It’s 5 p.m. on a Saturday evening and seven guys are lumbering down
Washington Street in downtown Providence. They duck out of the cold and
into Blake’s Tavern, where Providence Bruins signs adorn the windows,
along with advertisements for Guinness Draught, Miller Genuine Draft and
Bud Ice.
Blake’s is crowded. There are regulars who know the waitresses and
bartenders by name. And a few of the patrons may be getting a bite to
eat before taking in a performance of Saint Joan at the Trinity
Repertory Company. But the majority of them will head over to the
Providence Civic Center, where the Providence Bruins and Worcester Ice
Cats will face off at 7 p.m.
The hockey fans don’t know it yet, but the P-Bruins, the American Hockey
League affiliate of the Boston Bruins, will treat them to a 7 to 1
victory. The win will run the team’s record to 23 wins, 12 losses and
one tie — 13 wins and one loss at home. Under new head coach Peter
Laviolette the P-Bruins are in first place in their division. It is a
far cry from a season ago when the team finished last and saw attendance
at games drop as the season progressed.
But this year attendance is up and businesses near the Civic Center are
reaping the benefits of a winning season.
Mary Bodensiek, manager at Blake’s Tavern, said she has seen the crowds
grow with each P-Bruin victory.
“It’s definitely been good for business,” Bodensiek said. “And it’s been
improving as the team keeps winning. We get a before-game dinner crowd
and an after-game celebratory crowd.”
The P-Bruins – owned by Ed Anderson and Frank DuRoss — moved to the
capital city from Maine in time for the 1992 season. They play 40 games
each year at the Civic Center. This season the team is averaging 6,630
fans per game. Twice this year – Nov. 6, against the Hershey Bears and
Dec. 7 against the Albany River Rats – the team drew more than 11,500
fans.
Dave Goucher, director of broadcasting and communications for the team,
said that winning has indeed made a difference.
People are just as quick to attach themselves to a winner as they are to
dive off a sinking ship,” said Goucher.
Goucher said the team is enjoying its role as a major player in the
renaissance of Providence. Since the team arrived, the a Convention
Center and Westin Hotel have been built next door and now a public
skating rink has been added. Before the year is over, the doors will
open to Providence Place, a $450 million mega-mall, also a short walk
from P-Bruin headquarters at the Civic Center.
“All of downtown has been rejuvenated and we’re a part of that,” Goucher
said.
A winning hockey team is “another something for the city to be proud
of,” Goucher added.
Besides the two largest crowds of the season, the P-Bruins have drawn
more than 7,000 fans on five other occasions this season. That’s big
business for the Civic Center. Lee Esckilsen, executive director of the
Civic Center and the new Fleet Skating Rink, said the P-Bruins are an
important tenant.
Though he did not release specific numbers, Esckilsen said a winning
hockey team keeps the cash registers ringing.
“The people in the building, the more popcorn and soda and beer we
sell,” said Esckilsen.
The P-Bruins’ winning ways are not going unnoticed by downtown’s bars
and restaurants, especially on weeknights and Sundays when business
tends to slow.
Joseph A. Peixoto, general manager at The New Player’s Corner Pub on
Washington Street, said he has seen a difference in attitude among fans.
“People are upbeat,” he said.
Across the street, Steve Lynch, a bartender at Talk of the Town, also
senses a winning attitude.
“I think business on game nights has been better because they are doing
well,” Lynch said. “Attendance at the games is up and more people are
out.”
Bodensiek said that Blake’s adds staff for hockey games, and Providence
College and University of Rhode Island basketball games. It’s a similar
approach at Trinity Brewhouse on Fountain Street, according to Josh
Miller, one of the owners.
“Business on game nights has been much more consistent this year,”
Miller said. “Last year, you couldn’t depend on them for drawing a crowd
every week. But this year, we can depend on a crowd every time they
play.”
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