TULSA, Okla – Living in the heart of the Central Hockey League as I do, the question of the quality of the on-ice product we see in the league is often tossed about. So I asked myself the question of what exactly is “quality” hockey?
I find that it is one of those playdough things that is mainly dependent upon how well your team is doing in the standings and playoff appearance department. That’s the major factor. Thus, by that definition the quality of the Central Hockey League this season would reside pretty much where it’s been for the last 5 or 6 seasons, in Colorado, Arizona and South Texas.
Every once in a while though, a team that was once great in a previous contrivance of the league will play oddball…such as this year’s Oklahoma City Blazers team…but for the most part, the juggernaut teams remain and barring plague, pestilence or natural disaster the big 3 will dominate, for the most part.
Cries of “CORRUPTION!”, “UNFAIR BUSINESS PRACTICES”, and “THEY PAY THE PLAYERS UNDER THE TABLE!” fly about like the pucks do during warm ups. Yet no one takes the time to man up and conduct investigations. When the investigations do happen, justice is swift and sure, points are deducted, and those teams still tend to make the playoffs and sometimes the finals.
Failing that, we as fans are left with the alternative that nobody wants to admit and that is that those teams are just darned good, and in doing so they have left what once was the heart of the league in the dust and scrambling. I’m not going to call this unfair by any means. In the minors you either have it or you don’t, but in the cutthroat business of minor league sports that is like a critical patient on life support if your team is in the sub-par category.
So, therefore, is it possible for teams in the heart of the CHL to reclaim their rightful place among the CHL elite? Of course. It involves the spending of a lot of cash, though, and the courtship of a fan base that can’t be given a poor on-ice product and have it pushed as a “quality” experience. No longer are the fans in Tulsa, Oklahoma City and Wichita suckers for a fight filled evening in which the home team kicks the crap out of the other team in fights and then loses by 2 goals.
No, those teams have to improve upon the entire experience, from the tear of the ticket to the boisterous exit of the arena, and that’s the challenge as the league gets set to turn 20 years old.
contact the author at rich.lohman@prohockeynews.com
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