The Oilers drew a "disturbing crowd" of 12,377 for
their home game against the Bruins last night at the
Skyreach Centre, according to Terry Jones of the EDMONTON
SUN, who writes on the team's early season attendance and
notes the franchise has not "got out of the gate on the ice
like this" since '85-86. Jones adds that last night's
crowd, almost 1,000 lower than the lowest crowd last year,
"reveals the true season ticket base" of this team, and it
is not the 13,000 the team announced last spring. Oilers
President & CEO Pat LaForge said the team's ticket base is
12,200. Jones wondered, "With less than 13,000 season
tickets, does this mean that the Oilers won't qualify for
the NHL small market Canadian franchise money after all?"
LaForge: "We have all our suites sold and a waiting list.
We have the entire lower bowl sold. The problem is with $20
tickets. Am I surprised? Yes, I am. ... We're certainly
not going to jump up and suggest to anybody that we might be
moving." Jones: "The reality of ... Oilers hockey, with 37
owners, is that this team is one cash call away from being
in deep do-do again. This is a team which made [a] $400,000
profit last year. And the expansion money has dried up.
The math isn't difficult" (EDMONTON SUN, 10/18).
AROUND THE LEAGUE: The Mighty Ducks-Islanders game last
night at Nassau Coliseum drew an announced crowd of 6,336.
In N.Y., Peter Botte: "The Coliseum was in midweek form as
nearly 10,000 of the fans who showed wide-eyed support for
[the] latest ownership regime in Saturday's sold-out home
opener returned disguised as empty seats" (N.Y. DAILY NEWS,
10/18)....In Atlanta, Mark Bradley, noting that last night's
Devils-Thrashers game drew an announced crowd of 13,106 to
Philips Arena: "We all knew there'd be a dropoff. We just
didn't expect it so soon" (ATLANTA CONSTITUTION, 10/18).
BOIVIN FINED FOR REMARKS? In IL, Tim Sassone notes that
"only 18 of the 30 [NHL] teams managed to sell out their
opening nights." Sassone: "Hockey is in trouble, and darker
days are ahead. ... People aren't going to the games in key
markets, and another work stoppage looms in 2004 when the
current" CBA expires (IL DAILY HERALD, 10/18). Meanwhile,
in Montreal, Red Fisher reported that NHL Commissioner Gary
Bettman has fined Canadiens President Pierre Boivin for
recent comments he made to the Montreal Chamber of Commerce
regarding the league's next CBA. Fisher: "Anyway, the good
news is that the Canadiens won't be fined $1 million for
this first offence (I'm guessing $50,000.) I'm also told
Boivin is the second NHL executive to be fined for going
public on the subject." Fisher wrote that the "first" was
Capitals Owner Ted Leonsis (Montreal GAZETTE, 10/14).
