...comes to the Blazers after serving as the director of ticket sales and director of community relations with the Oklahoma City Baron’s of the American Hockey League for the past 4 years.

Sounds like the last guy I'd want in charge of anything important.

Well, it won't be "World-Class hockey", like the Barons. Or a stellar organization, like Prodigal. It's the piddly, little, Junior A Blazers. And he'll just be responsible for reaching out to rednecks and Okies. So he should be OK.

Well, it won't be "World-Class hockey", like the Barons. Or a stellar organization, like Prodigal. It's the piddly, little, Junior A Blazers. And he'll just be responsible for reaching out to rednecks and Okies. So he should be OK.

Rednecks and Okies was kind of the target demographic in his role as the Barons director of ticket sales and customer relations, and they failed to fill the bleachers even when they were giving away a car every Saturday.

Look for OKC to take a 1-2 year hiatus from ice hockey with a AA team in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with rivals Tulsa & Wichita around 2016 or 2017.

The ECHL - Premier 'AA' Hockey League | Home Page (http://echl.com/)

Blazers v Oilers! Blazers v Thunder! Can't wait!

Blazers v Oilers! Blazers v Thunder! Can't wait!

Bring it on.

Brad Lund's assessment of Oklahoma City as being a 'Blazer town vs. an ice hockey town' did have merit.

Rednecks and Okies was kind of the target demographic in his role as the Barons director of ticket sales and customer relations, and they failed to fill the bleachers even when they were giving away a car every Saturday.

Seemed to me the Barons were going after a different demographic than Blazer fans that apparently only existed in their imaginations.

What killed the Blazers was the early trust Bob Funk Sr., put into Brad Lund when he gave him that 'blank checkbook.'


A foole and his monie be soone at debate,
which after with sorrow repents him too late.

Bob Funk Sr., didn't acquire his wealth playing the fool. He snatched a knot in Mr. Lund's tail the minute he saw what Brad was doing with the balance of his 240.01 Blazer general fund account. :banghead:

Seemed to me the Barons were going after a different demographic than Blazer fans that apparently only existed in their imaginations.

Is that your perception, or do you have some legit observation to back it up? With all the veterans nights, faith and family night, $1 beer and hot dog Fridays, seems to me they were going after the average Oklahoman.

Look for OKC to take a 1-2 year hiatus from ice hockey with a AA team in the East Coast Hockey League (ECHL) with rivals Tulsa & Wichita around 2016 or 2017.

The ECHL - Premier 'AA' Hockey League | Home Page (http://echl.com/)

interesting to see that 5 echl teams have no affiliation (tulsa and wichita included) and are listed as independent. i thought the echl was a proper farm system into the ahl-nhl?

What killed the Blazers was the early trust Bob Funk Sr., put into Brad Lund when he gave him that 'blank checkbook.'



Bob Funk Sr., didn't acquire his wealth playing the fool. He snatched a knot in Mr. Lund's tail the minute he saw what Brad was doing with the balance of his 240.01 Blazer general fund account. :banghead:

That's interesting. I guess I had never heard that. What I had heard was that Brad Lund and Funk Sr. had a very strong relationship. And when Funk Jr came to work there he was threatened that Lund was closer to Sr. than HE was. Which is why Lund was gone after only about 9mos of working with Jr.
What also killed the Blazers was Funk Jr literally LYING about the contract negations with the city. He all of a sudden put out a press release saying that, due to the inability to work out a new lease with the city, he was shuttering the team. Which, according to an Oklahoman article soon after, said that was actually a lie, and the city was fully prepared to rework the lease with the Blazers, to keep them in the arena. I always thought it was odd that he kept insisting that playing in the Cox Center wasn't possible. But then when he announced the barons, VOILA! The Cox Center SUDDENLY was getting new ice-making equipment, and would be suitable for AAA hockey, when apparently it WASN'T suitable for AA hockey?!
And after everything else that happened with OKCFC, it just my humble opinion that Bob Funk Jr, is a lying, weaselly sack of crap. But believe what you want.

Brad Lund's debacle with Express Sports began when he attempted to accommodate (scheduling) the Thunder's arrival in OKC. Brad did make the right courtesy call since the arena lease agreement said that once an NHL or NBA team arrived they would become the anchor tenant which gave them rights on choice dates. The Blazers schedule was already set before the Thunder's arrival which would have given the NBA Thunder the following year to have choice dates at the Peake (then Ford Center). Brad's actions were a bit premature.

Rumors:

Brad may have had a personal motive. Rumors were that he was hoping to join the Thunder's organization in some management capacity.

