GLENDALE, Ariz. — When discussing the successes or
failures of the NHL’s so-called Sun Belt or non-traditional-market teams, NHL
Commissioner Gary Bettman believes a semantics lesson is in order.
“I reject this notion of non-traditional markets,” Bettman said. “I think
people need to readjust their thinking.”
We weren’t pleased with the commissioner for grounding our premise before it
ever took wing. We wanted to paint the Western Conference final as a unique
attraction, a matchup of Sun Belt or non-traditional-market clubs, a bright
(ahem) ray of hope for the NHL’s growth goals.
The inconvenient truth? Bettman is right.
When labeling Sun Belt teams, who are we talking about? Nashville is only sunny
56 percent of the year, according to government data. Raleigh, NC, checks in at
a whopping 58 percent. That’s less than Minneapolis and New York.
If we’re talking about non-traditional markets, do we leave off Los Angeles
because it got an NHL club before Vancouver? Do we eliminate Denver and Atlanta
because they got NHL clubs before Winnipeg?
“I have a problem with the term 'newer-market teams,' too,” Kings COO Chris
McGowan said. “We’ve been here for 45 years.”
Sigh.
What we can tell you is this: The Kings' matchup with the Phoenix Coyotes is
the first time two teams from the southern half of the US have met in a
conference final. Does that get your heart racing?
“We think it’s pretty cool,” Coyotes captain Shane Doan said.
Cool? No. It was actually 106 degrees today in the Valley. But there is a
better reason this matchup is a big deal, and it takes us back to that growth
premise.
A number of media outlets have speculated about a potential television ratings
slide with two less-popular teams colliding, but that’s missing the greater
point — the long-term point.
“I think the reason Carolina got their foothold in that market, and Tampa, too,
is because they won the Stanley Cup,” Coyotes general manager Don Maloney said
of the 2006 Hurricanes and 2004 Lightning. “Not only did they win the Cup, but
they were in the playoffs consistently and a top team.”
The league came within an eyelash of having four such clubs in its final eight. The Coyotes, Kings and Nashville Predators all advanced, but the Florida Panthers lost a 3-2 series lead and fell to the New Jersey Devils in seven games in the first round.
While critics — many of them north of the international border — have wondered
why the NHL has remained so steadfast in its desire to keep hockey in Phoenix,
the truth is, nobody knows what impact a deep playoff run or a Stanley Cup
would have on the long-term fan base of this franchise. Prior to this season,
the Coyotes hadn’t tasted any playoff success; they had never won a series.
“The Phoenix situation has been complicated over the past couple years, and
those complications have, I think, impacted how the fan base has been reacting
over the two-and-a-half years that the league has owned the club,” Bettman
said. “But what this playoff run is demonstrating, for sure, is there are a ton
of hockey fans in the Valley of the Sun.”
Clearly, the league would like to see hockey succeed in the nation’s
second-largest (LA) and sixth-largest (Phoenix) cities. The simple reason is
money and growth potential.
“Whenever these teams make the conference finals, the question is always, 'Is
this great for the league?’” Bettman said. “What’s most important, from a
league perspective, is that hockey fans are getting exciting entertainment that
hopefully leaves them wanting more.”
Again, we’ll have to wait and see how it affects the Coyotes moving forward,
but in that regard, the Kings may provide some lessons. Los Angeles was a good
club for many years, but the team never grabbed the city’s imagination the way
the Lakers, Dodgers or Raiders did.
The flashpoint for change came in 1988, when Edmonton traded Wayne Gretzky to
the Kings in the most stunning deal in league history. Attendance at the Great
Western Forum increased 27 percent in Gretzky's first season as the team
improved by 23 points in the standings.
Nearly a quarter-century later, Southern California players are jetting off to
Division I college programs in record numbers, then being selected in the first
and second rounds of the NHL Draft.
“That’s important because our studies say that for every new hockey player you
create, you gain 3.3 new fans,” said former Kings standout Luc Robitaille, who
is now the club’s president of business operations and is actively involved
with the youth-hockey movement in the region. “We try to get kids on the ice,
on rollerblades or just to understand the game. I know once they start playing
they’ll fall in love, and that’s the way to sell the game.”
The Kings are also experiencing the love in more practical terms.
“Our TV ratings have doubled, our web traffic is close to doubling, we’ve
already sold 1,500 new season tickets for next year and renewals are well into
the 90th percentile,” said McGowan, whose club sold out all but two games this
season.
Like the Coyotes in the wake of Gretzky’s resignation as coach in 2009, L.A.
has remade its product after a period of mismanagement.
In 2006, GM Dave Taylor, director of player personnel Bill O'Flaherty, coach
John Torchetti and three assistants were fired while Kings CEO Tim Leiweke
vacated his position. Dean Lombardi was hired as GM and the Kings began a
rebuilding process through the draft, trades, free agency and marketing that
has them on the cusp of their first Stanley Cup final since 1993.
“When Dean took over and started that rebuilding process, we saw some dipping
in terms of interest,” McGowan said. “We were still very respectable from an
attendance standpoint, where we would sell out 18 to 20 games a year and
average between 16,500 and 17,000, but now we’re getting a lot more attention.
“Winning has played a big role, but lot of that is also due to a dedicated
focus on building our season-ticket base and having the right staff in position
to take advantage of our success.”
The Coyotes have put similar people in the right places, most notably COO Mike
Nealy, GM Don Maloney and coach Dave Tippett. The focus today is on the
conference finals and winning Game 2, but the long-term goal is sustainability —for
the good of the franchise, the league and the sport.
“I’ve never believed that the game can just go on as it is, that you can just
focus on the successful or traditional markets and be happy with that,” McGowan
said. “The game has to grow, and success in all these markets is really
important to making that happen. We must continue to expose more people to our
sport.”
