Back in the good, old days of the Florida Panthers — when they were only six years removed from going to the Stanley Cup Finals and trying to kiss up to fans after trading superstar Pavel Bure — the Panthers tried mightily to put butts in the seats.
If you were a cop or fireman or any kind of first responder, freebie. If you had a military ID, freebie. If you showed up at the box office with a driver's license from, say, Plantation or Boca Raton on a certain promo day … freebie.
Head to a car dealership, tickets would sit on the front counter. Have lunch near the Panthers' palace of an arena, four free tickets might come with your meal. Go shopping at Sawgrass Mills, you'd surely run into a Panthers account rep with a stack of tickets.
This may be stunning to hear, but it didn't take long for season-ticket holders to become a wee bit incensed with the Panthers' practice of flooding the marketplace with freebies and deeply discounted tickets. Imagine spending $2,500 for lower-bowl seats right next to a family of four every night who didn't pay a penny.
Well, the NHL's most unstable franchise — a team that hasn't won a playoff round since 1996, a team that has had 11 coaches since firing Doug MacLean a little more than a year after guiding a third-year franchise to an Eastern Conference championship, a team that has had seven general managers since firing Bryan Murray in 2000, a team that has traded away or let walk loads of good, young hockey players, a team that changes ownership seemingly every other year — is feeling it at the box office right now.
That's what such instability creates. That's what winning four playoff games since 1996 does in a market where there are countless other things to do with your entertainment dollar. That's what making the decision to completely devalue your own ticket does.
In the team's second home game last week against Ottawa, a shutout loss, the Panthers drew a franchise-worst 7,311 (in reality, many fewer). Pictures of the empty seats went viral on Twitter and re-sparked rumors of relocation.
I watched the game and felt sick. I covered that franchise for 10 years, so there's a place in my heart for that organization, that market and those fans. And yes, there is a passionate fan base in Florida.
It's become fashionable to mock them. But what franchise could sustain such a remarkable lack of success for 18 years? What franchise could thrive when every other year the plan changes all over again because a coach is fired or the team is sold?
The fans deserve better. And it sure doesn't help when you draw such a feeble crowd and the team can't even score a single goal.
"If we want to get some people in the stands we need to start winning some games," goalie Roberto Luongo said.
The new owners, led by Vinnie Viola, vow not to move the team. They expected low turnouts because they put an end to flooding StubHub with thousands of $1 tickets and pledged not to lead the NHL in comps anymore.
But that organization is hemorrhaging money. It's losing a reported $100,000 a day. It's reportedly trying to renegotiate a lease with Broward County that runs another 14 years. And it's reportedly asking the county to pay the team's remaining debt of $78.4 million.
And, the South Florida Sun-Sentinel reported the county hired a consulting firm to analyze whether the arena could break even or make a profit if it let the Panthers leave.
On the eve of this season, Viola and partner Doug Cifu sent an open letter vowing to make South Florida proud. Cifu, last week to the Miami Herald, reiterated, "We are not moving."
We'll see.
As the sobering sight of so many empty rows continues to flood our Twitter feeds, you know fans in Quebec City or Seattle or Las Vegas will be waiting with open arms the way Winnipeg did with the Atlanta Thrashers.
NHL short takes
Pronger move is a curious one
One of the most bizarre stories of the week was the NHL's need to hire Chris Pronger, one of the league's dirtiest players, to work in the NHL's Player Safety Department.
What's more, the league hired the effectively retired Philadelphia Flyer (concussion) even though he's owed more than $5 million the next two years by the Flyers.
It's typical of a league that seemingly makes up rules as it goes along.
Already on hot seat
The two leading coaching candidates to lose their jobs first? Toronto's Randy Carlyle and Edmonton's Dallas Eakins.
"That's pro sports. That's the life you live. If you're not prepared to live that you're in the wrong business," Carlyle told the Toronto Sun.
Eakins' sad sacks are off to yet another miserable start. After winning four of his first 20 games last season, the Oilers have allowed 22 goals in the first four games this season.
Suddenly, Scott's a scoring threat
Former Wild enforcer John Scott scored his third goal in 237 games last week for San Jose when the 6-8 wing skated around a Washington Capitals defender and sailed a wrist shot by Braden Holtby.
This came after the morning skate when a reporter asked him if it would be tough to get up to game speed.
"My game speed isn't that high, so it won't be too hard," he cracked.
After the game, Scott said his game speed one-liner was clearly him "trying to sell it. I thought maybe Washington's coaches were watching. It obviously worked."
Cracking down on big money man
Flames coach Bob Hartley scratched $5.25 million defenseman Dennis Wideman, Calgary's highest-paid player, against Edmonton."I'm not a banker, I'm a coach." Hartley said. "You want to be in the lineup for every game for the 82 games, you'll have to show up for the 82 games. Free ice time doesn't exist in Calgary."
Wild's week ahead
Sunday: 2 p.m. at Los Angeles, FSN
Thursday: 7 p.m. vs. Arizona, FSN
Saturday: 7 p.m. vs. Tampa Bay, FSN
Player to watch:
Steven Stamkos, Tampa Bay
After going scoreless in his first two games, the former 60-goal scorer broke out with his eighth career hat trick and 12 shots last week against Montreal. He is coming off a broken leg last season.
VOICES
"We're pleased with our start, but ask me more about our start after four games, not two."
Wild coach Mike Yeo about the external excitement of a 2-0 start
