Some photos from Saturday’s event at the Bridge…
Photos Courtesy DLM/SlapShot Radio
I have to admit... I enjoyed seeing "Miracle" on the MegaTron! Great to see a lot of the hockey family on Saturday!
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October dawns and there is still no NHL hockey. Preseason is cancelled and, barring a miracle, regular season games will start biting the dust this week. After a long weekend of negotiations, the only positive thing I can think of is, at least they are talking… unlike 2004 when the two sides went months without contact. Today is rumored to be an off day in the negotiations.
So, let’s turn our attention to the hockey that IS being played, college hockey, just a short drive down the interstate in Huntsville. The University of Alabama in Huntsville has been in the news a lot over the past year… at this time last year, the program was in a struggle for its very existence, fighting against an interim bureaucrat that had no connection to the Huntsville community and no understanding of how important the UAH Hockey Program was. That is behind the program as very wise leadership has taken over the University and given the program new life.
The program took another step back last week with the hiring of new head coach Kurt Kleinendorst. The name will be familiar to New Jersey Devils fans as a scout and assistant coach and most recently was the head coach for the AHL’s Binghamton Senators. Perhaps Kleinendorst’s most valuable experience for the growing program comes from his involvement coaching the Under-18 USA Hockey National Team that won gold in 2010.
So… if you need a live hockey fix… UAH gets its season going this weekend with a pair of games against the University of Alabama’s club team with games on Friday night at 7 and Saturday afternoon at 3pm. Then the Chargers get their Division 1 schedule going against the WCHA’s Minnesota State Mavericks on October 12 and 13th with 7pm puck drops. It will be your only chance to catch UAH in Huntsville until after Thanksgiving as they visit Minnesota, Massachusetts (twice), New York, Michigan and Nebraska before finally returning to the friendly confines of the Von Braun Center.
This Charger team is a young one, with only four seniors… one of those seniors is Brentwood native Sebastian Geoffrion. The Tennessee connection deepens with Sebastian’s younger brother, junior forward, Brice… and yes, they are former Pred Blake Geoffrion’s brothers. That youth was served last season as the UAH posted a 2-28-1 mark… one of those wins coming at Bridgestone Arena over powerhouse University of Nebraska-Omaha. With some solid adds, this will be a better hockey team this year.
So… what do you say… let’s bring Bridgestone Arena to Huntsville on October 12th … in order to help do that… simply bring your season ticket holder card to the Von Braun Center box office on October 12th… and your ticket is free! You can get your live hockey on and support the Chargers as they enter into a critical season for their continued development. So… free ticket… live hockey… what else do you need…
Well… how about this? We will bring even more of Bridgestone Arena down to Huntsville as the UAH Hockey Program has asked me to announce Friday’s game! I am incredibly honored to do this so … come on down to Huntsville on Friday night October 13th for some great hockey and support the southernmost NCAA Division 1 hockey program!
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Some very exciting news about SlapShot Radio… Pete Weber and I return for our fifth season on Wednesday night at 7pm central time. We can be heard in Nashville on the flagship station of the Predators 102.5 the Game every Wednesday night. Lockout or not, we will talk hockey! Our season premier will feature the voices of the Nashville Predators, Tom Callahan and Stu Grimson… Our other guests are Sportsnet’s Jeff Marek and the king of hockey rumours Eklund! Now that is exciting enough news, however…
SlapShot Radio is growing its own radio network! We have two additional stations committed to carry the show with more to come! I can release the name of the first station to carry the show outside of Nashville… it’s Scottsboro’s Sports Leader 1050 WWIC in Scottsboro, Alabama. We are thrilled to add Greg Bell and the entire WWIC team to the SlapShot Radio Network! Readers in Scottsboro… reach out to Greg to advertise on the show!
More stations are coming on line and we will be announcing them as they confirm. Preseason advertising deals are available, for local and regional advertising… contact us at
[email protected].
And don’t forget to tune in Wednesday at 7pm on 120.5 the Game and the SlapShot Radio Network!
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Random Notes
- After three consecutive days of meetings, the NHL and the PA are taking a break today… meetings may resume on Tuesday, but nothing is set as of yet.
- Milwaukee has added Chris Mueller and Jon Blum to their roster. Othe Preds from last year’s roster in Milwaukee include Gabriel Bourque and Ryan Ellis.
- Rick Nash got himself injured while playing in the KHL… it is being reported as a bone bruise on his shoulder.
- Congratulations to first Predator captain Tom Fitzgerald… his son Ryan took home the MVP award at the USA Hockey All-American Prospects Game.
- Pretty good article in the New York Times from Jeff Klein about NHL Commish Gary Bettman, calling him the NHL’s “enforcer.” Read it
here.
- Twitter was a-buzzin’ over Krys Barch’s rant in multiple 140 character increments from late Saturday night. In a “Jerry Maguire” like treatise, Barch went off on the owners. While he makes some very good points, he lost me where he said that
“One half to 3/4 of my peers will have to work for the next 50 years of their lives.” In the immortal words of John McClain in Die Hard… Welcome to the party pal… All of us have to work until we retire in our 60’s or 70’s… I appreciate his honesty, I really do, but it is this type of messaging that causes a lot of fans to not take sides in this.
- Our good friends at C.A.P.E. are having a charity golf outing on Wednesday at Forest Crossing in Franklin… check it out on Facebook … here's the
link. It’s all to benefit a great cause…
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ROAD TRIP!!!! Update!
We are heading to the Lone Star State! SlapShot Radio will be road tripping to Dallas for the season finale on April 13th. We have made arrangements for tickets and are working on the other logistics, bus, hotel, etc... depending on the MLB Schedule, we may even try to catch a Rangers game!
Circle the date and join the SlapShot Radio crew for a road trip to Dallas... 4/13/13. More information to come!
We just ordered our tickets… to order yours please contact Group Sales Manager, Stormye Stevens at (214) 387-5635, mention you're with the SlapShot Radio Road Trip and she'll get you set up.
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You are invited to follow me on Twitter. Search for @PredPAPaul… Not only will I be updating when I get news or updates, but we are having a bit of fun by getting your input on Gnash introductions, weigh in on Twitter and who knows, we may use your introduction for the best mascot in the NHL at the next Preds game!
Also... make sure to "like" SlapShot Radio on Facebook... here's the
link.
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