The Prince George Cougars are not for sale and they aren't moving to Chilliwack.
Despite rumours to the contrary, Cougars general manager Dallas Thompson said the Cougars remain committed to staying put in Prince George as long as they can find a way to make the team economically viable.
"This team is not for sale, and we've made that abundantly clear about a hundred times," said Thompson, who said he was speaking for owner Rick Brodsky, his father-in-law.
But Thompson cautions, the team can't continue to operate as a money-losing franchise indefinitely and after three seasons of dwindling attendance and lower-than-expected corporate support, those downward trends have to be reversed for the team to stay put in the long term.
"We're exploring a way to make our business work here and relocation is something we don't want to have happen and it's not an option," said Thompson. "We want to make this thing work in Prince George and that's what we're trying to so. Chilliwack is not an option. We can't comment about anything that's going on there."
With the Chilliwack Bruins almost certain to move to Victoria next season, Bruins minority Moray Keith was rumoured to have been interested in buying the Cougars and moving them to Chilliwack. But Thompson said Keith has not spoken to Brodsky about selling the team.
He also also denied the Cougars are looking at any other city to move to for next season.
"Absolutely not," Thompson said. "The bottom line is the team is not for sale and we're trying to make it work in Prince George. There's nothing else going on."
In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the Cougars were among the top-drawing teams in the WHL, but attendance plummeted this season to new lows and the situation did not improve much in the playoffs. The two-game crowd count in the Cougars' home playoff games against the Kelowna Rockets totaled just 4,821 -- in a building that seats 5,995.
The team's location, six hours from the nearest opponent, adds to the pressure the Cougars are under to make money to cover travel costs, which are among the most expensive in the WHL.
The team's advertising revenues are also down considerably. Thompson says the Cougars rank near the bottom of the WHL in corporate sales as well as attendance.
"Those numbers don't work for us business-wise," said Thompson.
"It means we have to figure out some new revenue streams here in Prince George to try to make the numbers work somehow. If you ice a good hockey team the attendance should be there. Certainly, we've had some down years, for sure, and we'll take those right on the chin, but some of the good years we've had where attendance goes down, those are the hard ones to take.
"On January 1st we were in first place in our division, which had never happened before, and we were averaging 1,600 people on a weeknight and 1,800 on a weekend and that can't be acceptable. 3,500 or 4,000 would be a pretty good number but we're a long ways from there.
"First, [a competitive] team has to be there, which I think it's going to be there, and secondly, we need the people there."
The Cougars have been trying to build their season ticket base to help the team in its bid to play host to the 2013 Memorial Cup. The team also offers half-season ticket packages good for 18 games, as well as six- and 12-game packages which are at a discounted rate over single-game ticket prices.
"We have 17 guys coming back to the team next season and we think it will be a very good team and we need to continue to build on our team," Thompson said. "We hope that when you win people come and that certainly has to be a factor in Prince George. We also need corporate support and with the 2015 Canada Winter Games coming here that will be an issue and we'll have to fight for those dollars too."
