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A Case For The Minors
by Paul on 09/08/06 at 11:00 AM ET
Comments (13)
Tapeleg took me up on the Free Friday offer, allowing KK members to submit an article for publication on KK.
A job well done and obviously written with great passion!
Make sure to check out his own blog, Jerseys and Hockey Love.
When the lockout was on, the prevailing attitude and phrase was, “There is no hockey.” This was the biggest lie of the lockout (even bigger than never accepting a salary cap). No hockey is like saying there is no baseball without MLB, but there are a lot of people around the US who could tell you different. And during the lockout, the best hockey in the world was still going on in North America, it just had a worse television deal than the current one on OLN.
While America moved on, or at least just fumed a bit, there were a lucky group of people watching the stars you got to see emerge this past season. Imagine seeing Cam Ward step in to save the day (oh, yeah, we all did, I just got to see it a year early), or Mike Commodore give a single knockout punch to a Bruin. I did, all in the same night. That was at a game between the Lowell Lock Monsters and the Providence Bruins. Ever seen a player reach out from the bench, and grab an opponents stick? I did, at a P-Bruins vs. Hartford Wolfpack game. Sheer comedy, as Brendon Walsh shrugged and argued when he was called for the penalty (there wasn’t a person in the building who missed that one. I know, because they were all laughing). The game was more notable for the amount of fighting than the shootout, but I did get a game used puck. Yep, the Official Timekeeper tossed it over the glass to me, just before the shootout.. Because I was right on the glass. And I didn’t pay $100+ to sit there. I got the best view of the shouting matches between the players in their boxes, wondering if they were going to go after each other as soon as the doors opened (they didn’t). I was five feet away from Walsh as he asked Martin Grenier why he didn’t really show up for the fight (Grenier just shrugged and laughed).
Ever been to Glens Falls, NY? That is my favorite place to see a game. Why? I have no idea. But every seat is good, the 50/50 raffle is fun, the Chuck-A-Puck is fantastic, the beer is cold, and Barry Melrose signed my girlfriend’s scarf. It has an outer ring that you walk around, (no upper level), with concessions in the corners, including baked items, and a really good beer selection. I saw the UHL Allstar game there, plus a few regular season games. Roanoke vs. Adirondack was a great game, with all the highs and lows you could ask for. Goals for, a squandered lead, goals against, and some last minute heroics. Best game I ever saw? No, but close. And now the Frostbite are no more. No hockey at the Glens Falls arena except for a preseason NHL game (which, if you are within 300 miles, you shouldn’t miss). I was lucky enough to find Glens Falls on the hockey map.
Speaking of lucky, I won chuck-a-puck in Wichita, KS, along with a 50/50 raffle in Moline, IL (Quad City Mallards). Ever been to Moline? Great place to see a game. They love their Mallards. Also lucky, how about single handing a t-shirt toss at a Hartford Wolfpack game? I also caught one at an Austin IceBats game. I even got it signed, by 13 members of the team after the game, because I was skating with them after the game. Who gets to skate with the team after an NHL game? Nobody (at least, not the common fan). And they were the nicest people. They didn’t ‘want’ to be there, but you would never know. They played an awful game that day, and skating with them told me why. The first thing I noticed was how mushy the ice was. This is Austin, TX after all, and temperatures were in the 70s. Then I talked to a player who told me the story. They had played in Hidalgo, TX (Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees) the night before, but had bus troubles, started the game late, came back home, had more bus trouble, had to borrow a bus, and got into town around 9:00 am that day, then played a 4:00 pm game. You would never know talking to them, or watching them skate around with the little kids. I also got to skate with the team in Kalamazoo, Mi (K-Wings), but the team wasn’t on the ice in Ft. Wayne, Il after their loss. Find me an NHL team who does that and I’ll buy their jersey.
Before you start to wonder, these games aren’t a circus, either. These are real hockey games, with real players. Players who want to be there. Some are on the way up, some on the way down, and some are right where they’re supposed to be. It can be rough and tumble, or it can be clean skating hockey. It can be fight night, and there could be no fighting whatsoever. You can have games where there might as well have been no goalie, and games ending 1-0 in OT.
What you get is real hockey. Good hockey, with teams that really want your business, want you to come to the rink, want you to want to come back. These are the teams who work hard for the fans. They are constantly trying to get you in the door, with good games, participation, and value. When was the last time you sat on the glass for $15? Have you ever sat on the glass?
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Comments
Shhh!!! If everyone recognizes the value in these games, those rinkside seats are gonna get harder and harder to find. Then I suppose we’ll just have to go watch more beer-league hockey, which can be pretty fun as well.
