General loss of fanship interest

[TomsRiverDevil]

Didn't want to derail the (non)scoring thread.

 

After reading some other threads and talking to other fans, I think many of you agree that there has been an overall lack of excitement going into this season. That being said, this teams start has been quite more enjoyable to watch then expected, so that's a bonus!

 

But I just wanted to summarize/discuss what is everyone's specific reason for 'not getting up' for games like they used to. I'll start by listing a few:

 

Poor on-ice product

Losing seasons

Rule changes

Success of other division teams

Reorganization of divisions

Lack of talent

Too expensive

 

and for me

 

Lack of superstars

 

I got interested in the team during their 01 cup run. I remember walking up and down the seaside heights boardwalk, and a playoff game was on a tv. I started watching, and what do you know this hockey team from new jersey was winning a bunch of games. I was devastated when they lost, but that allowed me to truly appreciate how exciting the 03 cup was. I wasn't really around for the 95 cup, so I can only imagine how mind-blowing paradigm-altering that must have been. I missed how utterly dominant the 00 team was.

 

The common thread from our glory years: superstar players. Obviously we had role players to, but look at the names from then.

 

Brodeur

Stevens

Neidermeyer

Elias

 

Sykora

Langenbrunner

A-Line

Daneyko

Rafalski

Gomez

Pando/Madden

 

There are 3/4 Hall of Famers, plus a bunch of other greats who could get the job done. Not to mention Lou and his stable of coaches. Look at any dynasty in any sport. There is a core of great players who play together for multiple seasons, such as the Yankees in the 90's. Even the 12 cup run had Brodeur, Elias, Zach, and Kovy. (Thinking about how Zach and Kovy left makes me want to puke).

 

Look at our team now.

 

(crickets)

 

We have Scheider and

 

(more crickets)

 

A bunch of good players, but not league-best game-changers. I mean I love Henrique and Green. But they won't be Hall of Famers, or even get their numbers retired. The game is a struggle for them. We need better players. Players where the game is easy for them. I sorely miss rooting for winners.

 

</rant>

 

Don't know if there is much to be added, but I would love to hear from everybody!

[jagknife]

My "loss of interest" isn't so much loss of interest as it is other priorities at the moment. Being out of the area is god awful for me to follow the team outside of Center Ice and TG suddenly responding to every troll on a given day flooding my phone with useless stupid notifications is also a pain in the ass.

 

I'm enjoying watching players get a shot, wish we had more youth step up and force the team to keep them in the NHL lineup but we don't have that much in the cupboard.

 

If I was back in the area, I doubt I'd keep my season tickets and probably switch to that new flex plan, as cost vs entertainment value just isn't there. No, I wouldn't boycott the team, but I would reduce how much I'd go [i had my first full season tix the 2010-2011, passed the acct to the family still in the area]

[Satans Hockey]

My interest has never waivered but I never expected the Devils to win and make the playoffs every year. This was bound to happen eventually as it does with almost every sports team.

That being said I'm actually more excited about this season then the past two which were full of players that I hated and never wanted on the team.

I was never a fan of Jagr and even though he was our best player some nights I still never wanted him on this team. I hated him from years past and I while I never booed him I just didn't want to watch a face I hated for so long on this team.

The other old guys who I grew sick of watching made it painful to get through the last few seasons as well.

I don't expect much from the team this year but I'm sure as hell excited that we are finally looking some of these garbage washed up players and stupid rules and ways this team were run in the rear view mirror.

Been a fan all my life and a season ticket holder for over 10 years till my death or bankruptcy. I'm ready for the future.

Edited November 6, 2015 by Satans Hockey

[Satans Hockey]

We have Scheider and

I mean I love Henrique and Green.

Not exactly picking on you but I think it's pretty amusing that you make a thread about fans losing interest and then go and spell 2 of our biggest players names wrong lol

[DJ Eco]

I keep my season ticket plan alive because it will be that much sweeter years from now when we're back in the race, when we're back to being successful, and maybe get another Cup.

 

I would have a hard time being that type of fan who magically shows up then out of hiatus once we're good; it's a philosophical thing. I go because I know right now the team needs fans like me the most.

[Derlique]

Huh? This team will probably be the most exciting we've had since 2012 (in no way am I comparing the two). They finally have some players who can turn on the jets. But probably more importantly, they trimmed deadweight like Zubrus, Salvador and Brodeur. I like how there are no more handouts and the country club atmosphere has been replaced by new blood that have no connection to the glory days. I dont expect this team to have much success the next year or two but we're definitely headed in the right direction and have been 100x more fun to watch

[Marshall]

Such is the cycle of a pro team in a cap league.

