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| (above) In 1994 Colorado College held an election to rename the Tigers to Greenback Cutthroat Trouts but the student election came up a few votes short |
by Adrian Dater
Saying "We're going to get this place rockin," the city's newest professional sports owner stood inside the Denver Coliseum on Tuesday and introduced himself and his management team for an expansion Central Hockey League team that will play starting in October.
John Hayes, the CEO of Broomfield's Ball Corp., will own the CHL's newest entry. It has yet to officially be named but is likely to be called the Cutthroats — in honor of the official state fish, the greenback cutthroat trout.
Hayes introduced Derek Armstrong as the team's first coach, along with general manager Brad Lund and assistant general manager-director of hockey operations Brent Cullaton.
Hayes, a Boulder resident, explained how he hopes to market a minor-league hockey team to a city that historically has been tough on such leagues, in a 60-year-old building that hasn't housed a hockey team since the International Hockey League's Denver Rangers played there in 1988-89 [read entire article].
22 comments:
FROM: http://ciphermagazine.wordpress.com/2010/09/24/the-trout-that-almost-was/
"In the spring of 1994, when Colorado College student Andrew Brown heard that the football team planned to hold a rally against him and his fish, he answered right back with a rally of his own. For the larger part of the year, Brown, a senior at the time, had fought in favor of a change that would have transformed every Colorado College student into something new. No longer would students be just another hackneyed team of Tigers. No. They would be Colorado Greenback Cutthroat Trout. In the end, the tiger snuck away with a win on Election Day, earning 468 votes to the trout’s 423.
If it's the building I'm thinking of, I saw a DU-UMD series there circa 1998. The one I'm thinking of is just on the north side of downtown.
I seem to recall liking the building. It certainly wasn't new, but that doesn't bother me one bit.
Brad:
That's the barn.
DU played several games there in the late 1990s, during the demolition of the old DU Arena and the construction of Magness and the Ritchie Center.
The only problem I have with the Coliseum is that the surrounding neighborhood is like a demilitarized zone....
Conventional wisdom would suggest that with this added competition in the Denver area for the hockey dollar, DU will really step up it's game in terms of game-day experience. Especially considering it looks like the plan for this CHL team is to offer most tickets at $16, less than half the cost of most DU hockey tickets. Guess we'll see how much DU cares about their fans.
Anon 1:28
Your math is a little off...
The majority of DU single-game tickets are priced between $18.00 and $28.00. The only ones that are above $32.00 are Crimson Club and Gold Club seats...which do NOT make up "most" of the seats.
Don't believe me? Fine. Here's the link:
http://www.denverpioneers.com/fls/18600/tickets/2011-12_TicketOnePager_HKY.pdf?DB_OEM_ID=18600
Also, if you buy season tickets, you get to shave a couple of bucks a game off those prices.
Yes, DU is still more expensive than the CHL team appears to be; but trafficking in such hyperbole doesn't do your point any favors.
You're right. Perhaps I should have looked up the specifics. Regardless, it doesn't change the argument at all: With a professional hockey team 10 minutes away selling tickets at a cheaper average cost, DU will need to do something to keep its fans.
anon 1:23
That's a little to call the neighborhoods over there "demilitarized zones".
Swansea, Globeville and all had a real rich tradition of being Denver's centers of especially Eastern European immigrants. The whole area suffered after I-70 and all essentially cut it off from the rest of Denver. I'm not saying it is nice but that area is now the northern edge of the RINO Arts District with more and more arts and galleries, music and video production and the such moving in all the time. The neighborhoods over by the Coliseum will come back to an extent with all the cool, modern businesses setting up shop down that way.
Fill in the fan survey a few posts down. A little competition might be just the thing to upgrade the DU game night experience.
If more kids play hockey in Denver it will be a net gain for DU.
The Coliseum is a pig. A renovated Coliseum will be a pig with lipstick.
Competition can be very good and if the new team forces DU to make more upgrades in the "college themed night experience" it will be another net gain for DU.
If you noticed in Texas they replaced all of the CHL teams with NAHL junior teams and it seems to be working out.
Conclusion: Without a new arena, the Cutthroats have no chance of making it longterm. With a new arena I'd put it at 60-40. Chances of them hurting DU hockey 2%, helping DU hockey 10%, no change 88%.
I can hear the student section chanting:
"GO FISH!"
