chad_butt
05-07-2005, 09:28 AM
Friday, May 6, 2005
Working like Devils
By ROBIN SHORT, Telelgram Sports Editor
Brad Dobbin, the lanky former St. John’s high school basketball star, is catching up on the NBA playoff highlights in his St. John’s Fog Devils office early Thursday afternoon.
Dobbin still has a passion for hoops, but hockey is what’s keeping him busy these days as the governor of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s expansion St. John’s Fog Devils.
Hockey fans have not heard much from the Fog Devils lately, partly because those running the team have opted to remain out of the spotlight as the Maple Leafs closed out their 14-year American Hockey League run in St. John’s.
That doesn’t mean those running the Fog Devils haven’t been working hard behind the scenes. Coach/general manager Real Paiement and the scouting staff have been beating the bushes looking for hockey players and Dobbin has had a hand in everything from logo design to preparing ticket packages to scheduling to marketing strategies.
“When you have a brand that’s starting from scratch,” he said, “it has its own pile of work.
“But it’s very exciting, though.”
The Fog Devils open Sept. 23 at Mile One Stadium against the Lewiston MAINEiacs and will be wearing home white jerseys with red and grey as secondary colours. The road jerseys will be black with white and grey.
The logo features the Fog Devils’ name with a devilish little character peaking over the crest.
Dobbin preferred not to have the logo revealed just yet. The official jersey and logo unveiling is set for May 28 at Empire Studio 12 Theatre in the Avalon Mall with the help of Michael Ryder of the Montreal Canadiens, a QMJHL graduate.
The Fog Devils will open training camp in early September at The Glacier in Mount Pearl — they couldn’t get ice time at Mile One — and upwards of 10-15 Newfoundlanders, besides those who may be chosen in the expansion and midget drafts, could be on the ice.
That’s following a four-day open tryout camp slated to start Aug. 12 in St. John’s.
“One of the real big philosophies of this ownership (Derm and Craig Dobbin) is to develop local talent,” Brad Dobbin said. “There is a certain amount of pressure to get Newfoundlanders in the lineup and I want to see Newfoundlanders on our team.
“But not for the sake of being a Newfoundlander.”
Dobbin said he hopes to stage a pair of exhibition games against the Halifax Mooseheads — who are in this year’s QMJHL final against the Rimouski Oceanic — at Mile One in late September.
The team will be built through the expansion and midget drafts June 1 and 4 in Chicoutimi. St. John’s picks first in the expansion and European drafts (the Euro draft is later in the month) and second overall in the midget draft behind their expansion partner, Saint John Sea Dogs.
In the expansion draft, each of the current 16 QMJHL teams can protect 16 players from a 55-man roster. Teams can lose no more than three players in the draft and only one goalie.
The Fog Devils and Sea Dogs are permitted five over-age players (20-year-olds) next season. That number drops to four in 2006-07 and the Canadian Hockey League maximum of three the year after that.
As for the midget draft, two of the top-rated youngsters appear to have pulled themselves out the running for the Q. Angelo Esposito of Montreal and Brad Malone of New Brunswick have indicated they are exploring the U.S. college route. Both are playing prep school hockey in the States.
The Fog Devils are charging $14.75 a ticket. Ticket pricing in the Q ranges from $10 and $12 in Rimouski and Moncton to $13.50 in Cape Breton and Halifax.
In Saint John, tickets are going for $13 for upper bowl tickets at Harbour Station. Lower bowl tickets in Saint John are $15 and $17 to sit in padded seats known as the building’s horseshoe.
The Fog Devils are paying a $450,000 travel subsidy to teams and their lease agreement with Mile One is said to be one of the least desirable in the league.
The team is negotiating with Rogers Television to televise some games next season and its likely it will have a radio broadcast.
rshort@thetelegram.com
Working like Devils
By ROBIN SHORT, Telelgram Sports Editor
Brad Dobbin, the lanky former St. John’s high school basketball star, is catching up on the NBA playoff highlights in his St. John’s Fog Devils office early Thursday afternoon.
Dobbin still has a passion for hoops, but hockey is what’s keeping him busy these days as the governor of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League’s expansion St. John’s Fog Devils.
Hockey fans have not heard much from the Fog Devils lately, partly because those running the team have opted to remain out of the spotlight as the Maple Leafs closed out their 14-year American Hockey League run in St. John’s.
That doesn’t mean those running the Fog Devils haven’t been working hard behind the scenes. Coach/general manager Real Paiement and the scouting staff have been beating the bushes looking for hockey players and Dobbin has had a hand in everything from logo design to preparing ticket packages to scheduling to marketing strategies.
“When you have a brand that’s starting from scratch,” he said, “it has its own pile of work.
“But it’s very exciting, though.”
The Fog Devils open Sept. 23 at Mile One Stadium against the Lewiston MAINEiacs and will be wearing home white jerseys with red and grey as secondary colours. The road jerseys will be black with white and grey.
The logo features the Fog Devils’ name with a devilish little character peaking over the crest.
Dobbin preferred not to have the logo revealed just yet. The official jersey and logo unveiling is set for May 28 at Empire Studio 12 Theatre in the Avalon Mall with the help of Michael Ryder of the Montreal Canadiens, a QMJHL graduate.
The Fog Devils will open training camp in early September at The Glacier in Mount Pearl — they couldn’t get ice time at Mile One — and upwards of 10-15 Newfoundlanders, besides those who may be chosen in the expansion and midget drafts, could be on the ice.
That’s following a four-day open tryout camp slated to start Aug. 12 in St. John’s.
“One of the real big philosophies of this ownership (Derm and Craig Dobbin) is to develop local talent,” Brad Dobbin said. “There is a certain amount of pressure to get Newfoundlanders in the lineup and I want to see Newfoundlanders on our team.
“But not for the sake of being a Newfoundlander.”
Dobbin said he hopes to stage a pair of exhibition games against the Halifax Mooseheads — who are in this year’s QMJHL final against the Rimouski Oceanic — at Mile One in late September.
The team will be built through the expansion and midget drafts June 1 and 4 in Chicoutimi. St. John’s picks first in the expansion and European drafts (the Euro draft is later in the month) and second overall in the midget draft behind their expansion partner, Saint John Sea Dogs.
In the expansion draft, each of the current 16 QMJHL teams can protect 16 players from a 55-man roster. Teams can lose no more than three players in the draft and only one goalie.
The Fog Devils and Sea Dogs are permitted five over-age players (20-year-olds) next season. That number drops to four in 2006-07 and the Canadian Hockey League maximum of three the year after that.
As for the midget draft, two of the top-rated youngsters appear to have pulled themselves out the running for the Q. Angelo Esposito of Montreal and Brad Malone of New Brunswick have indicated they are exploring the U.S. college route. Both are playing prep school hockey in the States.
The Fog Devils are charging $14.75 a ticket. Ticket pricing in the Q ranges from $10 and $12 in Rimouski and Moncton to $13.50 in Cape Breton and Halifax.
In Saint John, tickets are going for $13 for upper bowl tickets at Harbour Station. Lower bowl tickets in Saint John are $15 and $17 to sit in padded seats known as the building’s horseshoe.
The Fog Devils are paying a $450,000 travel subsidy to teams and their lease agreement with Mile One is said to be one of the least desirable in the league.
The team is negotiating with Rogers Television to televise some games next season and its likely it will have a radio broadcast.
rshort@thetelegram.com