Did you even know that New Mexico has a hockey team? Lots of people don’t…and it’s a shame. The New Mexico Mustangs are a Junior Tier II ice hockey team…so they are a part of the NAHL (North American Hockey League). My husband and I were able to make it out to a game this evening, kid-free. We had the best time, and not just because we didn’t have the kids…..because they would have had a blast!
There were more people there tonight than I normally see, which is a great thing. My husband and I have been going to the games since they were the Scorpions (I really miss Stanley….I want him back!) Now there are many different reasons I believe the Mustangs aren’t getting the turn out they deserve. Here is what I think:
- People believe the Santa Ana Star Center is too far. I understand that people live in Albuquerque…I’m lucky that I live about 3 minutes away, BUT there are so many people in Rio Rancho and on the west side of Albuquerque. What are their excuses? It is just off Unser and so easy to get to!
- The local news stations don’t give them enough exposure. When you watch the news you hear about the UNM Lobos all the time, but hardly hear anything about the Mustangs. If you are lucky you hear the score announced, that’s it. Why are there cameras at the high school football games to show clips during the newscast, but you never see anything for the Mustangs? Come on guys, let’s show our local team some support!
I think they do a great job of promoting the games through the schools. My kids come home with fliers all the time it seems…but what about everyone that doesn’t have kids in school? I know it takes money to advertise, but there just isn’t enough buzz about them. If people aren’t coming to the games, then they aren’t making the money to advertise more..it’s a catch 22.
Tonight there was a great promotion that may have helped to fill some of seats in the stands. Hotdogs were just $0.50! Do you know how many hot dogs were sold? I have no idea, but I watched people walk around with huge stacks of hot dogs in their arms. People are pinching pennies, I get that. When you have a family, it’s hard to pay $10/ticket and then buy food/drinks when you get in. That fact itself has kept us from going to games at times. Taking a family of five to ANYTHING is expensive.
I happened to catch a photo of the only time the Wildcats scored this evening. Of course I didn’t get any of the Mustangs scoring..but we got THREE! Yay!
Here are the stands, as you can see there are still a lot of empty seats, but this is more than we have been used to seeing in the past.
FIGHT!! HIT HIM!!!!!!!!!!
I don’t know what this guy is or what he is supposed to do, but he was very strange. He was in all red, even his face was covered. He was taunting the other team and doing little dances against the glass. He was funny to watch, but distracting from the game. Was he supposed to be there? What is he? We call him the Hockey-cabra.
If you are in the Rio Rancho area, please stop by a Mustangs game…you will have a blast! There are still plenty of games left in the season, you can see the full schedule via the New Mexico Mustangs Website.
About Amber
The guy in the Red is The Red Ryder. He is a copy of the “Green Men” from the Vancouver Canucks of the NHL.
P.S. I love this team (I’m the team photographer) and agree with what you have said.
We didn’t see the Red Ryder this afternoon. At the last game everyone was looking at him wondering who he was…everyone was taking pictures and video. LOL! We had so much fun today! The kids are hooked and want to go back! I really think more would come if there was more publicity about them! So much fun!