Attendance woes plague Jets

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This article was published 23/02/2024 (592 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The on-ice future of the Winnipeg Jets has never seemed brighter, with an exciting, competitive team this season and no shortage of quality young players in the prospect pipeline.

Unfortunately, the long-term prognosis off the ice is a different story, one that is growing increasingly cloudy due to a significant drop in fan support in the NHL’s smallest market.

No, they’re not warming up the moving vans just yet, like they did back in 1996. But it’s clear we’re getting closer to a critical stage, with NHL commissioner Gary Bettman coming to town next week to rattle some corporate cages and, most likely, ring a few alarm bells.

Despite being in the mix for the Presidents Trophy with a 34-15-5 record prior to facing the Chicago Blackhawks on Friday night, the Jets are averaging just 13,098 for 28 dates at the downtown rink this year (capacity 15,225), where they’ve gone an impressive 19-7-2.

Only the Arizona Coyotes, who play in a college rink that holds fewer than 5,000 fans, have less support, while only the San Jose Sharks and Buffalo Sabres are drawing a smaller capacity, albeit in much larger rinks than Canada Life Centre and for teams that are nowhere near the Jets in terms of success.

For a franchise that perpetually sold out for the first decade after the NHL’s return in 2011, it’s a concerning development. One that is clearly now on the radar of the NHL’s head office.

Bettman will be meeting personally on Tuesday with several local leaders, organizations and sponsors, no doubt to make a personal plea to open their wallets. The same Bettman, we remind you, who said this in 2011 when the Atlanta Thrashers relocated to Winnipeg: “It isn’t going to work very well unless this building is sold out every night.”

He’ll then hold court with local media before teaming up with Jets co-owner and chairman Mark Chipman for what is being called a 30-minute “fireside chat” with fans inside the arena starting at 5:30 p.m prior to the Jets facing the St. Louis Blues at 7 p.m.

How heated might things get? The Jets will be pre-screening questions that must be submitted online, but there’s no doubt this unusual series of events is intended to bring the temperature up a degree or two.

The Jets once had a season-ticket base of 13,700 with a waiting list several thousand strong. Now, that has tumbled to just 9,500 with absolutely no waiting list.

One of the major issues in Winnipeg is a reliance on Joe and Jane Public to purchase tickets, compared to corporate entities. According to True North, nearly 85 per cent of the Jets sales are to citizens, rather than companies (15 per cent). That’s in stark contrast to the other six Canadian markets, where businesses make up anywhere from 45 per cent to 85 per cent of the base.

Chipman has only done a couple interviews this season with selected national media, including this week with Chris Johnston of The Athletic. In the piece, he discussed making personal phone calls to former customers asking what caused them to flee, and trying to convince them to give the Jets another look.

“We’ve had to reinvent ourselves,” Chipman told Johnston. “For 10 years, we weren’t a sales organization; we were a service organization, and I’m not sure we were that good of a service organization, to be honest with you.”

To that extent, there has been an aggressive marketing campaign, a partnership with 34 local business leaders in an attempt to re-connect and more flexible ticket packages and promotions than we’ve seen in the past, along with upgrades to the arena and spending to the salary cap on a roster that is winning a lot more than its losing.

Still, only four games have sold out so far.

“I wouldn’t be honest with you if I didn’t say, ‘We’ve got to get back to 13,000,’” Chipman told Johnston. “This place we find ourselves in right now, it’s not going to work over the long haul. It just isn’t.”

No doubt Bettman will be asked for some additional clarity on what exactly that means, and what kind of timeline we might be looking at. But this storyline isn’t going away any time soon.

Around the glass

When you’ve been in hockey as long as Rick Bowness has, it’s rare to visit another NHL market and not have plenty of old friends to catch up with.

Such was the case last weekend in Vancouver, when the Jets bench boss got to meet up with two of his favourite people in the game. That would be Henrik and Daniel Sedin, who Bowness had the pleasure of working with during seven seasons as an assistant/associate coach with the Canucks between 2006-2013.

