Fans’ Best Friend, They Want to Be Watched ‘Dogs

One of the best-kept sports secrets in Southern California is unfolding in Long Beach with the Ice Dogs’ hockey team.

Hundreds of fans line up and wait for the Long Beach Arena doors to open before every home game and, once inside, have the time of their lives.

Kids get to play any of several hockey-oriented games in the lobby or sample one of many arcadelike promotions inside while their parents relax and watch a team that has won 17 Dconsecutive home games.

Then, there’s the faithful group of young people that arrives ready to drink 28-ounce beers and party along with the music on the newly renovated arena’s sound system. There’s even a fan club of Afro-wig wearers who call themselves the Flea Pack.

“I would say it’s the best secret around . . . absolutely,” said Greg McElroy, Ice Dog team president who is in his second year after being the Kings’ vice president of marketing for five seasons. “But once they find us, they get Ice Dog fever.”

So after spending five years playing in San Diego and one painful and lonesome season in the Los Angeles Sports Arena, the Ice Dogs finally have a following they can call their own.

So what’s the problem?

The problem is that only hundreds of fans look forward to attending their games and not thousands. And that’s something Barry and Maggie Kemp, who bought the team for $5 million on Jan. 1, 1996, hope to change soon.

“We looked at the reality when we bought the team,” said Barry Kemp, a television producer who, with his wife, also owns a minority interest in the Phoenix Suns of the NBA. “We didn’t think we could turn it around overnight. We laid out a five-year plan, where incrementally we would improve each year.”

Despite having the second-best record (32-11-7) in the 19-team International Hockey League this season, the Ice Dogs rank dead last in attendance at 2,753 a game with only 14 home games remaining, one Sunday at 3 p.m. against the Kings’ farm team, the Phoenix Roadrunners.

“We’re proud of the fact that we’re telling the truth with our ticket count,” Barry Kemp said. “Before the start of the season, we decided to set our goal at 3,500 a game and we’re going to be short of that. But, since the start of the season, our attendance is increasing with each game. We should be over 3,000 by the end.”

The Kemps figure to lose about $3 million this season, but their plan is to increase attendance by 500 each year with a break-even figure of 6,000 a game by the fifth year.

To reach their goal, the Ice Dogs know they will have to attract fans from outside Long Beach. They have several programs and promotions designed to do that.

“I had been wanting to make it to a game for a while now, and finally had a chance to have a boys’ night out,” said Jeff McHaffey of Irvine, who brought his two sons to a recent Ice Dog game when the promotion of the night was free tickets to a game the next day. “This is our first game. I didn’t even know about the extra tickets but we would have come anyway. Now, we can come back tomorrow night.”

After a 5-8-4 start, the Ice Dogs have improved dramatically under John Van Boxmeer, the team’s coach and general manager. With a mostly veteran team, the Ice Dogs are 27-3-3 in their last 33 games.

Forwards Patrik Augusta and Stephane Morin lead the team in scoring and goaltenders Mike O’Neill and Tom Draper have been tough to score against. Although the playoffs are 2 1/2 months away, the Ice Dogs seem a lock to have home-ice advantage for at least the first two rounds.

But will winning bring out more fans?

“Winning doesn’t always guarantee more fans,” said Maggie Kemp, an interior designer. “The Long Beach community has been great, but this is a very, very tough market. Not only are there other professional teams all within 20 minutes from here, but there are also so many other things to do, from movies to concerts.”

Van Boxmeer, who played 13 seasons in the NHL and won a Stanley Cup ring as a teammate of King Coach Larry Robinson with Montreal, agreed.

“There are so many options here [in Southern California], you have to beat on doors to get people out.”

But once the fans arrive, they apparently have a good time. According to IHL statistics, the Ice Dogs lead the league in sales with a spending average of $2.54 per fan.

“When I worked for the Kings, it was easy to get kind of spoiled because we had hockey’s greatest player ever [Wayne Gretzky] and a team that was going to sell out every game,” McElroy said. “Now, every game is important because you have to build upon your last game and keep coming up with something different.

“All I can say is, nowadays, to get your money’s worth is a tough task. But for the price of a movie [you] can come see an Ice Dog game and once it’s over, you’ll want to come back.”