It sucks to be a Chicago Blackhawks fan

[Don Wassall]

The media is going overboard with the Blackhawks attendance issue. Its an attack on the fans of Chicago, when it should be an attack on the owner. If you're not showing home games on tv you're losing out on an entire generation of potential fans. You can't blame no one but the owner for that. It will take more than a 2 game winning streak to get fans back to United Center.

That article was nothing but a hit piece on hockey by ESPN. The article focused on the Blackhawks' continuing attendance woes, and the Avalanche not selling out a game for the first time in 11 years. The article asks ominously: Is hockey attendance in trouble? Commissioner Gary Bettman says it's too early to hit the panic button.


Colorado only fell 326 fans short of a sellout. But more to the point, most teams that don't sell out every game have their worst attendance figures right after the home opener, namely early midweek games against lackluster opponents before hockey fever has really set in. For the Avalanche to come up just short of a sellout is hardly worthy of a national article.


Then we find this beauty: Thus far this season, 14 teams are playing to capacity houses nightly -- Montreal, Tampa Bay, Detroit, Philadelphia, Toronto, Calgary, Ottawa, Carolina, Buffalo, Vancouver, Dallas, Minnesota, the New York Rangers and San Jose.


"Thus far"???? At the time the article was written most teams had played all of 2 home games! Anyone with a basic knowledge of statistics knows that no meaningful conclusions can be drawn from such a small sample. After 5 percent of the season has been played, absolutely no one knows whether overall attendance in the NHL will be up or down this season. And since most teams play to capacity or near-capacity crowds, the best educated guess is that attendance for '06-'07 will end up very close to what it was last year, within a percent or two in either direction.


This isn't journalism; it's fitting an article into a pre-selected point of view.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2629188

 

[hedgehog]

That contradicts an October 6th article by ESPN-

With fans coming back, most teams hike ticket prices

Led by the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes, more than half the league's teams have raised ticket prices, including 10 of them by more than 5 percent.


http://sports.espn.go.com/nhl/news/story?id=2615891

 

[lumsdenpower]

I know that the canadien will make the playoff

and tomorow Jose Theodore is BACK at montreal after the exchange to colorado..I can't wait for this game!GO HABS GO

 

[Bear-Arms]

Yep, it still sucks to be a Chicago Blackhawk fan because not only did we lose our number one goal scorer in Martin Havlat(2-3 weeks) Friday, but we also lost Khabibulin(1 week) and Handzus(season ending) Saturday night. We basically lost our entire first line and replaced them with kids that haven't even played in the AHL. I think David Bolland only played one game there. Our defense can't even protect a lead. Jassen Cullimore is one of the crappiest defensemen ever.

We even lost our 2005 and 2006 #1 draft picks. Toews was injured the same night as Havlat. The Gods of hockey hate us!

 

[white is right]

You guys also have one of the worst spendthrifts as an owner. It's hard to believe that the Blackhawks at one time mattered in Chicago. Now only people that buy the equivalent of boxing ppv's can watch the Blackhawks....

 

[Realgeorge]

Howdy Bear-Arms

I'm speechless! No more gruesome pile of bad luck can hit a hockey fan than the snakebite of the 2006 Chicago Blackhawks. Without the injuries they were a decent team with some punch to embarrass more expensive opponents.

I think it's the "Pulley" curse. Ever since the Pulford monster was allowed to defang the Blackhawks about 12 years ago it's been downhill ever since. Too bad Stan Mikita can't buy the team. At least he would care

 

[C Darwin]

For many years, the Chicago Blackhawks organization was thought to have the Curse of Muldoon hanging over the team. Whether there was ever a real curse placed upon the Blackhawks and owner Frederic McLaughlin by Pete Muldoon back in 1927 is open to conjecture. There is no proof that Muldoon, who was let go as coach after the Blackhawks lost to the Boston Bruins in the first round of the playoffs, actually said; "The Blackhawks will never finish first!"

But one rule of thumb, never let facts get in the way of a great mythological story and seeking the truth behind the story of whether Muldoon actually put a curse on the Blackhawks ruins a great tale.