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

I think my reduced interest will be temporary.  I was so locked into Mets baseball that I wasn't even really thinking about hockey...very easy to get swept up when a team that's been an also-ran for so long goes on a big run and reaches the World Series...and of course, they play almost every day...the Mets season for me was so engrossing and almost overwhelming.  I know as I start watching the Devils regularly again that I will get back into them.  Agree that just getting the deadwood off the team was a nice step forward...looking forward to when Gio is gone. 

 

I still don't find the current NHL product as compelling as I once did, but it would take a lot more than general lack of scoring for me to ever bail on it. 

[mfitz804]

Pretty simple; fan interest goes down when the team sucks. Did anyone care about the Mets last year? Nope. Yet you couldn't go anywhere without seeing people in Mets shirts the last few weeks.

[SterioDesign]

my interest did drop and it did drop my interest in hockey in general. Usually im all over any news keeping track of all teams and watching 3-4 games a night. But i was excited that i had a strong team to back up or a few top players to lock up to. But now im still watching but not gonna cancel plans or go out of my way to catch a whole game if i have other things to do. I've been burned wayyyy too often to cancel plans just to curse at the tv for 2 hrs and regret my decision. 

 

I do love Schneider and a few guys but more often than not i was feeling pity for that poor Schneider more than anything. But this team is indeed a lot more fun to watch.

 

I also realized that i loved movies a lot more than i love hockey. I'm a huge movie geek and i'm launching a website/brand/online store with my own clothing line, all related to general pop culture and nostalgia so movies, tv, music, comics, collectibles, art etc. We'll do blogs, videos, interviews, top lists and share all kinds of content. So i'm working on that a lot and well i'd rather watch movies i've never seen to buff up my knowledges of movies or re-watch the classic. So im just trying to put my time and focus on stuff that miiiight be useful for what i do. And it seem like knowing that Luke chances of survival were 725 to 1 might be more important than knowing that Steve Downie got 238 minutes of penalty last season.

 

Went to FanExpo (basically comicon) in Toronto this summer too and went to the HHOF one morning and eventhough it was really cool and all i was really looking forward to go back to FanExpo to see all the movie sh!t and panels. That was eye opening lol 

 

hockey is still my favorite sport, i'll play this winter (after breaking my elbow last winter) and i'll always cheer for this team and watch games but again, this team has frustrated me so fvcking much in the last few years that if there's something more important to do while there's a game, i might skip.

Edited November 6, 2015 by SterioDesign

[Colorado Rockies 1976]

Pretty simple; fan interest goes down when the team sucks. Did anyone care about the Mets last year? Nope. Yet you couldn't go anywhere without seeing people in Mets shirts the last few weeks.

 

The hardcore group definitely did (I'm in that group, as is Has and 7).  The young pitching (and the promise of the guys about to come up) had some of the disillusioned/disconnected fans starting to come back to life last season (deGrom was called up, and Wheeler pitched his first full season).  But yeah, in any group, many fans come out when the team is winning, and many of those same fans go into hibernation when the team isn't.  The fans who watch almost every single game on TV and pay to go to games no matter what are few and far between.

 

That being said, fans will come out to see a team that's not yet putting up the gaudy records and isn't likely to make the playoffs, but is clearly exciting and building towards something.  It's the deadwood teams full of overpaid, past-their-primes disinterested vets (with not much in the way of prospects to replace them) that are really hard to take.  I'm not sure how good this Devils team really is, but I look forward to getting back into them...starting tonight... 

[Jerzey]

I'm going to beat a dead horse here so I'll apologize in advance but I was getting really bored with this team over the past few years. Lou just kept trying to build the same team with the same system and it got really stale to me especially having watched the team since the late 80's.

I love the new direction this team is going in and even though I know we aren't going to be very good I'm more excited to watch the games than I have been in a long time.

[Daniel]

Still as interested in the team as I ever was, except that circumstances are such that I don't make it to games as often as I used to. 

 

But often the team can be very difficult to watch, regardless of what the score of the game actually is.  To be fair though, I don't know if that's a league-wide phenomenon, but there just aren't any players on the team that I find all that exciting to watch.

 

Also, people might think I'm beating a dead horse, but the you suck people make going to games slightly less enjoyable.  It's the equivalent of Jon Sterling home run calls. 

[thecoffeecake]

I forgot to get amped up for the start of the season too, ironically because I was pretty dialed in to baseball too, only watching a last place team. I had almost a week to get hockey on the mind before our season started.

