Entries with the tag: fans

Chatting with Patrice Bergeron

by Alanah on 04/02/08 at 04:11 PM
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From Boston Bruins.com’s Rinkside Chats,

Katie_From_ME: Since your injury, what is the one thing that you miss most about playing?
P_Bergeron: First and foremost, I’ve missed everything about the game. Being around the guys, being part of the action and part of the game and helping the team win. It’s tough sitting around and watching the team play and not being able to help.

Stockfan42: Patrice, what are the odds of seeing you suited up for the playoffs?
P_Bergeron: Not sure yet, I still have some doctors to see.  I am not cleared for contact yet but I’m hoping to continue to make progress and get back as soon as I can.

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Saluting Their Fans

by Alanah on 02/19/08 at 02:25 PM
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From John Glennon at the Tennessean,

Over the years, hardcore Predators fans have stuck up for their team through lean seasons and trying times.

These days, the Predators are — quite literally — sticking up for their fans.

What began as a one-game salute to supporters last month seemingly has transformed into a Sommet Center ritual. After every home victory the Predators gather at center ice and raise their sticks in unison to the crowd.

“We just want to show our appreciation to the fans because they help us win games and because we need them to be successful,’’ forward Vern Fiddler said.

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Breaking Up with the Maple Leafs

by Alanah on 02/12/08 at 09:45 PM
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A PR mailer I received tonight pointed out the video below (tied to the entertaining URL: I’m Breaking Up With The Leafs.com) claiming it was aired on CTV News tonight.

I hadn’t seen that myself, but whatever—Scott has something to say, and I don’t see any compelling reason to stop him:

The time has come for me to end this abusive relationship I have had as a fan of the Toronto Maple Leafs....... [...] It’s not pretty, but it had to be done.

Sincerely,
Scott “A fan with no team” Stratten

So… meet the newest Ottawa Senators fan:

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Filling Joe Louis A Priority

by Paul on 12/11/07 at 07:42 AM
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from Tom Walsh of the Detroit Free Press,

“Detroit’s Hockeytown crown has slipped,” wrote SI hockey writer Michael Farber.

Not so fast, says Mike Ilitch, owner of the Red Wings.

On Monday, Ilitch announced the hiring of Steve Violetta as senior vice president for business affairs, a new position reporting directly to Ilitch. Ken Holland, executive vice president and general manager, will continue to run the hockey operation.

Violetta’s mission is clear: Get more butts back in those seats. ASAP.

read on

What Starts In Pittsburgh & Ends In Montreal?

by Paul on 11/28/07 at 07:19 AM
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How about a road trip that hits every NHL, AHL and ECHL arena…

Calming Leafs Fans

by Alanah on 11/27/07 at 07:29 PM
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Dave Stubbs at the Montreal Gazette’s great hockey blog, Habs Inside/Out, posted an entertaining piece of audio earlier today.

It’s recorded by Joe Bowen, the voice of the Toronto Maple Leafs, to help fans of our rival down the 401 calm themselves as they gear for their ninth win of the season – whenever that comes.

Such a great find, I had to hijack it…

powered by ODEO

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*originally found at chillcasting.com

The Judge Loves Hockey

by Paul on 11/24/07 at 09:57 AM
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from KearneyHub.com (Nebraska),

Whether he’s on the bench or sitting on the ice, Gerry Jorgensen’s jobs are a lot alike.

As one of two Buffalo County Court judges, Jorgensen can be found presiding over cases during the day, but by night he’s a Storm hockey off-ice official or fan....

In his spare time, he also collects hockey jerseys and maintains a message board tracking every former Storm player’s games, statistics, injuries and season-to-date totals, whether they’re playing college or professional hockey. But it wasn’t until November 2000 when the Storm came to Kearney that Jorgensen’s jersey collection went full strength.

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Military Night

by Paul on 11/24/07 at 08:23 AM
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via the Edmonton Sun,

The Hockey Night in Canada tilt with the Chicago Blackhawks is military appreciation night, with fans being encouraged to turn their seats over to service men and women in Edmonton.

So far, close to 6,000 fans have returned their tickets for use by local soldiers.

“It was an incredibly good idea and a great job by our fans giving up their tickets,” said head coach Craig MacTavish. “Seeing the fatigues in the lower bowl ... if you don’t get inspired by something like that you must not have a heart.”

Catch A Game - Take The Train

by Paul on 11/18/07 at 07:59 AM
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from George Vecsey of the New York Times,

The woman was in the heartland of the opponent, wearing a fancy orange and blue jacket commemorating the four Stanley Cups won by the Islanders, albeit a quarter of a century ago.

“New York?” she shouted. “Is this the train to New York?”

It was, indeed. Parallel steel rails now connect the three hockey franchises in the area.

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Open Practice

by Paul on 11/16/07 at 06:09 AM
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from the Columbus Dispatch,

The NHL, unlike other major sports leagues, does not have lucrative national television contracts. The Blue Jackets rely heavily on gate receipts and recognize the value of letting fans attend free practices in the Ice Haus adjacent to the arena.

“We’re not in a position to be losing fans,” left winger Rick Nash said.

Fans can learn a lot about the sport, Hitchcock said, by attending practices. Former Tampa Bay Lightning coach Terry Crisp used to run one session a season wearing a microphone to educate the crowd.

“To me, the most fun is watching how a team performs in practice and how the coach yells and how many swear words he uses,” Hitchcock said.

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Friday Night with the Avs

by Alanah on 11/09/07 at 05:28 PM
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Vancouver vs Colorado

For a fair-and-balanced view on The Team That Even God Must Hate, I decided to get the perspective of a couple of friends:  DC, who educates the patriotic souls of America as to why they shouldn’t believe anything they see in the media; and Greg, whose day job it is to corrupt those same patriots by way of his own profession.

