LaCava says, time to get serious about hockey in Phoenix.

[Catfish]

I watched Channel 10's Sports Night after the news last night, and Jude LaCava had a very serious segment to headline his show this week. It concerned the survivability of HNL Hockey here in the valley. While LaCava was extremely enthusiastic about the recent success of our hockey club here in the valley, he was very guarded with his belief that hockey would survive here. He pointed out reasons for his concern about that survival.

Everybody who loves sports, knows that the residents of the valley are, for the most part, transplanted parties from other parts of the country with fragmented alliegances to franchises from where they came. He was correct in saying that we had no loyalties like people from Cleveland, for instance, with their fanatacism for the Browns, Indians, and Cavaliers. Thus, at any large sports gathering here in the valley, the crowd is prone to be made up of people with a wide variety of loyalties. When it comes to a really heated contest, like the match with the Black Hawks on Saturday night, much of the crowd is likely to be supporting the visitors.

While that made for a great atmosphere, for the equally great game played in Jobbing.Com arena, it also points out that we will play in an only partially filled house against an opponent like one of the Florida teams, who have far fewer representatives here in the valley than the Chicagoans do. This creates a problem for all sports franchises here in the valley, in that valley sports crowds do not show up in great numbers for ANY franchise here, unless they are winning and are hot. He's correct, of course, about that, and he understands that, because he himself is a displaced midwesterner from Cleveland.

The previous ownership of our hockey franchise tried to compensate for the loss of revenue caused by this fragmented loyalty here, by bringing in star power to attract the crowds. They brought in none other than Wayne Gretzky, the 'Babe Ruth of Hockey', to put fanny's in the seats, and it worked,-----for a little while. Unfortunately, great players often do not make great coaches, and this was precisely the case with Gretzky. He was unable to produce a winning team, and the money went chasing the Diamondbacks when they were hot; the Suns, from time to time, depending on their star power; and most recently the Cardinals, with their new found recent success.

The sad truth is, that while the Coyotes have been the sensation of the NHL, and have destroyed the franchise records for wins in a season, and for successive strings of victories, for the most part they have played in a half empty house this year.

Now, couple that with the fact that the club has a really bad lease agreement with the City of Glendale, and it becomes readily apparent that the crowds, created by winning, are only a temporary fixture to this scenario. Most certainly the Coyotes will be in the playoffs this year. Most certainly there will be WHITE-OUTS, but just as certainly, unless there is a change on the part of the fans, come next Fall and the beginning of a new season, they will be playing to half full houses here again.

While the lease situation is currently a sticking point, it is at least fixable. What is not so certain, is whether or not there are loyal fans enough to create a markteable situation for hockey here. Couple that with a severly depressed economy, and there is more than room for concern. There exists the possibility of disaster for any ownership group. That is why the Ice Edge Holdings group is having such a hard time raising the needed capital to make this franchise solvent. It is why Jerry Rheinsdorf's group is laying back on the perimeter and not forging ahead to make things happen.

Quite conceivably, this year, the Coyotes could win the Stanley Cup. Just as conceivably, the commissioner could present that cup to himself, as the NHL owns this franchise right now. Even worse, he could elect to move the franchise back to Winnepeg or to some other city, where hockey fans will show up regularly to support THEIR team, even when they are not having a Stanley Cup kind of season.

THIS is the dilemma facing hockey here in the valley. It is ultimately the loyalty of the fans who will be the determining factor in whether or not there will be professional hockey here in the valley.

As I listened to LaCava, it became clear to me that we, as fans, can make this happen, (or not). The story that LaCava told was painful to hear, but rang true when it was considered with an open mind. We fans have NEVER stuck with a loser here in the valley. It was ONLY by being extremely frugal that the Bidwills survived their first 20 years here. Unless we fans are willing to make the Coyotes, (OUR TEAM), they have but two chances of making it here in the valley, SLIM and NONE.

 

[Mulli]

Why did Jude wait until the Coyotes were winning to support them?

