sounds like ATL all over again. percentage wise there are very few native Atlantan hockey fans over the age of 18 in the metro. don't get me wrong, there's plenty of of transplants from up North but they never give up their childhood teams. Sabres, Rangers, Cryers, Bruins and Leafs fans would fill Philips Arena when the Thrashers played but the Thrashers org never did a good job of cultivating the next generation of fans because owning a hockey team was a "gift with purchase" for the NBA team.When I went to the Frozen Fury game on Oct 8th, most of the people there were either Kings fans from out of town, Avs fans from out of town, or people like me. Just wanted to see the game while there and wearing jerseys of the teams we actually support. (I wore a Kessel jersey, which got many a "Let's Go Pens" and "Phil!" cheers.)
I talked to a guy in a Wranglers (old Vegas ECHL team) jersey, and he was telling me while he is glad seeing Vegas get a team, he doesn't think it will survive. He said the Wranglers attendance was poor, and most people in Vegas would rather have an NFL or NBA team.
I think it's unfair to base projected attendance off an ECHL team. most of those teams have poor attendance, even in cities that like hockey because it's just really not very good hockey and there are no "stars" to watch.
