Building off the ice

JEREMIAH BARTZ/ Frontiersman sports editor

WASILLA - At about the midway point of the junior hockey season, the Wasilla Spirit stand in second place of the competitive West Division of the North American Hockey League, and on track to secure a playoff berth in just their first season as a franchise in the Mat-Su Valley.

On the ice, the Spirit continue to improve.

Off the ice, the Wasilla organization continues to build.

From a business perspective, the Spirit franchise is fighting the battles necessary to make the hockey organization successful on and off the ice. The Spirit are trying to market their product to a community which, before this season, was unfamiliar with junior hockey, and build a significant fan base.

&#8220There have been some bumps in the road,” Wasilla Spirit Marketing Director Jamie Smith said. &#8220We're trying to make sure we're running things efficiently.”

Smith said the biggest obstacle could be selling the Spirit to the fans who are not familiar with junior hockey. Wasilla has had success appealing the Valley's vast and supportive hockey community. But its the fans outside of that circle, the Spirit now want to reach.

&#8220We're still new to town,” Smith said. &#8220There's still a lot of people that don't know about us.”

Smith said the Spirit have had success marketing the squad through the local media, and many local businesses have already leant their support. But with more time, the Spirit can build more relationships with local businesses.

Time may be the key.

&#8220The timing was tough,” Smith said. &#8220We got this thing going in August, and had zero time to get things going marketing-wise.”

Before the Spirit landed in Wasilla, a number of junior hockey teams were rumored to be looking at the Valley for a place to call home. Last spring, with the help of Fairbanks Ice Dogs president Jack Tragis, the Spirit relocated under new ownership from Springfield, Mo., to Wasilla. Tragis and the Ice Dogs, another team in the NAHL West and before this year the only NAHL squad from the 49th state, saw it to their advantage to have another team from Alaska in the league. The addition of the Spirit to the state has made it more feasible financially for teams to come to Alaska, and the Ice Dogs now have a rivalry that makes sense geographically. In return, the Spirit has used the experience gained by the Ice Dogs, successful veterans of the NAHL, to create a blueprint for success.

The Ice Dogs have already used their rivalry with the Spirit from a business standpoint. Fairbanks created a special rivalry jersey. The sweater includes an outline of the map of Alaska, with a big star next to Fairbanks and a spot for Wasilla. The jersey has already become popular with Ice Dogs fans, and has been available for sale.

Smith said the Spirit also want to use the intrastate rivalry to their advantage, and sees the opportunity for Wasilla to pack the Curtis C. Menard II Memorial Ice Arena every time the Ice Dogs come to town. Smith said the Spirit would like the season series, or a at least part of the series between the Ice Dogs and Spirit, to be officially recognized with a championship trophy handed to the winner. It would be something like the Alaska Airlines Governor's Cup, the prize that recognizes the winner of the annual series between the Alaska Anchorage and Alaska Fairbanks Division I hockey programs. He hopes a business will step in and do what Alaska Airlines has done for the UAA-UAF hockey series.

Smith said the work of the city of Wasilla will benefit the Spirit. There are plans to put an electronic billboard, something similar to what is now alongside the Glenn Highway on the Alaska State Fairgrounds, along the Parks Highway near the entrance to the Wasilla Multi-Use Sports Complex and Menard Arena. This would advertise not only the Spirit home games, but the other events held at the facility.

The Spirit now offer beer from the Great Bear Brewing Company and food from the Great Alaska Pizza Company at all home games.

&#8220Any of these things help,” Smith said. &#8220If we can make a couple of hundred bucks a game from the beer and pizza, that could pay for the game officials and ice time. That's fairly huge.”

The average attendance for a Spirit home game is 654 fans. Compared to the other teams in the NAHL, Wasilla's attendance figures put the Spirit in the middle of the pack. According to the numbers provided by the league on www.nahl.com, the Spirit have a total attendance of 11,126 in 17 games this season.

The Texas and Fairbanks franchises are well beyond the remainder of the league. The Tornado are attracting an average of 3,099 fans per game, while the Ice Dogs have a listed average of 1,918 per home contest at the Big Dipper Ice Arena in Fairbanks.

The total attendance figure may not accurately indicate how many people are actually in the stands, Smith said. The number submitted to the league may be 1,200. But only 700 fans may be in the stands. Season ticket holders are accounted for, regardless of whether the ticket is used.

In order to significantly raise the number of people attending the Wasilla home games, Smith is in favor of slashing the ticket prices.

&#8220Next year we want to make a value out of our season tickets,” Smith said. &#8220Make it a lower cost for people to come in.”

Smith said he would not only like to see the prices of season tickets go down, but the cost of a single-game ticket to also be reduced. If you sell 500 tickets for $10 a piece, Smith said, you will make less money if you sell 1,500 tickets for $5 each. With the money fans save at the ticket counter, they can spend at the concession stands.

&#8220The bottom line is making the tickets a value,” Smith said.

The Spirit also hope the 2006-07 NAHL schedule is more favorable to Wasilla. That would mean more Friday and Saturday games, and less Thursday or Sunday contests.

But the big advantage for the Spirit franchise next season, will simply be a season of experience. Smith said the Spirit organization has every intention of building a franchise that will remain in Wasilla permanently.