I personally like watching bad teams. Not as much as I like watching good teams, but there's something great about being a die hard for a terrible team. I couldn't care less if we had super stars, aging garbage, young guys, or pee wees. The experience doesn't change for me. It's still our community's team, it's still hockey. I watch enough other games to get my fill of the super star thing.

[Derlique]

We had Stevens, Marty, Nieds, Kovalchuk, Elias (he was a superstar for a few seasons), Parise and

Schneider. It's REALLY difficult to get these players.

Edited November 6, 2015 by SMantzas

[devlman]

Aside from the very low expectations for our team, League-wide, I think the lack of physical play and fighting allowed has tamed a lot of the intensity. Playing rivals less with the new division format/alignment also doesnt help.  Officiating is unacceptably bad again this year, clutching and grabbing is not called like it is supposed to. Goalies are dressed like Lundqvist all over the place...

 

3 on 3 has been great though!

[roomtemp]

I'm still in mourning over the Mets season so I'm still not in hockey mood yet

['7']

I think I will get into the Devils this year because it feels like they've turned a new page, even the little things I'm liking (little Devils decals on the helmets a nice little upgrade, red numbers on the away helmets) I love how this team got younger and faster, they work hard, they're competitive. The talent isn't there quite yet but so what, they're not going to win a ton of games but this is not some piss poor trainwreck. The games are way more fun to watch this year than they were every year since 2012 when they were this plodding old mess of agent "talent" thrown together.

 

Attendance I'm not so worried about. Yes it looks scary low thus far but I think the Mets had something to do with it, and once we inch past Thanksgiving attendance will pick up as it usually does, though I doubt we see many (if any) 17k+ crowds.

 

And while I am feeling good about the Devils, it seems their is very little buzz around the NHL in general. It usually shows up on the scene anonymously, but this is its quietest entrance in a long time. There needs to be more goals, more fighting, more big hits, more mayhem to put the spotlight back on hockey.

 

And also these October home dates. Jets, Predators, Coyotes. Attendance poison. They really need to key on more divisional play to cultivate rivalries

 

We play the Rangers 4 times this year. What a joke. We don't see them again until February 2016. How does that help the blood flowing in a rivalry? We should play our rivals minimum 6 if not 8 games a year. At least with 6 you could pretty much have a monthly Devs/Rags/Isles/Flyers/Pens game to look forward to. The more Crosby's or Ovechkins in our arena the better it is for our bottom line. Nobody wants to see the faceless/nameless preds or that Arizona franchise on life support limp in here. Good riddance.

 

Leafs don't play the Sabres again until MARCH? Asinine. Rags and Isles still have to wait a full month before playing each other. More lunacy.

Edited November 6, 2015 by '7'

[MadDog2020]

I think I will get into the Devils this year because it feels like they've turned a new page, even the little things I'm liking (little Devils decals on the helmets a nice little upgrade, red numbers on the away helmets) I love how this team got younger and faster, they work hard, they're competitive. The talent isn't there quite yet but so what, they're not going to win a ton of games but this is not some piss poor trainwreck. The games are way more fun to watch this year than they were every year since 2012 when they were this plodding old mess of agent "talent" thrown together.

Attendance I'm not so worried about. Yes it looks scary low thus far but I think the Mets had something to do with it, and once we inch past Thanksgiving attendance will pick up as it usually does, though I doubt we see many (if any) 17k+ crowds.

And while I am feeling good about the Devils, it seems their is very little buzz around the NHL in general. It usually shows up on the scene anonymously, but this is its quietest entrance in a long time. There needs to be more goals, more fighting, more big hits, more mayhem to put the spotlight back on hockey.

And also these October home dates. Jets, Predators, Coyotes. Attendance poison. They really need to key on more divisional play to cultivate rivalries

We play the Rangers 4 times this year. What a joke. We don't see them again until February 2016. How does that help the blood flowing in a rivalry?

Leafs don't play the Sabres again until MARCH? Asinine. Rags and Isles still have to wait a full month before playing each other. More lunacy.

I agree wholeheartedly on the rivalry point. Playing teams like Arizona and Nashville in October isn't something we need. The game needs rivalries. I'd like it if they brought back the old schedule where you play each team from the other conference at least once (which means that not every team visits every other team's building every season, but who the f cares?), you play each conference team four times (two home, two away), and each division team six times (three home, three away). I want more games against the Rags and Philly and Pittsburgh, etc. It's a joke that we don't play the Rags again until February.

