Return of the Kingfish? Baton Rouge may be in line for professional Hockey Team

[cajun]

 

Quote

 

https://www.wbrz.com/news/hockey-fans-ecstatic-as-a-local-team-could-be-returning-to-baton-rouge/

 Most people think of LSU Football when they think of sports in Baton Rouge.

Right now, the stage is set for a return of ice skating this weekend, and a hockey team could follow sometime soon.

"I just about had tears in my eyes, pure excitement," Ethan Webb, a hockey super fan and player, said.

For him and others, the possibility of a hockey team returning after a 20-year hiatus is exciting.

 

I don't want to quote the whole article.   Warning - it's a grammatical train wreck. 

The Kingfish were wildly popular in Baton Rouge for years, but they stopped selling out the Centroplex (now called the Cane's River Center) when they became less competitive.   There are rumors that a hockey team may be returning, and that a press conference will be held this week to provide the details.

[richyb83]

 Thanks for starting this Topic Cajun!   Can still remember taking the future wife to the Kingfish contest in the early 2000's.

Recent hockey games a success, but contests reveal flaws in downtown Baton Rouge arena

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/hockey-returning-to-baton-rouge-what-about-that-arena/article_68393974-8ba4-11ed-9f03-53479913d53b.html

Three recent hockey games inside the Raising Cane's River Center, including one before a sellout crowd this week, demonstrated that Baton Rouge could likely support a team again, but the exhibition contests exposed several shortcomings in a downtown arena that's nearly five decades old.

An announced crowd of 7,753 saw the Port Huron Prowlers beat the Mississippi Sea Wolves 6-4 Monday night in the third of three matches scheduled over the past month. Fans who missed any of the goals, however, had no means to catch the score on replay unless they were tuned in to one of the team's YouTube channels. 

There's already a plan to address that: the Metro Council in the fall approved spending $2.3 million to improve the fan experience. Even if Baton Rouge doesn't attract a hockey franchise next year, Raising Cane's River Center general manager Wayne Hodes said the improvements could help the arena attract more events and concerts.

But the recent improvements have been limited. Hodes acknowledges the current scoreboard over the center ice does not allow fans to watch goal replays, and concourse LED monitors are not equipped to show the game to fans waiting for drinks and snacks during the action. Monitors hung in the northeast and southwest corners of the arena showed the team logos, the score and the time remaining in each period.

The experience was not unlike that from when the Baton Rouge Kingfish played in the arena 20 years ago. Video technology has exploded since then.

HAPPY NEW YEAR TO ALL  2023!

[richyb83]

Baton Rouge's new hockey team has some businesses eager for more visitors

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/news/officials-expect-economic-boost-to-baton-rouge-from-hockey/article_6dcb7d26-d8a1-11ed-a4b7-4b8373e90aa0.

The arrival of Baton Rouge's new hockey team in October will bring with it a boost for the local economy, officials said Tuesday. 

The minor league team was announced Tuesday morning after a three-game exhibition series at the Raising Cane's River Center in December and January drew more than 7,000 spectators to each game. The success of those games translated to an economic boost for businesses downtown, a trend that is expected to continue for the 28 home games the River Center will host each season, Mayor-President Sharon Weston Broome said. 

"Not only will it bring new entertainment options, but it will also create jobs and stimulate economic growth," Broome said. "With the arrival of the hockey team, we can expect to see increased tourism as fans from all over the region come to watch games and explore what our city has to offer."

Despite all three games being played on a weeknight, sales at Jolie Pearl Oyster Bar on North Boulevard tripled the nights of the games, said co-owner Dana Brown. 

"To think, if we had a team regularly and it could infuse that much excitement into downtown, it’s a game changer,"

"We know that a lot of those folks are coming in, spending the night in our hotels, eating at our restaurants, spending at our retail stores," Kidder said. "We’re hoping we can encourage those folks to spend a little more time here and enjoy what our city has to offer."

Within the last decade, downtown's greenway, a redo of the City Hall plaza and improvements to the river front have been completed, quality of life projects that should help keep spectators in downtown after games, Downtown Development District Assistant Executive Director Casey Tate said. 

[cajun]

The new team won't be called "kingfish", unfortunately.    But I'm really excited for what's coming.  

We need to recruit more events downtown to the river center.   Baton Rouge doesn't do a great job with that anymore.

[cajun]

So....is the city/parish going to update the River Center arena for this?   Last time I was there, it needed some new jumbotrons and some updates.

[richyb83]

Think the new Baton Rouge Hockey team is trying to appeal to the entire state of Louisiana.   But many are disappointed with the new name ZYDECO. That genre of music is more in SW LA (Lafayette; Lake Charles)  .  And the "Blues"  name has already been taken by St.Louis.

  I agree the RED STICKS would have been the best....

The Zydeco? Name for new Baton Rouge hockey team causes a stir

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/the-zydeco-name-for-new-baton-rouge-hockey-team-causes-a-stir/article_b0b284fa-225b-11ee-a0e1-ef1cbb80b5fe.html

[dan326]

On 7/17/2023 at 9:45 PM, richyb83 said:

Think the new Baton Rouge Hockey team is trying to appeal to the entire state of Louisiana.   But many are disappointed with the new name ZYDECO. That genre of music is more in SW LA (Lafayette; Lake Charles)  .  And the "Blues"  name has already been taken by St.Louis.

  I agree the RED STICKS would have been the best....

The Zydeco? Name for new Baton Rouge hockey team causes a stir

https://www.theadvocate.com/baton_rouge/entertainment_life/the-zydeco-name-for-new-baton-rouge-hockey-team-causes-a-stir/article_b0b284fa-225b-11ee-a0e1-ef1cbb80b5fe.html

I agree, I don't think that name really fits BR or most of LA. I think the old Kingfishers would have been a better general LA name.

[cajun]

I mean....it's a hockey team.  Couldn't they have picked a name more aggresive?  

Kingfish was an awesome name.  

[richyb83]

SEASON STARTS Thursday!

https://downtownbatonrouge.org/discover-downtown/events/baton-rouge-pro-hockey-crd-vs-btr

Baton Rouge Pro Hockey - Columbus River Dragons vs BTR

 

[richyb83]

[cajun]

On 10/24/2023 at 3:10 PM, richyb83 said:

SEASON STARTS Thursday!

https://downtownbatonrouge.org/discover-downtown/events/baton-rouge-pro-hockey-crd-vs-btr

Baton Rouge Pro Hockey - Columbus River Dragons vs BTR

 

River Dragons?  

Okay I don't feel bad about the Zydeco name anymore.   

[richyb83]

That's  funny Cajun !  At least the Port Huron Prowlers sounds legit.  

The NHL Arizona Coyotes are moving to Utah ; rumor has it they will be the Utah "Yeti"" some may not like it ; but i think it's kinda cool too.

The ZYDECO season seems like it was a success !

ZYDECO 2023-2024 SEASON

The Baton Rouge Zydeco averaged 3,958 fans per game. Attendance numbers for the season exceeded 110,000, team president Don Lewis said. The economic impact study by Visit Baton Rouge showed that the hockey team brought $8.1 million into the local economy, particularly downtown. Thank you Baton Rouge!