NHL Salary Cap Rises
June 29, 2007
Good news for free agents. The NHL salary cap will increase to $50 mil for next season, a $6 mil increase from last season. I think we’ll see plenty of clubs spending money on bad contracts once again. So much for fiduciary responsibility.
B-Sens Adding Ice Girls
June 28, 2007
Whoa…here’s an announcement that I didn’t expect. The B-Sens are adding cheerleaders next season. This is a growing trend in hockey. The traditionalist in me balks at the idea, but the realist in me says it will help ticket sales and it sure beats having the local DJs shooting out the t-shirts.
The Senators are currently seeking six women (at least 18 years of age) who are interested in being members of the “Senators Ice Girls” for the 2007-08 season. Applicants should be hard working, energetic, personable, and possess excellent customer service skills. Ice girls will participate in pre-game promotions, intermission promotions, on-ice contests, and crowd energizing interaction.
My guess is that ticket sales are down this year. Understandable considering the lackluster team the last two seasons. With no big prospects coming up it’s going to be hard to market the team. Plus, after 5 seasons, the honeymoon is over. The team needs to be doing something to add to the entertainment value of the game so its nice to see them doing something. I’ll withhold judgement until I’ve been to a game.
B-Sens Host Open House
June 28, 2007
The Binghamton Senators will be hosting their annual open house on Saturday, July 7th from noon to 4pm. People interested in buying or moving season tickets will be able to look at which seats are available. They will also have tours of the luxury boxes, locker room, and the new training room.
For the kids there will be a bounce house, inflatable obstacle course, and a free ticket voucher for member of the Max’s fan club. They’re also going to be selling of merchandise on the cheap. Sounds like those 5th anniversary jerseys will be down to $30.
I’ve always missed the open house, but plan on attending this year. I’ll try to get some pictures for the site. Will be sad since we are giving up our season tickets after 10 years and switching to coupon books, but we’ll also be able to get an idea of where we might be able to sit next season.
AHL All-Star Game Date Announced
June 27, 2007
The AHL has chosen July 28th as the date of the 2008 all-star game hosted by the Binghamton Senators. I have my money in for 4 seats and look foreward to the game and skills competition.
With the good, comes some bad news. The B-Sens also announced that they are moving back to AM for the next 2 seasons. Not surprising that Cool100/Q107 dropped them after the team had a suck a terrible season. Was nice to get the clear signal, but the Hockey Night in Binghamton show was a disappointment. More good news though is that Grady Whittenburg will be back behind the mic for a 6th season. No matter what station they’re on we can count on him for quality broadcasts.
Bochenski signs extension with Boston
June 19, 2007
After dissing our recent hot (or not so hot) prospects yesterday, today I report on probably the best player Muckler traded away. Brandon Bochenski has signed a 1 year extension with the Boston Bruins. Bochenski is a player who keeps surprising me. I never thought he’d score much without Spezza as his center, but he keeps having hot streaks in the NHL and after 81 games has 21 goals and 20 assists. Not bad numbers if put up in one season. I don’t see him ever being an all-star, but he has a shot at being a solid second liner and getting 50+ points in a season. He should see plenty of opportunity in Boston.
Muckler canned, Murray takes over as GM
June 18, 2007
It is official, Muckler has been fired and replaced with Bryan Murray. This is great news for Binghamton. Muckler had basically abandoned any pretense of player development in the Ottawa system. B-Sens fans complained of the trades that stripped us of our best players, but to be honest those best players weren’t all that great. There hasn’t been a hot prospect to come through Binghamton in the last 2 years except for those in the visiting locker room. There is a new crop of prospects coming in next season, but the ones we’ve seen so far weren’t very impressive. Maybe a 2nd liner or 4th defenseman, but a far cry from the days of Spezza and Emery. Murray has already stated that he is looking to add size to the big club. Hopefully he will address that same inadequacy in the Binghamton club. The most telling move to determine the success of Binghamton next season will be seeing who Murray re-signs…or doesn’t re-sign to be more accurate. This farm system needs an overhaul and fortunately Muckler didn’t get the chance to make any moves before he got the boot.
Merry Christmas!
June 17, 2007
What? Christmas in June? That’s right, Ottawa has given us an early present by firing GM John Muckler!!! Woohoo! This is a move long overdue. Muckler has maintained a winning team at the NHL level by gutting the farm system. With the big Sens already close to the salary cap and many players approaching free agency, the Senators needed to move forward with a GM who knows how to build from the AHL up inorder to replenish the ranks.
Jackals announce new head coach and jersey
June 6, 2007
No new affiliation for Elmira…yet. Instead they announced their new head coach, Steve Martinson, and unveiled their new logo and jersey. I thought the Ottawa affiliation was a long shot for this press conference since Ottawa is focused on other things right now, but I thought Bingo hockey needed a little excitement right now.
Jackals to hold press conference today
June 5, 2007
The Elmira Jackals are holding a press conference this evening and have invited their season ticket holders to the big announcement. My best guess is that they will announce a new AHL and/or NHL affiliation for next season, their first in the ECHL. I have my fingers crossed that it will be an affiliation agreement with Ottawa. The B-Sens have suffered without a fulltime ECHL feeder and have had to rely on ECHL and UHL free agents. An official affiliation to an ECHL will definitely help our team and having that team as close as Elmira will be an added bonus to both cities.
During the Icemen years, the rivalry with Elmira was fantastic. There was a genuine hate between the cities and matchups guaranteed fisticuffs both on and off the ice. What made the rivalry so great was the proximity that allowed fans to go to each others games. An affiliation will surely draw more Elmira fans to Binghamton to see their graduated players at the next level and should also tempt more Binghamton fans to visit Elmira to see some of our prospects.
This is all just speculation. With the luck we’re having Elmira is just bringing out the press to announce their new mascot.
B-Sens Release Next Years Schedule Format
June 1, 2007
He it is and it’s just like last years…which sucks. No Manitoba Moose. No Hartford Wolfpack. Thumbs up for lots of games against local rivals, but thumbs down for any other interesting games. I’ll never understand why we don’t have Hartford in our barn 4 times a season.
Visiting the Arena four times each are East Division foes Albany, Bridgeport, Hershey, Norfolk, Philadelphia, and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton. Binghamton will also play four road games against these teams.
The B-Sens are slated to play two games (one home, one road) against Manchester, Portland, Providence, and Springfield of the Atlantic Division. A total of 56 games are scheduled against Eastern Conference teams.
The Senators have 24 games scheduled against Western Conference teams. Binghamton will face off against Rochester and Syracuse of the North Division eight times (four home, four road) each. Toronto remains on the schedule for four games in 2007-08, while Binghamton will once again play Hamilton after the Bulldogs were absent from the 2006-07 schedule.
The B-Sens have no games against West Division teams scheduled for the 2007-08 season.
