THE NHL : Kings’ Attendance Is Question

This should be the best of times for the Kings.

The club is off to one of the best starts in its history. It had raced into the early Smythe Division lead before Tuesday’s game against the Calgary Flames.

The Kings also began play Tuesday having allowed the fewest goals of any club in the NHL.

The Kings? Fewest goals?

Adding to the excitement surrounding the Kings’ fast start is Wayne Gretzky’s assault on the 2,000-point plateau.

Hockey has never seemed more popular in the Southland. Kids play it in the streets on Roller Blades. And King caps and jerseys seem as popular as those of the Dodgers, Lakers and Raiders.

So what more could owner Bruce McNall ask?

How about fans.

Attendance is down at the Forum, compared to a year ago.

Granted, it’s early. And granted, a year ago, Gretzky was chasing a mark more deeply chiseled in NHL lore, Gordie Howe’s point total.

Still, the attendance figures are surprising.

The club had four sellouts in the first seven games of last year. This season, there have been only two.

The Kings had a record 31 sellouts last season. They will have to sell out 29 of their remaining 33 home dates to equal that.

The Kings averaged 15,448 through the first seven games of last season. This season over the same period, the average is 14,307.

The Kings drew 12,281 for a game last week against the Minnesota North Stars, the smallest crowd in 69 regular-season games at the Forum.

They couldn’t even sell out against the defending Stanley Cup champion Edmonton Oilers, drawing 13,831 earlier on this home stand.

“Aha,” say disgruntled former season-ticket holders. “I told you so. You can’t raise ticket prices and chase longtime supporters away like you have and expect the fans to keep coming, Gretzky or no Gretzky.”

Not so, insists McNall.

“I think it has nothing to do with the pricing,” he said. “There is no question people have left the loge area. But we had a long waiting list there, so those seats were immediately filled, and we’re still sold out there. The empty seats are in the colonnade section.

“I think part of the problem is the scheduling issue. We have eight of our first nine games at home because the Lakers aren’t playing. People are not going to go to every single game when there are that many.

“Also, the lack of performance last year is a factor. Seventy-five points is not a banner year. So people are saying, ‘Let’s see how they do this year before we go.’ ”

If the Kings continue to do well into January and the fans still are not coming, then, says McNall, he will be concerned.

Prices for colonnade seats did not go up this year and have risen only $2 since McNall took control of the team 2 1/2 years ago. Prices there run from $10 to $18.

The loge seats run from $30 to $50 for individual games. Eight of the loge sections have not gone up in price at all, four have risen $5 a seat, nine are up $15 and two have gone up $25.

One hundred rink-side seats go for $200 each.

Nearly 4,000 seats have been converted to the Senate program. Senate seats run about $8,000 and entitle the holder to take in all events at the Forum, with some exceptions.

Season-ticket holders whose seats become part of the Senate program can shell out the $8,000, can pay $65 per game to stay where they are for just the Kings, or can switch to the best available seat, which will be cheaper but in a less-desirable location.

That has triggered cancellations, angry letters and even Forum demonstrations by longtime King supporters who believe they have been forgotten in the flush of excitement over the Gretzky Era. The words may vary a bit, but the question they all seem to ask is, “What ever happened to loyalty?”

“When Jerry Buss continues to add sections to the Senate program there is nothing I can do about it,” McNall said. “If he made the whole building Senate seats, there would be nothing I could do about it.

“We try to relocate and help those people affected by the Senate program. If they can’t afford the loge seats, why don’t they move to the colonnade? Does loyalty only mean they must sit in loge seats? Is there anything wrong with colonnade seats? I sit in the colonnade.

“If you don’t like the price, sit where I’m sitting. If you must sit in loge seats to be a loyal fan, then don’t come. Stay home and watch it on television. If you can’t afford it, that’s life. With escalating salaries and costs, we have to raise some prices.”

Some fans may find McNall’s remarks insensitive. But they applauded when he got Gretzky. That cost him $15 million and nearly $30 million in salary. They cheered when McNall got defenseman Larry Robinson. That cost another $1.65 million. They thought it was wonderful when McNall got the team its own plane to alleviate some of the problems of a miserable travel schedule. That meant another $5 million.

Where did they think all this money was going to come from?

McNall, like any hockey fan, might not want to lose games, but, like any businessman, he also has no desire to lose money.

He thinks the method he has come up with is fair.

“I want to make my friends pay for the higher costs,” he said. “I want to make the rich pay. If a Sylvester Stallone wants to sit on the ice and is willing to pay $200, fine. Let the corporations and the wealthy pay so we can keep the pricing the same in the colonnade. Let the Stallones of the world, who can well afford it, support those who can’t afford it.”