Binghamton Junior A Team Signs First Player
September 1, 2006
The Junior Senators A team has announced their first signing.
Chenango Bridge- Goalie Rob Fallick has signed a player agreement with the Binghamton Jr. A team and is the first player to commit to the newly franchised team.
Rob had an outstanding year on the Jr. B team last year and looks forward to continuing his success at the Jr. A level. “I love Binghamton and the people here. The fans are great and enjoy working with a great team and staff”, says Fallick. Fallick had a 92.74 save percentage and three shut- outs to lead Binghamton to a third place finish in the Empire Jr. B league last season.
Fallick’s signing brought smiles to Coach Pierre Laganiere’s face as he tries to build a new Junior A team from the ground up. “Robbie makes us a good foundation. He will be a big help between the pipes”, says Laganiere. Along with the signing of young goalie prospect Kevin Weiler, formerly of Northwood prep school, Binghamton can look to other areas of the ice to build a team.
Fallick hails from the Pocono region of Pennsylvania and did a short stint with the Oswego Admirals in the Ontario Provincial Junior A Hockey League before coming to Binghamton.
(Most) B-Sens Fans Are Real Hockey Fans
August 31, 2006
I’d just like to add this thought to Pucknut’s observations of Binghamton Fans. I lived in Binghamton from 1998-2004. When I first got there the UHL B.C. Icemen were the team. I went to as many games as I could. Financial fortunes allowed me to start buying season tickets in 2000. On average the Icemen were pulling in about 2000 fans a game…. but they were real hockey fans. I’m very sorry I missed the Dusters, Whalers, and Rangers days, but you could feel the history of old time hockey every time you entered the arena. It was a lot harder to get seats when the B-Sens came to town because an additional 2000 Binghamton residents decided that they wanted to see AHL hockey. The arena holds a little more than 4000 fans.
I guess I just wanted to say that there are a couple thousand real hockey fans in Binghamton that didn’t miss a season, regardless of which hockey league was in town. I miss those Binghamton fans, but I didn’t leave town without buying a Dusters jersey. (Note the Ottawa and Binghamton patches on the shoulders.) I wear it in hono(u)r of the true hockey spirit in Binghamton…. but never without my Moose hat!
Binghamton Jr Senators
August 31, 2006
One of my goals this season is to increase coverage of the local hockey scene. For starters I thought I would take a look at the Binghamton Jr Senators. I had always know we had junior hockey in town, but the newspaper rarely covered it and I’ve never been to a game. Well this season that will change.
After doing a little online reasearch I made a big discovery…we not only have a local junior hockey team, we have THREE. The Jr Senators are split into three teams playing at three different levels. The C team plays in the Continental Hockey Association (CHA). The B team plays in the Empire Junior Hockey League. And starting this season there will be an A team playing in the Atlantic Junior Hockey League. All three teams play out of the Chenango Ice Rink which is less than 15 minutes from my house. I plan on taking the family to a few games this season and posting regular updates.
Old Time Hockey
August 31, 2006
I’ve been noticing more traffic from Ottawa one my website. Glad to see some of the Ottawa Senators fans checking on things in Bingo. When I was on Sens Underground they asked me about hockey fans in Binghamton and how popular the sport was. I think what a lot of the Ottawa fans don’t realize is that, despite being in the US, hockey has been in Binghamton for a long time. I sit next to 2 season ticket holders who have had their tickets since day 1 in 1973. This might be the 5th anniversary of the Binghamton Senators, but it is the 38th anniversary of pro hockey at our arena.
Back then hockey was a bit different. I just came across an old ESPN article that compares the scenes in the movie Slap Shot to the real life hockey of that period. The Broome Dusters, Binghamton’s first pro team, was a part of that league and is mentioned frequently in the article. Here’s my favorite story:
In reel life: The Hanson brothers wear black-rimmed, Coke-bottle eyeglasses, and in one game, get into a fight immediately after the opening faceoff.
In real life: Jeff and Steve Carlson wore those glasses, and did get into a long fight right after an opening faceoff. Roberge told the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, “We got into Binghamton about two or three weeks before the playoffs. In the team warmup, we’re out there and all the Binghamton players came out with the plastic glasses and big noses, every one of them, poking fun at the Carlson brothers. We went back in the dressing room and the boys said, ‘Coach, as soon as that puck is dropped, we’re pairing up.’ We had one heckuva fight. They went about 30 minutes until everyone got tired. We met them again in the finals and beat them four straight.”
Grippen Tests Clean
August 30, 2006
The latest series of tests at Grippen Ice Rink have tested negative for ethylene glycol.
More than 30 water and soil samples collected after the late June flood from beneath the one-time popular recreational facility on the west side of Endicott show the ground is no longer contaminated with ethylene glycol, a type of antifreeze used in the cooling system that once preserved the rink’s ice, county officials said Tuesday.
More testing will be done to make sure the pollution — discovered after a flood in April 2005 damaged the floor of the rink — has dissipated, said Henry Weissmann, the county’s commissioner of public works.
Now that the cleanup effort is done, the county can start looking at the future of Grippen. Last winter local hockey clubs found ice time at a premium and high school hockey teams were often holding early morning practices BEFORE school. As hockey increases in popularity this will likely continue. Fortunately, the county is looking at building a new ice rink at a new location, possibily in Vestal or Union. Grippen’s floor will be repaired, but it will no longer be used as an ice rink.
The county will repair the floor of the building and continue to use it, but not for ice skating, Weissmann said. Officials are considering the possibility of building a rink in the town of Vestal or Union. One consideration is Highland Park, in Union, he added, but the search process is in its early stages.
“We have some feelers out, but nothing formal,” he said. Public land will be the first choice, he said, because “we don’t want to take property off the tax rolls.”
