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2014-2015 Manchester Monarchs - 2015 Calder Cup Champions!

I know Sportsnet up here had shown some of the Calder Cup Finals lastyear but St John's was involved.

Hoping they show a few live games, would be great.
 
Speaking of playoff beards, I enjoyed that JF Berube interview the other day. Long interview, but he seems comfortable behind a microphone.
 
A bunch of Utica fans will be heading to Manchester this weekend.. Somewhere between 300-500 fans. Never been there, just wondering from the locals the hot spots, restaurants and local specialties we should look for. Looking forward to a fun weekend in your fine city!!!!!
 
go comets said:
A bunch of Utica fans will be heading to Manchester this weekend.. Somewhere between 300-500 fans. Never been there, just wondering from the locals the hot spots, restaurants and local specialties we should look for. Looking forward to a fun weekend in your fine city!!!!!
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I'd tell you Billy's, but then I'd have to kill you for finding the best sports bar in the city. That's our go-to spot.
 
Comets fan looking forward to a great series. I don't know much about the Monarchs other than it looks like you guys have a lot of size and a number of players who can put the puck in the net.

The Comets win with solid team defense and great goaltending. Travis Green has this team totally bought in to playing a system that is based on puck possession and defensive responsibility. I'm expecting a long tight series.

The fan support in Utica has been crazy. Tickets for the games in Utica go in sale tomorrow at 10am and will probably sell out by 12 noon. I just wish the Aud had more seats available because they could sell twice as many tickets if they could. It sounds like there will be a few hundred of the Comets faithful making the trip out to Manchester this weekend for games 1 and 2.
 
Brad Doty said:
Utica Comets are one of the lowest-drawing teams in the league.

Come back and lecture us on western teams being a laughingstock when it happens, thanks.

I have no doubt they'll iron out the details soon.
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Don't be knocking the Comets fan base there is none better anywhere. The Utica Comets are probably one of the the few AHL teams making a profit. They have a low gate draw only because the building holds a max of 3850. It has been sold out nearly every night and filled to 97.5% capacity all year. They have had 10 home playoff games and all have sold out.

The Utica Aud proudly wears the moniker of the loudest building in the league and every team who has been here agrees. It is often deafening. Players, coaches, and officials can't hear each other in close proximity. Whistles are often drowned out. NHL management personnel coming in to watch their AHL affiliates and scouts from NHL teams as well as advance scouts for AHL teams also marvel at the atmosphere.

The Grand Rapids radio PBP guy did an interview on national radio not related to Utica and was asked how the series was going and he started with "...before I get into the hockey let me just say a few things about Utica, the building, and it's crowd and atmosphere" and went on for several minutes trying to explain what it was like to view a game there. He called it a real hockey experience you should take in if you ever get the chance.

It's not the fault of the fan base that the attendance is what it is. They can't sell more tickets than the building holds (even though some lady called into the post game radio broadcast and demanded they print more tickets, LOL). As I type this, fans are currently camped out on the sidewalk leading into The AUD for tickets for this series which go on sale at the box office only at 10:00 A.M. today. At 12:00 noon they go on sale by phone/e-mail/ticketron, but that won't happen because they will be gone to the in person buyers. It's a hard ticket to get.
Next year's season sales will be stopped at 3,000, which may already have happened in order to have some tickets left for the rest of the community to have a chance at.

Utica hockey is loud and proud. The community loves its players and the players love the community, which they are as much a part of as anyone else who lives here. Off the rink they are just Mohawk Valley residents like the rest of us. The community is small, friendly, helpful, and close knit. A helping hand is always there for anyone who needs it.

You'll get to meet many of us starting on Saturday in your fair city. Utica is known as the handshake city. Don't be surprised by the number eager to make your acquaintance and shake your hand.

Don't be alarmed at game time if they get a bit loud. It's in their nature to let the boys know they aren't in this thing alone. Good luck to you and here's to a great series. Don't hold it against me for hoping we win.
 
Should be a good series to watch.
Utica has a few recent 1st round picks who have a shot at making the NHL

Sven Baertschi, Shinkaruk, Gaunce, Jensen

Markstrom is probably the best goalie in the AHL too.

should be a fun one
 
How hockey mad are Utica fans??? Tickets go on sale at 10 am this morning... The line started around 8,pm last night, at 4:45 am this morning 75 people were in line... It is insane!!!!!!
 
