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The Vancouver Giants just put individual game tickets up for sale in preparation for the start of their 2017-1018 Western Hockey League season, which kicks off on the road against the Victoria Royals on September 22. The next night, however, the Giants host the Royals, and while last year's season opener—the team's first game in the Langley Events Centre—garnered a sellout crowd, it was an exception to the rule.

Following the move to Langley, the Giants struggled both on the ice and at the gate, putting up the worst average attendance the Giants have ever seen. In total, the club reported an average attendance of 3,848, down more than a thousand than their previous low in 2003-04.

This after the move to Langley, in which, according to Giants owner Ron Toigo, a majority of the team's fans live.

“This is a decision that allows us to relocate to an area where a very high percentage of our core demographic live," Toigo said at the time, adding that "it also allows us to have a home venue whose size will enable us to sell out games, create a fun game-night atmosphere and give the team some real home-ice advantage.”



When pressed halfway through the season about why the team's attendance numbers weren't as strong as predicted, the owner pointed to the fact that the Giants were at the bottom of the standings.

And yes, it's true that the team was 21st overall last season, which will never attract fans to minor hockey. However, the team was also 21st in 2015-16 at Pacific Coliseum, which kind of tosses the "our fan base lives here" theory out the window.

It's possible that hockey just isn't a big attraction to those living outside of Vancouver, as evidenced by the failure of former AHL franchise the Abbotsford Heat. The Heat failed to draw fans despite a mostly winning record, which resulted in the city paying out more than $5 million to the team's owners to buy out the last five years of the arena contract.

Vancouver hockey fans aren't opposed to seeing a losing product, they just don't necessarily want to spend a quarter of the month's rent on a pair of tickets. Last year's team had high-scoring forwards like Tyler Benson and Ty Ronning—son of former Canuck fan favourite Cliff—but neither were able to get fans from Langley, Surrey or Maple Ridge through the turnstiles.

This year, the team looks like it could have the building blocks to make something happen, especially if both Ronning and Benson come back to junior, as the high picks the team received in both the import and bantam drafts don't hurt their chances of moving up the standings.



Still, it remains to be seen if fans outside of Vancouver will show up. Last season's average put the Giants 13th in the 22-team WHL, doesn't sound so bad in and of itself. But when you extrapolate for the population in each WHL market, a different story emerges.

The 2016 census estimated the population of Surrey at 517,887, ranking 12th in Canada by that measuring stick.Surrey is roughly 20 minutes away from the Langley Events Centre by car, and the city is undoubtedly part of the market Toigo is trying to lure. If you add up the 117,285 people estimated to be living in Langley, the Giants' potential fan base completely dwarfs many cities that draw far more fans per game.

Team Avg. Attendance Edmonton Oil Kings 9461 Calgary Hitmen 7599 Portland Winterhawks 6080 Spokane Chiefs 5812 Regina Pats 5456 Kelowna Rockets 5162 Everett Silvertips 4865 Victoria Royals 4830 Red Deer Rebels 4793 Seattle Thunderbirds 4782 Brandon Wheat Kings 4043 Saskatoon Blades 3968 Vancouver Giants 3848 Kamloops Blazers 3782 Tri-City Americans 3769 Lethbridge Hurricanes 3709 Prince George Cougars 3626 Medicine Hat Tigers 3586 Moose Jaw Warriors 3372 Prince Albert Raiders 2133 Swift Current Broncos 2006 Kootenay Ice 1754

*Stats from hockeydb.com

Yeah, it's expected that teams like Edmonton and Calgary would outdraw the Giants, as the franchises reside in hockey hotbeds and are entrenched in their respective markets (although it's worth mentioning that Edmonton went 23-43-6 last year and missed the playoffs, dispelling Toigo's notion that attendance in the WHL is solely about winning).

There's no real reason why the Brandon Wheat Kings (population: 48,859) or Red Deer Rebels (100,418) should be outdrawing the Giants on a nightly basis. Well, unless having a cool name is a big draw for WHL fans, but seeing as the Prince Albert Raiders and Swift Current Broncos are at the bottom of the list, that can't possibly be the case.

Toigo's worst nightmare? An exciting Giants squad that makes the playoffs on the speed and playmaking abilities of Benson and Ronning, and nonetheless stays the same in attendance. Don't be shocked if it happens.

The Giants signed a 10-year lease in Langley.

I guess we'll see you in nine, Toigo?

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