All wonderful points in both comments, I agree. The fans did come out last night, as we all figured they would. Weeknights are just different, and I’m still really surprised that’s Howard’s pretending to not realize it. He needs to chill!

Thank you so much for joining us again and commenting, it was very much appreciated. I hope the Ducks treat you all well, I really do. This IS a special time, and after nine years–at least for me, obviously this goes much before that–of not so special…I barely know what to do with myself!

I would say that the attendance figures for Syracuse were pretty good this year. But in every market you will have you diehard fan base who will attend games no matter what. To be successful, the team must attract the curious fans to the games. And hopefully they will get hooked on a great game, That’s what happened in Norfolk last season. And amazingly enough, that carried over to this season with a new affiliation after having our championship team unceremoniously ripped away from us. But our new team played hard, got involved in the community and made a valiant run for a playoff berth which fell short. Our attendance figures were up and I saw a lot of new faces at the games.

Howard’s rant/whine is counterproductive to attracting that curious fan. You have a team that in my opinion is the favorite to win the Cup. They are currently 6-0 and about to close out the series with the Falcons. And judging from the number of comments on the articles covering this, it has stirred a lot of interest. But to me it has turned into a bitch session about ticket prices, concessions, parking, the condition of the War Memorial and other things. No one is talking about what this team is doing. And to cap it off, the paper comes back to Howard the next day and he doesn’t back off an inch, that’s double damn dumb. What kind of message is he sending to the Syracuse community?

This should be a special year for Syracuse. I know that our 2011-2012 team took Admirals fans on a ride we will never experience again. You are no different. I think there are a number of players on this team who will not be with you next season because they are in Tampa. Our dream came crashing down last June due to Tampa’s duplicity. You will still have this team next season, albeit with some new faces. They may be very good or maybe they will be so so. One never knows in minor league hockey. Howard does not need to be raining on this parade. And in reality the focus should be on the players and not some bloviating owner. And that’s what’s happened here. He needs to be reaching out to the people beyond the hardcore fan base, it will pay dividends in the future. The team should have center stage.

The fact of the matter is that in every market, you have a diehard core of hockey fans who will attend games no matter what. The real task is to attract those who are not diehards and get them hooked. You saw this happen in Norfolk last season during the Cup run when more curious people come out to the games. And many of them get hooked on the game. This season, we saw in Norfolk the carryover effect of this. Our overall attendance figures believe it or not were up from last season. And to the team’s credit, they played hard this year and were entertaining and attendance was strong through the end of the season.

In my opinion, Howard’s rant, does nothing more than put off those curious fans who may come out and see what all this excitement is all about. But now when one reads the comments on syracuse.com, it has turned into a bitch session about ticket prices, parking, concessions and the condition of the War Memorial. And no one is talking about this team going 6-0 to this point in time and about to sweep the Falcons. And I am sure should I go through the archives at syracuse.com, I can find a quote from Howard proudly proclaiming the Syracuse fans to the best in all of hockey. And then to have this rant/whine session. And the paper went back to Howard the next day and that clown doesn’t even try to moderate his remarks.

This team in my opinion is the favorite to go all the way. Everybody needs to enjoy this ride you are on. Because next season you will be without several key players such as Radko Gudas and Tyler Johnson and some others who are going to be playing in Tampa. It could be a very special time for the Syracuse fans. I and the other Admirals fans look back on 2012 as a once in a lifetime event. Our dream came crashing to Earth in June, Howard should not be raining on this parade as well. He should be thanking the hockey gods for dropping this team in his lap.

And good point about putting the front office in an awkward position! They don’t need that stress right now, either.

The OKC Barons, also one of the best and most consistent teams in the league this past season, only managed 2094 people last night in their round two series clinching game over Texas. The Crunch had a thousand-plus more than that this past week, and it was a Wed. night and not a potential series-clincher. Just saying…I know Howard has said don’t give me the league excuses crap, but you know what…this is just a general problem. Yelling at everyone without thanking the supporters isn’t a solution.