Wednesday, April 1, 2015

Sea Dogs Playoff Attendance No Surprise

We received quite a few tweets and messages regarding how horrendous the attendance was at Harbour Station last night. Make no mistake about it – it was horrendous. But it also wasn’t surprising.

This is the third time the Sea Dogs have entered the first round of the playoffs as an underdog. Hardly anyone watched those previous series, either.

Here are the numbers:

March 24, 2009 – Game 3 vs Cape Breton – 2,929
March 25, 2009 – Game 4 vs Cape Breton – 2,757

March 26, 2013 – Game 3 vs Halifax – 2,795
March 27, 2013 – Game 4 vs Halifax – 2,294

March 31, 2015 – Game 3 vs Baie-Comeau – 2,082

The Sea Dogs averaged 3,582 fans per game during the regular season this year. Much of that average is made up of season tickets that aren’t renewed for the playoffs.

The Moncton Wildcats, who had to host their first two home games at weird times due to some boat show, also didn't have great crowds.

Meanwhile, the Mooseheads had 4,079 fans stuff the ancient Halifax Forum to watch their game against the Shawinigan Cataractes tonight. Maybe the Sea Dogs should move over to the LBR (no, they shouldn't).

3 comments:

  1. Unlike Leafs fans, Sea Dog fans don't seem inclined to show up game after game and watch half efforts and what must surely be the worst officiating in the world of hockey. Who wants to pay to go and feel awful night after night?

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  2. Am I too old fashioned to believe fan support can actually make a difference in the outcome of a game. I firmly believe that the fans carried the SJ Mooseheads to the Hardy Cup in 73. Of course hard to show support over piped in music and video screen asking fans to simply make noise instead of chants.

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  3. I think the problem with the attendance was timing more than anything. Thursday games don't typically garner a lot of people. Game 2 will be a full house.

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