Posted by brennan on 09/08/06 at 12:25 PM ET
Thank you, Tapeleg! People everywhere forget that minor league hockey exists. But there is a lot of great hockey in the minors. I’m a big fan of the Grand Rapids Griffins (AHL affiliate of Detroit), and it’s so much fun to go to the games. I can sit right behind the home net, watch the players warm up, catch some pucks, see and meet future NHL stars…and all for $17. There’s a real appreciation for the fans in minor league hockey. The players will talk to you through the glass, respond to teasing, etc. There are various opportunites to meet the players. And there is no lack of rivalries, either. This is some passionate, hockey, folks. I encourage anyone to find a minor league team near you, go to a game, and see for yourself.
Posted by Megan from Grand Rapids, Mi on 09/08/06 at 12:29 PM ET
Megan,
Keep on going. The minor leagues need all the help they can get. I need to find a copy of the Griffin beating me up at the AHL AllStar Game. I tried to go to a Grifins game, but it was SOLD OUT. Playoffs and all, so I went down to Kalamazoo.
Hey, Brennan, shout it to the world. If more people go, they might get to keep their team, like Glens Falls, or Frasier, MI, or St. Louis (UHL), or San Diego (ECHL). It’s sad, because the bodies keep stacking up.
Posted by Tapeleg on 09/08/06 at 12:37 PM ET
Thanks Tapeleg, that story made me smile from ear to ear. Hockey warm fuzzies. Its time to buy tickets!
Posted by kirkwood from Phili on 09/08/06 at 12:59 PM ET
Nice work, Tapeleg.
Luckily, in Canada we got to watch more WHL on the west coast.
But in some instances, it was a ‘who cares about watching this (WHL)....I only want to watch NHL-calibre hockey’ type of mentality. You’re right with what you are saying about the quality of the AHL, for example, but some people don’t want to eat rice when they are so used to eating caviar. It’s a ‘thinking inside of the box’ mentality. And it’s a shame.
Posted by Zanstorm from Smithers, BC on 09/08/06 at 01:06 PM ET
Oh yeah baby, Saginaw Spirit, Grand Rapids Griffins, K-Wings… Nice article.
Posted by Tony from Mid-Michigan on 09/08/06 at 03:56 PM ET
The lockout is the reason I really “discovered” the WHL. I went to two or three Hitmen playoff games in 2005 with my dad, and I recorded _The_Good_Ol_Hockey_Game.php”]one game in particular for posterity, a double-OT Hitmen win over the Lethbridge Hurricanes in the first round. I’m now a first-year season-ticket holder for the Calgary Hitmen, which had the added benefit of getting me first crack at some Flames preseason tickets (Go Oilers Go on September 21!). Sure, the WHL was still an obstruction circus compared to the NHL last year, which was a bit frustrating, but my favourite finish to a regular-season game was without question a 4-3 OT game between the Hitmen and, I believe, the Swift Current Broncos. A pair of minors were called within 30 seconds near the end of the third period, so OT started with about a minute and a quarter of 3-on-3 hockey. Rush one way, scoring chance, rush the other way, scoring chance, repeat until SC scores just before the first penalty expired. Crazy damned finish, and even though the home team lost, I was grinning the whole way home. Fantastic hockey, and you never know who you might see “before he was a star.”
Oh, and glass tickets? C$22, or C$15 for students. My student season tickets, for 36 RS games and 2 playoff games, were only about C$360—just above the benches, where the players come out. Hot friggin’ damn.
Posted by Doogie2K from Calgary on 09/08/06 at 03:56 PM ET
Crap, that didn’t work out.
http://www.stillnoname.com/writings/ramblings/[Doogie]_The_Good_Ol_Hockey_Game.php
There’s the URL. My friend’s square-bracket naming convention evidently disagrees with how your site handles HTML. Meh.
Posted by Doogie2K from Calgary on 09/08/06 at 04:01 PM ET
No problem, Doogie, I am putting up a little cheat sheet in this area soon with some HTML guidance.
I also fixed your mistake and deleted your last post.
Posted by Paul from Motown Area on 09/08/06 at 04:03 PM ET
Good read, TL.
One of the best hockey games I saw live was the Calgary Hitmen playing Red Deer. The captain of the Hitmen had a couple scraps, one before the puck hit the ice to start the game. Good old hockey… and the fans were as passionate as any NHL fan I’ve seen.
Posted by Hodge from Canada on 09/08/06 at 04:08 PM ET
I love watching the Plymouth Whalers (OHL) games right by my house - you do get to see up and coming players and it costs you $10! Very affordable for a college student…last year, I could only go to Wings games if I went with my Dad and he paid for them…good post!
Posted by Christy on 09/09/06 at 08:40 AM ET
Oddly enough, I just got a call from the Providence Bruins, offering me 2 free tickets to opening night, which they did last year also. Too bad I’m in Colorado.
Posted by Tapeleg on 09/09/06 at 11:46 AM ET
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Well said, Tapeleg!
Posted by w2j2 on 09/08/06 at 12:10 PM ET