Every Week Needs To Be Like This Week in T Dot

This has been an exciting week in Toronto. On Friday, Air Canada Centre was re-opened after a $45 million reno that saw the creation of a new Atrium, new concessions, tons of televisions, including a gigantic new one on Bremner Boulevard which is the beginning of what will be an awesome new public space where TML fans who can’t get tickets will have a chance to meet and cheer on the Buds. On Sunday, the season seat holders of the Raps, Buds, and Marlies got to get up close and personal with their heroes at the MLSE Block Party at Polson Pier. Of course, Wednesday night was the Coke Zero Fans First game where the true Leafs fan got a chance to sit in seats they normally wouldn’t and cheer on a team that they hardly (if ever) get to see live from the stands; this is the only NHL (pre-season) game in Toronto where the suits in the “plats” are replaced with real fans there to see their team start that unending quest for the elusive Lord Stanley’s Mug.

There are two things that can be taken from this week:

1. Fans love their Toronto teams. Even though they may not have access to seats, they are passionate.
2. Fans crave player interaction and more is definitely better.

This week, I got my season seats and scarves from the ACC for the Toronto Marlies 2009-2010 season and my renewal package for my Toronto FC seats. Picking up the Marlies tix was a real pleasure as I got the chance to meet Rick Vaive, along with current Leafs Bozak, Tlusty, Foster, Finger, VanRyn and Beauchemin. Despite some minor hiccups along the way, MLSE really outdid themselves on this one and a special thanks to the Leafs and Raptors players who couldn’t have been more fan-friendly, posing for thousands of pictures and signing hundreds of autographs. MLSE needs to take the Block Party concept out to the streets….Dundas Square…..Square One….Albert Campbell Square…Mel Lastman Square….everywhere!

For the TFC seats, it was amazing to see how hard it was to access my account manager to pull the invoice, as the 16,000 “SSHs” as we’re called, lined-up to pay for next year’s games, while 14,000 people wait for the chance to do the same.

Fans are passionate. People call Toronto a hockey town (and it is), but it is amazing to see the passion that fans have for the Raps and TFC, and there were many, many Marlies jerseys in the crowd at the MLSE Block Party and even the Fans First Leafs game as well! If we were ever to take control of the tickets out of the hands of the scalpers and corporate suits and into the hands of fans, think of how different the new and improved ACC would really be? EVERY GAME would be a FANS FIRST GAME!

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

Why I Joined DDP

It’s now June 2009 and hockey is but a distant memory. The Penguins won Lord Stanley’s Mug and the Hershey Bears beat the Moose to win the Calder Cup. On a personal note, I’ve exchanged my Marlies blue for TFC red. As the news of signing Ryan and Engel and the pre-season schedule comes out, I can’t help but think of all my fellow DDPers and how much I missing seeing them; this gets to the essential reason why I helped to found DDP with the original crew.

A few weeks ago I was at Walmart in my grey TFC jersey and I saw someone with a red one on. We had never met eachother but there was an instant bond – one pre-determined by our team colours. Everytime someone honks, or drops by my desk to talk about the TFC, we instantly have made (if only for a brief moment in time) a connection tied by our support of the Toronto FC. The “reds” talk about BMO Field as “our house” and their rallying cry is “Toronto till I die”. It is precisely that sort of camaraderie that DDP was created for. DDP is about the Marlies, but is also just as much about friendship. I have made many wonderful friends, got closer to other friends, and have had many, many amazing moments that I will never forget. To all of you who have joined, sit with us, come to our activities, drop by for a chat, I thank you because in the end, that is what DDP is all about.

Although it is the summer, DDP is growing. We are doing more and having more fun (all year round). I encourage all Marlies fans to join in over the summer with our activities and get more involved with one another. That is what makes us united in our cause…..the Calder Cup being hoisted in Toronto by the baby buds. As Toronto FC fans say, loyalty really does run deep, but only if we allow it to.

There are a few more months before the puck drops in Edinburgh, Oshawa, and ultimately Toronto. As the days of the off-season dwindle to a close and the days to the frozen pond for the 5th Marlies season at the Ricoh Coliseum draw nearer, let’s all band together, shoulder-to-shoulder to support the Marlies in their bid to hoist the Calder in June 2010.

GO MARLIES GO!!!

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

The Real Season Has Just Begun…..

Tonight is game 4 of the first round of the playoffs and quite frankly, after 3 pre-season, 80 regular season and 3 playoff games, this is where the real hockey season begins. As it stands, we are 14 games from the Calder Cup and the whole atmosphere around the Ricoh has changed. You can sense the need for a championship banner this year among the players, the fans, and the media. People want the Marlies to win this year! Everyone is pulling out the stops to make that happen.

