Sunday, October 14, 2001
City's 'Ice War' melting
Ducks, Cyclones cooperating while competing
By John Erardi
The Cincinnati Enquirer
“Ice Wars II” — featuring the reincarnation of the Cincinnati Cyclones as a lower-level minor-league hockey team battling the new big boys on the block, the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks — officially begins Saturday.
That's when the Cyclones play their home opener at 7:30 p.m. at Firstar Center, against the Dayton Bombers. The Ducks already have played their home opener at the Cincinnati Gardens.
The Cyclones, who are under new ownership with new opponents in a new league, the East Coast Hockey League, have designs on luring an existing NHL franchise to Firstar someday, maybe as soon as the next four or five years.
Meanwhile, they realize that success as a minor-league team in a two hockey-team town is neither automatic nor likely to happen quickly.
“We know it will take awhile to get people back to the building,” said David LeFevre, Cyclones owner/CEO. “We don't expect any early home runs. We're going to get a good team on the ice, generate some fun ... and (gradually) ramp up attendance.”
Nederlander Worldwide Inc. (which bought Firstar Center out of bankruptcy in June) and the team's owners (including former NHL great Phil Esposito) announced a 15-year deal in July.
The Cyclones' financial projections of last summer call for drawing at least 2,000 to 3,000 fans a game. Last season, the team drew more than 4,600 per game. The Ducks, who are in the American Hockey League, averaged 5,000 per game last season and are hoping to get into the “high fives” this season, said Ducks president Tom Garrity.
Considering the acrimony between the teams' front offices during their last four seasons, the relationship so far has been right off The Love Boat.
“The first thing we did when we arrived in town was spend some time with the Robinsons,” said LeFevre, referring to the family that owns the Gardens and operates the Ducks. “There's no reason the two teams can't exist comfortably together.”
The teams already have talked about sharing players when the need arises.
Last season, for example, the Ducks used 12 different goalies. There were times they waited at games until the last minute for a goalie from such far-flung sites as Baton Rouge, La.; Long Beach, Calif.; and Orlando, Fla. On more than one occasion, a goalie from Toledo would drive 3 1/2 hours down I-75 one day, then 3 1/2 hours back up it the next.
“It's a lot easier to get a guy from 12 miles away than have a guy hop a flight from Baton Rouge the day of the game,” said Don Helbig, Ducks vice president of communications and fan development.
“And vice versa,” said Cyclones coach Ray Edwards. “Maybe they've got somebody they want to get on the ice and playing, so they send them over to us. I'm here to develop players. It can work both ways.”
And the Ducks' Garrity even suggested something that would have been unheard of the past four seasons.
“There's the possibility of working some joint promotions,” he said. “If it's going to help both of us, great. Both teams face the same problem: growing the fan base and keeping it. ... For example, we live and die by walkup and group sales. I'd be wide-open to talking to them about it.”
There are 12 dates this season when both teams play at home.
For the past four years, it's been all but verboten for diehard fans of one hockey franchise to attend the other's games.
But that may be changing.
“Two weeks ago, we had a breakthrough,” said the Ducks' Helbig. “Wildman Walker (host of a radio show and the Cyclones' P.A. announcer), had our coach, Mike Babcock, on his show. Up until this year, it would have been an exercise in futility trying to get our players or even our scores mentioned on Wildman's show. ... The ice is thawing.”
When LeFevre came to town and said there was no reason the two teams couldn't get along, it seemed to lift some of the hostility Cyclones fans felt toward the Ducks, whom the Robinsons brought to the Gardens to take the place of the Cyclones, the arena's former tenants.
The Cyclones lost their niche as the well-established hockey team in town when they went bankrupt last year and their league, the International Hockey League, folded. They became a late entry into the ECHL, which is a step lower than the IHL and AHL.
The Ducks now have the better grade of hockey. That was subject to continuous, rancorous debate among local hockey fans the past four years. Now, being able to watch two levels of hockey in the same town could be a plus for fans.
“We're going to play exciting hockey,” said the Cyclones' Edwards.
Four of his players are in their first pro seasons. Among them is Jason Baird, 21, who lit up the Ontario Hockey League last year. Yevgeny Pavlov (Russia) and Jure Penko (Yugoslavia) are 20-year-old draftees of the parent NHL Nashville Predators. Kent Sauer, 22, is also among the players who might ultimately be bound for the NHL.
Allan Egeland, 28, has been there already. Another veteran is Matt Eldred, 27. Both know how good they have it in Cincinnati.
“I'll be reminding the young guys of that,” Eldred said. “I want them to appreciate what they have, because if they get traded or go to another club, I'm pretty sure they're not going to have it as well as they have it here.”
“They (the Cyclones ownership) treat us like NHL'ers,” Egeland said. “We have no excuses. Firstar is one of the best arenas anywhere for hockey. We're going to make it so other teams are not going to want to come in here. We're going to go after them for 60 minutes.”
One could argue the Cyclones will have better rivalries within their league — Dayton and Toledo are in the ECHL — but drawing fans for minor-league franchises almost always comes down to the same thing: showing the fans a good time for an affordable price and being competitive.
The Cyclones' ticket prices are $17, $15, $9 and $5 (day-of-game only). The Ducks' are $15, $12, $10 and $5 (day-of-game only).
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