Scab Wings aren't a big draw

[Jim Bob 0]

http://msn.foxsports.com/nhl/story/3449044

If you're wondering how big a draw Derian Hatcher, Chris Chelios, Brian Smolinski and Sean Avery are with the UHL's Motor City (Detroit) Mechanics, consider this: They played home games last Friday and Saturday. Attendance was 1,535 and 2,204, respectively, in a 3,300-seat rink. That tells us that Detroit isn't HockeyTown but rather Red Wings Town.

[prenny207 1]

being from detroit... hockeytown my A@@! more like bandwagon town!

[chippa13 1844]

Face it, those guys aren't the names that put butts in the seats of NHL arenas so why should it be any different in the minors. Now, if Datsyuk or Yzerman were suiting up it would be a different story. Noone pays to watch pluggers or defensive defensemen at any level.

[A_Steeves12 0]

if i lived in a big city like new york,toronto,montreal .. ect i wouldnt pay the money to go see scab players. iwant to see the best players in the world if i wanted to see those guys id just go to a AHL game(witch i am now a fan of since there is no nhl)

[chippa13 1844]

if i lived in a big city like new york,toronto,montreal .. ect i wouldnt pay the money to go see scab players. iwant to see the best players in the world if i wanted to see those guys id just go to a AHL game(witch i am now a fan of since there is no nhl)

I agree with pretty much all of what you said.

I think you guys missed the point of this post. It was saying that the NHL guys who signed with the UHL team aren't putting asses in the seats.

[chippa13 1844]

Just trying to keep the thread on topic.

[Brandonov22 0]

being from detroit... hockeytown my A@@! more like bandwagon town!

Exactly....how many people show up to Tigers games after opening day??

[mik3 1]

being from detroit... hockeytown my A@@!  more like bandwagon town!

Exactly....how many people show up to Tigers games after opening day??

Yankee series last year was a sellout :)

[A_Steeves12 0]

thats the yankees tho

and the players playing in the uhl are older players if it was iggy or any reall big name player im sure they would fill seats

[Adam91 0]

ya no kidding I'm sure if the UHL had a real star instead of a defence men who should be retired another d-man who is a goon, an always underacheiving forward and Avery whose only skill is pissing people off they would sell a few more tickets. Anyway jr. is way more exciting and demanding then like the UHL

[MDE3 0]

Anyway jr. is way more exciting and demanding then like the UHL

Unfortunately you have hit the nail on the head here for a lot of what ails many pro leagues..including the NHL....Players in Junior still have something to prove and bust their guts to do so. In the UHL, many players know they have reached the zenith of their playing careers, that, or have played at higher levels and do not see the need to really "put it on the line" at the UHL level. As a result, you can have a fairly lackluster intensity, except for the few who still feel thay might get noticed up the feed chain.

Similarily in the NHL with big name players who follow the "big name contracts". Once they have them, they often play like they have nothing left to prove.....The "grinders" will probably work the hardest, because that's their only chance to make it to the next "contract level"(Draper for the Wings as the prime example of someone who through constant hard work, has raised his "grinder game" to close to "star" status), and the only reason they are in the league in the first place...the fact that they "bring it" on a regular basis.

There are exceptions....eg.: Joe Sakic, Stevie Y, Forsberg when not fighting injury, Iginla although he is still too young to be considered to have fully "arrived", Ty Domi..although not so much a superstar in terms of "skill" still a "star" player who, seems to always bring it for the Leafs(much as I detest him sometimes)...

But for every one I name..(and to those who I have excluded I appologize as there are many others to who "bring it" regularily), there are probably 2 -3 players who do not.

It is these other "star" players who really hurt the league..collecting and fighting for the rights to "the big bucks" but playing like they need only show up at the outer doors of the arena to deserve their checks..... An occasional flurry of excitement periodically to keep the fans stimulated and hoping for more, but then it's back to sleep for so many of them.

Seems like Frank Mahovalich (this is only for very "senior" members lol) was their career model....one of the greatest skaters and scorers ever, at least when he decided to turn it on,...... but nobody could ever find the switch to keep the motor running with him either.

[joshy207 15]

Well, considering attendance at most Mechanics games before the signings was hovering around 500, I guess the players have made some impact.

If Detroit was truly a good hockey town though, the Mechanics wouldn't have had to worry about signing NHL players to have respectable attendance at their games. BTW, anyone remember the Detroit Vipers? And to top it all off, we now have no Junior A teams in Metro Detroit.