.

On the real topic...I have no doubt PG could support a team long term. It will never be sold out every night but a decent buck could be made. It would have to be a community oriented, pride driven team.....something that will never happen with Brodski as owner. I watched it happne in Victoria when he bought the team there and I'm seeing it again here...he'll milk every dine out of us and move on. Good riddance! I have no doubt we'd get another team and with any luck it would include an owner who cared more about winninga nd far less about lining his own pockets.

Giterdun,

If this is a hockey city, why are the stands not full now? There have been countless junior teams out there, who have had some pretty horrendous teams, but their fans stayed with it. Where are the fans here?

Realitycheck, I stand corrected on that one, but really, wear your hockey jersey to work to show your support for Hockeyville? Why did they not focus on the Warren Miller memorial tourney or even have a mini-game on the ice outside the civic centre, between timbits players and local hockey legends like Stu Malgunas, Brandon Smith, etc?

Realitycheck, I agree with you on Brodsky milking every dime out of this city and then moving on after our pockets have been picked.

It is quite apparent though, that many people in this city do not like Rick Brodsky, and who could blame them? When he hired his daughter and proclaimed that she had a better hockey mind that anyone else in Northern BC, that ticked people off. When he hires his son first as an assistant coach, then eventually as a GM, it makes one wonder if he really wants a winner? Eddie Gaedel might have put some fans in the seats one time, but he sure didn't produce a winner.

Their head scout, Russ Smart, is Rick's old buddy from days gone by. Outside of Nick Drzenovic, what kind of quality player have these jokers drafted lately? Kerr? Headcase with slow feet. Rai, tinman syndrome. This team has such a bad rep that Colton Gilles would rather play in Saskatoon than here, and he's from the lower mainland.

This organization is in serious trouble. They won't move, but I do hear the word fold coming pretty quick.

Excellent ideas Big_B. I look forward to you spearheading the effort this year!

I was under the impression that the Hockeyville contest was promoting community participation rather than hockey as a spectator sport.

I think Canada is generally a weak spectator sports country. When one thinks of not only hockey, but also football, baseball, basketball and soccer, we do not measure up.

Here are some statistic regarding spectator sports and other sports that are primarily centred on personal participation, as well as the performing arts.

revenue figures for 2000 and 2003

spectator sports - $2.1607 versus $2.1978 billion for a 1.7% increase

other (participating) - $4.9602 versus $6.6008 billion for a 33% increase.

performing arts - $0.9257 versus $1.2126 billion
for a 31% increase

So, based on the national scene, if I were to "invest" money, and wanted to invest it in providing spectating facilties, should it be for ticket paying sporting events or ticket paying performing arts events if I wished to minimize my risk of investing in a stagnating industry?

Source: http://www40.statcan.ca/l01/ind01/l3_3955_3586.htm?hili_serv21