“I love those guys. They’re great people. We just got caught up with the families and everything again,” Bowness said of the twins, who work in player development with the organization at the NHL and AHL levels.

“I loved coaching them, I loved being around them. They’re just wonderful, wonderful people. They love the game. It’s great for the organization to have them back involved. They have an awful lot to offer, they’re two of the smartest hockey minds you’ll ever find. It’s good for them. I love seeing them.”

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It turns out reports of the demise of Washington Capitals captain Alex Ovechkin were a tad premature.

Although it’s been a challenging season for the sniper, he’s currently riding a 10-game point streak (eight goals, 14 points) that’s helped get him back on track.

Ovechkin is up to 16 goals and 42 points in 52 games this season and while his goal totals are down considerably after recording 42 last season, his production levels are solid for anyone — especially a grizzled veteran who will turn 39 in September.

When it comes to chasing down Wayne Gretzky for the all-time lead in goals scored, Ovechkin has plenty of work to do but he’s on the verge of a 19th consecutive 20-goal campaign.

Gretzky finished with 894 in 1,497 NHL games, while Ovechkin is up to 838 as he prepares to suit up in Game No. 1,400 Saturday against the Florida Panthers.

It’s important to note the lowest goal total for Ovechkin in a full season is 32, so he’s going to have to have an incredibly strong finish to hit that number.

The Jets have yet to see Ovechkin this season, but that will change when Washington comes to town on March 11, and then Winnipeg heads down to D.C. on March 24.

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We told you last week how Winnipegger Isaac Poulter experienced a thrill by signing his first NHL contract and the good news kept coming as he was actually recalled by the New Jersey Devils on Wednesday after Akira Schmid was reassigned.

Poulter, a product of the Winnipeg Monarchs AAA program before joining The Rink Hockey Academy, suited up as the backup to Nico Daws in Thursday’s loss to the New York Rangers and it’s possible he makes his NHL debut before long.

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Former Manitoba Moose centre Cody Hodgson took another step forward on his road to recovery, notching his first goal in pro hockey since he was forced to retire at the age of 26 in 2015-16 due to malignant hyperthermia, a rare muscle disorder.

Hodgson, the 10th overall pick in the 2008 NHL Draft by the Vancouver Canucks, is back to full health and on the comeback trail with the Milwaukee Admirals of the American Hockey League.

The look on his face when he found the net earlier this week told you all that you needed to know about what it means for him to be stepping back onto the ice at the professional level.

It was his first goal since Feb. 24 of 2016, after he had been assigned to the Admirals by the Nashville Predators.

Hodgson, now 34, appeared in 328 NHL games with the Canucks, Buffalo Sabres and Predators and he’s hoping this inspiring story leads him back to the show eventually.

For now, he’s helping out one of the best teams in the AHL, suiting up in three games going into this weekend’s action.

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Most of the chatter around the Pittsburgh Penguins going into the NHL trade deadline revolves around where Jake Guentzel might be heading if he doesn’t ink an extension.

However, if Penguins general manager Kyle Dubas decides to become a seller with his team languishing in the Eastern Conference standings, you can bet he’ll be fielding plenty of calls about versatile winger Reilly Smith.

Smith, who can play either wing, captured a Stanley Cup with the Vegas Golden Knights last season and has ample post-season experience on his resume — including 26 goals and 79 points in 106 games.

The 32 year old has one more season on his current contract, which carries a US$5 million salary cap hit — though the salary in actual dollars moves to US$5.25 million this season to US$4 million in 2024-25.

Smith has a 10-team no trade list, so that could complicate things for some potential suitors.

Also a dependable defensive player, Smith has 10 goals and 26 points in 48 games this season — hitting double digits in goals for an 11th consecutive campaign.

By the way, make sure to check out next weekend’s Dump & Chase as we share our trade targets for the Jets ahead of the March 8 deadline.

mike.mcintyre@freepress.mb.ca

X: @mikemcintyrewpg

ken.wiebe@freepress.mb.ca

X: @WiebesWorld