Fans flock to Mooseheads, despite rebuild

There hasn’t been a lot to cheer about in moose country on the ice this season. Still, fans of the Halifax Mooseheads have been pouring into the Scotiabank Centre, averaging nearly 8,000 a game.

Fans of the Quebec Maritimes Junior Hockey League team point to the team’s improvements to the fan experience, as well as themed nights and intermission activities as to why seats are still filled at the Scotiabank Centre.

“They just keep adding (new things). They’ve got that new moose, a different song when they score. They’ve always got little events between periods,” said fan Chris MacInnis.

The “new moose” refers to the new giant moose head that now looms over opposing team’s goalies in the north end of the stadium. The moose shoots smoke from its nose and has glowing eyes. The eyes glow red when the Mooseheads score and green when they go on the power play.

Mooseheads’ president Brian Urquhart said “the theme with these new additions was to add something unique to our brand. For the giant moose, there’s nothing like this at the junior or professional level.”

“Where else can you see a 17-foot, 1,700-pound moose head,” Urquhart said.

The moose is one of two most talked about new features added for this season. The other is lights on the stanchions around the boards. The light tubes surround the boards for shows before the game and at the start of every period. 

Depending on what song is playing, the lights flash and change with the beat.

“We thought this was an area we could add a visual element (to) during key moments of the game that was not available at the NHL level, (except) Nashville and Vancouver,” said Urquhart.

“It’s nice to see the owners invest in stuff like (stadium additions),” said fan Gregory Oursin, citing the sale of the team to Simon Sports this past June. “It sends the right signal to the fans.”

“From day one the Simons made it clear that improving fan experience would be a priority for them. That was the mindset with these moves and continues to be the mindset as we look for ways to better our product for all Mooseheads fans,” said Urquhart.

The team currently sits 8th of 10 teams in the league’s eastern conference, and 13th of 18 teams overall in the QMJHL standings. Last season saw the team finish second in the east and fourth overall in the league.

Fans say they are aware this season is a rebuilding year and they don’t expect the team to mount a strong playoff push this year.

Season ticket holder Austin LeBlanc says the stadium additions and entertainment have energized the fan base.

“In previous years it was just kind of bland … like watching a hockey game at home,” said LeBlanc. He said the atmosphere this year is exciting.

“It’s exciting to see that in a losing season we have this many people (attending),” LeBlanc said.

“Two or three years down the road when we do have a winning season, people are gonna be fighting for tickets.”

“These are long-term investments. We fully understand that at the end of the day, we need a top-end product on and off the ice to have the biggest affect on our fan experience and ultimately attendance,” Urquhart said.

Jeff Hurry is one fan who enjoys the team’s new entertainment. 

“The crew here do a good job of keeping us all entertained and, (it) makes the game very enjoyable.”

The team also hosts theme nights throughout the season. In recent years, these games have improved attendance.

Fan Craig Appleby says he plans his attendance around themed games.

“We have a 15-game pack and we centre our tickets around those theme nights,” Appleby said.

“(Theme nights) make people who don’t maybe care about the sport can still get behind the fun of the themes,” said another fan, Kristen Shea.

“It attracts more non-sport fans to start to go to the games to become fans.”