Blazers Set Attendance Record
Published on January 15, 2003 under Central Hockey League (CHL) News Release
The Central Hockey League's Oklahoma City Blazers, who are leading all "AA" North America professional hockey clubs in average attendance for the fourth consecutive season, have set a new CHL record with an attendance of 16,873 during their victory over Tulsa on Friday, January 10th at Oklahoma City's new Ford Center. The previous CHL high of 14,324 was set just last season by the Indianapolis Ice on February 2nd, 2002 during their annual "Pack The House" promotion. Oklahoma City's record crowd is also a season high for all North American minor professional clubs this season.
The record crowd on hand were well rewarded for their attendance, and witnessed a 6-4 Blazer win over their archrivals from Tulsa, moving Oklahoma City into first place, a single point ahead of the Oilers in the CHL's Northwest Division.
In their 11th season of play, the Blazers have now welcomed over 3.2 million fans during regular season play, and have set an extremely high standard with an average attendance of 9,298 at their 352 career regular season home contests.
"We congratulate the Oklahoma City Blazers on yet another outstanding achievement," said CHL President Brad Treliving. "The Blazers continue to be recognized as one of the top franchises in all of minor pro sports, and are to be commended for continuing to stress the basic business fundamentals that have made so them so successful over the past decade.
Next week, the CHL will converge on Oklahoma City for the Dodge 2003 All-Star Game on Thursday, January 23rd, featuring the most outstanding players from across the League. In other CHL news, the Wichita Thunder have announced a coaching change. Jim Latos, with a record of 32-53-13 in 98 games since the beginning of the 2001/2002 season, has been removed. Latos' replacement will be announced by the Thunder in the near future.
Pointstreak PRO Performance of the Week:
Corpus Christi left winger Jaroslav Jabrocky excelled in scoring a hat-trick on during one of the wildest games in the CHL this season, leading the Ice Rays to a 7-5 home win over El Paso on January 10th. He scored his second and third goals of the game during the third period, where the clubs exchanged a total of five goals in the last six minutes of play. For the season, the Slovakian native has 11 goals and 11 assists in 35 games split between Corpus Christi and Laredo.
Central Hockey League Stories from January 15, 2003
- Blazers Set Attendance Record - CHL
- Bats 'Guaranteed' to Rebound Friday - Austin Ice Bats
- Rayz Week in Review - Corpus Christi IceRays
- Buzzards GM announces resignation - El Paso Buzzards
- Gorillas Blank Corpus Christi, 3-0 - Amarillo Gorillas
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