The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
With the Major League Baseball season opening the curtain on a new season, it's only fitting to see the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League hit a home run in its playoff attendance figures. Numbers are up across the board through the conference semi-finals as well as the conference finals. In the conference semis, SJHL clubs drew an average of 984 fans, up from an average of 866 a year ago. In addition, teams combined to play one additional game over last season for a total of 20,656 fans who came through the turnstiles. That is increase of over 3,300 total fans (17,318 in 20 cumulative games in 2007-08). The conference finals have had a very similar story. Humboldt (two-dates), Flin Flon (two-dates), Weyburn (three-dates), and Melville (three-dates) combined to bring in more than 11,000 fans, an increase of 381. The overall numbers work out to an average of 1,110 fans per game during the conference finals. The Melville Millionaires have led the way, playing in front of 11,623 through nine home games in the playoffs. That represents a per game average of close to 1,300 and an overall increase of almost 800 per game from their regular season numbers. The Humboldt Broncos rank second in per-game attendance at 1,256 and the Yorkton Terriers averaged 1,226 in three dates during the conference semi-finals. SJHL President Laury Ryan says, "The Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League continues to have strong attendance numbers for the playoffs and Credit Union Cup Championship. This year, the Credit Union Cup is in two of our smaller markets (Humboldt and Melville) and attendance is exceeding our expectations. In both communities they are drawing approximately 30 per cent to 35 per cent of their communities' population. This is a tremendous demonstration of support of the local team and Junior A hockey. The arenas are packed and the quality of play ensures that fans are coming back to the next game."
