Poll: How many NHL games have you attended since the Whalers left?

[joober jones]

I've never voluntarily attended a hockey game at any level in all my life.

 

[Dogdeacon]

Youth hockey numbers are lower than what they were in the '80's and '90's in Connecticut from what I have heard from a former HS classmate/Dad who I played a lot of pond hockey with. He does believe the two big factors are 1) cost and 2) lack of available ice time. Not many families can afford the expense of playing hockey nor the time it take to get the kids to a 5 AM practice at a rink an hour away from home. At the high school level, there are a lot of Co-Op's, which were rare back then. That said, I know there are a lot of Co-Op teams in Maine now, which seem to be driven by the state's declining/aging population overall. In jersey, high school numbers seem to be stable; but, the club level is dong very well. The local ice rink where I lived added a 3rd sheet two years ago and a second club team and the place is always packed.

At the pro level, except for summer Fridays, driving to/from Hartford to Boston or New York can be a much bigger hassel in the winter than the summer. Plus, the kids are still in school.

The ice time part makes sense, though that is a problem everywhere. Cost part doesn't completely explain to me unless you are totally specific to middle CT or Hartford area. Nationwide the $ people are spending on youth sports these days has probably increased by 500% since 20+ years ago. Club teams, private instruction, specialized gyms and facilities are all on the rise. If the $ aren't going to hockey in CT, it is because they are going to some other preferred sport or activity.
I've never been a hockey person, wish I'd played - but live in MA now, and hockey families are simply hockey families - if a parent played the kids play, 95%+ of the time, income is not determinant.

 

[Bezzz]

1 and that was a freebie Islanders game. I’ve also only been to a handful of minor league games. 99% of my hockey $$ since 1997 have gone to college hockey. Both colleges I attended (RPI and Cornell) have hockey as the most popular sport on campus.

What years were you at RPI? I was there '72-'76 and the every hockey game was sold out in the 4,000 seat Field House. We would camp out two weeks in advance to get season tickets.

 

[Deepster]

I think there are a lot of reasons.

1) Distance. Just not willing to drive 2 hours to see a team you aren't really a fan of.
2) Maybe not really a hockey fan. I watched the Stanley Cup finals, but didn't watch a single regular season game.
3) Sore about the Whalers leaving.
4) Get a hockey fix (crowd, beers, goals) from WolfPack or UConn.

I usually go to maybe 2 WolfPack games a year. Free tickets or a niece/nephew singing the Anthem or something similar to that. I don't have any desire to do more than that though.

 

[whaler11]

I think there are a lot of reasons.

1) Distance. Just not willing to drive 2 hours to see a team you aren't really a fan of.
2) Maybe not really a hockey fan. I watched the Stanley Cup finals, but didn't watch a single regular season game.
3) Sore about the Whalers leaving.
4) Get a hockey fix (crowd, beers, goals) from WolfPack or UConn.

I usually go to maybe 2 WolfPack games a year. Free tickets or a niece/nephew singing the Anthem or something similar to that. I don't have any desire to do more than that though.

Once the NHL turned it’s back on Hartford why would people stay engaged? I did for a short time because I had friends/roommates that were big fans of other teams - now I just root for the small markets (non-Carolina) to beat the big markets in the playoffs to screw the TV ratings.

 

[ncteacher]

I moved to North Carolina the same month as the Whalers years ago and never saw a single game. Then four years ago I moved to Durham and lived there for 2 years. During that time I watched almost every Whaler home game during that time. I would go there by myself, and except for the first time, got into the game for free every time. It was a fun distraction from my day job. But for some reason the Whalers are wearing red?????

 

[Waquoit]

There was a brief stretch where a bunch of Pack players hit the Rangers at the same time so I followed a playoff series or two. Besides that my only engagement is rooting for whomever is playing the Bruins in the post-season. This has been a great year for my sports fandom. My 3 favorite pro teams are the current champions and my all-time hate team lost at home in Game 7 of the Finals. It's all downhill from here.

 

[ct06111]

Since they left, probably been to 10 or so Islanders games.

1st NHL game since they left was NYI vs CHI @ Nassau’s final season. Went with the Brass Bonanza Bus at met Quenneville and Dinnen @ the Marriott across from the barn.