On Sunday, I had the great privilege of being one of the first people (out of the hundreds of fans who did) to sign the Duke’s Dog Pound playoff banner for the Marlies and the best part of the day was watching the excitement on everyone’s face, particularly as the clock counted down to zero and we were one step closer to a much needed championship for our fair city. It was great to see the fans get into the game and the players to see that the AHL does matter to their fan base. I’ve talked a lot this year about Toronto being a hockey town and not just a Leafs town and you can see that starting to happen. What an end to Burke’s first season it would be if Calder came knocking at his door!

As for the rest of the week, it was pretty good too! On Monday, I had the pleasure of talking about how well the Marlies are doing to family and friends. On Tuesday, the pleasure of the day was welcoming member #116 into Duke’s Dog Pound. It has been a great week for me both personally and as a fan.

As we round out this home stand and we hopefully (fingers crossed) get the remaining two wins we need to progress to the second round, remember that now is the time that the Marlies need butts in seats cheering them on. Just 14 more wins to go and every voice counts!


You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

Oh, What a Feeling!!!!

As the 2008-2009 regular season winds down, I wanted to take a chance to look back on the season that was, and next week, look ahead to 2009-2010. This has been a remarkable year for the Marlies and one that will go down in the record books!


All-Star
Defensemen Jaime Sifers played in his first-ever All-Star Game in Worcester in January.


Player Accolades
With a talented roster filled with players who did great things on an off the ice, we won:

AHL Player of the Week – Tim Stapleton (February)
AHL Player of the Month – Jiri Tlusty (February)
Specialty Man of the Year – Darryl Boyce (April)


Team Records
We set some pretty exciting team records this year:

Most Consecutive Home Wins
January 30 – We took our 7th straight home win to set a franchise record.

Most Team Goals in a Single Game
Nobody will ever forget being at the Grand Rapids game on Sunday February 8th when we won 10-5, setting a record for the most goals in a single game. Tim Stapleton got his first hat trick in the AHL, Deveaux got his second, and Tlusty chipped in with 4 assists. This really set-off the magic of February with Stapleton and Tlusty in what has to be one of the most deadly lines in the league. Stapleton set a record of 4 goals in a single game to set a franchise record (now surpassed!)

Most Player Goals in a Game
Jiri Tlusty lit up the goal lights like a pinball machine in what can only be described as February Fever with a 5 goal night against the Providence Bruins on February 18th breaking Stapleton’s 10-day old franchise record and setting an AHL season high.


Player Performances
Although the Marlies have really had an up and down year (and the transactions tend to show just how up and down it was), we’ve had a tonne player transactions between the Marlies and the Leafs this year. Notables were the performances of Tlusty, Stapleton, Oreskovic, Mitchell, Williams, Deveaux, Devereaux, and Ondrus.

This year also marked netminder Justin Pogge’s first regular season NHL games with some big wins and some big losses.


Closing Out the Season
The Marlies need a big 5 games if they want to make the playoffs this year and they need Rochester to really end their abysmal year with a bang at the expense of the Syracuse Crunch. Pick-up your tickets. Attend the games. Get loud and proud. This has been an incredible year. Although they have taken the Pollock award to this year’s North Division champions in Winnipeg and it wasn’t the season we thought it would be, it has been one that I will never forget!

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

Putting "Toronto" Back Into "Toronto Sports Fans"

Last week I opened one of my favourite pieces of mail….my Toronto FC season seat package. It brought back the days when I was a kid going to Dominion on a Saturday morning and buying tickets to the Toronto Blue Jays game that afternoon for 2 bucks to sit in the outfield seats. It was a different sports scene then. The hometown team was who people came to see and they supported them 100% of the way!!!

In today’s sports market in Toronto, there is a whole whack of teams eagerly competing for fans. There are soccer, baseball, hockey, football, lacrosse, and basketball teams at almost every level of competition. And that doesn’t include the one-offs like curling, figure skating, and golf. Ticket prices continue to climb as the cheering is starting to diminish. There needs to be a pretty big change if we ever want to start seeing parades down Yonge Street with championship cups!!!

Here is the problem. Sports ticketing is now a BIG business and in the end, fans are not going to the games and when they are, they are there to cheer on specific players who may or may not play for the home team.

Corporate Toronto purchases tickets, scalpers purchase tickets, and fans either don’t have access to tickets or have to pay well over the face value of the tickets to attend a single game through an auction site or Tickets Now (which contravenes the Ticket Speculation Act and is punishable by a fine of up to $5000 incidentally). I am one of the lucky few who has access to seats; as one of the 16 000 TFC seat holders…..access to discounted tickets through work, or Leafs seat access through my Marlies season tickets. As a result, my extra seats go to friends and family and I don’t try to make money off them.

On the fans side, since people can no longer afford to buy tickets to local teams, they’ve chosen to support others instead. That’s why you see Crosby jerseys, A-Rod, “Bills in Toronto” and any number of others.

