The Gopher hockey program has been something special to many around these parts for decades. Whether you like the Gophers or not, you have to admit, they always put a good team on the ice year after year. This article isn't about their consistent winning (or not winning the big game if you so choose) but what is happening with the program.
The old barn ceased to exist a number of years ago and things haven't been the same since. The atmosphere is gone and I don't see it returning anytime soon. Ticket prices have risen steadily each year, up $.50 per ticket just last year, to an all time high of $19.50 per ticket. That turns out to a hefty $980 for two tickets for an entire season! While some of you may think this is a small price to pay for a good hockey game, I do not. I dare say no other program in the WCHA is close to these prices.
The fan support from a ticket sales standpoint is at a all time high. Over 600 people are on a waiting list to buy season tickets! The problem is the type of people who are buying these tickets. THEY AREN'T people, they are corporations. The prices are forcing out the real fans and the corporations are buying up the best seats. Not to mention this insatiable need to squeeze out every bit of revenue to support other programs and the University. Overall, this would be fine if people actually showed up for the games. More often than not, hundreds of seats between the blue lines go empty. You wouldn't see this happen in Grand Forks or Madison. These people aren't buying tickets to see great hockey, they are buying them because it's the 'in' thing to do. If corporations can give them to a client, they go unused.
My point is made clear by this one example. My cousin recently dropped his season tickets to the Gophers. OK, no big deal. Well, this is the guy that played hockey all his life, has had season tickets to the Gophers for over a decade, and to top it off, HE BUILT THE ICE SHEET AT MARIUCCI! This is a guy with a vested interest in the game, not just a casual fan. His reason, ticket prices are just too high! Families in this day and age can't afford this type of expenditure (Don't even get me started on how they plan to KEEP an NHL team in this area). If you don't expose the new generations to the game, how will they learn to appreciate it? This is not the only example I could give. I have come dangerously close to giving up mine, which have been in the family since 1974. I will hang on to mine just so my kids can "try" to experience what I felt when I was 6 years old at going to these games. I only hope that there is a vestige left by that time.
When I called last year to complain about the prices jumping over $1.00 per ticket, the response from the mentally limited ticket woman was one of confusion. I was told that I was not the first to complain and that the reason behind the hike was that expenses have increased. When asked what these expenses were, she had no clue, no could I get through to the infamous Pat Forcia for an answer. If you give them in inch, they'll take you a mile.
So, what does all this mean for true Gopher fans? In many people's opinion, it means the demise of something truly special. The cost of the games has gone above the enjoyment I receive, and I am not the only one thinking this way. When you hear other fans from ND or UW ripping on the fans in Minnesota, BELIEVE them!! It's true, it's a pathetic crowd that sits on their hands most of the time. The students are huddled into a small corner of the arena and the rest is left to the corporate scum or people to old to have fun anymore.
If any of your are lucky enough to visit Engelstad arena for a game, feel lucky. Places like this are the last bastions of pure college hockey, utter chaos and just plain fun! Just pray their programs don't get too full of themselves to believe they are bigger than the fans that support them. A sports program (college or otherwise) is not made up exclusively of talented players. It is made up of a community that supports the team and a place where that community can gather to watch the event. As of now, we are lacking at least one of the three. I would even say two. Remember, it wasn't always this way in Minneapolis. IT MAY JUST HAPPEN TO YOU!
Chic
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