Thoughts about the farm ....

[blny]

I was surfing the AHL site and came across some interesting stuff. Some items have been discussed separately, but not in a single thread as a group, so I thought I'd throw some stuff together. Feel free to add things that come to mind.

1 - Hamilton is tied for second overall with 65 points and have the third best winning %. If they could beat the Roadrunners we'd be leading the league. All this despite a fairly young roster. Which brings me to ...

2 - Balej is tied for 5th in league scoring and missed 4 games. He's got 48pts and is tied for the league lead in +/- still at +19. The 4 guys ahead of him are AHL regulars and are at least two years older. He's 11 points behind, but that can be made up quickly in the AHL. Can anyone say MVP votes?

3 - We have two rookies in the top 15 of rookie scoring. Perezhogin and Higgins are just inside the top 15, but inside it they are. Both are having fine rookie seasons. Similarly to Balej, they are both roughly 12 points back of the leader (Toronto prospect Kyle Wellwood). More impressive to me is that the both have strong +/- ratings. Perezhogin is +7 and Higgins is +8. Wellwood is -2, but so is much of the STJ team. Still, figuring in +/- to the overall effect our two rookies have in comparison to Wellwood and I think they match up very well.

4 - Hainsey, attitude or not, is putting up numbers that suggest he's trying to convince BG he belongs in Montreal full time. 4g,12a,16pts, and a +15 in 29 games is proof of that.

5 - Hamilton's attendance is brutal. Anyone who catches a game on Sportsnet can attest to tha vast number of empty seats, but without checking you might not be aware that Bulldog average attendance is almost 1,200 people below the league average. Hamilton draws 4,181 a game (with one of the most exciting young teams going), whereas the league average is 5,340. Manchester has a .500 hockey club (well, two games above .500) and they draw more than 9,000 a game. There are nine teams above the league average, and they all draw more than 6,000 per game. Is it just me, or does that seem a bit alarming. As one of the best young teams going the last few seasons, and an organization without a history of doing the yo-yo with farm hands, you'd think they'd be able to muster more than a paltry 4,181 a game. Is it the barn? What? Ticket prices are competitive, and aren't that much more than junior hockey. It would be a compelling season ticket purchase for me if I were in the area. I think it's a real shame that so many are missing out on the future of the Habs (while it's affordable to watch them).

That's about it. Any thoughts?

[BCHab]

I remember Hamilton had good attendance during the playoffs last year. Perhaps it's that type of market? Listening to the Hamilton-Baby Leafs game on the Score the other day, one of the play by play folks did mention that attendance is much better when Saint-John's is in town. I'm guessing there will be people on the bandwaggon later this season since it appears the Roadrunners are out of the playoffs. My two cents...

Cheers,

[Bob]

BLNY said:

5 - Hamilton's attendance is brutal. Anyone who catches a game on Sportsnet can attest to tha vast number of empty seats, but without checking you might not be aware that Bulldog average attendance is almost 1,200 people below the league average. Hamilton draws 4,181 a game (with one of the most exciting young teams going), whereas the league average is 5,340. Manchester has a .500 hockey club (well, two games above .500) and they draw more than 9,000 a game. There are nine teams above the league average, and they all draw more than 6,000 per game. Is it just me, or does that seem a bit alarming. As one of the best young teams going the last few seasons, and an organization without a history of doing the yo-yo with farm hands, you'd think they'd be able to muster more than a paltry 4,181 a game. Is it the barn? What? Ticket prices are competitive, and aren't that much more than junior hockey. It would be a compelling season ticket purchase for me if I were in the area. I think it's a real shame that so many are missing out on the future of the Habs (while it's affordable to watch them).

That's about it. Any thoughts?

Hamilton is averaging 4181 fans per game (near the bottom of the league) but when the St John's Leafs are in town the attendance jumps to 7109 fans per game. Without the Leafs, average attendance would only be 3692 per game.

The only games where Hamilton has drawn more than 5200 fans are games vs the Baby Leafs.

You are right... attendance is brutal although it is picking up a bit during the latter part of the year. Hamilton wants an NHL franchise but can't even support one of the top teams in the AHL. They are the Montreal Expos of the American Hockey League.

I would like to see the Habs farm team out of Toronto's sphere of influence.

[Goldthorpe]

Bob said:

I would like to see the Habs farm team out of Toronto's sphere of influence.

The farm team used to be in Quebec, right? I wasn't following hockey very much back then, but I remember thinking how it was an heck of an idea.

What happened with the Quebec AHL franchise?

[NWTHabsFan]

BLNY, you must have read my mind because I was looking at those stats last night as well. In addition to some you mentioned, I also noted the following:

1. On PP, Hamilton is 12th in the league at 14.98% effectiveness, compared to 19.05% as the best and a horrible 9.91% being the worst in the league. Hamilton is also 2nd in the league in short handed goals against, only allowing 2 (one team has only allowed 1).

2. On the PK, the Dogs are a very impressive 4th in the league at 88.00% efficiency, with 90.53% being league best and 79.34% being the bottom of the AHL barrel. The team's 9 short handed goals against are a dangerous 3rd in the league, further supporting the strength of the team's PK.

Another interesting note is that Michaud, in his short stint with the Dogs, has the best GAA and save % of the three goalies this season, although he has played considerably fewer games than either Damphousse or Fichaud. Still a promising stat for him come contract renewal time.

[rhabdo]

I wonder why the power play isn't better. The Canadiens have stocked Hamilton with good prospects, no?

[sergejean]

NWTHabsFan said:

Another interesting note is that Michaud, in his short stint with the Dogs, has the best GAA and save % of the three goalies this season, although he has played considerably fewer games than either Damphousse or Fichaud. Still a promising stat for him come contract renewal time.

He is someone I would definitely keep an eye on... he's a keeper.

[jkr]

BLNY said:

match up very well.

5 - Hamilton's attendance is brutal. Anyone who catches a game on Sportsnet can attest to tha vast number of empty seats, but without checking you might not be aware that Bulldog average attendance is almost 1,200 people below the league average. Hamilton draws 4,181 a game (with one of the most exciting young teams going), whereas the league average is 5,340.
That's about it. Any thoughts?

I live about 90 minutes from Hamilton and sometime watch the news on the local station. This has been a problem for a long time & was why Edmonton wanted to move. There was some protests from the diehards and the franchise was saved for now.

I don't think it's the building. It my opinion Copps is a decent arena, especially for an AHL team. I have been to a couple of games there and it is a comfortable place to watch a game and access to the building from highways & roads is good.

The attendance during the Calder Cup run was obviously an aberration. People were just getting caught up in the excitement and unfortunately it has not carried over. The low attendance numbers are the norm. Too bad. They are missing out on a good product.