Chips Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 (edited) FANtastic! 2007 Calder Cup Champions Hamilton Bulldogs home opener. Go Dogs Go! Go Dogs Go! Go Dogs Go! pre-game. Friday, October 12th 2007; Rochester vs Hamilton. There is a buzz in the air, 5:30pm and the lineups have started to build in front of Coops. Everyone feels the chill of the fall breeze but its electric and exciting to be here. 101 York Boulevard the Bulldogs Hockey Club office is also a buzz, staff comment on how busy it has been today and note that this day seems crazier than the Calder Cup Final game last season. I pickup my season tickets and thankfully I'm on time and able to meet up with Andrew who has been instrumental in helping me. He hands over my tickets for the season. Wow, now in my hands are the hottest hockey tickets on the planet. IMO. So back in line we go, doors open at 6:30pm, game time 7:30pm. The word in the lineup is all about the replica 2007 Calder Cup rings being given to the first 9000 fans tonight. But the surprises don't end there; tonights anthem singer was none other than Brian Melo, Hamiltons newest claim to fame, Canada's newest Canadian Idol. Did I say surprises... after the usual fan fair and opening night entertainment. The official ring ceremony begins and joining the 2007 Calder Cup team on the ice were Kyle Chipchura, Mikhail Grabovski, Andrei Kostitsyn and Carey Price, all on the ice in their civi's and looking sharp. The entire team was given a very warm welcome back for the new season and cheered on for their Calder cup heroics; but Price was given special applause, it was as if the crowd wanted him to suit up for tonights game and show us one more time his true genius, in the bulldogs net. The puck drops on a brand new season and everything is as it should be, Coops is packed again this time filled to the rafters for a home opener; 10,923 fans, $129 for a new RBK bulldogs jersey, $14 for a set of hockey cards for the 2007 Calder Cup Champs, $1300 for a pair of seasons tickets, $25.00 for late dinner at the concession stands, $15 for a limited edition Calder Cup Champs commemorative magazine. game-on. My seats are FAN-tastic! not sure if this slogan will remind me of the bulldogs or the payday commercial on tv for the scratch and win $1000 for life commercial. Nevertheless, I'm loving it so far and as Andrew from the Bulldogs Front office mentioned to me before the game. I was hooked, the bulldogs organization did a great job at building an exciting and entertaining home opener. So how does this phenomenal marketing and customer service effort by bulldogs management and operations, compare to the on ice product you may ask? Well lets just say we got a point tonight and the third period looked very very very promising. The overtime shootout was extremely entertaining but IMO bruiser the Dogs mascot had better moves on the ice as compared to our shooters and their moves. Cough it up to the start of a new season and opening night jitters if you will but I'm not too concerned just yet. first-period. The first period wasn't the best hockey we've seen from this bulldogs franchise it was an average in terms of intensity and focus. Don Lever was pacing, up and down directing his players to get their heads into the game. Don Lever had Sergei Kostitsyn, Maxim Lapierre and Matt D'Agostini on three separate lines trying to spread out the talent and have a balanced scoring threat on all lines I guess. Little Kosts scored the Dogs first goal in the first period but it was the Roc who opened the game with a goal that saw Halak come out of his crease to grab a flying puck and he missed it completely and then continued to watch it being shot behind him into a gaping net, he was out of position and had no chance of getting back to stop that puck. All night Halak seemed very nervous and full of butterflies. His efforts to control the puck outside of the safely of his net was much like a rookie goalies first attempt to venture out of the safely of his protective crease. I was surprised to see him behave and react in that way. I expected more from him. The apparent jitters and miscues kept building up, he was falling back deep into the net and not coming out to cut the angles and cover the shooting lanes. Kosts, Laps, D'ago shine upfront this period and O'Bryne, Valentenko and Cote shine on Defense. Roc 2 Ham 1 end of the first. second-period. I was so embarrassed by the lack of effort and out right dismal effort by everyone this period. Laps and D'ago were the only bright spots this period, Laps scored an unassisted goal flying down the wing, using his speed and angle of attack used a wrist shot to fool the Roc goalie, who just wasn't fast enough to squeeze the puck between his pads. Laps and D'ago looked good upfront but only because he was trying to make a difference and actually scored. Cote and O'Bryne were ok on