There needs to be a change. The Attorney General needs to shut down Tickets Now and the auction sites for people selling seats over and above the face value of the tickets. That is how you stop seat holders from across Canada and the United States who speculate on tickets (never attending the games themselves) to give them up and put them back in the hands they belong…..local fans! That’s when you’ll see the sale of local team jerseys soar. That’s when you’ll start hearing cheers for the hometown players. That’s when the word “Toronto” on the front of your shirt will REALLY matter.

I will wear my FC jersey proudly all summer long when I finally hang up my Marlies one, eagerly awaiting the day when it comes out of my closet once again for another 40 games of hockey.

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

Why “Tank Nation” Tanked

Recently, TML blogger Mike Ulmer wrote a blog about the ongoing debate among Leafs fans about whether to tank in favour of draft picks or to demonstrate “integrity” and have the strongest year possible. In the blog, Ulmer says, “They (Leafs fans) want a better draft choice (forgetting for a second the mathematical nuances of the system) and they have endured a pretty rough season. If any fan base deserves a last-place finish, it’s Leafs Nation.”

As someone who holds a Political Science degree and spent considerable time and effort studying Canadian Consititutionalism, it has been fascinating to watch the debate drag on amongst what Constitutional scholar Peter Russell would call “the chattering classes” (Leafs “academics” vocal on the streets and on the various message boards) but in the end, what all Leafs Nation citizens must eventually come to realize is that under no circumstances can we allow “Tank Nation” to prevail; it is not a matter of integrity either but rather the efforts on behalf of the leaders of “Leafs Nation” to introduce measures which shall serve, as section 91 of our Canadian Constitution calls, “the Peace, Order, and good Government” of our team. A culture of winning is sorely missing and instilling that within the organization is critical to ensuring that we succeed.

For far too long, it has been acceptable for the Leafs to have a losing season with the hope of suddenly turning it around and winning the following one. Ticket prices have been raised without consequence (since the corporations are happy to pay whatever it costs) and performance has deteriorated. The Leafs need to turn the tide. We need a management structure in place where losing is not acceptable and inculcated into the team’s players and culture. Brian Burke and Ron Wilson may not be the solution to all of the Leafs' problems, but they are certainly starting to fix the issues that have plagued the leafs for decades.

This week marked the first 100 days of the Burke regime and in political circles, it would be closely scrutinized with detailed accounting published of his accomplishments. What has the Burke administration done?

December 6th – Appointment of Dave Nonis as SVP of Hockey Operations
December - January – Travelled with players from Leafs and the Marlies.
January-February – Met with fans from the Leafs and the Marlies in candid Q&A sessions.
January 21st – Trade Earl for Hamilton.
February – March – Lost Kronwall and Mark Bell to the waiver wire.
March 4th – Active on trade deadline day.Traded Antropov and Moore for 2 second round picks in 2009, and 1 conditional 2009 pick. Picked up Kolzig, Heward, Rogers, and a 4th round pick in return for Petiot. Claimed Gerber and Reitz of waivers. Signed Jeff Hamilton to contract.
March 11th – Signed Jeff Engel to SPC, acquired Ashton Rome on reassignment, and signed Jeremy Swanson and Andrew Martens to PTOs on AHL Clear Day.

Now that the dust has settled, we’ve called up 7 Marlies to the Leafs, picked up 11 players into the organization, lost 6 players, and captured 3, possibly 4 draft picks. It has been a busy 100 days but we’ve managed to put in place a fix to the goaltending problem, picked up players or picks that will be useful over the next few years, and started on the long road ahead to fix the attitudinal problems.

What comes next? That’s easy. There are five key things that need to be done between now and the start of the next season:

• Finish the season strong. Changes have been made to the composition of the team in the hopes that we are stronger. We need to prove that we are by posting more W’s both at the Marlies and at the Leafs levels of the organization.
• Fight for a playoff berth in the AHL. We need the Marlies to make the playoffs this season to give the organization more playoff experience.
• Gear Up For, and Have a Solid Draft Day. With big changes to the rosters, Burke will need to start putting the pieces of the puzzle together for next season. Answering the question who will stay and who will go will help to drive the decisions on draft day. With a strong scouting organization, the Leafs are in a good position to pick wisely and with tough decisions ahead, we need good choices at the draft.
• Determine what both the Marlies and Leafs should look like next season. Once we know who we have to work with internally, we can go after the UFAs and refine what both rosters will shape up to be. Burke has put in a whack of temporary fixes (particularly on the goaltending front) and making decisions that permanently fix the problems are the next logical step in the rebuilding process.
• Share the vision. Fans need share Burke’s vision for the future. Fans need to move away from “tank nation” stances and start moving towards “if we build it, Lord Stanley’s Mug will come”. Fans need to get involved in the building process because they are needed more than ever before if we are to succeed.

