[alaskayorkie]

Originally Posted by Speed

Yeah, it was definitely a bummer. Even though it wasn't the NHL, we were really good for an ECHL team and you could actually see hockey being played. With our team now, it makes me wonder if they even practice together of if they just show up at the games.
I went to a few playoff games with the IceGators, but they flopped a lot in the first few rounds. I even remember one time they were up 3-0 in the series and lost 4 straight. So I never got to see a sports team win a championship in person. I'm sure that must have been an awesome experience.
Do you follow the NHL or just your ECHL team?

I'm a fairweather NHL fan. I'll occasionally watch the playoffs, or I'll watch a game in which an Alaskan is playing. Scottie Gomez plays for the Canadiens, and we have a couple other players in the NHL. Haven't been to an NHL game since the 1970s when I lived in California. The Oakland Seals had a terrible team, but we'd go to see the big-name visitors.

The Aces used to play in the WCHL, and the team was run poorly. They did OK but never dominated and there wasn't much fan base. But new owners took over and really got the fans out. We'll get 3,000-4,000 every game and sell out 6,000-plus during the playoffs.

I was skeptical of the ECHL, but the quality of hockey has won me over. It doesn't hurt that we've won 2 Cups and lost another Game 7 since 2003-2004.