Ted’s latest blog post comes to us from Tampa where he attended last night’s game. He was impressed with the party-like atmosphere before and after the game and the enthusiastic crowd during the game. He also mentions the use of “Ice Girls” and cheerleaders which have become more numerous as Atlanta, Boston, Carolina, Chicago, Dallas, Florida, Long Island, Nashville and others have similar squads to Tampa.
The Lightning also utilizes ice girls and cheerleaders in the stands. While I always thought that kind of entertainment was best suited for football, I must admit that they provided a lot of energy and entertainment for the fans. What do you think of ice girls and cheerleaders in hockey arenas?
Would Ice Girls and/or cheerleaders improve the attendance and/or atmosphere at the Verizon Center? Or are they better left for football and basketball games?
16 Comments
I see no problem with this at all. Anything we can do to get more people into the Verizon Center, and get those people into the game, I’m all for.
I was at a game about a year ago and in front of me were a group of girls that appeared to be some sort of organized cheering squad.
I was unimpressed, and so was the guy friend that went with me, in spite of the eye candy.
I never pay any attention to cheering squads, in spite of being one for several years in my younger days. There’s already on-ice entertainment in between periods, having cheerleaders performing during game-time is just distracting, and if they are in front of me in the stands, then just plain obnoxious.
We have the same thing in Nashville as well for the Predators. As a fan I have mixed emotions about it…..Sure, they can provide the entertainment but they don’t interact with the fans very much at all. Back then, we had the “Puck Patrol” and they interacted the fans alot (between stops of play, intermissions, etc.)..but with the Ice Dancers, they have not been doing so other than signing autographs and that’s it.
If the Predators Ice Dancers are not going to interact with all fans at the games…it’s time to bring back the Puck Patrol next season and leave the “cheerleaders” to football and basketball.
In Atlanta there are 2 seperate teams of girls..The Ice Girls R not there to “hype” up the croud..they R the ones who skate onto the ice, clean the goal areas & around the edges during TV intermissions…they usually have lots of skate background (Hockey or Figure Skating).. girls in the seats/stands are supposed to get the croud going when need be & throw out promo items like T-shirts & stuff.,,My Daughter is an Ice Girl in Atlanta..she loves her job & I see nothing wrong with ANY Hockey team including girls in these positions…Yes, they are a bit of eye candy, but they also have a VALID job to do as well..so long as they don’t interfere with the game itself…Now wether or not they will bring in EXTRA people or not…maybe not….But I was never into Hockey until my own daughter became an Ice Girl…We were always into Figure Skating since that was her background, but now I have learned the sport, attended many games, fell in love with it and brought friends with me! So maybe it does help bring in extra people! I have never been at a game where they actually “CHEERED” like football cheerleaders other than chant “lets go Thrashers….” So the concept of them being Cheerleaders is wrong…I think. Their job is to get promo items out and hype up a dead area in the arena…that is how I see it!..My2cntswrth
Here in Columbus, we actually don’t have “cheerleaders” so much as we have a pep squad. I say that because the Pepsi Power Patrol (which is what they are) actually consists of both guys and girls. It’s really not that bad, to be honest … they help with promotions, and get the crowd energized during stops in play or TV Timeouts.
Then there’s the “Ice Tarts” … the Mountain Dew Ice Girls. I just don’t like them. It seems silly. A pep squad I can understand and even like since it helps keeps the fans cheering and getting involved in fun things. Just not the ice girls.
Nicely done keeping things neutral in the post Gustafsson; voicing your opinion — or adding a photo of a cute ice girl, or of a non-cute one — could have impacted the scientific impartiality of the poll.
I go to watch Hockey!!!! I am sorry if a girl in a short skirt is going to get you to cheer for your team, really are you a true Hockey lover to begin with. I could care less about seeing “eye candy” while watching hockey and they would not get more attendance for having them. I love hockey cause it is all about the game and it is not glamourized. I want Hockey to be a rough and tough sport…you throw girls into the mix and it weakens the sport.
JMO.
