It's no longer trendy to be an Avalanche fan.

by AvDog on Nov 7, 2009 6:16 AM MST Comment 33 comments

When the Avs started playing here hockey was a novelty. The Avalanche were an instant championship team with dynamic star power. The rich and elite of Denver wanted to be seen around the Avalanche players because of their natural ~~humbleness~~ humility and social responsibility. What has happened since then?:

The original star players have either been traded or retired or have become injured and moved back to Sweden to live in international hockey ambiguity.
The lockout hurt the popularity of the NHL in general.
The salary cap made the GM's job much less publicly entertaining.
The Avs mediocre seasons hurt their trendiness.

It's true hockey fans and true Avalanche fans who pay attention now. Hockey is no longer a novelty in Colorado. Most of the people who go to games now understand what icing is and why it can be waved off. They know what delayed penalties mean what "cycling the puck" is. I think we're starting to see how popular hockey really is in Denver and maybe there just isn't as many real hockey fans in Denver as we thought.

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I could agree with that.

Then again, I live in Hollywood now…so I guess I don’t really see how many Avalanche fans aren’t in Denver anymore.

Joe Sakic.

by BraxtanFILM on Nov 7, 2009 10:02 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Is this a smack on how that one game had a 11K attendance? It was a bad night for hockey, it’s not that there’s no real fans in Colorado.

Bills fan? In Colorado? It's more likely than you think.

by UZ on Nov 7, 2009 11:49 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

There are lots of real Avs fans

otherwise MHH wouldn’t have seen a record number of visitors in October. I was just throwing an idea out there.

You’re probably right. Judging the Avs popularity based on 1 or 2 home games early in the season is like trying to predict a player’s stats for the whole year based on 1 month of play (At this rate, O’Reilly is on track to be +78 on the year!).

But I do think I’m on to something when I point out that the Avs early success in Colorado made hockey seem more popular than it really was.

by AvDog on Nov 7, 2009 3:19 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Maybe

Then again, maybe not. I don’t honestly care how many “real” hockey fans there are in this region. I’m a hockey fan, and really, that’s all I care about. What someone else does or doesn’t like does not, and never will, affect my life.

Now, I do have to play grammar cop, only because I’ve seen this mistake about 10 times in the past 24 hours on the various internets. “Humbleness” is not a word. The word you were looking for is “humility”.

"I intend to kick your ass today." - Denver Broncos legend Tom Jackson

by wtnelson on Nov 7, 2009 12:12 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

+1

for grammar

2009-2010 Avs: a game away from being up on blocks

by BeachNSnowGirl on Nov 7, 2009 6:24 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I care to a point

Because if this crapola about there not being enough support for the Avs grows too much, then we start getting the stupid comments about how Colorado can’t support a NHL team. Which is complete BS.

by AvDog on Nov 7, 2009 3:30 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

But by deciding to put this out there on the vast intellectual wasteland that is the intraweb, aren’t you feeding into that BS?

"I know everyone has their own opinion, but your opinion is wrong. "

by Mike @ MHH on Nov 7, 2009 6:54 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think it’s ok to say there’s not as many hockey fans as we previously thought. Just because we don’t have the attendance we had before doesn’t mean that there’s a huge lack of support for the Avs.

by AvDog on Nov 8, 2009 5:35 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I’d say it’s harder to explain the 2-line pass and icing than a delayed penalty and cycling the puck. Therefore:

Colorado Avalanche hockey has never been trendy.

All at once, the clouds are parted
Light streams down in bright unbroken beams...

by Pinchy The Lobster on Nov 7, 2009 8:44 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

I live in Michigan. It was never very trendy here to be an Avalanche fan. Quite the opposite in fact.

by lordstanley01 on Nov 8, 2009 9:32 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

Weird!

Whodathunkit? heh.

by AvDog on Nov 8, 2009 5:36 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I'm in T.O.

It’s practically against the law to cheer for a team that doesn’t use TOR as their short name.

by Drakenlot on Nov 9, 2009 10:00 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Bless you son

You’re doing the lords work.

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 9, 2009 10:21 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I could name a dozen or so friends who are former season ticket holders. All still avid fans, people in Denver still follow the team and root them on, but I truly think it’s a money thing. For myself, I have an an 8 month old at home, and a wife who is now a stay at home mom….. hockey tix are just not a priority any more, but I never miss a game on TV. I also think that getting so many games in high def is a big factor too; it’s so much more enjoyable to watch from home now than it used to be. I love going to the games, but for me and alot of people there are other priorities at the moment.

A little more success, and a little turnaround in the economy and people will be right back there again. On the flip side, I haven’t really heard of any decrease in other things like concert attendance, so who knows.

