2013-2014 Blues (Hockey) Season

[Freed Roger]

I'm used to Kansas Citians making these kind of comments about hockey. Not St. Louisans. Weirdness.

Why would that be weird? It's deep in the heart of baseball season in a baseball town. Any Stanley Cup hopes we had, have been gone for long time. We're practically as close in time to next hockey season here as we are to this (past) one.

[pioneer98]

Hockey fans amaze me, and I'm not talking about the bandwagon fans in Chicago or L.A. I'm talking about people who get season tickets simply because it's hockey. There are transplants here who get season tickets to our low-level minor pro team. They don't care if its juniors or minors or even what the team is, they will try to be at every game. I don't see that kind of support to that extent in other sports. Other sports have fans who will go check out a game just because "it's baseball" or "it's football", but you won't see them at EVERY game for that reason. I think it's because hockey is harder to find that the fans gravitate to whatever they can get. I also think it's because hockey is a much better live sport than it is on TV.

Stop with the "bandwagon" fan talk. Other than not being able to afford going to games as often because of the skyrocketing price of Hawks tickets, I have no problem with and welcome every fan to the Hawks and to the NHL, regardless of whether or not they are new to the sport or team.

I've been a Blackhawks fan every since I can remember and I can tell you from first hand experience, that there is nothing more unwatchable in the sports world than bad hockey. I lived through a decade of it under the Bill Wirtz regime. That dumbass did everything he could do to alienate fans and keep good players away. I went to games in the late 90's and could buy $18 tickets in "C" section and end up three rows from the ice because there were only 4,000 fans in the house. The idiot would not allow television for home games (including some playoff games) because he had the arse backwards notion that it hurt ticket sales. He hired GM's that were yes men and only signed players when the were 5 years past their prime. Most Hawks fans, including me, celebrated his death in '07. His son has become the best owner in the NHL by doing exactly the opposite of what his father did.

I know you were just generalizing, but I challenge you to go through 10 years of 60-75 point seasons and see how many fans show up in St. Louis. When they get good again and fill the house, will you call them "bandwagon fans"?

OK, maybe “fairweather” is a better description than “bandwagon”. Not showing when the team sucks is pretty normal behavior. But look at Canada. They still draw for hockey even when their teams suck. There are junior teams there that play in NHL arenas and draw 9,000 fans/game. To certain fans, a hockey arena is like Wrigley Field. There are fewer fans like that in the USA, but they exist.

I don't know if you've read any of my lonesome "minor league hockey thread" over in rants, but I'll give an overview. I started following our local minor pro team in 2001 during a championship year, when they were drawing about 7,000/game in a 9,300 seat building. Most weekend games were sold out. I started out as a fairweather fan myself but quickly got hooked. In following years the level of play went down and attendance went down. They tried jump-starting interest again by switching to the AHL. Starting with that AHL experiment, they had 4 different owners in 4 consecutive years. They all had some combination of inept front office, underfunded operations, bad coaching, bad teams, or all 4. And when I say "bad", I mean "minor league bad", not "NHL bad". Every offseason we’d hear rumors that the team was going to fold. And every year a core group of fans would renew their season tickets anyway. One year I renewed my season tickets and then read in the paper that the team folded. My credit card company gave me a refund. Finally, the owners and team they’ve had in place the last 2 years are doing a much better job, and things have improved greatly. But I think that core group of fans got us through the toughest years or the team would have folded by now.

[Schlich]

Since I'm moving to St Louis in the fall, I've decided I'm going to introduce myself to hockey by becoming a Blues fan. What do I need to know about the sport, the league, and the team?

[TheoSqua]

Since I'm moving to St Louis in the fall, I've decided I'm going to introduce myself to hockey by becoming a Blues fan. What do I need to know about the sport, the league, and the team?

Blues rhymes with Lose. Welcome to the Cubs of Hockey.

[Schlich]

Since I'm moving to St Louis in the fall, I've decided I'm going to introduce myself to hockey by becoming a Blues fan. What do I need to know about the sport, the league, and the team?

Blues rhymes with Lose. Welcome to the Cubs of Hockey.

I'm a Cardinals/Packers fan who has never seen their bad decades, so maybe it will be character building?

I hear the Blues have some young talent though.

[thrill]

Jesus, the Blues aren't even close to the Cubs. Until a few years ago they had the most consecutive years making the playoffs of any team in any sport, iirc.

An apt comparison is that they are the Portland Trailblazers of the NHL. Small market, devoted fans, never quite getting over the hump.