Had a blast and reminded me of the HCC. I followed them the rest of that year and went to the final playoff game @ Nassau. Isles are a fun team if you gotta root for a local non Bruin/Ranger team. The fans chant like a soccer game and are into goons like Martin. Boychuck an x Bruin helps too. B-port and the sound tigers are fun. Better than the pack/ranger crapshow in hartford

Barclays sucks. Actually met up with @Butch and went to the islander game 2 playoff game vs canes.

If they played the 2nd round on Long Island, they wouldn’t have gotten swept

 

[nadav]

I haven’t lived in CT since the Whale left. Lived in NY and LI for a while and took in 25 Rangers games because that was my team after the Whalers left (went to prob 120 Whaler games as a youth). Been to Buffalo a few times, Devils, Islanders at Nassau and then since moving out west, not much. A couple Kings playoff games (in flip flops for Christ sake) and then moved to Seattle and have seen the Canucks twice. Prob 40 games, I love the sport.

 

[Da_Aisijimo_Gou]

> 100 vs 1 whalers’ game ever with comp free tix.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

I haven’t lived in CT since the Whale left. Lived in NY and LI for a while and took in 25 Rangers games because that was my team after the Whalers left (went to prob 120 Whaler games as a youth). Been to Buffalo a few times, Devils, Islanders at Nassau and then since moving out west, not much. A couple Kings playoff games (in flip flops for Christ sake) and then moved to Seattle and have seen the Canucks twice. Prob 40 games, I love the sport.

Are folks in Seattle actually excited to be getting an NHL team or is the NHL 'Plan B' until they finally get an NBA team back there?

 

[August_West]

100’s

LGR!!!

 

[outsidethebox]

The nhl is dead to me. Kiss my fat ass, Bettman

 

[SubbaBub]

Was a Whalers season ticket holder from 1984-1997. Not only have I not been to an NHL game since, I haven't watched one in its entirety.

I watched the third period of the Canes cup winner, the gold medal game in 2010, and will usually catch the lifting of the cup. That's it.

I also played from when I was a kid until age 35. No NHL for me, ever. F. Karmanos, F. Bettman.

 

[UConnJim]

I went to many Whalers games going back to the WHA. I live in Boston now and hockey is on a totally different level here. Youth hockey, high school hockey, prep hockey, college hockey, Beanpot, Bruins. There is no such thing as too costly for kids to play up here. You are either a hockey player or you’re not. Kids and parents are hockey mad.

I go to Bruin games now and then, but Brass Bonanza is where it’s at.

 

[UC1995]

Do people refer to them as the BJs? Always wondered about that.

Lol... not that I have ever seen. Just the Jackets for short.

 

[UConnNick]

One game, a Stanley Cup playoff game between the Stars and San Jose Sharks while on a business trip to Dallas in 1998. The tickets were free and we had great seats, six rows up from the ice.

We used to attend lots of Whalers games. My boss had season tickets...great seats, lower level about halfway up at center ice. He didn't go to many games so he'd always give us the tickets if he wasn't going.

 

[fatlucy]

But I’ve been to a ton of YALE games

 

[DonaldDraper]

I left CT right around the same time the Whale did and I switches allegiances to the Rangers because of some local kid who played for them for a few years. So, been to maybe a dozen Rangers at MSG, some I bought, some from work. Also been to a few Bruins games for work when I lived in Boston before moving to NJ. Also been to games in Detroit (Joe Louis), Pittsburgh, Philly, Toronto and Montreal while visiting those cities for work.

You from Cheshire? Was the kid Brian Leech?

Both you and the whale were ahead of the curve. I left CT about 8 years later and feel like the state doesn't really have much of a future and its sad. I live in DC and go to three or 4 caps games a year. They are always fun but I never pay for em. There is both a fan base here and companies who throw stupid money at the spectacle. I enjoy it.

This dynamic is hurting the pups. XL is a joke cause there's no professional team to anchor the building and it gets left on a CBB teams shoulders. Hartford is mess but that is more for the cesspool. Being stuck between two major markets is a huge pain.

As a super casual hockey fan who watche 6-10 playoff games a year when the bruins or caps are in the mix - I hope CT finds a way to draw and keep any sort of major league team.

 

[Caronimo]

1 Bruins, 1 Panthers... must have gone to 30-40 whalers games and played between periods twice as a kid. Hit the post! I’ll never forget how hard it was skating on that chopped up ice and the sigh of the crowd when the puck hit the post.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

The nhl is dead to me. Kiss my fat ass, Bettman

I love that no matter where the Cup is raised and what teams are involved, Bettman is universally booed by every place when he begins to speak. Emmert gets the same treatment.

