Springfield Falcons President and General Manager Bruce Landon recaps the 2009-10 campaign and previews the 2010-11 season in his latest update.
From the desk of Bruce Landon
The team that was put together last summer and coming out of training camp was good enough to compete for a playoff spot. However, the loss of Ryan Potulny who made the best of an opportunity to make Edmonton after the injury to Hemsky, the loss of Chris Minard to a long term injury and most importantly the loss of goaltender Devan Dubnyk started the downward spiral of the team. During all of this we also lost for extended periods of time the absence of other key players to injuries and/or call-ups. At one time during the long losing stretch we had eleven of our key players out of the line-up.
The biggest mistake made by the Oilers, was not providing us with a solid number two goaltender that could step in and win some games for us in the absence of Dubnyk. It does not matter what level you are at, without top notch goaltending it is a struggle to put any kind of winning streak together.
I want to acknowledge our great fans for their support through these very difficult times. We welcome the change with the Columbus Blue Jackets as our NHL partner and look forward to next season with renewed optimism.
I need to also address the issue of season ticket sales. Our staff has done a tremendous job in group sales on our prime dates and in corporate sponsorships during tough economic times. However, there are significant reasons why we must increase our season ticket sales. We are not looking for huge numbers in this area, because we know that it is not possible. However, we need to be close to the number that other smaller market teams have. If Adirondack can do 1900 – 2000 full season tickets, why can’t Springfield. I can assure you that if we had 2000 full season tickets, there would never be any concerns about the team ever leaving Springfield. We need a bigger base to help us out on the mid-week games when group sales are very difficult. The days of playing just Friday and Saturdays are long gone. We also don’t have a large building like Hartford, where with a special big night we can draw 8000 fans to make up for the small crowds on a mid-week game.
We have made some staffing changes to help us in our season ticket sales. This will include the addition of two more sales associates. Two years ago we ran a very strong campaign that enabled us to increase our season ticket base. However, this past year, due to the economy and other factors those numbers dropped dramatically. Our goal is to bring the season ticket total to the 1800 number. It will be a challenge. We offer a wide variety of plans and even the purchase of a ten game flex pack helps us inch closer to our goal.
The recent articles in the newspaper about ownership are very straightforward and really need no explanation. It was important that our fans and the entire community are aware of our objectives.
In closing, I again thank our great fans and corporate sponsors for their support. As always I respect your opinion and feedback. Please feel free to contact me at anytime.
Bruce