 

[MigratingOsprey]

jude is a douche who was giving handies to moyes while he was destroying hockey

he can keep his backhanded promotion - he's definitely part of the problem with his bandwagon journalism

 

[puckhead]

jude is a douche who was giving handies to moyes while he was destroying hockey

he can keep his backhanded promotion - he's definitely part of the problem with his bandwagon journalism

Eff LaCava and his 'bash Coyotes fans' articles that come out anytime the Yotes take a step forward. I love "his" article that I've been reading in hockey forums and Canadian press since last summer, way to come at it from a different angle mr original. Jim Gintonimo is the only reporter saying anything worth a spit about the Yotes in this town for a while now.

 

[splitsecond]

Why did Jude wait until the Coyotes were winning to support them?

The only valley sports team consistently supported by the media in the valley is the Suns. He is just pulling the status quo, like the rest of the media douchers.

 

[Nasser22]

I enjoy watching LaCava's show and he is right when it comes to the fans. It's not bashing Coyotes fans, but the lack of support we have for our teams here. It's obvious and embarrassing from the pro teams to our college athletics and that needs to change if we want to continue being one of the cities with pro teams in all major sports. I am a new fan, but have made the Coyotes my team and while they stay I will be as loyal to them as I was with the Cardinals and Diamondbacks through the tough years. I will be going to as many games as I can afford and getting others to go as well. It is just as important to me as you long time fans to keep them here. I am a passionate Arizona sports fan and I hope to see more and more of our type of fans soon.

 

[Catfish]

I enjoy watching LaCava's show and he is right when it comes to the fans. It's not bashing Coyotes fans, but the lack of support we have for our teams here. It's obvious and embarrassing from the pro teams to our college athletics and that needs to change if we want to continue being one of the cities with pro teams in all major sports. I am a new fan, but have made the Coyotes my team and while they stay I will be as loyal to them as I was with the Cardinals and Diamondbacks through the tough years. I will be going to as many games as I can afford and getting others to go as well. It is just as important to me as you long time fans to keep them here. I am a passionate Arizona sports fan and I hope to see more and more of our type of fans soon.

Good for you Nasser22; LaCava is NOT a Coyote's basher, and he is right about the average fan here in the valley. Very fickle, except for the 30,000 Cardinals fans that could be counted on to brave the heat at SDS on a Sunday afternoon, (even when there were 40,000 Cowboys fans in the house). Most valley fans seem to flit from winner to winner here in the valley, (or at least to a team with star power). Some, (mostly at Suns games), only go to be seen at a valley social event. You can usually tell them on TV. They don't generally wear team colors. Dress all fancied up. And don't cheer because they are too busy dialing up, or tweeting their friends that they were just on TV.

The Cardinals have made the greatest strides in bringing in Cardinals fans in my opinion, but they had that 30,000 solid core of fans to build on. No other sports franchise can match that core here, at least in my opinion. So far, under Michael's guidance, they have made the right moves, and hired the right FO and Coaching Staff to keep the vision alive. They were also successful in getting their new stadium, (finally), and after going to the Super Bowl, are now generating revenue streams from out of town on Cardinals Merchandise. It remains to be seen how well ther are supported the first time they have a losing season under Coach Wisenhunt.

Meanwhile, most vallely fans will bash someone like LaCava as being anti Phoenix sports, simply because he dared to point out the truth. Check out most of the above responses.

 

[puckhead]

...Check out most of the above responses.

Listen, you have a right to your opinion and I to mine. If you had been through the summer and year die-hard Coyotes fans have been through, you know who is on your side and who is repeating the SOS every time the team strides forward. Anyone paying attention to the bankruptcy case quickly discovered who was on who's side, so forgive me if I have a bone to pick with a few in the local media. Pointing out the obvious that a city of non-natives is often fair-weather isn't exactly Pulitzer material. How about, gee, the Coyotes could really use some more fans in the building if they want to stay in the market, huh, never would have guessed. How about a cutting-edge piece explaining how if the Cards could score more touchdowns than the other team, they could win more games.

