Making hockey matter again in Colorado...Part two

How to make the Colorado Avalanche matter again on the greater Denver sports scene. That’s the issue facing the new guys in charge of hockey at the Pepsi Center.

Mike Keating of Impact Sports Performance in Broomfield, formerly a member of the training and conditioning staff of the Chicago Blackhawks, has seen hockey done right. He’s offered up his list of things the Avalanche must do to make hockey matter again around here, regardless of whether or not the Avs are fighting for the Stanley Cup.

As a businessman as well as a hockey expert, Keating sees flaws in the way the Avs are marketed.

“This is of course easy when you’re winning and have star power,” Keating states, “But guess what…the Chicago Cubs fill the seats every game, every year regardless of wins/losses/players. Why? They have excellent marketing year in and year out. Yes, they have great exposure with WGN, but so do the Avs with the Altitude network. The Avs need to set themselves apart from the rest of the pro sports franchises in town…and for that matter the NHL…in some way. Whether it be their ho-hum website or game day operations…the current status is blah. Get to the public, the kids and make it exciting again.”

The need for “star power” to help those marketing efforts is about to take another hit if and when Joe Sakic decides to retire. Keating believes the Avs should find a way to keep him in the organization.

“Sakic is no doubt the best player ever to suit up for the Avs,” boasted Keating. “And that includes Patrick Roy and Ray Bourque (and by the way I hate how the Avs retired his jersey and claim him as their own – what a joke). Joe is still the most recognizable and marketable player Colorado has. Unfortunately, he’s also ready to hang it up. Now what? Retire and off to his lake house in the Great White North? Hopefully not. Sakic should absolutely, 100% be offered the position on General Manager on his terms. He knows what the players want and need better than anyone and we all know he knows a little bit about winning a Stanley Cup. I’m confident that he could and would put the Avs back on the map and take them to the promise land again, if he wants and is given the GM job. Not all great players make for great coaches and GMs, but my bet is that Joe is an exception. He’s special and the Avs cannot afford to lose him.”

Finally, Keating is fully aware that for the Avalanche to be able to recapture the interest of the sports fans in the region, the game of hockey itself has got to become a greater passion for all of Colorado. It can’t just be an “Avalanche town” when the team is winning – it has to become a “hockey town” where fans fill the building to see the NHL itself.

That starts with the game at the grass roots level.

“Is anyone in the state aware that USA Hockey is based in Colorado Springs?” Keating asks. “Come on, ‘Miracle on Ice,’ anyone? Right in our backyard and no one knows it? Our great state needs to take advantage of being the home of USA Hockey through marketing and their services. What a terrible missed opportunity. Even if they do nothing for the average fan, the pride that goes along with the national team needs to be restored in Colorado and the rest of the country needs to be aware that they are in “OUR HOUSE.”

The movement, he adds, needs to reach down even further.

“Competitive youth hockey in Colorado currently is a train wreck,” says Keating, who works daily with young athletes – including young hockey players. “We’re really just a small state in terms of population, yet Colorado has an abundance of youth hockey organizations. That’s good, right? Not at all. What has happened, due to coaches and boards bickering, in-fighting and egos, is that there are too many programs and not enough quality players. The end result is bad youth hockey. Of course there are some exceptions from year to year, but overall there are just not enough quality players to fill all the different teams in this state.

“The solution is to streamline and combine organizations in the same region, but coaches, parents and board members aren’t willing to cooperate. The losers in all this are the players. The result can be seen at the national level when the Colorado teams are rarely present. I’m hopeful the recent addition of Team Rocky Mountain (based in Broomfield at the Broomfield Event Center) is on the right track. Four local programs (Hyland Hills, Boulder Hockey, Arvada Hockey and Northern Colorado Youth Hockey) have combined forces to create 4 AAA teams. Time will tell if these organizations can play nice for the benefit of youth hockey in our state.”

Good things that start at the youth level need to mushroom, with the game gaining more of a presence at the high school level as well. That will help down the road.

Meanwhile, for the Avalanche and the NHL to truly matter again in Colorado – meaning fans flock to the Pepsi Center even it their team is not among the best in the league – the types of moves that Keating has seen work elsewhere need to happen right here.
 

For more info: Colorado Avalanche Examiner Brian Thompson