Post by Dogs 08-09 on Oct 3, 2007 20:07:34 GMT -4
Sea Dogs Equipment Manager David Kelly will be giving you a behind-the-scenes look at the team all season long.
Sept 28th, 6:23PM (Saint John, NB)
‘Under my umbrella ella ella hey hey hey’... Oh… sorry about that, Rihanna is here tonight and I’ve got to say - I'm not a fan (sorry Rihanna but I just don't like your music haha) but that one song is pretty catchy, I have to admit... Even though I'm not a huge fan of her music, Harbour Station has scored big with this concert, as the joint will definitely be full tonight! I have to also mention the rink staff again - people don't understand how hard these guys work to make this a first-class building… We played last night against P.E.I. (and it was a HUGE win by the way!), and at 9:30pm the crew was ready to go - taking the glass out, covering the ice, putting the stage up, getting the rooms ready, etc.... I'm not sure what time everything wraps up tonight, but by tomorrow morning the place will be definitely be game-ready, and no one would even know that there was a concert here…
I have to give a few congratulatory offerings here as well, as a couple of big milestones were achieved here in the last couple of weeks! Robert Mayer got his first QMJHL win in PEI, Simon Despres scored his first QMJHL goal against Lewiston, Micheal Kirkpatrick scored his first QMJHL goal against PEI, and Ryan Sparling became the first player to reach 100 points as a Sea Dog... Yes it was undoubtedly a big night for the Cape Breton boys here yesterday..... But I do need to remind Kirky (because he was getting a little too happy last night) that he still only has one more goal in the Q than I do, haha. Is that mean to say? Probably, but that's okay because I already reminded him of that last night after the game. We are like a family down here in the room, so there are always verbal daggers flying around... It's all in good fun, and that's what this game is all about. If you ask anyone who played the game what they miss the most, and nine out of ten will tell you it’s the dressing room and their team mates. We have a great group of guys here right now, and these kids can play too!
I’ve getting lots of feedback and questions from the blog lately, so I have included a couple of those this week:
"David
Just wanted to let you know, we enjoy your articles over here on PEI just as well as Saint John fans. Our nephew Brett Gallant plays for the team and we love hearing what is going on!!! My son, Kennedy, is probably Brett's biggest fan so we check out the Sea Dogs website daily. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next article.
Tracie "
DK's reply: Tracie, thanks for your email! Good to know that the fine folks in PEI are checking out our website and keeping updated on Brett. Brett said to say hello to everyone there,especially Kennedy and Brett has something for him the next time he sees him!
Dk,
Again thank you got giving my son a stick and getting it autographed for him (SIDE NOTE FROM DK.... to make sure I didn't take heat from our SJ fans for this, we broke two sticks last night against PEI and I made sure that a couple young fans behind our bench received them...) at the season opener in Lewiston. Sure we heckle the visitors and let them know this is our barn we really do care about the boys coming to town. As the Seadog fans that travelled down on the fan bus last year and the season opener can vouch that the SeaDogs are my second favourite team and have consumed many **cold beverages** with your loyal fans. I thank you for the inside look into the team and funny bits of info. I wish Tom here in Lewiston would do that but he is "way to busy" for that =) (SIDE NOTE FROM DK... Tommy has more helpers than Santa does... not sure how he is too busy haha). Even as a visiting fan it kind gives us a glimpse of what these kids do off the ice and some of their quirky habit maybe. As a far of a 2yr old and one on the way I'm sure I will spend many more decades in hockey arenas and thank you for providing us the inside look. Keep typing and letting us know whats up off the ice. Ill let you go because I'm sure Dido is complaining he needs you to do something for him.
Bill
Harleydude(on the forums)
Season Ticket Holder Lewiston Maineiacs(right behind the visiting bench!)
DK's reply: Bill, Thanks for checking out our website and for the nice note about the stick... you must have been wearing something with a RED SOX logo on it for me to be that nice to a Maineiacs fan... just kidding! Dan that works security by our bench and locker room is a better man than I for being able to put up with you guys for 35 nights a year... no wonder he doesn't work pre-season =). Look forward to seeing you and all of the other crazy Maineiac fans at the end of next month!
