Category: ECHL (Page 1 of 2)

Margaritaville Meets ECHL Hockey To Interesting Results

16 March, 2011 / Kat

My favorite ECHL team, the Gwinnett Gladiators (because of their plethora of college hockey players with Hockey East ties last year), posted their “Tribute to Maragaritaville” jerseys on their Facebook page Tuesday night. They will be wearing them while hosting the Florida Everblades during a 3 game series this weekend. This is also the team’s annual “Pink in the Rink” weekend, where their ice is painted pink for Breast Cancer Awareness.

The Gladiators' Margaritaville Jersey (via the team's Facebook page)

This yellow, teal and brown/burgundy on pink ice is going to be a tad on the color blind side. It’s for a good cause, so we will put this unfortunate color match-up aside. Also, is this the first ever pro hockey jersey to include a parrot?

From the Gwinnett Gladiators website:

“Wasting away again in Margaritaville or do you just wish that you were? Don’t miss this Gladiators special weekend as the team helps raise money and awareness for cancer research and local children’s charities. This year’s theme is Parrot Head inspired as we plan to dip our toes in the sands of good hockey and good fun during the 4th Annual Pink in the Rink Weekend at the Arena at Gwinnett Center.”

Thoughts from a Train Without Wi-Fi

11 August, 2010 / Kat

I wrote the following Tuesday morning on the train, but didn’t have internet to post it until Wednesday.

The man in front of me has a Verizon Mi-Fi card. I have been staring at this card and his MacBook for three straight hours, as he command-1-2-3s from Gmail to TweetDeck to Excel, and my iPhone and Mac keeps telling me, “Hey, there’s internet right in front of you – but it’s password protected. Haha!”

Mean, Mi-Fi. Mean, mean, mean Mi-Fi.

I’ve written one article – a piece for the Brookline Patch about the birth of Skating magazine – because all of the sources were hard copy Skating magazines from two years ago, along with one email from Ben Wright (someone I never in my life ever thought would email wanna-be journalist me, but there it was, Sunday morning in my inbox…ask my husband, I fell over in my chair) that I was able to bring up on my phone.

But can I post this piece and assure my editor that it’s done? No, because Amtrak doesn’t offer internet. Greyhound, of all means of transportation, now offers internet, but Amtrak can’t. And because I’m too chicken to ask the man in front of me for access to his Mi-Fi in exchange for five bucks. (Yes, I’m willing to pay at this point.)

There he goes again. Command 1. Command 2. TweetDeck, Excel, GMail. Mean Mi-Fi.

So while he justly hogs his internet, here are some sports related thoughts: Continue reading

Who Cares if Your Team’s Colors Aren’t Green?

17 March, 2010 / Kat

St. Patrick’s Day has become big business in the sports fan wear industry. It has become commonplace for teams across sports to eschew their traditional colors for the day and promote green and white fan wear and jerseys. All levels of professional hockey have been the biggest to jump on the trend, with special fanwear for sale and given away at games, and special jerseys worn for games played around March 17th. The following are three shirts that caught my eye for various reasons.

NHL: St. Louis Blues

Last night, the St. Louis Blues mixed their St. Patrick’s Day commemoration with environmental awareness, and gave away a “Green Game” t-shirt to all fans in attendance (quite a risky claim to advertise – from personal experience, you should always give an exact number of giveaways, a la “first 5,000 fans”). The shirt giveaway was sponsored by Monsanto, a Cambridge, MA based agricultural innovation company with an emphasis on sustainable practices. This was the second year for the Blues promotion.

Shirt Grade: B I like the muted, antiquey kelly green shirt and faded style of the print. It also helps that the Blues’ team colors happen not to horribly clash with green. Kudos for using that to their advantage and not changing the logo’s colors for the holiday’s sake. Environmental awareness initiatives during games are the new “it” thing to do in sports marketing – trust me, I participate in one – but the giveaway needs to be backed up with sustained, but subtle, green initiatives, otherwise it is just a t-shirt giveaway.

AHL: Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins

The Baby Pens (speaking of, we are long overdue for an edition of The Everyone’s Favorite Goalie Watch, but that’ll be another post) are selling two St. Patrick’s Day long sleeve shirts in their online store. The 2009 edition ($20) features their mascot, Tux, skating with a four leaf clover in the background on the front. The back reads “Happy St. Patrick’s Day.” The 2010 version ($22) features the logo in what appears to be a very dark green (nearly black), with a four leaf clover on the sleeve. Long sleeve shirts are always key in that part of Pennsylvania, where the damp gray chilly days seem to out number any other weather.

