[Part 2 of a 3-part Series]

Click here to read Part One

Deep in the heart of some hockey purists, perhaps under a blanket of snow in Winnipeg or Quebec City, is the belief that their sacred game of hockey cannot survive in a place where you can sunbathe on game day. But Arizona boasts three professional teams – The National Hockey League Phoenix Coyotes, Central Hockey League Prescott Sundogs and ECHL Phoenix RoadRunners –each with unique economic challenges for survival. It’s rare when schedules offer the teams in home games one after another, three days in a row. But in February 2007 the stars aligned and I traveled from Tucson to take the temperature of pro hockey in Arizona, one night at a time. Along the way I hoped to find out how Tucson could again join Arizona’s professional hockey ranks.

Puppy Dogs

A 100-mile drive north leads to tiny Prescott Valley, Arizona. – about ten miles east of the historic town of Prescott – where the Arizona Sundogs are in the middle of a successful first season in the minor Central Hockey League. Seemingly an odd choice for expansion as the CHL’s 17th pro hockey franchise, the growing rural area boasts a spanking-new 4,845 seat arena in the Tim’s Toyota Center complex. A drastically scaled-down version of the Glendale-style mega arena, the Prescott-area variety still has luxury boxes, video screens, plentiful and modern restrooms, bountiful concessions, and an intimate, friendly feel.

Public relations manager Shane Ferraro says the Sundogs focus their marketing on the approximately 60,000 Prescott & Prescott Valley-area locals, which adds up to approximately 125,000 when including surrounding towns. “We have season ticket holders from Flagstaff, and as far south as the north Phoenix area,” he says. “We’re by far the smallest market in the Central Hockey League, and consider ourselves a regional team.”

The Sundogs can also consider themselves a booming success so far. They average a whopping 4,200 fans per game, and more sellouts are a certainty if they eke into this year’s CHL playoffs.

Sundogs owner Eric Lacroix looked very carefully before picking Prescott Valley. Lacroix considered Little Rock, Arkansas and Grand Junction, Colorado as other possible locations for his team, but was sold on the potential for growth in northern Arizona. “The CHL has a great business model, and the league office is in Phoenix, so they really understood the market in Prescott, and they have really helped us succeed.” He says Tucson was never presented to him by the CHL as an option.

On this Friday, February 16th night a sold-out crowd enthusiastically rocked and rolled to a 6-2 victory over the visiting Odessa (Texas) Jackalopes (which has one of the most endearing animal hockey logos). It’s obvious that the Prescott area fans have more enthusiasm than hockey knowledge at this point, but their connection to their team is also clear. Just months into their first season, scores of team jerseys and shirts adorned young and old alike, and the line was constant through the evening at the team’s gift shop.

“A lot of people here bought season tickets but had never seen a hockey game before,” Lacroix says. “They saw one game and fell in love with the product on the ice and the sense of identity and the entertainment. The fans have been crazy, and other teams say we already have the best fans in the league.”

One of the best sights for team management must be the abundance of families attending together, and the swarming kids around “Burnie,” the Sundogs playful mascot. The little kids might not know the details of hockey just yet, but by the time they hit high school, I bet they’ll be coaching from the stands like the rest of us.

It’s a relatively affordable night out, too. My $22 tickets were among the best, though I actually moved higher in the stands into less expensive seats to get a wider view of the action.

The small-town feel of the game was augmented by the team’s attitude, gathering in a circle and saluting the fans after the game. That might just be a good PR move, but such public gestures foster the kind of positive team-to-community bond missing from the big-money NHL game.

“When you’re in a small town you have a big advantage in that the players can be more visible, and fans can connect with them,” says Lacroix, who played with five NHL teams and also boasts front-office experience with the NHL Colorado Avalanche.

“And it’s not just the team, it’s the game operations staff, and the arena staff, and the atmosphere at the game,” he says. “We want people to look forward to the next game. If you treat people with respect, they respond.”

The quality of play was also surprisingly competitive and skilled. The range of talent can vary wildly in second-tier minors like the CHL and ECHL – similar to the “AA” baseball level – and some hockey observers claim the CHL is actually closer to the “A” level. There are young kids just working their way up the pro ranks, players who will never make it any further and grizzled veterans in their thirties who are somehow hanging on. Add in the tide-like nature of minor league rosters – players going up and down – and ragged play can be the norm.

“I would say the ECHL and CHL are at the same (playing) level now,” Sundogs spokesman Shane Ferraro says. “The ECHL is a larger league and has been around longer, so some people might like to say it is better, but that’s just not the case anymore. We’re both having success with moving players up.” The Sundogs have players affiliated with the NHL Colorado Avalanche and “AAA” American Hockey League Albany River Rats.

“This is good hockey,” Lacroix adds. “People who think only good hockey is played in the NHL or AHL, they need to see the game at this level. There are good hockey players here.”

The entire show – pro hockey has to be more than simply athletic competition to compete for entertainment dollars – was run with such precision that I was amazed that the Sundogs were a first-year team. It might have seemed silly to outsiders when the plans were announced for Prescott Valley, Arizona to build a new 5,000-seat arena and land a pro hockey team – but now it looks like an exercise in brilliance.

“It’s become a little love affair between the team and the community,” Lacroix says. “This is their team, and it can make a smaller community proud.”