Ticket sales for the WHL's Chilliwack Bruins declined last year, and there's no question that had something to do with the arrival of the American Hockey League and its Abbotsford Heat.

"We averaged between [4,000] and 4,500 our first three years and then when the Heat arrived, and also the economy turned sour and the Olympics entered into the equation all at the same time, we went to 3,300 a night and that was last year," Bruins president and part owner Darryl Porter told the Times on Wednesday.

"I would think that, as far as our off-season goes as our renewal phase, we're trending to be slightly up from last year."

The relationship between the Heat and the Bruins has been an interesting one, as the two clubs enter year two competing side-by-side.

Brian Burke, current general manager of the Toronto Maple Leafs and part owner of the Bruins, got the ball rolling when he was quoted in The Province saying, "As annoying as this chain of events is, it hasn't changed our opinion one bit of Chilliwack . . . I'm pretty sure people there don't care about the Calgary Flames, or the Calgary Flames' farm team. I don't remember people asking me on the street, 'Hey, how did the Calgary Flames' farm team do last night?'"

His comments came after a column in the Victoria Times Colonist suggested the Bruins time in Chilliwack was over with the Heat moving in next door.

While Porter respectfully declined to comment on any possible animosity between the two organizations, he said it is imperative his team stays loyal to the fans who have the done the same.

"We cater to our season ticket holders," he said.

"Chilliwack has a long-standing 20-year history of supporting junior hockey and we have a very diehard, loyal core that supports our club."

The Heat argue they have a growing group of devout supporters, too.

Now it's a matter, said Heat V.P of ticket sales and service Justin McIntyre, of renewing season tickets and expanding the audience beyond the borders of Abbotsford.

"We're building the business and the response we're getting right now is very positive," he said. "We're not in that same start-up phase we were in last year at this time."

But with a looming budget still yet to be released - it was supposed to be made public in late July - the pressure on the Heat to might be growing.

The Heat finished 23rd out of 29 teams in average attendance last season. The team brought in just under 3,900 on average each game -- not a whole lot more than Chilliwack, especially considering Abbotsford's much larger arena.

In six Calder Cup playoff games at the Abbotsford Entertainment and Sports Centre, the Heat brought in an average of just 2,659 fans. In fairness, most of those games fell on nights when the Vancouver Canucks were also playing.

This year, the Heat are expecting better attendance.

"We were so laser-focused on season tickets and half season because that's all our world was," said McIntyre.

"We didn't get a chance to market to segments of the community because all we could do was just run into the market place and sell what we were capable of fulfilling." This year, we're able to target market segments."

camtuckertimes@gmail.com