I know the Avs were sitting at like 25th in attendance, does anyone know if that factored in solely volume, or was it a “per game” ratio. Given how few home games we’ve had so far, it wouldn’t suprise me to see us so far down, if it’s solely a total attendance rating.

by jd21 on Nov 8, 2009 12:58 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

did a little self research, looks like our 24th ranking is based on Average per game.

interesting that our ROAD average attendance is 3rd in the league. Then again that road trip took us through some of the top attendance teams like Toronto, Montreal, Detroit, Chicage.

by jd21 on Nov 8, 2009 1:05 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I think you may be on to something with that HD thing. Hockey looks verry pretty in HD (More so than other sports with golf being the exception)

Also there’s more to judge a club’ popularity than just attendance records. There’s merchandise sales, TV and radio ratings, internet streams, etc.

by AvDog on Nov 8, 2009 5:39 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Sorry

Like I said in my post last week, there is a cornucopia if reasons the Avs attendance is suffering, and bandwagon fans falls very low on the list.

Looking at the attendance as any one over-arching reason is a fools game (hear me Kreiger) It’s a complex, mult-tiered problem, and boiling it all down to “Bandwagon fans” is pretty simplistic in my opinion.

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 9, 2009 10:26 AM MST reply actions 0 recs

completely agree, and Kreigers an asshat that only grabs the low-hanging hockey topics to write about when he runs out of other stuff to write about. He probably gets a rash when he has to write about hockey; his opinion rates less than zero, imo.

by jd21 on Nov 9, 2009 10:33 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Normally I don’t mind Kreiger.

I hate to be arrogant or self-serving (you’ll notice a lot of my humor is self-deprecating) but I think if you put my blog, or Daters 2 posts, next to Kreiger’s examining attendance woes there’s no comparison.

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 9, 2009 10:41 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Completely agree with that, and it’s not arrogant at all. Except for the part about Kreiger, I just don’t have an appreciation for his work at all. I tend to perceive it as full of snark, and it just seems to be intended to rile people up rather than provide any real insight. In which case, it’s accomplished it’s goal with me :)

by jd21 on Nov 9, 2009 11:56 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I tend to perceive it as full of snark,

Yeah I think I do a good job of avoiding snark.

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 9, 2009 12:04 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Your post about attendance

was full of facts and stats and logic and stuff. What the hell man?

by AvDog on Nov 9, 2009 4:36 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

That’s how I roll

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 9, 2009 10:36 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

And that’s why you’ll never be as successful as MHH. We have no need for your ‘facts’ and ‘stats’ here boy. Plus you have no King of the World either.

The Savage has spoken. Let it be done

"Two roads diverged in a wood, and I took the one less travelled by, and that has made all the difference"
R. Frost

by Savage33 on Nov 10, 2009 2:16 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I don´t mind logic in arguments to be honest. It kinda make things logical.

26 Card Jet

by Tommelot on Nov 10, 2009 11:00 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Do you have green blood and pointy ears?

The 2009-10 Avalanche: It's like having a banana split while all the other kids are getting an ice cream cone.

I'm The Canary - but I'm not cute nor cuddly, and I don't sing.

by Americanario on Nov 10, 2009 8:08 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

I still believe Denver is absolutely a hockey town

It’s just going to take time to get the fans back in the seats. Especially at the prices they have to pay at the Can, second highest REAL ticket average in the league. Given our market size and other options available, including DU hockey, this is absurd.

And with the 32nd pick in the 2009 NHL draft, the Red Wings select: Someone other than Ryan O'Reilly. LOL@Detoilet.

by Bob in Boulder on Nov 9, 2009 2:30 PM MST reply actions 0 recs

Good point!

There’s lots of options if you’re a hockey fan in the metro area.

by AvDog on Nov 9, 2009 4:38 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

or the Springs

Lots of hockey fans down here, but its a lot cheaper to catch a CC game than to go to an Avs game.

"Take what you can. Give nothing back!"

by Colorado_Kitten on Nov 11, 2009 6:24 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Been to a few games down there. Nice arena. Btw, CK, just between you and me over here on this blog, Kyle Orton still sucks. ;)

And with the 32nd pick in the 2009 NHL draft, the Red Wings select: Someone other than Ryan O'Reilly. LOL@Detoilet.

by Bob in Boulder on Nov 11, 2009 6:39 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs

lol

C’mon…you’re just jealous of the neckbeard. ;-)

"Take what you can. Give nothing back!"

by Colorado_Kitten on Nov 12, 2009 8:25 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Well

So does Jay Cutler, but at least we got 2 1sts, a 3rd and a shitty replacement for him.

The New Improved Avalanche. Now with Real Coaches!
Jibblescribbits: C'mon over and waste some time

by Jibblescribbits on Nov 13, 2009 12:20 AM MST up reply actions 0 recs

Indeed a hockey town

Funny how it always comes down to attendance falling here being a “sign of not being a hockey town”. But in other markets where the team has been sucking around for too many games it’s just a sense that “they know their hockey and are voting with their wallets”

Same old song and dance.

I was however taken aback when visiting a bar called The Penalty Box on game night, and found myself sitting alone in said bar…rather odd thought I.

We will fight in the mountains. We will fight in the valleys. We will fight on the ice and in the stands. We will never surrender.

by JollyAver on Nov 22, 2009 6:30 PM MST up reply actions 0 recs