Over the weekend, Eric Francis of the Toronto Sun wrote a piece (which I found via Kukla’s Korner) that stuck in my craw.  The gist of it is simple: the World Cup of Hockey games weren’t sold out, so hockey fans in Toronto aren’t good enough.

Don’t take my word for it.  Here is Mr. Francis:

It’s tough to come down hard on hockey fans in Toronto given all they’ve gone through, but surely it wasn’t lost on NHL brass how disappointing the World Cup crowds were.

Despite millions of dollars in marketing and promotions around downtown Toronto that included an expansive and pricey fan zone, endless advertising and six-foot high pucks at hundreds of street corners, the rare chance to see hockey’s best-on-best featured thousands of empty seats most games.

Yes, the tickets were pricey and, yes, it’s hard to get too jacked about a Finland/Sweden match up, but in a supposedly hockey-starved city with money and a population base like that, every game should have been sold out.

There are a few caveats in there, but the notion is clear: unless every game sells out, never mind the cost, never mind the match-ups, then the city isn’t “fan enough” for the event.  It’s not the fault of the NHL that put every game in one city and jacked up the prices, it’s the fans.  Sure.

And the solution?

Clearly, the next incarnation of the world Cup needs to move to a place like Edmonton, where its fans will once again demonstrate what it’s like to be a real fan of the game.

You must be joking.  Simply move the game west and the games will sell out?  Come on.

That isn’t to knock the fans in Edmonton, but if all it took was to move the location, you are simply swapping one group of suckers for the next.

I went to a few WCH games in 2004.  The ones I went to were in Minnesota, while there were World Cup games all over the world.  A true World Cup.  Yes, it’s easier on the players and less expensive for the NHL to hold them all in one city, and certainly a friendly relationship with the Leafs ownership greases wheels quite nicely.  You have to keep costs manageable to stage this kind of event.

But to look to the fans to pony up simply because you want them to is ridiculous.  Knocking hockey fans in Toronto for not buying overpriced tickets holds no water.  It’s a smoking hot take, one that isn’t new to sports.

I’m a broke hockey fan.  I can’t afford what the NHL wants me to pay for tickets, to wear the newest jerseys, eat the expensive arena food, or some premium “fan experience.”  I’m an NHL fan with a minor league budget.  Sometimes a rec league budget.

And yet, I have a hockey podcast, a hockey blog for over ten years, pay for the Center Ice package. Last season, I shelled out for the Avalanche outdoor game, which included flights and lodging.  I have my game-worn jerseys.  I play the game (except when I have a hockey injury, like I do now).

Would Eric Francis consider me “fan enough?”

Would the NHL?

Because it seems like the NHL and the world surrounding sports fandom has a “what have you done for me lately” attitude.  Competitions within competitions.  Am I spending the dollars that the NHL wants me to shell out?

Mr. Francis had this to say about how the World Cup paid out:

Despite solid sales of the spectacular tourney merchandise, it’s unlikely the league or its players association realized the sort of financial windfall for which they were hoping.

Well, isn’t that just too bad.  They overpriced their product.  The local market hasn’t seen a reasonable ticket price in years.  The NHL didn’t wring every last dollar out of the local market.  Boo hoo.

Blaming the fans is the wrong way to point the finger.

We, the fan, do not owe the NHL anything.  Keep that in mind the next time they are marketing the next high-priced outdoor game, their next tournament, the next full-price preseason game full of minor league players.  Remember that the next time you read an article from the local beat writer complaining that the seats are empty, so the fans are abandoning the team.  Don’t forget it when a team comes hat in hand to the local government looking for money and tax breaks for a new arena.

You owe them nothing.  Not even your loyalty.  That should be earned.

I don’t know much about Eric Francis’ writing style.  Perhaps it’s his job to provoke.  I can’t comment on what the intention of the article was, if it was to scold or antagonize, if it was serious or not.  As our current political climate has shown, sarcasm has fared poorly lately.  It’s often misunderstood by its practitioners.

But it certainly got me thinking about what it means to be a fan of hockey.  For all that is fun and good about it, the game is out of reach of the common person.  The NHL has priced itself out of that market.  Some of the most die-hard fans I know can’t afford the fan experience the NHL is selling.  It costs too much.

That’s one of the things I love about the minor league game.  They have to hustle a little harder to stay afloat.  They have to work harder for each dollar, and it makes them appreciate that dollar a little more, and appreciate their fans a lot more.

It translates to a better fan experience.  It throws the frills away, but not at the expense of the on-ice product, or the experience of the fan.  Or it doesn’t have to.  Sure, a minor league team can phone it in just as much as the NHL teams can, but they will pay the price for it much more steeply than the NHL.  In the minors, if you don’t hustle, you won’t survive.

Leaving a few dollars on the table isn’t a bad thing.  It can bring the customer back to you the next time.  Fleece them and they won’t be beating down your door, no matter how good your product is, or how well you sell it.

The World Cup wasn’t sold that well.  It priced itself out of the market.  Expecting the fans to dance to the NHL’s tune was asking a lot.  If ticket sales and empty seats are the metric to gauge by, it was asking too much.

But hey, maybe Edmonton will be buying.