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Marlies schedule, building name changes and Leafs Convo talks D pursuit

July 12, 2018, 6:18 PM ET [300 Comments]
Mike Augello
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The Toronto Marlies released their 2018-19 regular season schedule on Wednesday. The defending Calder Cup champions will open on the road in Utica and Binghamton on Friday October 5 and Saturday, October 6 before their home opener on Thanksgiving Monday, October 8 against the Cleveland Monsters, when they will raise their Calder Cup Championship banner.

The Marlies play three games at Scotiabank Arena; the traditional Boxing Day game against the Belleville Senators, on Family Day (February 18) against the Syracuse Crunch and on March 11 against the Senators.

As with their parent club, the Marlies arena we’ll be sporting a new name next season. Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment announced a new 10-year deal changing the name to Coca-Cola Coliseum from Ricoh Coliseum.



The terms of the naming rights were not released, but it marks the second name change involving the Leafs and their affiliate, as the 10-year, $800 Million agreement switching the name from Air Canada Centre to Scotiabank Arena went into effect on July 1.

What will be interesting is what the new nickname of the building at 40 Bay will become. After almost 20 years of the ACC, it will be hard for some fans to adjust to a new name and they may simply continue to do so.

When the agreement was announced last September, there were some thought a nod to history and calling the building Scotiabank Gardens would have been preferable, but the name would have been shortened to “the Gardens” by fans and in that instance Scotiabank would not get their money’s worth.

The true name of the building will come about organically, but it will be curious to see if a banking nickname like “The Vault”, “The Bank” or “The ATM” will emerge or if some different moniker will be adopted.

The arena in Buffalo has gone through four name changes since it opened in 1996, all connected to financial institutions (Marine Midland Arena, HSBC Arena, First Niagara Center and now Key Bank Center).

Other than a humorous nod calling it Hot Sauce Blue Cheese Arena earlier this century, none the names have really stuck in the minds of Western New Yorkers and the Sabres home has simply been called “the Arena” by most fans.




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We discuss the Leafs signing of Frederik Gauthier, some Blue Jays chatter and D options that are available to Kyle Dubas:



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