SPORTS
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Tony Tribble for The EPqutrer
The Moeller High School hockey team practices at Cincinnati Gardens, which is without a professional hockey franchise this season "'or the first time since 1989.
Hockey: Year's hiatus From Page Bl
Fans also are turning to local co': leges and high schools for action on the ice and, of course, to their 1V!<, where they finally can watch the NHL again after a lockout suspended games last season. Kevin Overberg, a Cincinnati hockey fan since the days of the Swords, Stingers and Tigers, has season tickets to Miami University's home games. "I just love the sport," said Overberg. Mike Harris, Miami University's assistant athletic director for external affairs, says the absence of pro hockey in Cincinnati is translating into increased sales for the RedHawks. Season-ticket sales are up 11 percent this year, he said. There are other reasons for the increased ticket sales, Harris added. A new stadium will open next year, and season-ticket holders this season can renew their packages next year for the same price. Still "hockey fans are looking for a place to find hockey" this year, Harris said. Another possible beneficiary of the Mighty Ducks' absence: Northem Kentucky 1Jniversity' s new club team. Scott Hicks, president of NKU Club Hockey, said more than 300
people attended Saturday's opener against Wright State. Hicks said he thinks the club's novelty attracted much of the crowd, but he said he talked to Cyclones and Mighty Ducks fans after the game. "People said they got into hockey watching the Cyclones and Ducks and decided to come check us out," Hicks said. And Cincinnati Gardens - which was the home of the Mighty Ducks - won't be empty this winter. Ifs hosting some high schools games featuring teams such as Moeller, St Xavier and Elder. Moeller coach Mike Reeder, who is· also the director of ice sales at the Mighty Ducks Skating Center, said high school hockey offers dedicated fans an outlet "We might gain some hardcore fans who are really searching for games," Reeder said. "Everybody in town is definitely missing (professional hockey). We're all excited about the next team, but for right now, Wffre just sitting and waiting." Then there are the Cincinnati Jr. Cyclones, the area's Jr. B team in the Central States Hockey League. This elite-level junior team, which fields players looking to move up to Jr. A and collegiate hockey, plays most of its games at SportsPlus but has four games scheduled at the
Gardens. Smpe plans to attend some of these lower-level games. 'To me, hockey is hockey, whether ifs professional, pee wee or college," he said. If bere's nothing else, he1l make u;> his own games on his PlayStation. An:l Questa figures if he can't w111:ch hockey, he might as well play. He's participating in an adult hockey league at SportsPlus this full with his team, the Heckler's Grove Wolves. But fans like Snape and Questa are hopeful that, ultimately, this is jus: a one-year aberration, and that pre hx:key returns to Cincinnati stronger than ever with fans unified behind one team. The Ducks averaged 4,961 fans in 4C home games last season, near 1le mi::ldle of the pack for the AHL That's compared to reported averages of nearly 10,000 fans at Cyclones games in the 1990s. Can hockey ever become that big hen again? You can bet there are a few fans who ca~.'t wait to see. '1t's a new team, something the entire city can get around and embrace," Snape said. "... If we put the petty stuff away, maybe hockey can real.'y, really 1ourish in this town."
E-mail ckatze@enquirer. com
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