Monday was the annual rolling out of the “attendance woes” column by the Denver Post.  Unlike most years, it was given this time to the more thoughtful Terry Frei, rather than the standard pallbearers.  So there was less “bad fan” jabs and more “I’m kind of surprised” this year. It’s a nice change.

I can’t speak for all the fans.  As I’ve found out, I’m not like most fans, and I find that a good thing.  I will speak for myself however.

Since the last lockout, I haven’t spent any money on tickets to an Avalanche game (this season, I’ve been to two games).  I haven’t spent any money on an NHL game, actually, although I have dropped a few dollars on a few minor league games.  I’ve also handed over plenty of money this season to play beer league hockey, so my hockey investment is going somewhere.

I have given the NHL my money in the form of Gamecenter Live.  I have the online package, so I can watch almost any game from anywhere.  With a nice TV and an Apple TV to watch it on at home, I don’t feel like I’ve given up on much.

Is this stance, that I haven’t spent money on tickets, a reasonable one?  I’m not entirely sure.  I only occasionally miss going to games, but it’s mostly for the social aspect of it, rather than the game itself.  The game is wonderful, and I love attending games, but somewhere in the back of my head, I get annoyed that I spend that much money for this.

“This” includes:

• A long walk to the arena, because I won’t be spending THAT MUCH on parking,
• The same music, videos, games, gags, highlights, and ads every time,
• An uncomfortable and squished seat, often around obnoxious non-fans (warn me next time I buy a ticket on “guys night out,OK?),
• Overpriced everything,
• An upper concourse you can hardly wiggle though at intermission, or
• A lower concourse that is jam packed with drunks,
• Drunks,
• Drunk fans of the opposing team,
• Drunk Red Wings fans (they are always around),
• Loud armchair GMs
• Loud armchair coaches,
• “SHOOT!!!!”
• Lines to unclean bathrooms.

The list goes on.  All of this for an outlay of A LOT OF MONEY, NO MATTER WHERE YOU SIT.  Wow, what a privilege to pay top dollar for that.

I’ll be honest, watching at home gets a little tiring.  I miss the live game, and I miss the experience.  But by playing hockey, actually getting out there and playing, I get such a great experience, even at my low level of ability.  I have a completely different angle on the NHL game and I experience it differently.

As far as the Avalanche, they aren’t the same team as they were in the glory years, and they haven’t been for a long time.  We all know this.  After their success and stars went elsewhere, the fans did as well.  Then the communication with the fans went away.  The marketing went away.  It was like the front office wasn’t even trying.  And when you don’t try, you get exactly what is coming to you.

Fans bemoan being told from the outside world that Denver isn’t a hockey town any more.  I don’t blame them, but the numbers don’t lie.  There are many die-hard fans in Denver, and I love those people.  I count myself as one of them.  But it isn’t Canada.  It isn’t Pittsburgh and much of the East Coast.  Sometimes, it isn’t even Minnesota.  The level of fandom doesn’t tend to translate to the number of fans or ticket buyers.

The numbers tell a different story than we fans want to believe.  Even the minor league Denver Cutthroats, with their free parking, low ticket prices, and loads of promotion are struggling at the gate.  They are last in the league in attendance, averaging 1,371 a game, nearly six hundred down from the nearest competitor.  That’s down 1,400 from last season.  1,400.  Sure, last season they were new, and half the games were played during the NHL lockout.  Sure, the Broncos are a great distraction for the city, but fans are fans.  Cheap games are still cheap games.  Where did everyone go?  I would love to compare to the numbers from the start of the CHL season to the end.

Denver is a saturated sports market.  Two lacrosse teams, all the major sports, MLS, and a minor league hockey team.  There is more sport than there is dollar to support it right now.  At least there isn’t arena football to throw in the mix.  But there was, and it didn’t help the Avalanche cause.

Look, I don’t like it any more than other Avalanche fans, but I’m also not going to many games myself, so yes, I am a part of the problem.  Oh, the injustice of it all.  Right now, I’m an NHL level fan with a minor league budget, and a bit of an ax to grind over the last lockout.  That ax is getting smaller and smaller all the time, but still, the investment I have made in time and money over the years in the Avalanche has been significant.  If I want to watch from the sanctity of my own home, I will do so.  The Denver Post will just have to deal with it.

At least, until next year.