He also has a link to an article on SportsIllustrated.com about Omaha and their three hockey clubs.
I think this last quote could help things dramatically. If every hockey fan in Omaha and the surrounding area was willing to support the other teams in Omaha, I believe all teams could survive and draw well.Eruzione said the Lancers have a loyal following and are stable, but things could be better.
"It's hard to have two teams in a city, let alone three,'' he said. "What was Calgary thinking when they put a team here?''
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King said Calgary has so much invested in Omaha that, instead of leaving and cutting their losses, the Knights will come back next season with a re-energized marketing plan to cultivate fans.
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"This is the best hockey in town by far, so I don't know why more people don't come out,'' Tami said. "I'll wear this when I pick up my daughter from gymnastics class, and people will ask me what team's jersey I'm wearing. I'll tell them the Knights, and they say they've never heard of them.''
--------------Joe Antoniak, who heads the Knights' booster club, said Omaha's hockey fans are splintered. Instead of supporting all three teams, he said, folks are loyal to one team and won't go see the others.
"Once you get hockey fans together, there's a real camaraderie,'' Antoniak said. "I want to work with the other teams' booster clubs to see if we can't get all of us on the same page.''
Bottom line, SUPPORT the teams in your city, because you'll never know what you've missed out on until it's gone.
8 comments:
Living in Sioux Falls it stinks that I can only see one team. If I lived in Omaha, or DM for that matter too, I would love to see hockey 3 plus nights week.
Why is the compensation thing such a big deal? Does the USHL steal players from teams, or do they get drafted off those teams outside of the playing season(i.e. free agents)?
I dont see the USHL being so rich that they basically lose $1000 if a player comes up, sucks, then goes back?
Why are you highlighting the Knights on a USHL blog you say is devoted to current, former, and future USHL players, along with current league happenings?
The Knights have promised in the past to work with the other teams and grow hockey in Omaha and the only thing they have done is blow smoke and target the other teams fans.
I noticed that you didn't include the comments that the Knights have admitted to losing well into 7 FIGURES in less than 2 seasons, or that the Knights attendance was very inflated. IE: "More typical was a recent midweek game when attendance generously was listed at 2,100" How many of those are the free tickets they beg people to take?
Come on Ryan, you are doing a good job blogging the USHL so stay with that and don't hype up the Knights.
If you dont like the way this blog is run, go somewhere else. Ryan is doing a great job and can run it how ever he sees fit.
If want someone to complain to, go complain to the American car companies that say their vehicles are American made when in fact they are assembled in Canada with foreign parts.
The article on SI mentioned the Lancers, therefore it has a place on the blog.
I didn't hype the Knights, I just pointed out that it's ok to support more than one team.
It doesn't matter WHERE or HOW you got a ticket. It's still a butt in the seat. Who cares if you got it for free, at least you attended a game and are part of the attendance. Don't complain about the attendance and how bad it is if you are not part of it. I can tell you that the Lancers attendance is going down very fast and it won't change anytime soon either.
Just because Ryan didn't highlight the Lancers, doesn't mean you can attack how bad the Knights are. The Lancers have been around for years, the Knights have not so they have to do some marketing. Do you think the Lancers had a ton of fans the 1st few years? NO! They played at HITCHCOCK which has a capacity of about 13 fans. The Knights are going to be around for awhile so get used to it.
Like the 1st poster said, REAL hockey fans would kill to have 3 different levels of hockey in their city and some variety. If you love the sport of hockey, you would attend a game no matter what level.
People complain about the parking prices for the Knights/UNO. If you park in the right spots, you don't have to pay the $5.00 plus to park.
It does matter whether or not a fan pays for their ticket. The Knights have operating losses in the seven digits. So it appears they might not be around as long as some people think.
There are a lot of hockey fans in Omaha that go to all three team's games. But not every hockey fan wants to or has the means to do so. People have the right to support what they want and should not be called out because they don’t go to Knights games. Plus, no one rips on Knights’ fans when they blatantly refuse to support the Lancers. There is never any mention of the need to support all three hockey teams when it’s the Lancers that are getting ridiculed.
It is correct to point out that the Knights have lost dollars in seven figures in their two seasons in Omaha. While some local media want to hype the Knights, it is fair to point out their attendance figures are inflated, that some nights when 2100 were reported, only 900 were actually in the arena. Figures also bear out that while the Lancers have not had the sell outs they had when the aging Ak-Sar-Ben Coliseum was being used, the actual attendance figures are up about six percent over last year at this time, so the comment that the Lancers' attendance is falling fast is not accurate. This is not opinion, it's fact.
The other comment about the Knights saying they wanted to support all hockey in Omaha then renigged (sp) on that promise is also accurate. This philosophy is what's helping to kill pro hockey in Omaha. UNO will remain along with the Lancers; it's the Knights that have a short life of any of the three.
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