Brad Doty said:
Jesus. Looking at their roster, they are absolutely stacked with first rounders, high end prospects, and former NHLers.
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Bitz and Bites said:
<snip>
Thanks for the congrats,it's been a great story for Utica as the Comets basically started as an expansion team last season with a rookie coach,no returning players,and all new staff and lost their first 10 games before turning it around after X-mas last season.The Utica fans have been the loudest and probably the most passionate of any of the AHL teams and really embraced the team.

We've been lucky to have a group of knowledgeable posters from Utica contributing to our Comets thread since we affiliated with them last season which has made for a really active thread.
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That is a great story. If my team wasn't in the Calder Cup finals, I'd be rooting for Utica.

Bankerguy said:
Should be a good series to watch.
Utica has a few recent 1st round picks who have a shot at making the NHL

Sven Baertschi, Shinkaruk, Gaunce, Jensen

Markstrom is probably the best goalie in the AHL too.

should be a fun one
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Markstrom has, what, a .931 save percentage in the playoffs? :eek:

All those first-rounders - that's a lot to look forward to for your big club. Our 1st-rounders from 2011 and 2013 were traded away. (2016 too.) The Manchester Monarchs' first-rounders are former (and occasional) NHL defenseman Jeff Schultz, 2010 first-rounder D Derek Forbort who has yet to play his first NHL game (but is expected to next season,) and 18-year-old F Adrian Kempe, who joined the team from the Swedish league in April. Our first line is made up of a 4th-rounder (Michael Mersch)--3rd-rounder (5'9" Jordan Weal)--free agent signing (5'9" Brian O'Neill). Second line: 1st-rounder (Adrian Kempe)--3rd-rounder (Nick Shore)--free-agent signing (5'7" Sean Backman). Our 3rd-line center (Nic Dowd) is a 7th-rounder from Alabama. Our most exciting defensive prospect (Colin Miller) is a 5th-rounder. Pretty much we're full of mid-round prospects and free-agent signings, but the players have gelled as a team and the Kings have a good development sysem. From Stothers chasing a title:

Stothers said he really didn’t know any of the players coming in, but he wasn’t surprised that he had a talented group. Yet, it was their character that really impressed him.

“What jumped out at me right away, early on, was how good the guys were as a team. There’s lots of times you have good players and what you feel on paper is a good team, but the individuals who make up that team aren’t always the best teammates,” Stothers said.

....

“There weren’t any egos. They wanted to learn, they wanted to achieve and they wanted to do whatever it took to be as successful as possible,”
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go comets said:
How hockey mad are Utica fans??? Tickets go on sale at 10 am this morning... The line started around 8,pm last night, at 4:45 am this morning 75 people were in line... It is insane!!!!!!
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Now THAT'S appreciation for hockey. That's wild.
 
I would encourage all Manchester fans to follow the team on Twitter at https://twitter.com/MonarchsHockey. They've been linking so many player and coach stories and showing local team support videos. One highlight, a letter from Brian O'Neill to the fans:

ONeill_Letter.jpg


http://www.manchestermonarchs.com/news/monarchsnews/?article_id=633

And then, of course, look for continuing coverage on mayorsmanor.com and lakingsinsider.com
 
go comets said:
How hockey mad are Utica fans??? Tickets go on sale at 10 am this morning... The line started around 8,pm last night, at 4:45 am this morning 75 people were in line... It is insane!!!!!!
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That's just downright angry!
 
Sweet! I was able to get tickets to games 4 and 5 in Utica. (Along with my tickets to games 1, 6 and 7). So, IF the Monarchs win it. I'll be there! :yo:
 
If Manchester wins, I would imagine it'd be petty bittersweet for the local fans with losing their team the following year. When Norfolk won as Tampa's affiliate at least the locals there got Anaheim's AHL affiliate the next season even though the players were totally different. Manchester is just getting an ECHL team.

I'm excited to see Jordan Weal in the NHL soon. All the kid does is rack up points.
 
Chileiceman said:
If Manchester wins, I would imagine it'd be petty bittersweet for the local fans with losing their team the following year. When Norfolk won as Tampa's affiliate at least the locals there got Anaheim's AHL affiliate the next season even though the players were totally different. Manchester is just getting an ECHL team.

I'm excited to see Jordan Weal in the NHL soon. All the kid does is rack up points.
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You are right, it's going to suck for us Monarchs fans.... Not thrilled we are going to watching a league just higher than the local beer league.
 
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