Ft Wayne Komets Back 2 Back Schedule Holder

The Ft Wayne Komets of the International Hockey League won the Turner Cup last season, making them back to back champs. Here is the 2009-10 pocket schedule holder which celebrates their Back 2 Back championships, along with the cover of their pocket sked.

Abbotsford Heat Inaugural Game

The family and I attended the inaugural game of the newest AHL team the Abbotsford Heat back on Friday, October 9, 2009. I am thrilled that the AHL has come to my area so that I can have the opportunity to see some of my favorite hockey teams come though town; Manitoba Moose, Grand Rapids Griffins, Houston Aeros, Milwaukee Admirals.
I would be surprised if the team is still here in a few years though, if they do not make some big changes in ticket prices. I wanted to attend with my wife and 4 year old and also take my father in law who lives in Abbotsford and likes attending junior hockey games with us. The problem is that although the ticket price of $18 for upper bowl tickets was not unreasonable, the problem was in the fact that they were not willing to offer discounted tickets for my 4 year old son, or senior father in law, both of which are used to getting reduced cost tickets to other local games. Then there were all the extra service charges etc which I am also not used to paying when I attend a WHL or BCHL game. So, although I am a huge minor league hockey fan and really excited about seeing AHL hockey, I have only been to the inaugural game so far. I won't be attending another game until some in January, and mostly likely will attending the game on my own, leaving 3 other other possible ticket sales at home because of the ticket cost.
I could understand not giving a discount for kids or seniors if they were selling out each game - why discount a seat that you can get full price for filling. But the trouble is that they are selling less than 50% of the seats for most games so far - even the inaugural home opener was not a sell out. They need to fill those seats and get people out to the games - and that won't happen if it costs a family of 4 over $100 to attend a game.
Once they start offering discounted kids tickets and seniors tickets, they will have 4 more seats filled as I start attending games with my wife, son and father in law. Until that time, I will be listening to the games on the radio for free!
*The ticket shown with the post was found on the floor after the game. Our actual tickets were just plain ticketmaster type tickets with no logos.

My First Pocket Scheudle of the season

Today in the mail I received a package from the Toldeo Walleye hockey club of the ECHL. They were kind enough to send me a Walleye schedule holder full of pocket schedules. Not only is this a great addition to my sked holder collection, but it is official the first 2009/2010 hockey schedule I have received this season.
I love collecting pocket schedules - they are my version of hockey cards! I try to collect a full set of schedules from each team in each major and minor hockey league.
Last season (2008/09) I managed to get about 90% of the pocket schedules on my list, but there are still a few that I am missing; Houston Aeros, Augusta Lynxx. Rapid City Rush, Wichita Thunder, Erie Otters, Peterborough Petes, Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds, Brandon Wheatkings, Moose Jaw Warriors, Regina Pats, Swift Current Broncos, Cedar Repids Rough Riders, Fargo Force, Albert Lea Thundes, Alexandria Blizzard, Mahoning Valley Phantoms, Owatonna Express, 
Springfield Blues, Topeka Road Runners, Merritt Centennials, 
Penticton Vees, 
Powell River Kings, Westside Warriors. If you can help me with any of my wants, please contact me!

How Many NHL Teams can you name?

How many NHL teams can you cane in 3 minutes? I was able to name 26 out of 30 before my time was up. Click here and test your memory. It's a lot harder than I thought! No cheating!!

Louisiana IceGators join gthe SPHL for 2009/10

The Pensacola Ice Flyers have been getting lots of coverage on two of my favorite web sites; Icethetics and PuckDrawn for their new logo - which is getting lots of jeers from those two sites. But is seems there is even more exciting news coming from the SPHL, at least more exciting for me... The Southern Professional Hockey League (SPHL) announced that it will drop the puck on its sixth season on Thursday, October 22. The 2009-2010 season features three new expansion teams, one of which is a old favorite of mine, the Louisiana IceGators. The Ice Gators originally played 10 years (1995-2005) in the ECHL until they had problems renewing their conract with the arena they were playing in.
I was lucky enough to have a friend named Todd in Louisiana who used to send me all kinds of cool IceGators stuff including their weekly TV show Chomp Time.
It's great to see the IceGators will be back in action next season!

The Quad City Mallards are Returning!