 

[DarthGrumpy]

You from Cheshire? Was the kid Brian Leech?

Both you and the whale were ahead of the curve. I left CT about 8 years later and feel like the state doesn't really have much of a future and its sad. I live in DC and go to three or 4 caps games a year. They are always fun but I never pay for em. There is both a fan base here and companies who throw stupid money at the spectacle. I enjoy it.

This dynamic is hurting the pups. XL is a joke cause there's no professional team to anchor the building and it gets left on a CBB teams shoulders. Hartford is mess but that is more for the cesspool. Being stuck between two major markets is a huge pain.

As a super casual hockey fan who watche 6-10 playoff games a year when the bruins or caps are in the mix - I hope CT finds a way to draw and keep any sort of major league team.

Yeah, I went to playoff games in town when Leetch was on the HS team before he transferred to Avon Old Farms. It was fun. Then the town sold the rink and the HS team now plays and practices in Middletown at Wesleyan. Ouch. His brother was just ahead of me in high school and was a beast on the ice before playing hockey at football at West Point.

A neighbor had Whalers season tickets and as he was a tax accountant, we bought a lot of games during tax season from him. Even the NHL All-Star game. Probably went to 4 games a season (I was too young to handle weeknight games on a school night).

As for Hartford, City and State politics have caused so many problems. The city still wants to be the insurance capital of the world; but, Hartford is not New York, London, Singapore, etc. That said, it has a lot to offer. I am actually looking into a job that can be based in Hartford or Boston. Boston has a lot more to offer as a city (but as a NYC guy, can't stand the culture there) and it is closer to my extended family; but, its brutally expensive with a one-hour, one-way commute normal commute for suburbanites with families and with my kids schedule, I don't have time to catch a game, show, etc. in the city on a regular basis anyway. I can move to S Windsor or another good school district with 60% of the housing costs and a 30 minute commute and also have access to a solid regional airport. The city even has a good theater, some decent dining, outside stuff nearby a good and cheaper sports scene with UConn, Wolfpack and Yard Goats. That's how Hartford should market itself.

 

[August_West]

Yeah, I went to playoff games in town when Leetch was on the HS team before he transferred to Avon Old Farms. It was fun. Then the town sold the rink and the HS team now plays and practices in Middletown at Wesleyan. Ouch. His brother was just ahead of me in high school and was a beast on he ice before playing hockey at football at West Point.

A neighbor had Whale season tickets and as he was a tax accountant, we bought a lot of games during tax season from him. Probably went to 4 games a season (I was too young to handle weeknight games on a school night).

As for Hartford, Hartford and State politics have casued so many problems. The city stillf wants to be the insurance capital of the world; but, Hartford is not New York, London, Singapore, etc. That said, it has a lot to offer. I am actually looking into a job that can be based in Hartford or Boston. Boston has a lot more to offer as a city (but as a NYC guy, can't stand the culture) and is closer to my extended family; but, its brutally expensive with a one-hour, one-way commute normal commute for suburbanites with families and with my kdis schedule, I don't have time to catch a game, show, etc. in the city on a regular basis anyway. I can move to S Windsor or another good school district with 50% of the housing costs and a 30 minute commute and also have access to a solid regional airport. The city even has a good theater, some decent dining, outside stuff nearby a good and cheaper sports scene with UConn, Wolfpack and Yard Goats.That's how Hartford should market itself.

I played against Leech through childhood and when he was at AOF. I also played against Craig Janney (enfield then Deerfield) -ended up with Bruins . Both incredible youth players. At that age Janney was the best I ever played against. Was like Gretzky. a magician. Leech was incredible too but being a defenseman was a bit more inhibiting I think.

 

[nadav]

Are folks in Seattle actually excited to be getting an NHL team or is the NHL 'Plan B' until they finally get an NBA team back there?

People seem pretty excited. Gonna be fun in the refurbished Key Arena.

 

[Towney007]

A pair of Canadiens games, a Rangers game back in the late 90s, a Bruins-Rangers pre-season game...

That's it. Probably more AHL games than I can count in Springfield. Easily 25+ But I can't get into the NHL anymore. Just can't find a cheering interest.