FACE OFF: Richmond hockey RIP, again

Shame on you Richmond. Shame on you. In a town rich in history, culture and diversity, sports just can’t seem to make it. The Richmond Renegades are the newest team, in a long line of minor-league failures, to go belly up in Richmond… and I’m ashamed.

Years ago, Mr. Robins (of Dimetapp fame) had a dream to bring hockey to Richmond, Va. Now, four minor-league hockey teams later, the ‘Gades are packing their bags, and sticking management with a $400,000 bill. That’s right, the team lost money again, and in times where the economy is this shaky, the solution is a no brainer. Get rid of the team.

So, why does this happen to the fastest game on ice, in a town that has successfully supported minor-league baseball and soccer teams for a long time now? Well, there are many reasons, but some are more blatant than others.

The Coliseum is the biggest culprit. They charged the team outrageously high prices for ice time, much more than venues in other cities would have charged, and they take a ridiculously high cut at the door. So, the team has very little profit to begin with. Most of their money comes from merchandise, and when opening night attracts less than 2000 people, you’re in trouble.

That being said, attendance also has been a problem, dropping steadily during the last few years. When attendance drops drastically during the playoffs, that’s another sign you’re in trouble. Fans just don’t have faith in the Renegades, and they lost interest and stopped going to the games. I realize that management made some errors with players and coaches along the way, but there is an easy way to fix that. Go to the games, generate revenue for the team.

Once again, the Coliseum can receive some of this blame. Most of the fans would have to come from areas like the West End and South Side. Both areas are a good 20-minute drive from the downtown location, and there are still a lot of people reluctant to go downtown.

Finally, I think the attitude that hockey receives in Richmond is another problem. It’s obvious when you go to a hockey game here that there is a pretty specific demographic that 90 percent of the fans fit into. If you go anywhere else, up north especially, all walks of life enjoy hockey and everyone goes to the games. Here, the fan base seems much less diverse. It also seems that real hockey fans in Richmond aren’t fans of the Renegades. Most of the people at Renegades games apparently go to look for fights, while those looking for a game stay home and watch ESPN.

Yet another flaw with Richmond hockey: it isn’t soccer, and it isn’t as well received in the uber-elite, old money, west-of-the-Boulevard crowd that is so prevalent in Richmond. But there’s no reason it shouldn’t be.

Don’t get me wrong, I like soccer as much as the next guy, it just seems odd that we can support a soccer team better than a hockey team, when soccer has had many problems getting off the ground in the United States at even the highest professional level.

I know there are a number of reasons why the team went under, again, and I don’t want to point fingers, but I am upset, and we would still have a hockey team, an even better one, if we had just gone to the games and had fun.

Despite being the fastest game there is, and requiring an enormous amount of talent to play, hockey has gotten no respect anywhere. Why should Richmond be any different?