NHL lockout could have trickle-down effect

If the NHL season is delayed of cancelled by a work stoppage the Windsor Spitfires stand to benefit.

The team's director of business development said that during the last lockout the Spits saw a boost in seat sales and he expects the same this time.

"We would definitely see an increase, but it's not the type of increase you want to see," Steve Horne said. "Are you just gaining them over the short term?"

The team's head coach, Bob Boughner, who was part of the NHL Players Association bargaining committee last lockout, said the potential of a lockout has already affected play in the Ontario Hockey League.

Because NHL rookie camps are postponed, all of the OHL's best players. Those expected to be vying for an NHL roster spot are back for the start of the junior season.

"The big change I think you're going to see from Game 1in our league is that it's going to be very, very competitive because all the best players are back. No one's gone," Boughner said.

Despite the fact the OHL will have all its top players back and the Spits will sell a few hundred more tickets, both Boughner and Horne say a healthy NHL makes for a healthy OHL and hockey in general.

Horne said the team will not spend more money marketing the team or exploit the lockout in an effort to increase attendance.

While the Spits draw upwards of 5,700 fans a game - with room to grow - the University of Windsor Lancers draw just a few hundred fans a game at Windsor Arena and hope more fans turn to them for a hockey fix if the a lockout goes ahead.

"We in no way will take the place of the Spitfires but it's certainly an option, it's a different level of play, the guys are much older and we feel stronger and we feel it's a faster brand of hockey," Lancers head coach Kevin Hamlin said. "It'd be nice to see the Windsor-Essex County community support us."

Saturday is the deadline for a new NHL contract to be in place or the league will lock out the players.