Flyers fancam catches "Dancin' Homer"

From Michael MacDonald's blog:

The camera zoomed in on a rather portly fellow busting out dance moves that would make Napoleon Dynamite proud. The crowd popped for the wannabe Re-Run and a star was born.

Anyway, Shawn [Tilger, VP of Marketing & Communcations for the Flyers] turns to me with a grin and says "That guy is awesome." No sooner than that he is on his Blackberry instructing the camera crew to get the guy in on every break and once again the guy kicks out a new move or two and the crowd is going nuts.

After that, the Dancin Homer was a star. Shawn got on the phone again and instructed a member of his staff to give his business card to the Flyers version of the Phille Phanatic. With the card was a note saying that anytime the fan wanted tickets to any home game, he should call Shawn and he'd be in for free. A couple of wacky dance moves earned this dude season tickets on the house.

Read the full post...

Long Beach Ice Dogs host "Bah-Hum-Bug Night"

The Long Beach Ice Dogs (ECHL) are hosting a Bah-Hum-Bug Night on December 22nd. They won't be handing out anything at the door.

Says GameOps.com:
"Talk about low-budget, cost cutting, easy to manage. Might not be wildly impactful, but its a good talking point. There is also fun things in-game they can do, with no holiday music, penalties for fans showing too much holiday cheer, etc. "

Washington Capitals are hiring a mascot

From HockeyJobs.NHL.com:

The Washington Capitals of the National Hockey League have an immediate opening for their mascot position. This position plays a pivotal role in helping to create a positive and exciting experience for the fans.

Responsibilities include, but are not limited to:

• Develop new programs with youth groups and area schools

• Research and arrange appearances & handle paperwork

• Assist the marketing and Communications department with projects and programs as needed.

• Develop skit ideas for in-game performances

• Work with Community Relations to develop programs and support events.

• Create video skits and organize shoots

• Build & order necessary props for Caps games and outside performances

• Maintain costume, clean and make necessary repairs.

Appearances (as needed):

• Washington Capitals home games, including pre-season and playoffs

• Local parades, hospital visits, birthday parties, openings and premieres

• Area schools

• Shopping malls and other public areas to hand out items and generate interest.

• Youth games and associated events

• Special events including Season Ticket Holder Parties and bar tours, etc.

• Visits to our minor league affiliate, the Hershey Bears

• Military events

Washington Capitals Mascot Requirements:

- Ability to skate, dance, do aerobic-style moves and repelling a plus

- Must have past mascot experience or have worked in performance entertainment

- Must possess a current driver's license

- Must work well with children

- Physically fit and be able to endure extreme heat conditions

Click here to apply

How to improve the music at Canucks game

Blogger John Bollwitt posts about how he would improve the music at Vancouver Canucks games. (via Kukla's Korner)

What do you think? Discuss on the Hockey Music Forum.

New scoreboard for Calgary Flames

From the Calgary Sun:

The Calgary Flames will unveil their new multi-million-dollar Enmax Energy Board just in time for the Boxing Day match-up with the Vancouver Canucks.

The process will start tonight with the old board taken down after the tilt with the Minnesota Wild, but the time frame will give new meaning to the Christmas rush as the team heads to Vancouver tomorrow for a six-game road trip.

The command centre has already begun its time-consuming overhaul, with wires strewn all over event level at the ’Dome and workers armed with sledgehammers knocking down walls for the expansion.

A 10-day process will be condensed into five for the final stage of installation.

...

The downstairs demolition and pair of scoreboard-less Hitmen games tomorrow and Friday are well worth the reward of a top-of-the-line technological addition.

According to King, cost of the Enmax Energy Board built by South Dakota company Daktronics was “somewhere north of three and a half million dollars.”

The 36,000-lb. board boasts two power rings, top and bottom, and 50% more video room than the previous clock. Five cameras accompany the hardware and King promises a more intimate look at the game as a result.

Read the full article...

