The Toledo Blade’s Mark Monroe spoke with hockey historian Dan Saevig regarding the high probability that the Red Wings’ ECHL affiliate will likely recover from a 2020-2021 season not played due to financial concerns:
“Toledo has shown that absence makes the heart grow fonder [for hockey],” Saevig said. “While this is disappointing for everyone, the good news is that it’s just a one-year blip on the hockey radar screen. Unlike the previous instances in Toledo when hockey wasn’t played, it isn’t because of controllable variables like poor ticket sales, bad marketing, or a sub-par win-loss record. This is simply because of a horrible pandemic. What makes this hiatus different from all previous shutdowns is that the hockey product and the business operations of the Walleye are in great shape.”
The Walleye annually rank among the top two teams in the ECHL in attendance. The team now routinely sells out its home games. Last season, the team set a single-season record with 7,448 fans per game and had 24 sellouts before the season was cut short on March 14. The organization now enjoys a season-ticket holder fan base of 2,850. The franchise set a Toledo record when 8,538 fans jammed into the downtown arena for Game 5 of the Kelly Cup Finals in 2019.
Saevig said given those “great metrics” the Walleye enjoyed up until the pandemic, he expects that success to continue.
“The strength of the organization on and off the ice [indicate that] the overwhelming majority of people will be back because they will be starved for entertainment,” Saevig said. “We know that the Walleye will be back later this year.”
Neil Neukam, the Walleye’s executive vice president and general manager, struggled to put the disappointment over the announcement into words on Tuesday. But he said the organization already has its eyes on a big return next season.
“We had anticipated another exciting season for our fans, in spite of the challenges,” Neukam said. “We remain committed to our fans … and we look forward to celebrating T-Town hockey in October.”
