Mexico Madness [1/2]

[PenKnight 23]

 

(535 Word Count + Graphic)

 

Although investors never had a doubt, nobody could foresee the future of ice hockey taking off in Mexico City the way that it has for the inaugural season of the Mexico City Kings! The team has played 12 games so far this season and are holding their own in 8th place with a 6-5-1 record. By all measures this team could easily be 0-12. They are playing with a skeleton crew of a squad and players are averaging 28 to 32 minutes of ice time per game. This is unusual but management hopes to add new additions to the team in the near future to ease the burden. Interestingly, the Kings are getting outshot 3 to 1 on average per game but still have managed a winning record!

 

The interesting note isn't as much as the teams play or lack thereof but the real success seems to be the madness to get into the new arena to actually watch one of the games. The Kings have captured the heart of the people of Mexico City and the ones that don't get into the arena crowd the nearby street and lot outside the doors. One could say the outside party is just as exciting as being indoors. Perhaps even more when you compare the cost of tickets. The Kings have put up three areas around the arena where fans can watch on the big screen and if they brought folding chairs they are welcome to set up camp. Trash is becoming an issue and the Kings Organization does not want to close the outside areas so they have asked for volunteers to help with the problem. The good news is that they raffle off 40 tickets to the volunteers for the next home game so the volunteer work can pay off. The powers that be have made strict regulations that only the person who won their ticket can enter to that particular seat. This is so that teams will not try to resale the freebies on the secondary market. The Kings organization has stated that if the winner can not attend the game they won they can release the ticket back into the pool for someone else to enjoy.

 

The Kings have a five year plan for the team to build up from the expansion draft and expect good things in the near future. With the fan support behind them the organization is doing everything in their power to be competitive. Hopefully the rookies can get their TPE up in the near future and some acquisitions can be made to help boost stats like shots. The shot differential is something that needs to change as well as player ice time. Coaches have said those are the two main problems right now. If it wasn't for Goaltender Wrike Chyrnoble the Kings would be up the river without a paddle so to speak. The scariest thought is if Wrike Chyrnoble gets injured as the Kings have no back up goalie for the time being. We here at this magazine can only hope and pray the Kings can fix these problems in the very near future as we are all enjoying this new found love to our city!

[Renomitsu 934]

Review - Great work! Didn't mean to get on your case with the last media spot if it came across that way. I felt like the writing this time around was very thoughtful - lots of considerations for team success outside of strictly performance on the ice, including ticket prices, attendance/viewership, and so on.

 

I always feel like these sorts of pieces bring some life to the league, talking about team/front office/PR considerations rather than about the players all of the time.