Oct 2nd, 4:49pm (Saint John, NB)
Well, I was just told by the coaches that we have acquired Scott Howes from Drummondville. The process now is that I email Ken Catania, who does the name-bars for our jerseys, and get him to overnight me the new embroidered ... I have also emailed Drew at TrimLine to get his name-bar done for Scott’s stall in the locker room. I have to mention that you guys can now get your own, personalized name-bars at Sea Dogs Styles - just like the ones our guys have in their stalls! I definitely think that that’d make a great stocking stuffer! Anyways, back to Howes: after I order the name-bars for his jerseys and stall, I will call Scott and ask him what number he wants, what sticks he uses and, what equipment he needs. He was wearing #64 in Drummondville, but we only use numbers below #55 here in Saint John, so he's going to have to change.
Speaking of numbers, I heard the Fog Devils have retired the jersey # of Scott Brophy. There has been a lot of talk about this, and people have been questioning why they would do it… I don't know many details about it, so I cant really comment on this act specifically, but every organization handles things in their own way. Here in Saint John we retire all overage players who finish the year with us for the following season. So far the players and numbers have been: Jeff Caron #6, Kevin Coughlin #9, Vincent Lambert #28, Jason Churchill #31, David MacDonald #8 and Steve Bellefleur #21. Also this year we made a special exception and also did this for Charles Bergeron's #18, who was the first player we took in the expansion draft and was also our Captain. It just wouldn't seem right to see someone else wearing #18 here this year.
Some of you might have noticed that there have been no entries for the last couple of days, and that's with good reason... TWO DAYS OFF!!!! Now lets clarify a day off... A day off for a player means a day away from the rink and away from hockey. For DK and the rest of the staff, it means a day without the players. There is always something to be done around the room so ‘days off’ are great opportunities to catch up on things.
The TV is on in the room.... It's a Boston channel so they are talking about the Red Sox getting ready for the playoffs, which start tomorrow.... Some places around Fenway are charging $75.00 for parking tomorrow... That's right, AROUND Fenway, not at Fenway... And people complain about $3 to park at the station!
Local school visits start tomorrow, so if you’re a youngster, keep your eyes open for our players... You never know when you might see some of our guys walk into your classroom. I almost forgot to mention this too - for the month of October our guys will be wearing PINK jerseys in warm-up for all of the home games… At the end of the month they will then be auctioned off with the funds going to support breast cancer research. There will be more details for this in the paper and on our website, so please keep your eyes open. Now some of you are saying ‘DK, you keep telling us about these promotions and fundraisers but what do you do to help out?’, and that's a great question. Here is my commitment to this particular fundraiser: there will be some jerseys auctioned off in a live auction, and some done by silent auction... My commitment is to open the bidding by placing a starting $20 bid on each of the jerseys in the silent auction. Now I know when the chips are down, people here ALWAYS answer the bell... So the challenge has been thrown out there to everyone reading this to help make this fundraiser work. You don't need to be from Saint John to bid, and there will be details to follow like I said on the website www.saintjohnseadogs.com. We've all been affected by cancer in some way, at some point, so let’s work together on this! It doesn't matter if it is a business or an individual that buys these jerseys, but let’s remember – it’s for a VERY good cause so let’s not be cheap =)
I’m very happy for Pic (Alexandre Picard-Hooper), who scored the game-winner against the Wildcats on Saturday night. He doesn't even have his own sticks in yet, so he has used a few different patterns including one from Sparling, one from McNeil, one from Gauthier and, today, one from Tsmikalis (Don't ask because I don't know haha).
A couple of big games this weekend! We are in Halifax this Friday and then Quebec is here on Saturday night. We usually get good crowds when the Remparts are in town... Whether you love Patrick Roy or hate him, people still love to see him. He has been great with the fans here the first two years, signing autographs and taking pictures with everyone, so if you've ever been a fan of Patrick’s, make sure you come out this Saturday night to see him behind the bench.
Congrats to Dido on winning the QMJHL Offensive Player of the Month Award too... I'm sure if Dido had his way he would have Liske and Sparling's names right beside his, because that's a full-line effort on that one!