Previous: Vancouver Canucks get a new video scoreboard

Behind the scenes: Pyrotechnics in Atlanta

From AJC.com:

To make each Thrashers game Atlanta's hottest experience on ice, Rick Lambright and Andy Ulanowski bring the fire.

The brothers-in-law operate the high-flying twin bird heads that spew 20-foot flames during introductions, after every Thrashers goal and whenever the NHL's rules allow them to fire up the crowd. They are also in charge of this year's new pyrotechnic effects at Hawks games.

...

Before each game, Lambright and Ulanowski take a tank of propane to the catwalk 135 feet above the Philips Arena floor to refuel the accumulator, which pressurizes the gas. They also check and recheck the equipment for gas leaks.

For Thrashers games, they use a chain motor to lower the birds from their "nesting" position in the rafters to a place about 80 feet off the floor and about 10 feet above the scoreclock. The birds are 14 feet long and weigh 350 pounds apiece.

...

When the lights go down, a right turn of a silver key arms the system. Flipping the switch for "beak open," the birds' eyes begin pulsating with a red light. As the mouth drops open, so do the mouths of some spectators.

The blasts are synchronized with the announcer — for example, "Ilya Ko-val-CHUK," the final syllable being the cue for the flame — or with the horn sounding after a goal.

Two red buttons on the console fire the birds. Lambright said "each has a different personality" in terms of better flame at various temperatures. When the propane hits a 10,000-watt spark, it ignites.

The best burst is about two seconds.

"We toast the nose if we let the flame on too long," Lambright said.

Read the full article...

(via Kukla's Korner)

Columbus Blue Jackets release Christmas CD

From the Columbus Blue Jackets web site:

Tired of that same old holiday music? Check this out! This year you can stuff your holiday stocking with the Blue Jackets CD. Listen to all of your holiday favorites sung by Anson Carter, Jody Shelley, Manny Malhotra and the other members of the Blue Jackets team!

Proceeds from the CD will be donated to the Blue Jackets Foundation Family Resource Center at Children’s Hospital and the Riverside Cancer Service’s KidShare program.

Click here to listen to Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer

(via Kukla's Korner)

VIDEO: Take the A-Train

From the Ottawa Senators, "Take the A-Train". Slow-mo highlights of big hits by Anton "A-Train" Volchenkov, to the tune of Ella Fitzgerald singing "Take the A-Train".

Edmonton playoff games were really, really loud: study

(Graphic from the Canadian Medical Association Journal)

***

From the Canadian Press / CBC:

Three hours of sitting next to a roaring, buzzing chainsaw punctuated by the occasional deafening blast of a jet taking off wouldn't be anyone's idea of a good time.

But that's the equivalent of what hockey fanatics endured during the Edmonton Oilers' Stanley Cup playoff run last spring, according to a study published Monday in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

"You could tell just even in watching the games on TV that it was insanely loud," said Bill Hodgetts, the study's lead author and an assistant audiology professor at the University of Alberta.

After measuring sound levels once every second at three games during the final series between the Oilers and the Carolina Hurricanes, he determined just how insane those noise levels were - and what kind of hearing damage the racket could cause unwitting fans.

During the third game of the series, fans reached their maximum daily noise allowance in less than six minutes and they absorbed about 8,100 per cent of the top dose over the course of the game.

Read more...

Read the full article from the Canadian Medical Journal...

NHL experiments with goal judges

From CBC Sports:

If you missed it, the NHL experimented the other night in Edmonton with not having the goal judges directly behind the net, where they have been forever, but rather sitting on a press box catwalk, high above and behind the nets. The lab mice will later be moved to press box perches adjacent to the goals since not every rink has an above-and-behind vantage point. Read more...

GameOps.com announces "Best of 2006 Awards"

GameOps.com has announced the winners of its "Best of 2006 Awards" for game entertainment.

Winners include the Chicago Bulls, Cleveland Caveliers, Miami Heat and the Toronto Raptors.