Grade: C The effort is there, but the execution is not. The 2009 version is too campy, and the 2010 version shows promise, but the green seems too dark. Kudos, however, for the 2010 edition’s four leaf clover on the sleeve.

ECHL: Gwinnett Gladiators

The ECHL Gwinnett Gladiators teamed with Old Time Hockey, the same Salisbury, MA based company who partnered to create some of the NHL’s 2010 St. Patrick’s Day gear, to create a green t-shirt to sell this March. The shirt ($20 with free shipping through today) features a rather disturbed and surly looking leprechaun brandishing a hockey stick, with a small Gladiators logo by his right foot. The all-caps font is rather 1950s style, and arches above Surly Leprechaun’s head.

Grade: A This is the first ever St. Patrick’s Day shirt I would ever consider purchasing, and not just because I’m in the market for a shirt from the team where two of my most favorite former BU hockey alums play. What sold me was the 1950s fonts – I’m a sucker for fonts. Plus, I feel like Surly Leprechaun is going to hurt me with that hockey stick if I don’t like the shirt.

ACR5GWEKYTEQ

And They Shall Lead Them With Jersey Gimmicks and Bobbleheads: Breaking Up Is Hard to Do

28 January, 2010 / Kat

On Beantown Athletic Supporters, I briefly discuss the Manchester Monarchs and their “Diamonds Are a Girls’ Best Friend” Contest, where women are encouraged to submit their worst breakup stories to win a diamond. While I sure have some doozys, I’ll refrain from entering right now, thanks.

Yahoo Sports Puck Daddy also featured the ECHL’s Las Vegas Wranglers’ March promotion where their team will be dressed up in special Girl Scout jerseys.

Las Vegas's Girl Scout tribute jersey (Illustration from Puck Daddy.)

Former Girl Scout me would like to point out that that jersey is based off the Junior Girl Scout uniform, which when I was a Scout, came with the option of either the sash or the vest. In true Western New York fashion, I was forced into uniform hand-me-downs, so I wore the 1979 edition – flared paints and too-wide insignia prints! (Explains a lot, doesn’t it?)

Lastly, the ECHL Utah Grizzlies will be celebrating a pair of unique promotions over the coming days. Saturday is “Guns and Hoses” night – a charity game between local police officers and firefighters will take place Saturday afternoon, and during the Grizzlies’ evening game, the team will don special “Guns and Hoses” jerseys (picture not yet available.) I thought the name of the promotion was quite suspect, until @QuickFacts, one of the sources of hockey knowledge I totally defer to, informed me that many teams have such games annually. You learn something new everyday. I’m still interested in seeing how the Grizzlies will include both police and firefighter imagery in the same jersey.

Monday night, the Grizzlies are hoping down-on-his-luck and recently jail sprung Utah resident Gary Colman will join the team for the ceremonial puck drop. “The organization has reached out to his agent and attorney in an attempt to bring him to the E-Center and is hopeful to have him in attendance Monday for a ceremonial first puck drop,” read a Grizzlies press release on Thursday. Adrian Denny, the team’s Vice President of Communications and Broadcasting added, “Gary has struggled a bit since his move to Utah, but we’d like to take this opportunity to introduce him to Grizzlies hockey.”

Something tells me Gary’s not going to be there…

And They Shall Lead Them With Jersey Gimmicks and Bobbleheads: Christmas Carols with Jackals

9 December, 2009 / Kat

Elmira, New York is a small city to the south of my hometown of Rochester. In my nearly twenty-eight years, Elmira has been most memorable in my mind for being near the Arnot Mall, the most unfortunately named mall in the history of mankind. (“You are-not a mall.”)

That is, until today.

On December 20, the ECHL’s Elmira Jackals will present “Christmas CD” night during their game against the Johnstown Chiefs. Attendees at the game will receive a Christmas CD of Jackals players singing Christmas carols. Yes, residents of the Twin Tiers and Southwestern New York, you can celebrate the holidays by being serenaded by ECHL players such as twin forwards Justin and Tyler Donati and minor league hockey journeyman Olivier Proulx (Look at his Hockey Database profile. Journeyman might be too mild of a term.)

In anticipation of their CD release, the Jackals posted the following behind-the-scenes video of the recording session. The voices. The majesty. The command. The….resemblance to thirteen year olds with cracking voices.

If this isn’t the perfect accompaniment for your family’s various holiday activities – such as driving around to find that street with the paper candelabras and white lights only to realize that the two feet of lake effect snow has buried the candelabras and knocked out the power (or maybe that’s just my family?) – I don’t know what CD is.