There were rumors that the Blazers were overstaffed under Brad Lund's helm: ...That Mr. Lund had support personnel doing all the work. This apparently didn't set well with both of the Funks. Bob Sr., & Jr., reduced staff & personnel; then eventually released Brad of his duties.

Bob Funk Jr., supposingly went through a learning transition; then it was all down hill from there when the Blazers wasn't given a renewal on their Ford Center lease (2009-10). The Cox Convention Center or the antiquated State Fair Arena (aged ice plant) was an alternative to be negotiated thru SMG. The Blazers ceased operation in 2009. Express Sports abandoned their efforts to acquire an MLS franchise (for Edmond) in favor of purchasing the Oklahoma RedHawks AAA baseball team. The MLS soccer expansion franchise fee was $10 million, the same amount they spent acquiring the RedHawks.

The Blazers averaged 6,500 the final year (2008-09) they were in the Peake (Ford Center) which was the first year the Supersonics arrived in Oklahoma City in which the Thunder averaged 18,693 prior to the downsizing of the arena to make room for more comfortable lower bowl expensive seating and required changes to accommodate the NBA media & television. That reduced the seating capacity of the arena from 19,136 to the current 18,203.

It was apparently a mind thing with the cup holders on the arm rest of the seats in the Ford Center. Fans claim that the Myriad Arena had more comfortable seats. Actually, the seats in the Myriad were 19 inches wide and the new Ford Center's seats were 22" (3 more inches). Quite strange...

Bye-bye, Barons: Prodigal ends the game for OKC hockey team | The Journal Record (http://journalrecord.com/2014/12/18/bye-bye-barons-prodigal-drops-the-puck-on-okc-hockey-team-general-news/)

Former Blazers executive Brad Lund said he’s sad to hear the news about the Barons, but he’s not surprised.
“I sensed this was coming,” he said. “The Blazers were a unique phenomenon that will likely never be matched again in minor league sports history.”
He said there were several key areas that helped the Blazers be a successful organization. The first was getting the Blazers name.
“We inherited that name and it was just a household name in town before we ever played a game,” he said.
The second area was that the player roster was very consistent. Blazers’ players lived in Oklahoma City, married women from here, and went to church in the area.
“We had only two coaches in 17 seasons and both coaches were in total favor of having a constant roster,” he said.
The third area was the rivalries with teams in Tulsa and Wichita, Kansas.
“You cannot put a dollar figure on that,” he said. “Whenever (Tulsa or Wichita) came to town, you walked in the arena and the arena just felt different.”

In their final year, the Blazers set an attendance record, averaging 8,609 fans per game and a CHL single-game record of 17,826 in their final home game. By comparison, the Barons are drawing a lackluster average of 3,219 fans per game this season, ranking 26th of 30 teams. League-wide, average attendance this season is 4,962.


Oklahoma City has proven to Prodigal to be a soccer city, as well as a place for concerts and pop-up shops, which is where Funk said the company plans to refocus its Barons investment.

Made a duplicate post. Couldnt figure out how to delete it :-)

Bob Funk Jr., supposingly went through a learning transition; then it was all down hill from there when the Blazers wasn't given a renewal on their Ford Center lease (2009-10). The Cox Convention Center or the antiquated State Fair Arena (aged ice plant) was an alternative to be negotiated thru SMG. The Blazers ceased operation in 2009.
.
OKC Blazers cease operations; city to talk with AHL team | News OK (http://newsok.com/okc-blazers-cease-operations-city-to-talk-with-ahl-team/article/3382433)
The Blazers did not renew their lease with the Ford Center after months of negotiations. According to city documents, the city and SMG were going to grant the Blazers a three-year renewal, but the Blazers have retracted the deal.

OKC Blazers cease operations; city to talk with AHL team | News OK (http://newsok.com/okc-blazers-cease-operations-city-to-talk-with-ahl-team/article/3382433)
The Blazers did not renew their lease with the Ford Center after months of negotiations. According to city documents, the city and SMG were going to grant the Blazers a three-year renewal, but the Blazers have retracted the deal.
nm.

Barons won Game 1 of the Western Conference Semifinals last night 2-1 in quadruple overtime.

Blazers v Oilers! Blazers v Thunder! Can't wait!

It won't be the knuckle dragging hockey that CHL was. If that is what you are hoping for, then you will be disappointed.

Game 4 tonight. Barons down 2-1.

Barons win Game 4, 7-4! Game 5 Thursday night. It could be last last Barons home game.