[devilsrule33]

I agree wholeheartedly on the rivalry point. Playing teams like Arizona and Nashville in October isn't something we need. The game needs rivalries. I'd like it if they brought back the old schedule where you play each team from the other conference at least once (which means that not every team visits every other team's building every season, but who the f cares?), you play each conference team four times (two home, two away), and each division team six times (three home, three away). I want more games against the Rags and Philly and Pittsburgh, etc. It's a joke that we don't play the Rags again until February.

 

There is no good way of doing this that satisfies everyone. A few years back people were sick of playing their division rivals almost every second week, and then some fans only had the opportunity to see Ovechkin or Crosby once every 4 years, and if there was an injury, it really suck. Most Eastern fans weren't thrilled to see the Oilers, but now it would suck if they had to wait 3 seasons to see McDavid (this is taking into account his injury). People want Edmonton to come to town. Chicago and LA were uneventful road teams, but most fans are lining up to see those teams now.

 

As for the state of the league, I think the game is hurting a bit, but mostly in Canada. I'm sure the league is getting a little nervous with NHL ratings decline.

 

And as for the Devils, it's really because this team is not very good, and there is just little do discuss right now. I mean the Devils have Lee Stempniak not only coming here on a PTO, but now playing the 1st line and being one of the leaders in ice-time for forwards. That kind of sums up where the Devils are right now. The things worth discussing are just minor. Can Gelinas ever be a regular in the NHL, do the Devils have something in Kalinin? This isn't to say what we were spending a ton of time arguing last year was anything more serious, but the expectations that we had about the team and players certainly were.

[Microwavepizza]

I use to stay in the past and make sure i watched the games. Now, i can sort of watch when I'm home or just follow on twitter or get scores.

Just sort of passively watching the game is where I'm personally at. I usually watch Hockeystreams on my XboxOne in the top corner while playing Halo or Destiny or something rather than sit and watch a whole game. (Maybe that's just my terrible attention span)

My family even cut down the amount of attended games due to just time and money and recent success

and i agree with the rivalries. Playing the Rags/Flyers etc is always fun and i encourage friends to go and see them during those games, but if you're a casual fan, then it may not be exciting.

 

I'm sure as the season progresses and things start to matter (whether thats playoffs which wont happen, or gunning for a high pick) a lot of us will come back and watch more intently.

 

[cgb6397]

I agree with this to an extent. Players back then in pretty much all sports had more edge and attitude to them. If Scott Stevens played in today's NHL he'd be hated like Matt Cooke rather than revered for his attitude. Players nowadays are just too likable.

 

This goes both ways I think too where if you think about the Rangers which I've seen mentioned on this board before. You wouldn't see McDonagh guarantee a playoff victory win.

 

It's easier to be in touch with the human side of these players today through social media and the constant haggling by the Devils media staff asking our players what they like on their waffles. There's no way these guys could maintain the gladiator type stigma that fans loved to get behind because of this. 

[Satans Hockey]

I really don't get the whole following only thing at a time or staying home to watch the game instead of going out.

I dvr the road games it I have something else to do and stay off this message board or any other social media until I watch the game. It's really quite easy and I rarely have any scores spoiled for me.

[MadDog2020]

I agree with this to an extent. Players back then in pretty much all sports had more edge and attitude to them. If Scott Stevens played in today's NHL he'd be hated like Matt Cooke rather than revered for his attitude. Players nowadays are just too likable.

This goes both ways I think too where if you think about the Rangers which I've seen mentioned on this board before. You wouldn't see McDonagh guarantee a playoff victory win.

It's easier to be in touch with the human side of these players today through social media and the constant haggling by the Devils media staff asking our players what they like on their waffles. There's no way these guys could maintain the gladiator type stigma that fans loved to get behind because of this.

Sports has become a microcosm of society. Our society is hypersensitive and offended by everything, which coincides with the pussification of most contact sports. God forbid a player carries himself with an edge, or says anything that hurts someone's feelings, or *GASP* hits someone in open ice who has their head down. How would we ever carry on after such a thing?! [emoji57] Edited November 6, 2015 by MadDog2020

[mfitz804]

I really don't get the whole following only thing at a time or staying home to watch the game instead of going out.

I dvr the road games it I have something else to do and stay off this message board or any other social media until I watch the game. It's really quite easy and I rarely have any scores spoiled for me.

 

In fact, I DVR all of the games and watch them at my convenience. I don't always have the spare time to start a game at 7:00. Start at 8:00, zip straight through the commercials and intermissions, you get all the hockey in about an hour and a half.