Keeping hockey alive

Keeping hockey alive:

"So what would make you care about the Cincinnati RailRaiders?

It is, after all, a team without a season, without a schedule, without any players or opponents or statistics. The successor to the Cincinnati Mighty Ducks is sitting out this hockey season, hoping to get a National Hockey League affiliation for next year. The Mighty Ducks are now the Portland (Maine) Pirates.

To get back on the ice next fall, the RailRaiders need your money. The American Hockey League franchise is trying to sell 2,000 season-ticket packages, with fans plunking down $25 deposits starting now for the privilege. That would enable them to demonstrate to an NHL team that they're worthy of being a minor-league feeder to that club. That, in turn, would enable the RailRaiders to become a real hockey team and not just a name and a logo.

It is, as they say, a marketing challenge: promoting hockey without playing hockey."