It won't be the knuckle dragging hockey that CHL was. If that is what you are hoping for, then you will be disappointed.

``The hockey isn't a whole lot different, but the depth is a little bit better. In the CHL the style of game is a little bit more controlled, while this is quicker.''
Maybe that's because there are more younger players in the ECHL and more veterans in the CHL..."
Brett Smith - Fort Wayne Komets

I think controlled is just the nice word for "slower" :)

But I see the point

Like them or not, this may or may not be the last Barons home game tonight. I give it up to them though. They could have folded like lawnchairs but they are out there giving their all against better teams. So if you don't have anything going on this evening go check out the game.

Yea hoping they pull another "OKC calvary" where they win the championship then the team folds the next day.

Yea hoping they pull another "OKC calvary" where they win the championship then the team folds the next day.
If they were like the Cavalry they'd have to play the final series at Arctic Edge, in front of about 300 people.

paid attendance at the games this week were 1,470 and 1,802.

It won't be the knuckle dragging hockey that CHL was. If that is what you are hoping for, then you will be disappointed.

Promoting this kind of attitude was part of the problem for the Barons from the start. It was moronic for the owners/communications department to insult the prior home team of the core audience they were trying to attract.

Promoting this kind of attitude was part of the problem for the Barons from the start. It was moronic for the owners/communications department to insult the prior home team of the core audience they were trying to attract.

Yes! This x 1,000. Why was this so hard for them to understand? The Blazers had a very committed, passionate core following. And from the very beginning it seemed like Funk Jr and his team did EVERYTHING in their power to alienate and belittle them. Even the small town, Okie, knuckle-dragging Blazers management had enough sense (and integrity) to pay homage to teams that had been here prior to them.

paid attendance at the games this week were 1,470 and 1,802.

I was just kidding, but maybe they should play the remaining games at Arctic Edge

Pre-Thunder era, many of us had clamored for OKC to step up to the next level of ice hockey (AHL); get away from the 'goon' style play which had CHL players who couldn't pop the back of the net in an open goal from 60 ft., out--some fanned on the puck at much closer range :rolleyes:.

Prior to the demise of the old International Hockey League (IHL); many of you remember the old Blazers-Blades debacle in which the Kansas City Blades attempted to relocate to OKC in an attempt to strengthen the league. Remember, that's how Bob Funk Sr., got involved with the Blazer organization through Brad Lund who developed a good relationship with the Funks who rescued the Blazers.

GM Lund described OKC as being a 'Blazer town' and; not a hockey town. Among the minor league operations in OKC (Dodgers PCL, Energy FC USL, Barons AHL) you would have thought that hockey would have been successful with the rebirth & history of the Blazers in the 90s. Mr. Lund's observation doesn't seem so far-fetched now.

Average attendance for local professional sports teams:


Oklahoma City Thunder (NBA) 18,203 - 205 consecutive sellouts dating back to the 2010 season.
Oklahoma City Dodgers (PCL) 6,459 - 14 home dates--in progress.
Oklahoma City Energy FC (USL) 5,590 - 2 home dates--in progress.
Oklahoma City Barons (AHL) 3,262 - 38 home dates--regular season.

Could an ECHL franchise in which OKC rekindle rivalries with Tulsa & Wichita generate interest?

Sources:

2014-2015 NBA Attendance - National Basketball Association - ESPN (http://espn.go.com/nba/attendance)

Pacific Coast League Attendance | Pacific Coast League Stats (http://www.milb.com/milb/stats/stats.jsp?t=l_att&lid=112&sid=l112)

TheAHL.com | The American Hockey League (http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance&season_id=48)

The energy numbers are cooked as well as the barons numbers are cooked.

barons lost last night 3-1 (2,061 attendance), and head to utica next week down 3 games to 2 in the best-of-7 series.

Yea hoping they pull another "OKC calvary" where they win the championship then the team folds the next day.

If that happened, would be great to hear Jim Byers pull a 'Chris Needham' and berate the people of Oklahoma City on how they don't deserve this team. One of the great rants in Oklahoma City sports history.

How 'bout them Barons. Series tied up in Utica, with 7th game Wed. nite.
http://www.uticacomets.com/gameday-comets-vs-barons-series-3-3-uti/
The Western Conference semifinals will come down to a winner-take-all Game 7 after the Utica Comets fell 2-1 to the Oklahoma City Barons on Monday night at The Utica Memorial Auditorium. The Barons have now forced a Game 7 after tying up the best-of-seven series at three games apiece.

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After a 1-0 loss in game 7 vs. Utica, the Barons have skated their last game.

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