Barons atop the AHL

[White Peacock]

For those with even a passing interest in local hockey, the OKC Barons increased their win streak to 7 games last night, beating the San Antonio Rampage 3-0, and are still resting comfortably at the top of the American Hockey League.

With the current stature of the Barons and the Thunder, it's a good time for OKC sports fans!

[Laramie]

This is great news for Barons hockey fans.

We need more support at Baron's Hockey Games.

Here are the latest AHL attendance figures: http://theahl.com/stats/schedule.php?view=attendance

[venture]

Those are pretty pathetic attendance figures. 3700 per game? Yikes. I'm wondering if Hersey, PA is bribing their fans with free candy? :-)

[OKCisOK4me]

What is their actual record?? Seeing that they've played 46 games and have scored 65 goals doesn't really tell me anything...

[MDot]

What is their actual record?? Seeing that they've played 46 games and have scored 65 goals doesn't really tell me anything...

30-16. I think.

[ahlokc]

30-16. I think.

30-12, actually. And they have scored 139 goals... OKCisOK4me

I wish the local news would cover them more.

[Snowman]

Yea, since I do not follow hockey, it was surprising to find out how well the Barons are doing and the Blazers before them had done both in performance and attendance.

[kevinpate]

Is the average attendance for the Barons in line with, less than, or better than the Blazers enjoyed?

[dankrutka]

Even though the product is much better, the attendance is dramatically worse. I don't think OKC will have a hockey team much longer...

[Laramie]

Is the average attendance for the Barons in line with, less than, or better than the Blazers enjoyed?

I'll attempt to any some of your question; others please feel free to help...


When I followed the Blazers they had a lot of promotions; with the AHL you will have promotions and some corporate support. The OKC Blazers had rivals like Tulsa and Wichita; establishing and bonding with Houston, San Antonio and Texas (Austin) is going to take some time. The fact that we play Houston & San Antionio in the NBA helps.

This use to be a Blazer hockeytown; now it is a Thunder NBA basketball town.

Back to your question, attendance is about 70 per cent of what the Blazers were getting in the CHL. Some people will argue that there isn't a big difference between the CHL and the AHL. I say the quality of players in the AHL is far superior than the CHL.

You had only a few Blazers (less than 5%) to make the NHL rosters when they were playing here; some teams were AA affiliations with NHL and some CHL teams farmed a few players for NHL development. Nearly 55% of the AHL players will move on to the NHL in some capacity. The AHL is now the top development league for the NHL; much like the CHL was in the 60-70s era as the Blazers were the top development team for Boston Bruins and eventually the Minnesota North Stars (OKC Stars). Prior to 1990, many of the players in the IHL (International Hockey League) and the AHL were just comfortable in their roles in those cities; many were former NHL players and players who didn't make the NHL rosters.

Attendance here will need some work. Blazer GM Brad Lund knew this city; especially at a time before the NBA came to town and the arrival of the CBA's OKC Calvary. Brad has moved on to other sports attractions/promotions in OKC.

This team will probably need to average somewhere in the neighborhood of 5,000 per game to break-even. It will definitely help promote OKC if Tulsa and/or Wichita had AHL franchises. Meanwhile, we are just going to have to develop a rivalry with the TEXAS (Houston, San Antonio, Austin) franshises until a Tulsa or Wichita comes on board.

Omaha was once in the CHL and later became an AHL city for a short period of time. Let's hope and pray that the fans will not abandon this franchise.

[OKCisOK4me]

30-12, actually. And they have scored 139 goals... OKCisOK4me

I wish the local news would cover them more.

I got the 65 from the ahl page in the standings. Oh well, lol.

[Snowman]

I got the 65 from the ahl page in the standings. Oh well, lol.

Those are team points for standings, I think they get 2 points for a regulation win and 1 point for a overtime loss or shootout loss.

[Bill Robertson]

We do our part. We make it to at least half of the home games.

[kevinpate]

Thanks folks. My knowledge of hockey is extremely limited. Of course, my knowledge level for most other sports isn't much better.

[White Peacock]

Another intense game last night, the Barons emerging triumphant. They're playing another one at 4pm today, if anyone's interested.

The turnout last night was bigger than usual, about 6,200 if I remember the count correctly. Of course, it was hockey stick giveaway night, which may have had a lot to do with the bigger audience, but the fanbase does seem to be growing steadily.

[Richard at Remax]

It also doens't help that they have games on thunder home days. I got whenever I can and usually have a good time. Attendance seems like it is usually at or a little below half full.

[White Peacock]

Yes, and Barons games coinciding with Thunder games makes for a very uncomfortable traffic situation when both games let out at the same time!

[Bill Robertson]

Yes, and Barons games coinciding with Thunder games makes for a very uncomfortable traffic situation when both games let out at the same time!

