Why Hockey Fails in Southwest VA... and maybe VT Hockey can save it

This is just my opinion, but this is why I think hockey has failed and will probably never return to the Southwest Region of Virginia.

The area of Roanoke (and Salem) are not totally unfamiliar with ice hockey. There had almost always been a team here since the early 1980's. It started with the Virginia Lancers as part of the Atlantic Coast Hockey League. They bounced leages until they wound up in the ECHL in 1988. This team then changed names a few times to Roanoke Valley Rebels and Roanoke Valley Rampage, but was virtually the same team. One notable person was a coach who led them to record seasons in their league. John Tortorella... who is not the head coach of the New York Rangers. Unfortunately, this team folded after the 1992-1993 season.

In 1993, a new team was created. This was the Roanoke Express. During most of the 1990's, they used to sell out the 9,000 seat civic center in which they played. Into the late 90's, it was dropping to about 50%. Then in 2004, the team folded. For the 2005-2006 season another team formed called the Roanoke Valley Vipers formed and folded too.

There are a couple of main reasons hockey fails in this area. Number one to me is the quality of play. I see this a lot since I am a fan of the minor leagues moreso than the majors. In the early 2000's when I arrived at Virginia Tech, I got to watch a lot of the games. For the most part, it was just a goon-fest with people that spent more time in the penalty boxes than on the ice. Fights were more the norm than the exception. This in my opinion drives down attendance. In hockey, for fans at least, a fight gets that immediate crowd reaction. But this for the most part only really applies to the people wanting to watch fights. Your repeat customers are there to watch a good game. Those coming for the games are more likely your season ticket holders while the fight watchers tend to be a few-games-per-year type of fans. By having a lot of fights, you turned off your reliable base of fans and only got unreliable fans.

The next part was the ticket prices. I cannot recall what they are now, but I remember they were a bit high for the level of play. They were more expensive than the Oklahoma City Blazers and Anchorage Aces. But I still went anyways since I loved hockey. The only problem is this part of the state is not exactly flush with money. So they were locking out a lot of people who would want to come.

Thirdly, there was a severe lack of advertisement for the team. I don't remember ever seeing commercials for the team. I never heard advertisements over the radio. If I was not active in hockey when there were adult leagues, I would never have known that there was semi-pro hockey in Roanoke. This lack of exposure helped contribute to hockey's demise in SWVA.

There is some glimmer of hope though. Virginia Tech has a men's club team that plays up in Roanoke since it is the only sheet of ice for about 100 miles. They have been a pretty good team that I have watched even when they played in a tiny ice rink in Roanoke before that closed. I even continued to watch them after I got cut from the team when I tried out, but to be fair, there were 7 goaltenders vying for 3 slots.

There are several things I like about Virginia Tech Hockey. First off, they are a good team. They are fast, they have a good level of skill, though I wouldn't match them against the UAA Seawolves. But as a non-NCAA hockey team, they are really good. In addition to this, they are there to play and to win, not to fight. In fact, the only game that seems to have fights is the one against the religious school Liberty University. I avoid that game against them since I hate the unnecessary fights. And the best part for this area. IT IS DIRT CHEAP. If you are a Virginia Tech student, faculty or staff, you have no reason not to be there if you are looking for something to do. IT IS FREE. Now, if you are not a Virgina Tech member, the ticket prices are only $4. That is about the same price of a Big Mac, you can watch a good hockey game.

While The Roanoke area of Virginia will probably never have another chance at professional hockey again, there is that glimmer of hope. Virginia Tech continues to have a strong level of participation with their hockey team. They also are getting more and more people out every year. I remember when I first started coming, I might have been one of 10 fans there, if not the only one. Now it is into the hundreds. It would be even better if they could find a good way to advertise for cheap... because I would like to see the crowd reach into the thousands. There are 9,000 seats in that civic center, they should be full again.