Too funny!
umm dggoddard you need to get your facts straight...there are still 4 chl teams in texas, with only 2 (odessa and corpus christi) dropping to juniors.
My bad.
I read an article about corpus earlier this year.
Every minor league hockey team ever started here in Colorado has folded or moved, with the exception of the Colorado Eagles. which have the northern state market to themselves.
DU hockey has been operating for 60years, and the fan base is well defined.
DU needs to be more collegiate and less minor league in its game night experience. It's evolving that way anyway, and I think DU will be just fine.
DU has an upscale demographic. Most DU fans aren't really into minor league hockey, and kids are small part of the DU hockey crowd.
My only experience with the Coliseum were the occasional visits we paid to watch Handsome Harley Windowbreaker and other stalwart rasslers do their thing and have a few beers.
I believe your average DU hockey fan has a connection to the university and to the team. That's going to be hard for a minor league team to overcome. We can, however, look for them to sign as many DU exes as they can find.
And DG and the others are right, the game day experience at Magness is moving in the right direction. I wonder what "fight song" the fish will offer. More D-Rah, more Boone, figure out a way to include the Alma Mater, more references to history and tradition (honor Maggie and Masterton), etc. Remind folks of why they're fans. I think DU hockey will be fine.
As far as game night experience, perhaps a fight song modification is in order. Just as the bird mascot is lame, so is the fight song. Sure is more fun singing Mines' fight song...
THE MINING ENGINEER
I wish I had a barrel of rum and sugar three hundred pounds,
The college bell to mix it in and a clapper to stir it ‘round.
Like every honest fellow, I take my whiskey clear,
I’m a ramblin’ wreck from Golden Tech, a helluva engineer.
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva engineer,
A helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva, helluva engineer,
Like every honest fellow, I take my whiskey clear,
I’m a ramblin’ wreck from Golden Tech, a helluva engineer.
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here.
What the hell do we care as long as we get our share.
Hail, hail, the gang’s all here.
M-I-N-E-S
What the hell do we care now?
Not every fight song is "The Victors." And ours is fine. And we don't need any Chancellor for life, or troll or misguided DU "fan" flapping his yapper about fight songs. MYOFB, pal. "D-Rah" is our song, period. I look forward to the pep band improving their performances and expanding their repertoir. But "D-Rah" is perfecetly acceptable. So go pound sand on that one, buddy.
Its OK for people to not like Boone, the fight song, the band, cheerleaders, student section or whatever else. But hopefully new traditions or improvements can be implemented along the way.
The fight song has come a long way and its a minor miracle that it has returned to campus after a 30 year hiatus.
Nice song, but shouldn't it reference a bunch of nerdy guys going to a school that has no women? No wonder they need to drink...
These nerdy guys all have a 75k t0 100k starting salary waiting for them.
no, they dont.
There's a good education to be had at Mines if: 1) you know for DAMN sure that you want to be an engineer when you grow up; and 2) you don't want to hang out with women in college. To each his own.
I forgot...why we are talking about Mines??? Oh yeah, they have a drinking song. Last point--Mines' own website says median starting salary is 63,400. Pretty good, but whoever said all the nerdy guys make 75-100 K on graduation needs help with his facts.
This is a mistake, in my opinion. Don't get me wrong - I love LOVE CHL hockey - I'm from Texas, so I go back to the WPHL days. But, people have to undertand it's a different animal than college, NHL, or even ECHL and USHL/NAHL. Get the CO. Eagles out of your head too, because they are the exception as far as a successful CHL team goes. Few CHL teams have that kind of success - especially those near an NHL team. And look at the RM Rage who also couldn't make it.
I was really hoping Denver would get a USHL/WHL/NAHL team one day; but we're probably not "ready" yet.
I've been to many CHL games in Texas, with less than 500 in attendance on a regular basis. They thrive on corporate sponsorship and owners with very deep pockets, and favorable leases on the arenas - not in attendance. Marketing and promotion is also a big part of thier formula. Again I say - don't compare the Eagles to this.
Can it work? I guess we'll see. I guess they're smart not to build a new arena right off the bat; start in the barn, with an affordable rent & see where it goes.
The CHL has grown immensely, and there's some good teams and owners - and players now. It used to be total, total bush league and goons. Slapshot movie all the way. It's good entertainment now though - and that's what they have to market it as, and bring in large groups of people who will want to come back.
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