We’ve received some emails about equipment issues this week too, people wanting to know who is the most particular about his equipment on the team... That one is easy - Robert Mayer is by far the most particular when it comes to his gear. Everyone has different needs when it comes to skates and sticks, but Robert is particular about everything he wears. He knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it. Another question was about superstitions, and this is one I always have a heard time answering because I don't like to give away the guys’ secrets. Obviously if you come and watch warm-up for a couple of games you'll quickly see the routines that certain guys have. Some of the off-ice things include: one guy always tracks me down for a piece of gum and another to use my scissors on his stick... ‘Whatever Works’ is what I say! Don't forget the ‘Dinner with the Dogs’ at East Side Mario’s in support of the Children's Wish Foundation on October 28th too... Details to follow on the website!
And the answer to the question of the day is: #27... Scott Howes will be wearing #27 with the Sea Dogs.
October 3rd, 3:02pm (Saint John, NB)
I just ran into Splash downstairs here at Harbour Station - I think he must have been watching practice from under the stands where he sometimes hangs out. He wants me to let everyone know that the new sign-up form for the Sea Pups Kid's Club is now up on the website in the Fan Zone section. He is also working hard with Trisha in the office on the first newsletter of the season, and those should be out next week.... So, if you’re a Sea Pup, keep your eyes open for that, and Splash sends a big ‘hello’ to all of you!
Something else that I’ve heard rumblings about this week and need to mention is people not being happy with Dave Connell putting a watermark on his pictures this year. Conzie does an awesome job taking the guys’ pictures, and I can tell you that all of us really enjoy going on his site to check them out (and he did great engagement pictures for my sister too!), but I'm not sure why people think the watermark ‘takes away’ from the pictures. If you want to buy a copy of any of his pictures, I know it can be arranged through Conzie or the team, but the watermarks are there to put a stop on people stealing them from his site www.davidconnell.ca .
Big game for the Red Sox tonight so I have to go and get some work done because I want to watch the whole game and we're packing up to head to Halifax tomorrow after practice. Once again, if any of you have questions feel free to email me at davidkelly@saintjohnseadogs.com.
See ya at the station saturday night! ...and GO SOX GO!!!
-DK
Sept 28th, 6:23PM (Saint John, NB)
‘Under my umbrella ella ella hey hey hey’... Oh… sorry about that, Rihanna is here tonight and I’ve got to say - I'm not a fan (sorry Rihanna but I just don't like your music haha) but that one song is pretty catchy, I have to admit... Even though I'm not a huge fan of her music, Harbour Station has scored big with this concert, as the joint will definitely be full tonight! I have to also mention the rink staff again - people don't understand how hard these guys work to make this a first-class building… We played last night against P.E.I. (and it was a HUGE win by the way!), and at 9:30pm the crew was ready to go - taking the glass out, covering the ice, putting the stage up, getting the rooms ready, etc.... I'm not sure what time everything wraps up tonight, but by tomorrow morning the place will be definitely be game-ready, and no one would even know that there was a concert here…
I have to give a few congratulatory offerings here as well, as a couple of big milestones were achieved here in the last couple of weeks! Robert Mayer got his first QMJHL win in PEI, Simon Despres scored his first QMJHL goal against Lewiston, Micheal Kirkpatrick scored his first QMJHL goal against PEI, and Ryan Sparling became the first player to reach 100 points as a Sea Dog... Yes it was undoubtedly a big night for the Cape Breton boys here yesterday..... But I do need to remind Kirky (because he was getting a little too happy last night) that he still only has one more goal in the Q than I do, haha. Is that mean to say? Probably, but that's okay because I already reminded him of that last night after the game. We are like a family down here in the room, so there are always verbal daggers flying around... It's all in good fun, and that's what this game is all about. If you ask anyone who played the game what they miss the most, and nine out of ten will tell you it’s the dressing room and their team mates. We have a great group of guys here right now, and these kids can play too!
I’ve getting lots of feedback and questions from the blog lately, so I have included a couple of those this week:
"David
Just wanted to let you know, we enjoy your articles over here on PEI just as well as Saint John fans. Our nephew Brett Gallant plays for the team and we love hearing what is going on!!! My son, Kennedy, is probably Brett's biggest fan so we check out the Sea Dogs website daily. Keep up the good work, looking forward to the next article.
