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Sunday, November 7, 1999
The Glory Days are long gone ...
... But can they ever be rekindled?
The challenges facing the Calgary Flames are well documented.
They're also quite daunting.
A combination of the low Canadian dollar, high salaries and government handouts south of the border have created an uneven playing field that has the team destined for the basement as long as the current climate prevails.
Working with one of the lowest budgets in the NHL, the club depends heavily on ticket sales, which have sagged, in part because of the team's poor start and recent history of losing.
With an average of just over 14,000 people in the 17,139-seat Saddledome, the team cannot -- and will not -- remain in Calgary much longer under these circumstances -- a prospect several U.S. cities are salivating over.
Throughout the week, we'll examine the state of hockey in Calgary -- the NHL and minor hockey -- in conjunction with CFCN.
We'll speak to the principal players at various levels of hockey with an eye on evaluating the future prosperity of Canadian hockey and the Flames.
While Flames ownership has held its ground in the ongoing battle against rising player salaries, it has subsequently lost the war with a team of unproven youngsters who are compensated by the league's third-lowest payroll. Their defensive style of play is boring, befitting a league struggling to invent rules to increase goal scoring.
Despite having the lowest ticket prices in the league, a rapidly decreasing number of fans are leaving the rink feeling shortchanged by a game further deteriorated by aggressive expansion. Ironically, it's expansion money that has helped the Flames' bottom line while at the same time diluting the product to embarrassing levels.
Even fighting, one of the most exciting and unique elements of hockey, is disappearing.
Given the size of Calgary, ticket prices and the aforementioned maladies of the game, it's safe to say the Flames ownership group faces an uphill battle.
Even with a full house every night, it's clear the business-minded Flames organization would have problems making ends meet given the challenges facing Canadian teams.
Further compounding the club's problems is news the Flames owners are concerned the club won't qualify this year for a league equalization payment of $3 million, which the club had counted on to break even. With season ticket sales slipping from 11,000 to 9,500 this year, the club needs to raise 80% of the league average revenues to reap the benefits of the handout the club has counted on for four years.
Another one of the big problems the franchise faces stems from the fact its skeleton staff has done little to bridge the ever-widening gap between the club and the city's massive minor hockey system. Despite the generous donations ownership has made to minor hockey in town, the club has failed to endear itself to what should be its biggest source of support.
Canadian clubs continue to put a heavy lean on governments of all levels to provide tax breaks or lottery funds to help keep our national winter sport alive here at the NHL level. Compelling arguments can be made on both sides of the issue but at the end of the day, it's likely goverment will continue to stay away from the political hot potato and thus wave goodbye to the millions and millions of tax dollars that will have to be made up by taxpayers when the teams leave.
A John Yerxa Research poll commissioned by the Sun and CFCN showed some surprising results on how Calgarians feel about NHL hockey in Calgary. Tomorrow, we'll examine how Calgarians feel about their team.
Yes, the love affair between the city and the once-proud club has soured and unless both sides do their part to rekindle an old flame, ownership will have no choice but to file divorce papers -- and soon.
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