This afternoon while surfing some of my favorite hockey sites, I found this logo and story on the front page of the IHL web site. Great news for me as I was always a big fan of the Quad City Mallards, and very disappointed when the AHL Flames displaced the Mallards. But, now that the Flames are moving here to Canada, the Mallards are returning to Quad City!

ROCHESTER, MI--- The International Hockey League (IHL) announced Tuesday that the IHL Board of Governors unanimously approved the second expansion franchise in the IHL to the Quad City Mallards. The team will be owned and operated by QCHT, LLC with managing partner Christopher Lencheski. The Mallards will start play for the 2009-2010 season at the i wireless Center, located in Moline, Illinois. “Chris’ ownership group is a perfect fit, not only for Quad Cities, but for the International Hockey League,” stated Michael Franke, IHL Chairman of the Board. “Quad Cities has a rich tradition of hockey that will be re-established in the IHL, as fans will have the opportunity to get close to their players once again. The relationship between the fans and the players is an important factor to all IHL owners, along with our geographic proximity to one another.” Mr. Lencheski is Founder, President, and Chief Executive Officer of SKI & Company, a marketing communications company servicing the motorsports and high performance automotive industry with offices in New York City, New York, London, United Kingdom, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, and Bethlehem, Pennsylvania. He is also the owner of SKI Motorsports, a NASCAR racing organization. “We are thrilled to bring professional hockey back to the Quad Cities and to the i wireless Center,” said Lencheski. “I have always been passionate about sports, and hockey is my first love. With that said, I can tell you that we analyzed numerous prospective cities in an exhaustive search over the last several months for a city that truly wanted a hockey team and one deeply rooted with hockey history. The Quad Cities community demonstrated enormous support and enthusiasm for the return of pro hockey.” The IHL will conduct the scheduling meeting for the 2009-10 season Wednesday, July 1st in Fort Wayne, Indiana. The league will hold the dispersal draft of the Kalamazoo Wings players’ rights on Thursday, July 2nd via conference call. The expansion draft for the Dayton Gems and the Quad City Mallards will be held immediately after the dispersal draft. For inquiries regarding the Quad City Mallards, please contact Amy Stump, IHL Director of Media Relations at 269-492-3432.

Toledo Walleye 2009-2010 Inaugural schedule

TOLEDO WALLEYE 2009-2010 INAUGURAL SCHEDULE ANNOUNCED!

OK, I would not usually bother to post a teams upcoming schedule, or care about a that fact that a team had announced their upcoming schedule, but I have to say I got a little excited when I saw the graphic that they used along with the press release on their web site. I realize that it is just something that somebody whipped up in Photoshop, but they have made it look like the teams inaugural pocket schedule, and for me its fun to see a pocket schedule for the upcoming hockey season already in June - even it if is only a photoshopped version of a pocket sked! And it doesn't hurt that I like their logo - too bad I didn't like the new Abbotsford Heat logo as much as this one.

Here is their press release:

6/20/2009 - TOLEDO, OH - The Toledo Walleye today released their 72-game schedule for the 2009-2010 inaugural season. The Walleye will open the season on Friday, October 16 vs. the Florida Everblades at the brand new Lucas County Arena.

The complete schedule and schedule breakdown is at the bottom of this release. Game times will be determined at a later date. Click to view the 2009 Walleye Schedule!

The Walleye will open the year with 15 of their first 21 games at home in October, November and early December with 33 of the team’s 36 total home games coming on Friday, Saturday or Sunday.

Toledo will play 13 games against the Kalamazoo Wings (their closest rival at 150 miles), 11 games against the Cincinnati Cyclones, and 8 games against the Johnstown Chiefs.

Toledo Walleye Head Coach, Nick Vitucci said, “We are looking forward to hitting the ice in October. The anticipation has been growing for two years in the community and we are thrilled to be part of the new chapter of professional hockey here in Toledo. We would also like to welcome the Kalamazoo Wings to the ECHL and look forward to continuing a rivalry dating back to the old IHL.”

Toledo Walleye General Manager, Joe Napoli said, “The Inaugural Walleye Season will be quickly upon us and we are absolutely thrilled to have such a strong schedule with so many weekend dates… the memories will last a lifetime.”

The Walleye will also play games against Charlotte (5), Elmira (5), Florida (8), Gwinnett (3), Reading (3), South Carolina (4), Trenton (6), and Wheeling (6).

Walleye season tickets, mini-plans and group outings are on sale now. Fans can order their tickets by phone at (419) 725-WALL.