Apr. 14th, 2011 | 12:02 pm
For as long as I can remember, Hamilton has wanted their own NHL hockey team. I swear, at any given time 399,999 of the 400,000 people will complain about still not having one. We have had a location issue with both Buffalo and Toronto and never been able to work out the compensation issue; in short, there would be three teams too close together, all of them worried about market share.
Still, Hamilton went ahead and built a stadium right downtown with the sole purpuse of housing a pro hockey team. I can still remember the excitement of it all. This was going to be the next great thing to revitalize our struggling downtown. I was in the eighth grade when it finally opened (I was even a part of the city-wide choir put together to open the place with a bang (or a song))
I'll be honest. I never liked the look of it from the outside. It's this big, white building with little character, that, for some reason, makes me think of a big, white, expanding bubble that is about to burst. They erected the thing in record time. I think our city council thought they could move a team in before the construction was even done and start crowing over their "accomplishments." The building was named after a well-known political family (since proven to be a bunch of crooks) and off they went...
I knew they were in trouble as soon as I entered the building; I made my way up an almost ninety degree stairwell saying to our choir director "This isn't very accessible." Combine that with one tiny main elevator, and I could already see this place showing it's true colours...No kidding, if someone's wheelchair doesn't fit into this tiny elevator (or there is a line-up of people after an event) they are forced to use the freight elevator that smells like rotting food/garbage. Don't even get me started on the seating. The "accessible" area is at the back of every section. The person in a wheelchair can't see anything and the person with them is handed a folding chair and told to sit next to them.
I use crutches, so they never know what to do with me. Most times, it means struggling down steep, concrete steps in order to reach the too small/uncomfortable seats. The staff never offer a hand and usually strangers are grabbing my arm to make sure I'm stable enough to make it all the way down. I have no idea what these people were thinking. The building is no longer up to code (though I don't believe it ever was) and the NHL has already said it would need millions in renovations to even meet current rink requirements. This structure is the white elephant of our city. Long forgotten as a hockey mecca, it now hosts random events like stars on ice or monster truck jam, and is saddled with multi-million dollar debt. But wait...
A few years ago, the Hamilton Bulldogs moved in. They are a professional hockey team that serves as the "farm" team for the Montreal Canadians. The players are thisclose to being in the NHL and the "big team" will call up several players during the playoffs when they are allowed to expand their rosters. They are a solid team, consistently making the playoffs, topping it off with a Calder Cup win a couple of years ago. (Their league equivalent of the Stanley Cup.)
Now, you'd think with all this squawking about wanting a hockey team, Hamilton would support this team, right? Wrong. I've gotten several sets of tickets "thrown in" with a lot of my prize packs and because I hate the building so much, I don't even entertain the thought of going so I sell them. The regular price of the tickets (for a playoff game) is $25. I tried selling them for $15 each. No such luck. I got $10 and the sad part is, I had ten other offers in my email for the same price.
These "fans" of hockey will be the first to tell you they will pay "anything" for an NHL ticket, but they won't pay to watch a solid farm team do well. Average attendance per game? Fourteen Hundred. The lowest in the league. Some say it's sour grapes for never getting the team we truly wanted, but me? I think it's just a case of people saying they want something because they know they will never actually get it. It's easy to say "Oh yes, I would support the NHL," until they start taking the money out of your wallet.
This town doesn't want hockey, they want a five dollar family outing-good luck with that!
The NHL? They're right to stay away. Poor stadium, poor city, poor attitude. The Toronto Maple Leafs may be a horrible hockey team, but at least they fill the seats every night win or lose, and I guarantee, it's not a ten dollar ticket.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3632021
Still, Hamilton went ahead and built a stadium right downtown with the sole purpuse of housing a pro hockey team. I can still remember the excitement of it all. This was going to be the next great thing to revitalize our struggling downtown. I was in the eighth grade when it finally opened (I was even a part of the city-wide choir put together to open the place with a bang (or a song))
I'll be honest. I never liked the look of it from the outside. It's this big, white building with little character, that, for some reason, makes me think of a big, white, expanding bubble that is about to burst. They erected the thing in record time. I think our city council thought they could move a team in before the construction was even done and start crowing over their "accomplishments." The building was named after a well-known political family (since proven to be a bunch of crooks) and off they went...
I knew they were in trouble as soon as I entered the building; I made my way up an almost ninety degree stairwell saying to our choir director "This isn't very accessible." Combine that with one tiny main elevator, and I could already see this place showing it's true colours...No kidding, if someone's wheelchair doesn't fit into this tiny elevator (or there is a line-up of people after an event) they are forced to use the freight elevator that smells like rotting food/garbage. Don't even get me started on the seating. The "accessible" area is at the back of every section. The person in a wheelchair can't see anything and the person with them is handed a folding chair and told to sit next to them.
I use crutches, so they never know what to do with me. Most times, it means struggling down steep, concrete steps in order to reach the too small/uncomfortable seats. The staff never offer a hand and usually strangers are grabbing my arm to make sure I'm stable enough to make it all the way down. I have no idea what these people were thinking. The building is no longer up to code (though I don't believe it ever was) and the NHL has already said it would need millions in renovations to even meet current rink requirements. This structure is the white elephant of our city. Long forgotten as a hockey mecca, it now hosts random events like stars on ice or monster truck jam, and is saddled with multi-million dollar debt. But wait...
A few years ago, the Hamilton Bulldogs moved in. They are a professional hockey team that serves as the "farm" team for the Montreal Canadians. The players are thisclose to being in the NHL and the "big team" will call up several players during the playoffs when they are allowed to expand their rosters. They are a solid team, consistently making the playoffs, topping it off with a Calder Cup win a couple of years ago. (Their league equivalent of the Stanley Cup.)
Now, you'd think with all this squawking about wanting a hockey team, Hamilton would support this team, right? Wrong. I've gotten several sets of tickets "thrown in" with a lot of my prize packs and because I hate the building so much, I don't even entertain the thought of going so I sell them. The regular price of the tickets (for a playoff game) is $25. I tried selling them for $15 each. No such luck. I got $10 and the sad part is, I had ten other offers in my email for the same price.
These "fans" of hockey will be the first to tell you they will pay "anything" for an NHL ticket, but they won't pay to watch a solid farm team do well. Average attendance per game? Fourteen Hundred. The lowest in the league. Some say it's sour grapes for never getting the team we truly wanted, but me? I think it's just a case of people saying they want something because they know they will never actually get it. It's easy to say "Oh yes, I would support the NHL," until they start taking the money out of your wallet.
This town doesn't want hockey, they want a five dollar family outing-good luck with that!
The NHL? They're right to stay away. Poor stadium, poor city, poor attitude. The Toronto Maple Leafs may be a horrible hockey team, but at least they fill the seats every night win or lose, and I guarantee, it's not a ten dollar ticket.
http://www.panoramio.com/photo/3632021
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