Bloomington Bison joining ECHL in 2024-25

[No Fun Shogun]

... And your expectations for Bloomington vs. Toledo are ... ?

Clearly a Bison sweep en route to a perfect season capped off by their first of seventeen consecutive Kelly Cup championships, of course.

 

[JMCx4]

now the question needs to be asked how many independent signings before the contracted assignments from the Rangers/Hartford and the "unofficial" assignments from CAR/CHI become available/known

Partial answer revealed, with the rest left as a homework exercise for the class ...

BISON ROSTER TAKES SHAPE
Friday, October 4th

Bloomington, Ill. – New York Rangers Assistant General Manager and Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the Wolf Pack has released seven players from their professional tryout agreements (PTO) and will report to the Bloomington Bison. Additionally, the New York Rangers have reassigned goaltender Hugo Ollas from the Wolf Pack to the Bison. ...


Read more at: Bloomington Bison | BISON ROSTER TAKES SHAPE

 

[JMCx4]

From: Bloomington Bison > Team News & Info

BARBASHEV LOANED TO BISON
Sunday, October 6th

Bloomington, Ill. – New York Rangers Assistant General Manager and Hartford Wolf Pack General Manager Ryan Martin announced today that the Wolf Pack has loaned forward Maxim Barbashev to the Bloomington Bison.

Barbashev, 20, split the 2023-24 season between the Shawinigan Cataractes and the Rimouski Oceanic of the QMJHL. He recorded two goals and seven assists (nine points) in 15 games with the Cataractes. Following his trade on Nov. 21, 2023, Barbashev appeared in 44 games with the Oceanic and scored 12 goals and 14 assists (26 points). ...

Read more at: Bloomington Bison | BARBASHEV LOANED TO BISON

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Ready for preseason?

 

[Northerner]

I really like the color scheme but I'm underwhelmed by the jerseys.

 

[JMCx4]

 

[JMCx4]

Saturday night's final score in the Bison first game (preseason) was Indy Fuel 4 - Bloomington Bison 2. Indy played a physical game from the opening puck drop, and it took the Bison a whole period to recover from the shock. They eventually erased a 2-0 Fuel lead in the 2nd period. The teams played - and battled - evenly after the game was tied, until Indy scored on a surprising redirect of a shot from the point then ended any chance of a 2nd Bison comeback with an ENG. As a first game for Bloomington, I'd say they made a good showing & offered local fans some promise for future success.

Pretty sparse crowd, but enthusiastic & increasingly vocal as the game progressed & the score tightened. I guess the $10 ticket marketing didn't capture wide attention around town, but the concession stands did run out of some items (which I reckon was a reflection of GMA management's prediction of crowd size). My two photos below give some sense of the attendance early in the game. The majority of the attendees - which included goodly numbers of Indy fans as well as Peoria Rivermen thrill seekers - were sitting on the penalty box side of the ice where The JMCs had our seats. But the occupied seats on both sides were mostly between the bluelines (not nearly filling those sections), with just smatterings of fans sitting elsewhere around the bowl. Hopefully the team's Opening Weekend promo will bring a significantly higher attendance.

One more observation: The rink had several sponsor marks under the ice surface, but the boards were snow white all around. Hopefully the dashers will be filled with business partner logos by October 19th, the Bison's regular season home opener. I was surprised that the team was able to debut its inflatable team intro tunnel on Saturday (final image below), but their mascot was in attendance only in the form of a blurry outline with a big red question mark as shown regularly on the video boards during the preseason game. Another debut for BLM fans to look forward to.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

You buy any merch?

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Not too surprising that a preseason game didn't draw too well. The real tests will game two on Sunday and the next weekend of home games. Have little to no doubt that opening night will draw well, but my memory of the ECHL is the Express and they had a packed opening night and then a very sparse second night, so you could tell trouble was brewing borderline immediately (I think a lot of that was a few thousand folks being flabberghasted at Sears Centre parking rates and deciding to never go back).

I'll likely be late to the home opener as I'll be at the Michigan/Illinois game and then hauling ass back to hopefully miss as little of the Bison opener as possible.

 

[JMCx4]

You buy any merch?

The queue to enter the arena's tiny team shop rivaled the concession lines all evening long. If I feel the need to add yet another hockey t-shirt to my dresser drawer-busting collection, I'll purchase on-line.

 

[JMCx4]

Transactions continue as Opening Weekend looms ...

