Burr
03-23-2005, 01:02 PM
Kicked in the seat: Fans snub Smyth charity tilt (http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/NHL/Edmonton/2005/03/23/969997.html)
RED DEER -- It has been dubbed the Ryan Smyth and Friends Charity Tour, but it has become painfully obvious that NHL players have no friends.
At least not in Central Alberta.
The people of Red Deer delivered that message with all the subtlety of a slap in the face last night. The two teams of players were left beet-cheeked with embarrassment when the fans all but boycotted their game at the Centrium.
Nobody came. Nobody cared.
For a second there it looked like one section was trying to start the wave, but it was a false alarm. Turns out one of the two guys was just getting up to use the washroom.
In a building that seats 6,000, the NHLers drew 800 - tops. About 100 of those were parents and grandparents of the 30 atom players who laced up for the first intermission and several others were 2-for-1s. It made a Road Runners game look like Woodstock.
And it spoke volumes about the resentment so many people have for the players they once idolized.
Some 30 NHLers show up in a small, isolated centre that's never had NHL hockey, never gets to see real, live big-leaguers this close, and they won't even cross the street to see it? That, my friends, is the turnstile equivalent of a middle finger.
About the only passion they showed came when they booed Mike Comrie and broke into chants of "Comrie Sucks."
Understanding seems to be in short supply. The players, clearly, have miscalculated just about every turn in this struggle. They thought the owners would cave, and they didn't. They thought the fans would beg them to come back, and they haven't. And they thought that any backlash and resentment could be washed away by simply gracing the fans with their presence.
Wrong again.
Nice. I hope this sort of thing happens to the WHA tourney and other events like it. Shame for the charities though.
The fans are speaking LOUDLY, NHLPA. Keep it up and you get to watch us sell out opening night with replacement players.
RED DEER -- It has been dubbed the Ryan Smyth and Friends Charity Tour, but it has become painfully obvious that NHL players have no friends.
At least not in Central Alberta.
The people of Red Deer delivered that message with all the subtlety of a slap in the face last night. The two teams of players were left beet-cheeked with embarrassment when the fans all but boycotted their game at the Centrium.
Nobody came. Nobody cared.
For a second there it looked like one section was trying to start the wave, but it was a false alarm. Turns out one of the two guys was just getting up to use the washroom.
In a building that seats 6,000, the NHLers drew 800 - tops. About 100 of those were parents and grandparents of the 30 atom players who laced up for the first intermission and several others were 2-for-1s. It made a Road Runners game look like Woodstock.
And it spoke volumes about the resentment so many people have for the players they once idolized.
Some 30 NHLers show up in a small, isolated centre that's never had NHL hockey, never gets to see real, live big-leaguers this close, and they won't even cross the street to see it? That, my friends, is the turnstile equivalent of a middle finger.
About the only passion they showed came when they booed Mike Comrie and broke into chants of "Comrie Sucks."
Understanding seems to be in short supply. The players, clearly, have miscalculated just about every turn in this struggle. They thought the owners would cave, and they didn't. They thought the fans would beg them to come back, and they haven't. And they thought that any backlash and resentment could be washed away by simply gracing the fans with their presence.
Wrong again.
Nice. I hope this sort of thing happens to the WHA tourney and other events like it. Shame for the charities though.
The fans are speaking LOUDLY, NHLPA. Keep it up and you get to watch us sell out opening night with replacement players.