With less than 20 regular season games left for both teams, tanking is NOT an option. Let’s go out there and make each and every one of them count!

Finally, on behalf of all DDP members, I extend my sincerest sympathies to the family members and friends of the following soldiers who gave their lives in Afghanistan over the past week and thank them for their bravery and service to Canada:

Trooper Marc Diab
WO Dennis Raymond Brown
Cpl. Dany Fortin
Cpl. Kenneth O'Quinn

Rest in Peace.

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.

After the Deadline

On February 15th, I went to every Leaf fans paradise….CentreSports! I was extremely angry when I left. There, on the wall of jerseys were Crosby, Ovechkin, Sabres, even Sens jerseys! Why would they sell the jerseys of other teams?

On March 3rd, I went back to CentreSports and it was remarkably different. All the other team jerseys were gone. What was funny is that the wall of jerseys had tons of blank jerseys, a handful of Kaberle jerseys, and nearly a full row of #2 Schenn’s. Evidently the merchandising team at the Air Canada Centre got the memo that for trading purposes, it was anybody but Schenn! What was interesting was all of the blank jerseys; a clean slate of jerseys for the future players names and numbers to be crested.

Let’s take a look at the fallout of the trade deadline for the Marlies and the Leafs:


Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov Jerseys Priced to Sell!
Any remaining Dominic Moore and Nik Antropov merchandise will be priced to sell at CentreSports since they’re on their way to Buffalo and New York respectively. This was a good deal for both the teams and the players, but particularly beneficial for the Leafs organization who have 2 second round draft picks and a conditional out of the deal since neither player would have likely been re-signed.

For Marlies fans, it would be nice to see the picks they’ve been traded for play a season or two with us since we’ve missed the pleasure of Luke Schenn and only had limited exposure to Kulemin (thank heavens for the playoffs where we’ll hopefully get to know him WELL).


Stralman and Tlusty Jerseys Remain On Sale at the Regular Price at Blue Line!
It was nice to see that the trade rumours involving Jiri Tlusty and Anton Stralman never materialized and that they’ll be back in the blue and white for the rest of the season! We would have never seen any benefit out of those deals if we traded solid prospects for little in return. Giving up Tlusty and Stralman for picks would be like saying, “let’s not go to Dollarama because they’re cheaper at Everything for a Dollar”. After another exciting night where Tlusty racked up another 6 points against Providence on Wednesday night, it is clear that Burke has made the right decision.


New Name Between the Pipes
I think the bad news has to be on the goaltending front. The loss of Toskala for up to 4 months with his groin/hip injury will prove to be a real challenge for the Leafs. Personally, I am not a big Toskala fan (and would like to see him off the roster) but it has meant that we’ve had to pick up Martin Gerber on the wires.

Why Gerber? Pogge isn’t ready to make the transition. This was supposed to be Pogge’s big year and I think it has been. Pogge has had to face pressures, losses, and the reality of the fans, media, and scouts in Toronto….harsh!

After Sunday’s pull from the net against the Griffins, Pogge was quoted as saying, “It was a bad goal…You shouldn't let a goal in from there. We turned it around after that, but I'm at fault. We lose by one goal and it's pretty much because of that." Marlies Head Coach Greg Gilbert also commented on Pogge, "He's got to continue to work through his weaknesses and get better…We're going to keep supporting him and playing him and working him and making him better." Pogge needs to clear his head and focus on the task at hand…stopping pucks!


We Are Leafs Nation, Not TANK Nation (Don’t Expect Tavares!)
At the end of the trade deadline, hopefully Leafs fans have heard loud and clear what Burke has said from day one…..that he doesn’t like to finish last! The rebuilding has officially begun in earnest and if you think the trade deadline was interesting, just wait until the off-season when the UFA season starts and we make our picks at the draft. By then, those blank jerseys at CentreSports will be flying off the walls to be crested with the names and numbers of new players in the dressing room and some of our favourite Marlies could be leading the pack!


Next Wednesday, March 11th we’ll see who’ll be sent down and who’ll be called up for the Marlies playoff run on Clear Day Roster deadline day. That is when we will really see Burke’s desire to win in Toronto. He told us at the meeting with him for season seat holders that he’s on board with the Marlies and he’d like another Calder Cup (he got one as a player with Springfield in 77-78), so look for a competitive Marlies team to challenge opponent in the playoff run.

Expect great things between now and the fall because we’ve got a lot of hockey left in Toronto! When you only need 16 wins and 12 or less losses, anything is possible.

GO MARLIES GO!!!

You can email Chris with comments and questions about the blog, Duke’s Dog Pound Supporters Club, or the Marlies anytime to dukesdogpound@yahoo.ca.