Tracie "
DK's reply: Tracie, thanks for your email! Good to know that the fine folks in PEI are checking out our website and keeping updated on Brett. Brett said to say hello to everyone there,especially Kennedy and Brett has something for him the next time he sees him!
Dk,
Again thank you got giving my son a stick and getting it autographed for him (SIDE NOTE FROM DK.... to make sure I didn't take heat from our SJ fans for this, we broke two sticks last night against PEI and I made sure that a couple young fans behind our bench received them...) at the season opener in Lewiston. Sure we heckle the visitors and let them know this is our barn we really do care about the boys coming to town. As the Seadog fans that travelled down on the fan bus last year and the season opener can vouch that the SeaDogs are my second favourite team and have consumed many **cold beverages** with your loyal fans. I thank you for the inside look into the team and funny bits of info. I wish Tom here in Lewiston would do that but he is "way to busy" for that =) (SIDE NOTE FROM DK... Tommy has more helpers than Santa does... not sure how he is too busy haha). Even as a visiting fan it kind gives us a glimpse of what these kids do off the ice and some of their quirky habit maybe. As a far of a 2yr old and one on the way I'm sure I will spend many more decades in hockey arenas and thank you for providing us the inside look. Keep typing and letting us know whats up off the ice. Ill let you go because I'm sure Dido is complaining he needs you to do something for him.
Bill
Harleydude(on the forums)
Season Ticket Holder Lewiston Maineiacs(right behind the visiting bench!)
DK's reply: Bill, Thanks for checking out our website and for the nice note about the stick... you must have been wearing something with a RED SOX logo on it for me to be that nice to a Maineiacs fan... just kidding! Dan that works security by our bench and locker room is a better man than I for being able to put up with you guys for 35 nights a year... no wonder he doesn't work pre-season =). Look forward to seeing you and all of the other crazy Maineiac fans at the end of next month!
Oct 2nd, 4:49pm (Saint John, NB)
Well, I was just told by the coaches that we have acquired Scott Howes from Drummondville. The process now is that I email Ken Catania, who does the name-bars for our jerseys, and get him to overnight me the new embroidered ... I have also emailed Drew at TrimLine to get his name-bar done for Scott’s stall in the locker room. I have to mention that you guys can now get your own, personalized name-bars at Sea Dogs Styles - just like the ones our guys have in their stalls! I definitely think that that’d make a great stocking stuffer! Anyways, back to Howes: after I order the name-bars for his jerseys and stall, I will call Scott and ask him what number he wants, what sticks he uses and, what equipment he needs. He was wearing #64 in Drummondville, but we only use numbers below #55 here in Saint John, so he's going to have to change.
Speaking of numbers, I heard the Fog Devils have retired the jersey # of Scott Brophy. There has been a lot of talk about this, and people have been questioning why they would do it… I don't know many details about it, so I cant really comment on this act specifically, but every organization handles things in their own way. Here in Saint John we retire all overage players who finish the year with us for the following season. So far the players and numbers have been: Jeff Caron #6, Kevin Coughlin #9, Vincent Lambert #28, Jason Churchill #31, David MacDonald #8 and Steve Bellefleur #21. Also this year we made a special exception and also did this for Charles Bergeron's #18, who was the first player we took in the expansion draft and was also our Captain. It just wouldn't seem right to see someone else wearing #18 here this year.
Some of you might have noticed that there have been no entries for the last couple of days, and that's with good reason... TWO DAYS OFF!!!! Now lets clarify a day off... A day off for a player means a day away from the rink and away from hockey. For DK and the rest of the staff, it means a day without the players. There is always something to be done around the room so ‘days off’ are great opportunities to catch up on things.
The TV is on in the room.... It's a Boston channel so they are talking about the Red Sox getting ready for the playoffs, which start tomorrow.... Some places around Fenway are charging $75.00 for parking tomorrow... That's right, AROUND Fenway, not at Fenway... And people complain about $3 to park at the station!