I have no problem with ice girls at the games. After being introduced to hockey and becoming a lifelong Caps fan, I was moved to the desert and the only hocky I could get was the Pheonix puppies. When the Caps came to town I would be sure to catch the game, but I went to a couple other games as well. Even though the coyotes stunk up the joint, the atmosphere was always that of a fun place to be (even for Pheonix fans). Alot of that came from their ice girls. who were very personable and engaged the crowd during intermissions and timeouts. Hockey doesn’t need cheerleaders to hop arround during play, but there is nothing wrong with working a crowd up during down time.
In Boston, we have Ice Girls and we just had the Wives Carnival where we get to meet and interact with the players. I took my 7 year old son to it and when we got to their booth, I asked him if he wanted to meet them and he said it best: What do they have to do with hockey????
Not in favor here.
First of all, hockey is fast-paced and exciting enough without the need for distractions. Need something to capture your attention during TV timeouts and such? How about chatting with your fellow fans and friends, instead of waiting for something else to capture your attention?
I find it especially annoying to have “pep patrols” or whatever try to “engage” me in cheers or provoke me to jump for a stupid t-shirt that’s 5 sizes too big for me and enblazoned with some corporate logo. Great, just what I wanted! (I will say that once I witnessed, at an OHL Ottawa 67’s game, some pep squad shooting into the crowd Subway sandwiches, using large slingshots. I appreciated the absurdity of that one.)
Sure ice girls are “eye candy,” but I’m not going to a hockey game to drool over ladies. I could do that at the bar post-game, celebrating a Caps win.
Moreover, I see and hear and read a lot of very knowledge, discerning, and passionate female Caps fans who attend home games and probably would be none too pleased at the sight of ice girls, or whatever they ought to be called.
my .02 canadian
FWIW, the old ECHL Chesapeake Icebreakers got a small squad of ‘Breaker Girls together for their second season. The ‘Breakers lasted two seasons.
Back in the Cap Center days, the Caps had a promotional agreement with Hooters. The Hooters girls would walk around the stadium talking to fans and generally being friendly.
I certainly didn’t mind at the time, and I don’t think I would mind a more hockey-oriented approach if Ted were to implement one at the phone booth.
ARRRRGGGHHHH!!!
That is all.
Okay, as a former cheerleader, I think all cheerleaders should be kept to football and basketball. Hockey is too much of a good thing to throw cheerleaders into. It’s stupid. Plus, cheerleaders for the most part are bitchy, slutty, and usually dipsh*#s. (Hence the reason I gave it up. They annoyed me.) Anyway, we have enough hoochies on the ice when they clean up the goalies area. The CBJ has the pepsi patrol, which isn’t too bad, but it’s enough. We also have Stinger who randomly appears in different sections getting chants started. Everyone should stick with the mascots, or even the puck patrol someone else mentioned… Someone who interacts with the fans, who is a part of the hype, not some cheerleaders who would provide little to no hype and spirit in this wonderful game of hockey. Yeah, I’m off my soapbox now. I’m off to some long needed sleep.
i love eye candy. i think a chic that wears a hockey jersey is hot. but no ice girls. it’s just another way the NHL is selling out too to make it a wussy sport like all the other american sports out there.
I on the other hand think that cheerleading is a huge part of hockey life in Canada. I’ve been to the Ottawa 67s game and I think that those Ottawa67s Ice Girls do an excellent job at what they do I’m not going to lie previous years they weren’t the great team of dancers but they have seem to have grown as a team and have actually done stunts in the stands. So basically my two cents is that hockey cheerleading have definitely taken in up a level in terms of dance ability. However, what I am most amazed by is their interaction with kids and the lives (professions) they have outside of their Ice Girl life.
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[...] Last week we mentioned a post on Ted’s Take which mentioned the use of ice girls and cheerleaders and started a poll. As of 10:30am the poll is basically a push. After 181 votes, 90 are for ice girls/cheerleaders while 91 are against the idea. [...]
[...] Although we have pondered the idea of Washington Capitals’ Ice Girls, we don’t know if this is a done deal or not. Most of the other teams have already held their tryouts. Is Washington behind the curve, so to speak? Or have super secret auditions already been held and ready to hit the ice on September 8th? [...]
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