[Schlich]

So like the A's?

[Secret Weapon]

The Astros

[TheoSqua]

Jesus, the Blues aren't even close to the Cubs. Until a few years ago they had the most consecutive years making the playoffs of any team in any sport, iirc.

An apt comparison is that they are the Portland Trailblazers of the NHL. Small market, devoted fans, never quite getting over the hump.

We're on an internet forum dedicated to discussing fandom of our favorite sports team. I'm pretty sure hyperbole is allowed.

[Sutter'sBeard]

Hockey fans amaze me, and I'm not talking about the bandwagon fans in Chicago or L.A. I'm talking about people who get season tickets simply because it's hockey. There are transplants here who get season tickets to our low-level minor pro team. They don't care if its juniors or minors or even what the team is, they will try to be at every game. I don't see that kind of support to that extent in other sports. Other sports have fans who will go check out a game just because "it's baseball" or "it's football", but you won't see them at EVERY game for that reason. I think it's because hockey is harder to find that the fans gravitate to whatever they can get. I also think it's because hockey is a much better live sport than it is on TV.

Stop with the "bandwagon" fan talk. Other than not being able to afford going to games as often because of the skyrocketing price of Hawks tickets, I have no problem with and welcome every fan to the Hawks and to the NHL, regardless of whether or not they are new to the sport or team.

I've been a Blackhawks fan every since I can remember and I can tell you from first hand experience, that there is nothing more unwatchable in the sports world than bad hockey. I lived through a decade of it under the Bill Wirtz regime. That dumbass did everything he could do to alienate fans and keep good players away. I went to games in the late 90's and could buy $18 tickets in "C" section and end up three rows from the ice because there were only 4,000 fans in the house. The idiot would not allow television for home games (including some playoff games) because he had the arse backwards notion that it hurt ticket sales. He hired GM's that were yes men and only signed players when the were 5 years past their prime. Most Hawks fans, including me, celebrated his death in '07. His son has become the best owner in the NHL by doing exactly the opposite of what his father did.

I know you were just generalizing, but I challenge you to go through 10 years of 60-75 point seasons and see how many fans show up in St. Louis. When they get good again and fill the house, will you call them "bandwagon fans"?

OK, maybe “fairweather” is a better description than “bandwagon”. Not showing when the team sucks is pretty normal behavior. But look at Canada. They still draw for hockey even when their teams suck. There are junior teams there that play in NHL arenas and draw 9,000 fans/game. To certain fans, a hockey arena is like Wrigley Field. There are fewer fans like that in the USA, but they exist.

I don't know if you've read any of my lonesome "minor league hockey thread" over in rants, but I'll give an overview. I started following our local minor pro team in 2001 during a championship year, when they were drawing about 7,000/game in a 9,300 seat building. Most weekend games were sold out. I started out as a fairweather fan myself but quickly got hooked. In following years the level of play went down and attendance went down. They tried jump-starting interest again by switching to the AHL. Starting with that AHL experiment, they had 4 different owners in 4 consecutive years. They all had some combination of inept front office, underfunded operations, bad coaching, bad teams, or all 4. And when I say "bad", I mean "minor league bad", not "NHL bad". Every offseason we’d hear rumors that the team was going to fold. And every year a core group of fans would renew their season tickets anyway. One year I renewed my season tickets and then read in the paper that the team folded. My credit card company gave me a refund. Finally, the owners and team they’ve had in place the last 2 years are doing a much better job, and things have improved greatly. But I think that core group of fans got us through the toughest years or the team would have folded by now.

I think you could classify just about every fan base as "fairweather". Hell, put me in that group because, once again, there is nothing worse than watching bad hockey. Matter of fact, I think it's a good thing for sports that fan bases are somewhat fairweather or their would be no incentive to improve (see Chicago Cubs).

Year......Hawks Attendance..... Pts.....Blues Attendance...Pts
2000......... 14996.................. 71.........18590...............103
2001........ 15568...................96.........19519............... 98
2002..........14794...................79.........18960............... 99
2003..........13253...................59.........18530............... 91
2005..........13318...................65.........14213................57
2006..........12727...................71.........12520................81
2007..........16814...................88.........17610................79
2008..........22247...................104....... 18554...............92
2009..........21356...................112........18883...............90
2010..........21423...................97..........19150...............87
2011..........21534...................101.........18810..............109
2012..........21776...................77..........17901...............60
2013..........22623...................107.........17498...............111