Post by mlh01 on Mar 31, 2014 16:41:36 GMT -5
As posted by Curtis, it was great news that Norwood will be back.
As with any Senior or Junior team, you are only as good as your full organization...which in most cases is simply the owner and executive members.
Dundas and Brantford seem to both have strong executive teams. This has been reflected, for the most part, with good attendance, especially since the beginning of 2014.
You need to get the word out, post schedules throughout town, have minor hockey and elementary school game nights. Ideally a theme for every game if possible.
Looks like both Norwood and Whitby understand this importance. Most years only one team can go to the Allan Cup from Ontario, so you can't count on winning to be the only way to bring people into your arena.
With hopefully the advent of Senior AA in Ontario next season (haven't heard much about that since January), Senior hockey interest is on the rise. The more AA teams that surface, the better. It will help the AAA league with feeder talent, and again with fans in the general area.
Kudos to both Curtis in Norwood, and Steve in Whitby for helping to build interest and keep the legacy of Senior hockey alive.
Here is the article on the Dunlops:
Whitby Dunlops done for this year, but not perhaps evermore
President Steve Cardwell still committed to team despite poor attendance
Shaking on it
Sean Allen / Metroland
BRANTFORD -- Doug Carr of the Whitby Dunlops shook hands with Brantford Blast captain Chad Spurr after the Blast eliminated the Dunlops in Game 6 of the Allan Cup Hockey semifinals at the Brantford Civic Centre. March 14, 2014
By Brian McNair
WHITBY -- The Whitby Dunlops played their final game of the season Friday in Brantford, falling 8-5 to the Blast in Game 6 of the Allan Cup Hockey semifinals.
The question now is: was it their final game, period?
President Steve Cardwell had suggested earlier that this may be the senior hockey team’s final season, as crowds have continually dwindled in the 10 years since the historic Dunlops name was resurrected.
But, while crowd sizes still weren’t great through the three playoff games at Iroquois Park Sports Centre, Cardwell isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“As an organization, we’re committed to doing the best we can to keep the Whitby Dunlops operating and playing,” he said a few days after the playoff exit. “We’ll do everything we can between now and the time we need to make the decision, which is in July. We’re looking to put some new energy and blood into the executive. We’re certainly looking for some new ways to raise money.”
Cardwell said crowd sizes of 200 to 300, which was the norm this season, are simply not enough to sustain the team, but that fundraising measures, such as the annual golf tournament at Royal Ashburn in June, do help. One of the original executive members who invested in the team 10 years ago, Cardwell says he will not let the team die away without a fight.
“We’re going to exhaust every avenue we can to find ways to raise money and to put this team back on the ice. We’ve got a lot of committed people and we’re looking for some new blood. If we can find it, we’ll be back playing in September,” he said.
“We have to gain some relevance in the community,” he added. “We have to get a little more attractive to whatever clientele we’re going to build. We’re going to have to build by at least 100 people a game to be viable long-term. You have to start drawing three or four hundred a game to make it viable with today’s costs.”
Although the ultimate decision will be made in July at the team’s annual general meeting, and a lot has to happen between now and then, Cardwell is optimistic.
“I would say that it’s better than 50 per cent we’ll be back,” he said.
The Dunlops have struggled on the ice the past few years as well, at least by the standards set by making three straight Allan Cup appearances from 2006 to 2008. In each of the past four years, the Dunlops have been eliminated despite having home-ice advantage, three times in the opening round.
In this year’s loss to Brantford, the Dunlops had built a 2-1 series lead with a convincing 7-2 win at home in Game 3, but then ran into a hot goalie, Brett Leggat, and dropped the next three.
“All we had to do was protect home ice and we would have been in the Allan Cup,” Cardwell pointed out. “I think that we had a little bit more speed, a little bit more puck savvy, but I think they had a little bit more toughness and a little bit more experience, and at the end of the day, they got some great goaltending.”
As with any Senior or Junior team, you are only as good as your full organization...which in most cases is simply the owner and executive members.
Dundas and Brantford seem to both have strong executive teams. This has been reflected, for the most part, with good attendance, especially since the beginning of 2014.
You need to get the word out, post schedules throughout town, have minor hockey and elementary school game nights. Ideally a theme for every game if possible.
Looks like both Norwood and Whitby understand this importance. Most years only one team can go to the Allan Cup from Ontario, so you can't count on winning to be the only way to bring people into your arena.
With hopefully the advent of Senior AA in Ontario next season (haven't heard much about that since January), Senior hockey interest is on the rise. The more AA teams that surface, the better. It will help the AAA league with feeder talent, and again with fans in the general area.
Kudos to both Curtis in Norwood, and Steve in Whitby for helping to build interest and keep the legacy of Senior hockey alive.
Here is the article on the Dunlops:
Whitby Dunlops done for this year, but not perhaps evermore
President Steve Cardwell still committed to team despite poor attendance
Shaking on it
Sean Allen / Metroland
BRANTFORD -- Doug Carr of the Whitby Dunlops shook hands with Brantford Blast captain Chad Spurr after the Blast eliminated the Dunlops in Game 6 of the Allan Cup Hockey semifinals at the Brantford Civic Centre. March 14, 2014
By Brian McNair
WHITBY -- The Whitby Dunlops played their final game of the season Friday in Brantford, falling 8-5 to the Blast in Game 6 of the Allan Cup Hockey semifinals.
The question now is: was it their final game, period?
President Steve Cardwell had suggested earlier that this may be the senior hockey team’s final season, as crowds have continually dwindled in the 10 years since the historic Dunlops name was resurrected.
But, while crowd sizes still weren’t great through the three playoff games at Iroquois Park Sports Centre, Cardwell isn’t ready to throw in the towel just yet.
“As an organization, we’re committed to doing the best we can to keep the Whitby Dunlops operating and playing,” he said a few days after the playoff exit. “We’ll do everything we can between now and the time we need to make the decision, which is in July. We’re looking to put some new energy and blood into the executive. We’re certainly looking for some new ways to raise money.”
Cardwell said crowd sizes of 200 to 300, which was the norm this season, are simply not enough to sustain the team, but that fundraising measures, such as the annual golf tournament at Royal Ashburn in June, do help. One of the original executive members who invested in the team 10 years ago, Cardwell says he will not let the team die away without a fight.
“We’re going to exhaust every avenue we can to find ways to raise money and to put this team back on the ice. We’ve got a lot of committed people and we’re looking for some new blood. If we can find it, we’ll be back playing in September,” he said.
“We have to gain some relevance in the community,” he added. “We have to get a little more attractive to whatever clientele we’re going to build. We’re going to have to build by at least 100 people a game to be viable long-term. You have to start drawing three or four hundred a game to make it viable with today’s costs.”
Although the ultimate decision will be made in July at the team’s annual general meeting, and a lot has to happen between now and then, Cardwell is optimistic.
“I would say that it’s better than 50 per cent we’ll be back,” he said.
The Dunlops have struggled on the ice the past few years as well, at least by the standards set by making three straight Allan Cup appearances from 2006 to 2008. In each of the past four years, the Dunlops have been eliminated despite having home-ice advantage, three times in the opening round.
In this year’s loss to Brantford, the Dunlops had built a 2-1 series lead with a convincing 7-2 win at home in Game 3, but then ran into a hot goalie, Brett Leggat, and dropped the next three.
“All we had to do was protect home ice and we would have been in the Allan Cup,” Cardwell pointed out. “I think that we had a little bit more speed, a little bit more puck savvy, but I think they had a little bit more toughness and a little bit more experience, and at the end of the day, they got some great goaltending.”