Oh yeah! We made the mistake of going to the Barons game on New Years Eve. Both games ended at the same time and whan you add in the Opening Night crowd, well, let's just say we won't do that again.

[t3hwookiee]

We're season ticket holders for the Barons, and have only missed 4 or 5 games so far. Attendance has been picking up lately, with giveaway nights being by far the largest crowds! The level of hockey that the Barons play at just knows the Blazers outta the park. Very high quality playing! Quite a few of our players are getting called up to the NHL by the Edmonton Oilers, like our #1 in the AHL goalie Yann Danis currently.

We've never had a problem with parking, even on the nights that it's 6:30 and the Thunder is also playing at 7. And we do not pay for the surface lots, we only park in the street for free. You just need to know where to look. The farthest I've ever parked is by La Luna, and that's an easy walk. Traffic leaving downtown after the game can be a bit crazy, but just sit in your car for five minutes and it clears out quickly.

Love our Barons!! We've gotten a few more people to regularly come to the games so far, and I hope the attendance keeps going up. It's such great hockey, and our team is filled with talented and down to earth guys. Several of them are quite the goofballs.

[redzoneglobal]

A shame you guys are only drawing 3,500 a game down there!
We would kill to have at least an AHL franchise up here in the Kansas City area. There has been talks about getting one of the NHL owned NHL franchises to KC, but even with a brand new arena opening in 2008 that is ice ready, the talks have stalled since AEG has been focusing on the LA project (NFL)..

Our CHL franchise (Missouri Mavericks) that we've had for two years now though, is doing well. We've had 14 sell outs this season so far. I think capacity is around 6K. If I remember correctly, about 3.5K seats are season ticket holders, including myself. Franchise was CHL franchise of the year last season, their first year in the league. We love our hockey in KC!

I think the biggest difference between a CHL/AHL franchise, is even though the level of hockey is far superior in the AHL, you have little or no movement of CHL players during the season, so fans embrace favorite CHL players, and follow them throughout the season. Whereas, in the AHL players move up and down from their respective NHL teams during the year. The top AHL players though only a small percentage, don't stick around long. Hope the Barons become a successful franchise for the OKC area!

PS - Our junior mavericks hockey program had 94 kids first year, 230 this year! Hockey is alive and well in KC.

[White Peacock]

A shame you guys are only drawing 3,500 a game down there!
We would kill to have at least an AHL franchise up here in the Kansas City area. There has been talks about getting one of the NHL owned NHL franchises to KC, but even with a brand new arena opening in 2008 that is ice ready, the talks have stalled since AEG has been focusing on the LA project (NFL)..

Our CHL franchise (Missouri Mavericks) that we've had for two years now though, is doing well. We've had 14 sell outs this season so far. I think capacity is around 6K. If I remember correctly, about 3.5K seats are season ticket holders, including myself. Franchise was CHL franchise of the year last season, their first year in the league. We love our hockey in KC!

I think the biggest difference between a CHL/AHL franchise, is even though the level of hockey is far superior in the AHL, you have little or no movement of CHL players during the season, so fans embrace favorite CHL players, and follow them throughout the season. Whereas, in the AHL players move up and down from their respective NHL teams during the year. The top AHL players though only a small percentage, don't stick around long. Hope the Barons become a successful franchise for the OKC area!

PS - Our junior mavericks hockey program had 94 kids first year, 230 this year! Hockey is alive and well in KC.

Greetings from OKC - welcome to the forum!

The Mavericks somewhat formed from the ashes of the OKC Blazers. Several of our players went up there to help get the team going in its first year, since the Blazers were shut down the previous season. It's good to see that the CHL still has some juice. You are correct about the almost zero mobility with CHL players allowing them the opportunity to become established personalities in the community, but really, AHL player mobility isn't as devastating as people expected it to be before the Barons set up shop. We have some solid players that spend most of, if not all of, their time in OKC. A few of our better guys will get called up for a few games, then come back down. No big deal at all.

Since the level of play was inferior with CHL, they put a lot of emphasis on production value, at least here in OKC. Blazers games were always super fun, even when the team played like crap. There's less emphasis on production value with the Barons, but the focus on hockey is refreshing, and these dudes can skate!

If you ever make your way down to OKC you really should catch a game.

[metro]

KC is also almost 3 times population as OKC, so technically per capita, KC is doing a worse job supporting them.

[Snowman]

KC is also almost 3 times population as OKC, so technically per capita, KC is doing a worse job supporting them.

With how many free tickets were given out to Blazers games it may be hard to compare directly.

[ljbab728]

KC is also almost 3 times population as OKC, so technically per capita, KC is doing a worse job supporting them.

I won't argue with your premise but the Kansas City MSA is less than twice that of OKC in the 2010 census.

[metro]

With how many free tickets were given out to Blazers games it may be hard to compare directly.

He was comparing to Barons, not Blazers.