Look, this is coming off like I'm pissed at you guys, when you are exactly the folks we need on our side. I don't want to argue with you guys or give you a bad impression about Yotes fans. I admit, I am a touch sensitive at this point, and when I read the exact same story for 1000th time, I may lose it a bit. If anything, for better or worse, hockey fans can be quite passionate. I apologize for the earlier tone of my post. I think I'll let this be my last word on the subject until after the season. It's time to enjoy this season for all it's worth because the future is so uncertain, I would hate to waste this time arguing about stuff off the ice that is mostly out of my control. I hope to see you all at the Job and Let's go Coy-otes!

 

[Mulli]

I think it might be worth mentioning that the Coyotes went a seriously long time without making the playoffs in a league that makes it seriously hard to miss the playoffs.

Why bother paying money to support such a team?

 

[MigratingOsprey]

it wasn't more than a week ago that LaCava was sending messages that the Ice Edge deal had completely fallen apart

he's been pretty pessimistic since the BK filing and has done a good job at trying to rain on everyones parade

remember, this is the guy who gave moyes a softball platform to broadcast his message and plea to the city right before one of the BK rulings

by trying for "star power" it just showed how poorly moyes ran his business and how little he knew about hockey

the stars should be on the ice - not behind the bench - gretzky is a great addition to a franchise, but they should never of let him past the golf course or executive suite

fans here are fickle - there are a lot of transplants and a lot of options

he could also point out that hockey is the longest running professional sport in phoenix and there has been some level of professional hockey here for decades - or that when they first moved here attendance was pretty good in a horrible venue

i'm hopeful that who ever does end up buying the team will understand that you don't pack a house trying to make converts - you do it by winning and developing fans before those loyalties exist

mulli - not only has this team not made the playoffs since they opened the new building, they have had to deal with a lockout and only once have finished outside the division basement in the new building - on top of that the franchise (going back to winnipeg) hasn't won a playoff series in over 20 years

even "great" hockey cities like chicago & st. louis don't support a loser

heck, places like NJ don't even support a winner

 

[Catfish]

Hey Puckhead and Osprey-----there is no need for you to apologize to ANYONE for your passion for the Coyotes. I wasn't intending to rain on your parade-----I was just pointing out what HAS to happen to keep the franchise here. Fans here in the valley NEED to step up and embrace these local teams as theirs. They NEED to follow your example. THAT is what I am saying.

So far as LaCava is concerned, I am happy that someone, (ANYONE), from the local media is finally talking about this team and its accomplishments.

My son, Nooch, is a steadfast supporter of Coyotes hockey just like you guys. He has converted me to becoming a fan of them too, despite having absolutely no background where hockey was played. I really became interested last year, as this team struggled through incredible odds. It seemed like the whole world was stacked up against it, and the chance of surviving another year was very bleak.

But the commish took the club under the safety net of the league. He brought in Don Maloney, and best of all, Tippett. What a world of change took place with this hiring of a new head coach. He put structure back into the practices and changed the expectations of the players. He and Maloney have brought in a number of rather inexpensive players, who have made a huge difference in our play. We began play this year, with our players expecting to win. WHAT A HUGE DIFFERENCE.

All the while they were going about their business of changing how hockey was played here in the desert though, NO ONE from the local media was reporting on it. The rest of the league marvelled at what was happening here in the desert, but no one here knew it except you guys. Yes, you have tried to make a difference by encouraging your friends to join in the fun. But the fact is, you don't have the ability to reach thousands of fans like our local sports people do. That is why it is important for them to be talking about the Coyotes.

Even if the local blurb us not encouraging, it is out there being talked about now, (finally). It is exactly this exposure that will bring more people to begin to notice, and then follow the Coyotes. That can't be a bad thing.

As for LaCava, while he is not maybe the most enthusiastic reporter of Coyotes lore, or even the best sports reporter in the valley, he IS the most respected of the TV sports reporters here in Phoenix. He has a large following, and it can only help if he talks Coyotes, even if it is not slanted like you would like it. This is a case of talking Coyotes, pure and simple. Once the buzz is out there, the fans will tune in and begin to check it out for themselves. That is where success will come from.