D. Roc 4 Ham 2 end of the second. enough said. third period. Wow! Lever is coach for a reason. He made adjustments that saw Laps, D'ago and Kosts Jr. play together for the third, it paid dividends. Before we knew it, the game was tied and D'ago had two goals with Laps and Gleed assisting on the first. And Kosts and O'Byrne assisting on the second goal scored in the third period. overtime. As I mentioned before, IMO; Bruiser the mascot had more moves than our shooters in the shootout. I'll cough it up to home game jitters and the start of this season. But I know they have better moves and I expect better. Mind you our lads did hit the posts on quite a few tries but close does not get that second point. final thought. The season opener was in every sense an entertaining evening. From the time I spent in line to the warm welcome we as fans experienced. But if the theme for this season does have any meaning, then it does rest in the hands of the players to make certain that this season is indeed FAN-tastic! GO DOGS GO! GO DOGS GO! GO DOGS GO! Edited October 14, 2007 by Chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mont Royale Posted October 14, 2007 Share Posted October 14, 2007 Thanks for the recap, Chips! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 (edited) Thank you Mont Royale. Its my hope to write up every game I attend this season. I shall focus on players, special teams, offense, defense, coaching and overrall feel of our farm team. I'm excited about this season and feel that we have the potential to repeat the kind of run we had last year. Winning a few trophies along the way might not hurt this year as well. There are players on this team that can reach many individual accolades. Look for reports after every home game. I hope that you all enjoy it. GO DOGS GO! GO HABS GO! GO DOGS GO! Edited October 15, 2007 by Chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted October 15, 2007 Share Posted October 15, 2007 Wow man thats amazing they really give you bang for your buck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted October 15, 2007 Author Share Posted October 15, 2007 (edited) Hi JMMR. Yes they do give you good value for dollar spent at an AHL game. Specially in Hamilton, this year they are focusing on the FAN! hence the FANtastic! promotional theme this year. *** on a related note. I cannot attend this Saturdays game against Hartford in Hamilton. I'm offering my two seats to anyone who would like to take them from me. first come first served... msg. me. and I'll get them to you. GO DOGS GO! Edited October 15, 2007 by Chips Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 Hi JMMR. Yes they do give you good value for dollar spent at an AHL game. Specially in Hamilton, this year they are focusing on the FAN! hence the FANtastic! promotional theme this year. *** on a related note. I cannot attend this Saturdays game against Hartford in Hamilton. I'm offering my two seats to anyone who would like to take them from me. first come first served... msg. me. and I'll get them to you. GO DOGS GO! My cousin may want them how much? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 My cousin may want them how much? face value. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 face value. Which is? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted October 16, 2007 Author Share Posted October 16, 2007 Which is? sorry... seasons tickets are a bit cheaper per seat. $15 each so $30 for the pair. And we are good. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted October 16, 2007 Share Posted October 16, 2007 sorry... seasons tickets are a bit cheaper per seat. $15 each so $30 for the pair. And we are good. OKay I sent him a msg. He will let me know tomorrow he is asleep now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chips Posted October 17, 2007 Author Share Posted October 17, 2007 hi JMMR. Sorry sold my pair of seats for this Sat. game in Hamilton last night. ( Hartford is visiting us on the 20th.. ) I'll be posting other games that I cannot make on here for those interested in tickets. They are about $29 per seat at the door. You can have mine for $15 each. They are section 121 row 15 seat 11 and 12. Great seats. Oh and if anyone is interested Andrew in Hamilton working for the bulldogs marketing team can get me more tickets at $15 dollars a pop, so if anyone wants tickets at that price I could speak to Andrew about arranging tickets at that price to be picked up at the ticket window in Hamilton. You would need ID and need to pay for them when you pick them up before game time. GO DOGS GO! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JMMR Posted October 17, 2007 Share Posted October 17, 2007 Thats okay Chips my cousin still has not got back to me anyways. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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