But each shares one embarrassing reality—they both seem comfortable believing that Avalanche fandom is not a mistake of nature, but actually some kind of positive aspect of their personalities.

So we did a fast Q & A before game time:

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Stop the Bleeding

by Alanah on 11/02/07 at 04:39 AM
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Nashville vs Vancouver: 3-0.  And it was already 2-0 for the Predators just 9 minutes into the game, Nashville’s first two shots ending up on the scoreboard. 

But it improved, Roberto Luongo facing 3 more shots by the end of 40 minutes, rocketing his save percentage up to a delightful .600.  (Ugh.)

Thursday night was Vancouver’s delayed Halloween performance: a bloody mess of a game, and in more ways than one.

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30 Games, 30 Cities, 30 Arenas… in 30 Nights!

by Alanah on 10/30/07 at 06:41 PM
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Steve Williamson is on a mission: to visit all 30 arenas and see 30 NHL games in 30 days.  So yeah, he’s sort of living our dreams right now.

For months, I’ve been planning the details of this 30 Games In 30 Nights trip.  Poring through the NHL schedule for hours to find just the right combination of games, staying away from the frigid winter months when weather could disrupt travel, finding affordable flights that get me into each city by 2pm, coming up with backup travel plans if flights are cancelled, and so on. 

So now I’m ready to roll, mentally and physically, for the Ultimate Hockey Road Trip!

Steve is attending his 5th game tonight in Montreal, and our own Paul Kukla had a chance to chat with him this afternoon.

Thrashers Fans Get Around

by Alanah on 10/30/07 at 12:29 PM
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From the Atlanta Thrashers,

“How many people can say their Thrasher jersey has traveled from one end of the earth to the other?! My Thrashers jersey has literally traveled around the world from the Middle East to East Asia, traveling thru Europe and the Pacific along the way. In August, my jersey and I took a short deployment to Kuwait. In October, my jersey and I deployed to Qatar. Hockey jerseys were not made with the middle east in mind- the temperature was 115 degrees while taking these photos”

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Here’s the really odd thing: Major Daniel Barnes also just randomly runs into another Thrashers’ fan wearing the team jersey, wandering around Amsterdam.  Small world…

A Habs Gathering

by Paul on 10/22/07 at 09:49 AM
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from the Montreal Gazette,

While many people were enjoying the sunshine this summer, a group of devoted fans from across North America that congregate on Habsinsideout.com decided they should get together to watch their favourite team up close in Montreal.

What started as an innocent comment from Brian Jones, known as Yeats on the website, turned into the Habs Fan Summit, a full day of events that brought Canadiens fans from across the continent together on Saturday to watch the Habs defeat the Buffalo Sabres 4-2.

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Caps Plan A “White-Out”

by Paul on 10/19/07 at 09:02 AM
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from Empty Netters,

We’re going to jump the gun a bit here and briefly preview the Penguins-Capitals game in Washington Saturday.

Many EN readers have told us of the Capitals’ attempts to minimize the healthy contingent of Penguins fans that usually show up at Verizion Center anytime the Penguins are in town. We went to both Penguins games in Washington last season and there were at least 5,000 Penguins fans in the house each game.

The Capitals are attempting to stage a “white-out” night and are encouraging their fans to wear white to the game. They are also handing out white towels to the first 15,000 that show up.

read on for more and numerous NHL bits…

Free Canucks Tickets… If You Dare

by Alanah on 10/12/07 at 02:12 PM
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From an advertisement that hit Craigslist in Vancouver today, an opportunity to see a free Canucks game—and flirt with committing a cardinal sin.  A once-in-a-lifetime opportunity.

So, c’mon, ladies, help a guy out.  There’s just a few “requirements” if you want this date to work out…

I know there are always lots of people looking for tickets, so I figured I would post on CL, and see if there was anyone else that would like a FREE ticket to go to the game with ME…..meet a complete stranger, and spend a harmless evening watching the Nucks. I am sure the conversation will be somewhat more interesting, entertaining, or at the very least, better to look at than one of my clients or beer drinking friends.

So here is the criteria and what I propose…….I am looking for an attractive, fit, married or single, classy, BUSTY female to join me as my guest for an upcoming Canucks game. No game in particular…whatever fits both of our schedules. Ideally you would wear something classy, but with a little edge to the outfit…

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Cautionary Tale for the Canucks

by Alanah on 10/04/07 at 03:58 PM
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From News1130:

Canucks CEO Chris Zimmerman was asked how regular fans will be able to afford to take in a game at GM Place. Zimmerman says when you compare the Canucks to other NHL franchises, ticket prices are quite reasonable. “Some of the pricing is driven by supply and demand, and then we obviously assess the ticket prices against all the other Canadian teams. We tend to be in the bottom half of the prices, looking at the prices across Canada.”

Hmm.  The increase in ticket prices for this season was pretty bloody substantial. But even assuming that Zimmerman is correct in simply following the theory of supply and demand (after all, the Vancouver fan base has clearly been willing to pay) there is a cautionary tale out there that the Canucks might want to keep in mind as well: the Detroit Red Wings.

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The Professional Heckler

by Paul on 10/02/07 at 01:45 PM
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from the Mirror-Guardian,

Fact is, his new job is way better than that. He gets to be even more irritating than Jeff Probst. After years of annoying people at NHL games for free, Nick is officially turning pro this week - he’s becoming a professional heckler....

NICK: “Hey bonehead, wake me up when you make a good call. Or better yet have a Sony digital clock radio wake you up instead. So you can get back to doing what you do best - screwing up hockey games.

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