• HURRICANES REASSIGN TWO, WOLVES LOAN TWO TO BISON
• HUGO OLLAS REASSIGNED TO HARTFORD, BLAKE MCLAUGHLIN LOANED TO BISON

 

[JMCx4]

From: The Boomington Bison > News

BISON ANNOUNCE FAN FEST DETAILS FOR OPENING NIGHT
Monday, October 14th

Bloomington, Ill. – Bloomington Bison President & CEO Larry McQueary announced today the details for Fan Fest on Saturday, October 19 outside of the Grossinger Motors Arena prior to the season opener against the Toledo Walleye.

The event will commence at 4 p.m. featuring Bison players walking the red carpet into the arena on the south side of the Grossinger Motors Arena at the VIP Entrance.

Fan Fest will run from 4:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m. on West Front Street with drinks available for purchase. Kids in attendance can enjoy the Bison inflatable goal, free face painting, and a rock-climbing experience provided by Upper Limits.

In addition, sign-ups will be open for the Little Bison Kids Club sponsored by Little Jewels for just $25. The membership includes one ticket to two separate home games of choice, an exclusive welcome gift, 10% off merchandise, special game day experiences and invitations to exclusive events with Bison players!

Music will be provided by DJ Boom Box along with free character artistry and local vendor booths. Bison General Manager and Head Coach Phillip Barski will speak to the fans at 4:45 p.m. prior to the first regular season game in franchise history.

During the second intermission of the game one fan will shoot for a new car presented by Sam Leman Chevy. The selection will take place prior to the game. To be entered, comment on the Shoot for a Car post on Facebook tomorrow, October 15.

Opening Weekend festivities will conclude on Sunday where kids eat free! All fans in attendance can enjoy an open skate and receive autographs with the Bison players following the 3 p.m. game against the Walleye. ...

 

[VaCaps Fan]

Promising night…

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Is this the record for most seperate sets of future considerations that one team has traded to another team in an offseason?

 

[JMCx4]

Is this the record for most seperate sets of future considerations that one team has traded to another team in an offseason?

I find it refreshing that the Bison think they have a future to consider so often.

 

[VaCaps Fan]

So far so good…

 

[JMCx4]

I'm hoping Bison ticket sales break all League records, so their ticketing account manager quits cold-calling me to sell me tix for a return visit to BLM. My roadtrip dance card is full for this season.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

No longer the newest team in the league.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Good-sized crowd, albeit not a sellout. Grossinger definitely doesn't have the concessions capacity for a meaningful crowd.

 

[JMCx4]

Good-sized crowd, albeit not a sellout. Grossinger definitely doesn't have the concessions capacity for a meaningful crowd. ...

True dat. I'd like to find a way to smuggle in my own food & drink. I'd make a killing on 3rd-party sales after the first intermission.

 

[No Fun Shogun]

Definitely more sparsely attended, NFL Sundays and all, but still a much bigger crowd than the Express game two at least.

 

[hisgirlfriday]

The Halletts will need to establish a diverse local sponsorship base that doesn't rely heavily on the State Farm HQ being "like a good neighbor." The U.S. insurance industry is on an economic downhill slide, as previously reflected in State Farm's late-to-the-corporate-game announcement in Dec 2022 of off-shoring their corporate IT services. So significant investment in an expansion minor pro sports team might not be where The Farm's discretionary dollars are best spent. If HS&E have no white dasherboard space left for opening night, I'll be mighty surprised - but pleased nonetheless.

Just catching up on this thread after taking in the Bison this weekend and find this comment amusing because of the groups that got special shout-outs on the video screen for being in attendance the most prominent corporate group listing was "State Farm IT Dept." Guess they didn't outsource everybody.

And the dasherboards were covered with various ads as far as I could tell.

 

[JMCx4]

Just catching up on this thread after taking in the Bison this weekend and find this comment amusing because of the groups that got special shout-outs on the video screen for being in attendance the most prominent corporate group listing was "State Farm IT Dept." Guess they didn't outsource everybody. ...

I wonder how many of them are working from home.

And the dasherboards were covered with various ads as far as I could tell.

I was counting on it. Next up on the priority list: Earning their first W.

 

[JMCx4]

... Next up on the priority list: Earning their first W.

And as if on cue (delayed) ... THEIR FIRST 2 POINTS !!!

 

[JMCx4]

Bison rumbled back in the 3rd period, but couldn't keep the mo' goin' in ETA: Coralville Bloomington on Saturday night ... BISON FALL SHORT IN SHOOTOUT