Local school visits start tomorrow, so if you’re a youngster, keep your eyes open for our players... You never know when you might see some of our guys walk into your classroom. I almost forgot to mention this too - for the month of October our guys will be wearing PINK jerseys in warm-up for all of the home games… At the end of the month they will then be auctioned off with the funds going to support breast cancer research. There will be more details for this in the paper and on our website, so please keep your eyes open. Now some of you are saying ‘DK, you keep telling us about these promotions and fundraisers but what do you do to help out?’, and that's a great question. Here is my commitment to this particular fundraiser: there will be some jerseys auctioned off in a live auction, and some done by silent auction... My commitment is to open the bidding by placing a starting $20 bid on each of the jerseys in the silent auction. Now I know when the chips are down, people here ALWAYS answer the bell... So the challenge has been thrown out there to everyone reading this to help make this fundraiser work. You don't need to be from Saint John to bid, and there will be details to follow like I said on the website www.saintjohnseadogs.com. We've all been affected by cancer in some way, at some point, so let’s work together on this! It doesn't matter if it is a business or an individual that buys these jerseys, but let’s remember – it’s for a VERY good cause so let’s not be cheap =)
I’m very happy for Pic (Alexandre Picard-Hooper), who scored the game-winner against the Wildcats on Saturday night. He doesn't even have his own sticks in yet, so he has used a few different patterns including one from Sparling, one from McNeil, one from Gauthier and, today, one from Tsmikalis (Don't ask because I don't know haha).
A couple of big games this weekend! We are in Halifax this Friday and then Quebec is here on Saturday night. We usually get good crowds when the Remparts are in town... Whether you love Patrick Roy or hate him, people still love to see him. He has been great with the fans here the first two years, signing autographs and taking pictures with everyone, so if you've ever been a fan of Patrick’s, make sure you come out this Saturday night to see him behind the bench.
Congrats to Dido on winning the QMJHL Offensive Player of the Month Award too... I'm sure if Dido had his way he would have Liske and Sparling's names right beside his, because that's a full-line effort on that one!
We’ve received some emails about equipment issues this week too, people wanting to know who is the most particular about his equipment on the team... That one is easy - Robert Mayer is by far the most particular when it comes to his gear. Everyone has different needs when it comes to skates and sticks, but Robert is particular about everything he wears. He knows exactly what he wants and how he wants it. Another question was about superstitions, and this is one I always have a heard time answering because I don't like to give away the guys’ secrets. Obviously if you come and watch warm-up for a couple of games you'll quickly see the routines that certain guys have. Some of the off-ice things include: one guy always tracks me down for a piece of gum and another to use my scissors on his stick... ‘Whatever Works’ is what I say! Don't forget the ‘Dinner with the Dogs’ at East Side Mario’s in support of the Children's Wish Foundation on October 28th too... Details to follow on the website!
And the answer to the question of the day is: #27... Scott Howes will be wearing #27 with the Sea Dogs.
October 3rd, 3:02pm (Saint John, NB)
I just ran into Splash downstairs here at Harbour Station - I think he must have been watching practice from under the stands where he sometimes hangs out. He wants me to let everyone know that the new sign-up form for the Sea Pups Kid's Club is now up on the website in the Fan Zone section. He is also working hard with Trisha in the office on the first newsletter of the season, and those should be out next week.... So, if you’re a Sea Pup, keep your eyes open for that, and Splash sends a big ‘hello’ to all of you!
Something else that I’ve heard rumblings about this week and need to mention is people not being happy with Dave Connell putting a watermark on his pictures this year. Conzie does an awesome job taking the guys’ pictures, and I can tell you that all of us really enjoy going on his site to check them out (and he did great engagement pictures for my sister too!), but I'm not sure why people think the watermark ‘takes away’ from the pictures. If you want to buy a copy of any of his pictures, I know it can be arranged through Conzie or the team, but the watermarks are there to put a stop on people stealing them from his site www.davidconnell.ca .
Big game for the Red Sox tonight so I have to go and get some work done because I want to watch the whole game and we're packing up to head to Halifax tomorrow after practice. Once again, if any of you have questions feel free to email me at davidkelly@saintjohnseadogs.com.
See ya at the station saturday night! ...and GO SOX GO!!!
-DK
