That sucks. I guess the Allen York jersey I have coming just went up in its curiosity factor.
heh, suppose so. I have a blank road Express sweater, maybe I should get it customized with York's name to actually have someone attached to it as well....
heh, suppose so. I have a blank road Express sweater, maybe I should get it customized with York's name to actually have someone attached to it as well....
I really like the look of them. I put York's navy on hold early on. The collector within tells me I should get a white one too, of any player, just to have an example, but the woman I share a house with would not agree.
Anyway, sad to see it fold so quickly. I don't really keep up with them, but I had no idea this was coming.
I really like the look of them. I put York's navy on hold early on. The collector within tells me I should get a white one too, of any player, just to have an example, but the woman I share a house with would not agree.
Anyway, sad to see it fold so quickly. I don't really keep up with them, but I had no idea this was coming.
Well, I guess it's not much of a surprise. The Hawks sell out every game and the Wolves routinely have crowds of 10,000+, so that eats out a major chunk of the area's hockey consuming populace on a nightly basis. And not to mention that the Hawks and Wolves have all their games televised (though Wolves only on Xfinity for most of their games), so Chicagoland hockey fans pretty much had their go-to live and televised teams to follow, really leaving the Express only as an afterthought for people that even knew that they existed and more of a casual thing for people that did that obviously preferred to follow the NHL and AHL. That ended up hurting the Express as they averaged at the bottom of the ECHL in attendance with only about 2,500 per game, which makes an arena the size of the Sears Centre seem absolutely cavernous by comparison.
Still, was honestly expecting them to try to keep it going for at least 2-3 years to try to build a reputation as a convenient, cheap place to watch games at. I personally knew at least a dozen people that only attended a single Express game this season late in the year after finding out about the team just to check them out, and fully indicated that they intended to go to a lot more of their games over the Wolves for the lower prices and the fact that the Sears Centre isn't a total pain to enter/leave like Allstate Arena is. It certainly was more convenient for me, living in between Sears Centre and Allstate Arena right off the highway connecting the two (though closer to Sears Centre), and going to Express games were just much easier and cheaper for me.
Last edited by No Fun Shogun: 04-07-2012 at 03:01 AM.
The Falcons were eliminated from the playoffs last night. This has been a frustrating season. Columbus signed players that have a track record of being good AHL players. Some we never saw do to the injuries in Columbus (Sanford) and some did not play to expectations (Giroux amongst others).
Hopefully Columbus can find a coach that knows the pro game and will push the team. Riley was never the coach for the job. Mediocrity at Army just is not enough.
A few defensemen could help as well. Re-sign Holden. I beg you Columbus. Although, he could be ready to move on.
2 more games to close the season this weekend at the Nest. Hopefully the fans come out to support the team in the last 2 games.
The Falcons were eliminated from the playoffs last night. This has been a frustrating season. Columbus signed players that have a track record of being good AHL players. Some we never saw do to the injuries in Columbus (Sanford) and some did not play to expectations (Giroux amongst others).
Hopefully Columbus can find a coach that knows the pro game and will push the team. Riley was never the coach for the job. Mediocrity at Army just is not enough.
A few defensemen could help as well. Re-sign Holden. I beg you Columbus. Although, he could be ready to move on.
2 more games to close the season this weekend at the Nest. Hopefully the fans come out to support the team in the last 2 games.
Well, at least you were in it till the end, which included a nice late push. More than can be said by the out of it in October parent club.
A few defensemen could help as well. Re-sign Holden. I beg you Columbus. Although, he could be ready to move on.
A few? I think you are mostly stuck with what is in our pipeline. Golo, Savard, Ruth, etc. I think you get Weber next year. Perhaps Ellington. Still got Blomqvist floating around. Not to mention we have to figure out what to do with a guy like Regner.
A few? I think you are mostly stuck with what is in our pipeline. Golo, Savard, Ruth, etc. I think you get Weber next year. Perhaps Ellington. Still got Blomqvist floating around. Not to mention we have to figure out what to do with a guy like Regner.
