Playing Catch-Up

Well the end of the world prediction came…and we’re still here. Guess what believers, YOU’VE BEEN HAD.

But moving on to other topics…one piece of news concerning the Devils this week, and I’m liking this idea: Albany announced the creation of a fan advisory board called the Extra Attacker Program. Basically 8 people will be selected from a host of applicants (including myself) and will meet once a month with the front office to discuss ideas to get people interested in the product and get them into the building, along with how the arena itself can better serve fans once inside the building. After how the season began public relations-wise, this is a huge step in the right direction. I think they decide who gets on the board sometime next month, so I’m keeping my fingers crossed to see if I get chosen or not. On the same topic, the team also released their first Fan Survey for those who attended games this year, whether you’re a season ticket holder or just a casual fan. If you did attend a game, here’s the link to take the survey.

Now for a Calder Cup playoffs update: I guess unbelievable would be a good way to describe it. In an Eastern Conference final that everyone said could go either way in 6 or 7 games, the Binghamton Senators pulled off a shocker. After allowing just 10 goals all series to the league leading Penguins in the East Division Finals, Charlotte’s defense took a nap in this series. The Senators outscored the Checkers 21-8 en route to a 4 game sweep and a berth in the Calder Cup Finals. I was all set to go to Game 5, which would have been last night in Binghamton, and do my very first guest blog for our friends at Chasing Checkers, but it wasn’t meant to be I guess. The B-Sens are awaiting their Western Conference opponent…as of now Houston holds a 3-2 series lead on Hamilton with Game 6 later this afternoon in Texas. The Aeros were on the verge of a sweep themselves, but the Bulldogs won Games 4 and 5 at home to push the series back to Houston. I would think the Finals start next weekend, and I’m hoping the schedule works out again for me to go to one of the games in Bingo. Never have been to a Calder Cup final game (didn’t get to any of the River Rats’ finals games during the ’95 Calder Cup run), or to a hockey game in June for that matter.

The other news of the week is the rumored moves of both Atlanta to Winnipeg and Manitoba to St. John’s (to make room for the Thrashers). Franchise moving rumors, that was my hockey life for 4 and a half months last year. It’s so interesting to see how many different storylines can come out of one rumor. Our friends at Chirps From Center Ice tries to make sense of it all here.

Other than that…just enjoying baseball season and looking forward to vacation in July…have a few ideas in planning stages…mostly day trips (maybe one overnight) for baseball. Have some ideas for the blog for some filler while waiting for the offseason stories to come in. All I can say is stay tuned…