They Shot, They Scored, But The Crowd Didn’t Go Wild.
So much for the home ice advantage. The Ottawa 67’s went into their eleventh game of the season at TD Place arena on Wednesday night, losing to the Mississauga Steelheads 2-5. This was their fourth home game of the season, but fans didn’t seem all that invested in the game.
“Put the game back on,” yells a man sporting an Edwin Encarnacion Toronto Blue Jays jersey while bantering with his friend, sporting a Colby Rasmus jersey, after the arena television switched off the Toronto Blue Jays game that was playing on the big screen before the 67’s took the ice. They shut the game off during the bottom of the seventh inning and the Jays were winning. Near the end of the first period, the arena put the final score of the baseball game up on the screen. Seven to one for the Jays. The 67’s crowd cheered for final results of a game happening 452 km away. During the intermission after first period, they were playing baseball highlights.
The audience was 1,373 strong, leaving some sections of the arena completely empty. Between the loud music breaks, the fans were considerably quiet for a bunch of hockey fans, with the loudest cheers heard during the two goals Jeremiah Addison and Drake Rymsha scored and even those cheers were fairly quiet. Rymsha’s goal was his first with the 67’s. The same group of fans, a few pre-teen boys, continuously appeared on the big-screen, as they were one of the only groups seemingly enthused to be there.
While this audience was smaller than usual, the 67’s may be getting used to smaller home crowds in general. HockeyDB.com says attendance has dropped every season since the 2007-08 season when the crowds averaged 8,103 per game. Last year, the 67’s crowd averaged 3,604 per game. The team’s crowd average peaked during the 2004-05 season, with 9,231 people per game.
Right wing Travis Konecny didn’t think the lack of crowd energy impacted their play.
“We’ve got to generate our own energy. It’s just like playing in different rinks, we’ve got to make our own energy. But the crowd wasn’t too bad, they still make some noise for us and cheer for us so it’s not that bad.”
Isn’t that point of the home ice advantage, though, so the players don’t have to feel like they’re playing in an away rink? Home games are meant to make the players feel at home, hence the advantage.
Despite the lack of enthusiasm from fans, the 67’s still faired better than the last game they played against the Mississauga Steelheads. The last game these two teams faced off, the 67’s were in the midst of a four-game losing streak, and lost to the team 7-0. This double loss to the Steelheads doesn’t add up in the ranks. In the Eastern Conference, the 67’s are ranked third overall and the Steelheads are seventh. Somehow though, the Steelheads keep coming out on top.
Coach Jeff Brown thinks the game’s score comes down to the team and their efforts alone.
“We warned the guys about the first game back after a long road trip, successful road trip, but they didn’t listen I guess and we had a pretty bad home game tonight,” says Brown. “No heartbeat, no team. Little things were just not there and it was disappointing. Disappointing effort.”
With no heartbeat, a small crowd and faint cheers, what’s left? A team that Brown says is “just not ready to compete against the top teams in the conference right now. We’re just not a good enough hockey team... Most of all we just got to get an identity and buy in and start playing for one another as opposed to ourselves.”
Maybe the fans aren't giving their all, because their team isn't either.