Article

 

[Realgeorge]

Bear up, Bear-Arms! The Blackhawks are steadying their ship and looking OK at the 11 December point. Just watched them strangle Edmonton with Havlat leading the way. Some of the sleeping Chicago fans actually woke up and watched part of the game in the Third Period

 

[Realgeorge]

It's official: The Hawks are now at .500 !!</font>
They skate, hit, and shoot. Hawks have some offense with Martin Havlat back in lineup, and a non-braindead coach. So be of good cheer, the Hawks are playing well and one major hot-streak from qualifying for playoffs</font></font></font>

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[cslewis1]

Heard the Blackhawks were 7-3-3 since the new coach. Good to see. Keep it up! Bruins moving a bit too. Good news all around. Get the Rangers back on trap and we've got the makings for a good playoff.

 

[C Darwin]

Aliu ready to show 'em
Sun, June 24, 2007
The newest London Knight says it wasn't easy watching as the first 55 players were selected.
By PATRICK MALONEY, SUN MEDIA


COLUMBUS, OHIO -- For Akim Aliu, it wasn't just draft day. It was redemption day.

The newly acquired London Knights forward called Friday night's opening round of the NHL draft the toughest experience of his life, with 30 names announced and none of them his.

Finally, when the second round resumed yesterday morning, Chicago used the 56th overall pick to take Aliu. The skilled forward had expected to go in the first round and blamed his significant drop on perceived "attitude" problems.

Aliu has butted heads with teammates and coaches throughout his OHL career, including an infamous dust-up during practice with then-teammate Steve Downie in Windsor.

That pattern likely scared off many NHL general managers but to the ultra-confident Aliu, one thing is clear: That's their problem, not his.

"I can't wait to go out there and two, three years down the line (have) everyone saying, 'This kid should have been a top-five pick,' " he told reporters.

"I can't wait to get there. All the other draft picks are just numbers and it's all history now. It's what you do with it."

Aliu was acquired this off-season by the Knights from Sudbury. He expressed excitement at possibly playing in London, if not Chicago, next season.

He was rated 41st among North American skaters going into this weekend. But he said some NHL teams suggested they would take him in the first round.

When the final first-round pick was called Friday night -- the second round didn't start until 10 a.m. yesterday -- a noticeably upset Aliu quickly stood from his seat in Nationwide Arena and walked out, brushing off a reporter.

The frustration was shared by his parents, he said.

"They had a rough day-and-a-half because of how things unfolded," Aliu said. "My parents didn't get too much sleep the last two nights, especially (Friday) night."

Given the family's remarkable story, however, the draft was a relatively small ordeal.

Aliu's father Tai was raised in Nigeria before earning a track scholarship to a university in Ukraine. That's where he met his eventual wife Larissa. Akim was born in Nigeria.

The family lived in Ukraine until their naturally athletic son was 10, when they moved to Canada. Though he had never played hockey, Aliu took to the national game immediately.

"We came over here with a suitcase," he said. "It was a tough couple of years for us, knowing no one in the country and having no friends.

"My dad (a software engineer) didn't see a hockey rink until he was 40 years old. I started (playing) at 11 and I was scoring five goals a game and I said 'this is pretty fun.' All the credit goes to my parents."

That he's played for only seven years -- he turned 18 in April -- is another upside, Aliu said.

"Probably 95 per cent of the kids that got drafted today have been playing hockey double the amount of time I have. I just shows how much improvement I have left in me."

 

[Bear-Arms]

A black kid with a bad attitude? Never!

 

[Ground Fighter]

A black kid with a bad attitude? Never!

LOL. Just wait until he "displays" that lovely attitude of his in front of one of the NHL's better enforcers like Scott Parker or Darcy Hordichuk. When one of these guys physically beats him into afro-paste, he'll shut his mouth real quick.

 

[Bear-Arms]

Aliu won't be the Hawks first black player. We already have another black prospect by the name of Dustin Byfuglien. He played a few games with the Hawks last season. He looked brutal but he is still young. He has an excellent shot. He won the AHL's 'hardest shot' at the AHL All-Star game. His problem is his skating and you can't be a quality NHLer if you can't skate. Even though he was an AHL All-Star he had a bad season in the AHL defensively. It's doubtful he will make the big club this year. He is 8th or 9th on the depth chart depending on what the Hawks do during free agency, which at this point is next to nothing.

 

[Realgeorge]

The Good News is that the Blackhawks had an excellent draft and Free Agent period this summer, and I predict a winning season, including whipping the RedWings in the season opener.

The Bad News is that one of the draftees is Akim Aliu, half Black and half Russian, and the media has forgotten about all the other players on the 'Hawks roster, to concentrate on their new Great Black Hope.

The trend overall is good, though. Fewer, fewer, and ever fewer, non-White NHL draftees and players