A few? I think you are mostly stuck with what is in our pipeline. Golo, Savard, Ruth, etc. I think you get Weber next year. Perhaps Ellington. Still got Blomqvist floating around. Not to mention we have to figure out what to do with a guy like Regner.
Regner and Ruth both belong in the ECHL. Springfield has a defenseman signed for next season that is in many people's eyes our #1 already in Greg Amadio. Blomqvist I can see fleeing back to Europe. He does not play well enough to be in the AHL and I don't see him wanting to stay and play in the ECHL.
I did not say go sign a bunch of defenseman, there are good players in the system turning pro which I know. I hope they can adjust to the pro game. But, vets are needed, it's a well known fact.
Regner and Ruth both belong in the ECHL. Springfield has a defenseman signed for next season that is in many people's eyes our #1 already in Greg Amadio. Blomqvist I can see fleeing back to Europe. He does not play well enough to be in the AHL and I don't see him wanting to stay and play in the ECHL.
I did not say go sign a bunch of defenseman, there are good players in the system turning pro which I know. I hope they can adjust to the pro game. But, vets are needed, it's a well known fact.
That's all fine and good. Good luck with that. What you want and what you get... Well... Doesn't change what I said. You are going to be filled with many defensemen from our system. "A few" is, at least, 3. You aren't going to have 3 vet journeymen signed by the CBJ.
That's great for Boone. My son got his signed game-star stick from the one exhibition game he played for the CBJ this year (vs Winnipeg).
Was that the last game for Springfield? Are they finished and out of the playoffs?
Tonight was the last game, Cam Atkinson night. The Falcons were eliminated Wed. They finished 36-34-3-3 for 78 points and are in 10th at the moment. But there are a couple of teams behind them with games in hand.
The Falcons ended the season with 2 straight wins. It's a shame that the team that played both nights was not the one that showed up certain nights.
I will say that it was nice to see a glimpse into the future with Weber, Jenner, Vogelhuber, Collins and Hansen. Even Danny New who is not CBJ property.
Jenner has great speed, he is all over the ice. He gets into the battles, comes back to help the defense and can score. I dislike that he has to go back to Jr's next season. He is ready to turn pro, maybe not NHL ready, but AHL would be good for him. I understand why the rule is in place, still don't like it.
Weber needs time, I could tell he was not comfortable Friday night. Did not make bad plays, just can see he was nervous. He's a big guy, did not use his size much, again I think next season he will be able to adjust well.
Danny New, ATO from Providence. The kid can hit, hard. He's not a big guy but uses his body well. His defense is not as good as I want to see, but I can see him getting an AHL deal or PTO to start the year.
Both Vogelhuber and Hansen did not stick out to me. Not a knock on them, just were not spectacular.
There will be some interesting choices this off-season with a good number of players becoming free agents. I do not see the CBJ signing certain players again (Giroux to top the list!). I would like to see Dainton, Clemente, Holden signed.
Falcons head coach Rob Riley's contract will not be renewed. No shock. He was not a good pro coach. He does not push the players hard enough. I was critical of his lack of fire for most of the 2 seasons.
As for a replacement...do not be shocked if the name Rob Murray comes up as a candidate.
Falcons head coach Rob Riley's contract will not be renewed. No shock. He was not a good pro coach. He does not push the players hard enough. I was critical of his lack of fire for most of the 2 seasons.
As for a replacement...do not be shocked if the name Rob Murray comes up as a candidate.
Columbus Blue Jackets - where accountability starts...at the AHL level.
Falcons head coach Rob Riley's contract will not be renewed. No shock. He was not a good pro coach. He does not push the players hard enough. I was critical of his lack of fire for most of the 2 seasons.
As for a replacement...do not be shocked if the name Rob Murray comes up as a candidate.
Last two seasons as head coach: 36-38-6 and 38-36-6, failed to make playoffs both years. Yep, he's perfect for us!
