Season Ticket Holder Open Practice 10/29

[SouthernHockeyChick]

I know how bad the organization is at communication so I thought I'd bring this up in part to be sure everyone who should know about it does.

Everyone don't forget to RSVP!

And if anyone has an extra ticket I'm looking for one, thanks!

[KaniacFever]

This is my first time going as we just upgraded this year to full season. Has anyone gone in the past? If so, is it pretty much the same as a normal open practice, or do they do other things?

[SoCalcaniac]

This is my first time going as we just upgraded this year to full season. Has anyone gone in the past? If so, is it pretty much the same as a normal open practice, or do they do other things?

It's a practice basically, but you have to have a ticket- so it's only for STHers or someone who got a ticket from a holder. they give you donuts and treats, and this one Chuck will do a Q&A. I remember a couple of STHer practices in the past where they'd even put the player's name and number on the practice jersey- (I think in 2003 if I remember right) and last year when They had some wierd schedule issue and were playing ATL, only a few guys skated so they had Lavi do a Q&A with the STHers while Kyle prairie tried to recruit STHers to 'bring a friend' to games. that was interesting.

Mostly it's just a fun time to watch practice. People seem to enjoy it and more than a few people wind up getting a stick from a player.

[puckin_A]

SHC, check your PM.s

[KaniacFever]

It's a practice basically, but you have to have a ticket- so it's only for STHers or someone who got a ticket from a holder. they give you donuts and treats, and this one Chuck will do a Q&A. I remember a couple of STHer practices in the past where they'd even put the player's name and number on the practice jersey- (I think in 2003 if I remember right) and last year when They had some wierd schedule issue and were playing ATL, only a few guys skated so they had Lavi do a Q&A with the STHers while Kyle prairie tried to recruit STHers to 'bring a friend' to games. that was interesting.

Mostly it's just a fun time to watch practice. People seem to enjoy it and more than a few people wind up getting a stick from a player.

Sounds like fun. We RSVP'd so my boyfriend and I will be there.

[talkingcanes]

what time does this little wingding start? I can't find the email with the details. my computer skills are most impressive.........;)

[KaniacFever]

If I recall they said doors open at 10:30am.

[cdhawkin]

There is a copy of the email that was sent out that I just found on the website under the Season Ticket Holder FAQ's

Here: http://www.carolinahurricanes.com/custom/radB024D.asp

[ssangste]

if anyone wants to go and doesn't have a ticket, PM me... I'm most likely not going to make this event, so I have a few extra tickets for those that would like to go. I RSVP'ed figuring there might be a couple LGC'ers who weren't full STHers and would like to attend...

let me know...

[KaniacFever]

I also have 1 extra ticket. The person I was going with decided to play soccer instead. So if anyone is interested PM me.

[perfectstorm]

I have a spare ticket for the practice. If interested, call my cell at 412-6324.

[SoCalcaniac]

I have to say kudos to the Canes front office/players for this year's STHer skate. For the first time I think in all the years I've gone to these, it actually seemed like the 'event' that they bill it as. The Q&A with Chuck K. was a treat, and the bonus coverage with Coach Laviolette post practice with the fans, was terrific. I know we're moving on, but it was real nice to hear him talk about his day with the Cup, his family, and all the things that went on around game 7. (He played catch with his sons in the backyard on the day of Game 7- I shook my head in amazement when he talked about that) And I truly love Lavi's candor. He answers questions without hestitation, and no sugar coating or excuses. Yep, we're used to that, but it still is refreshing.

The drills/"practice" were truly a fan treat- Laviolette said as much and it was pretty obvious, lots of fun scrimages Red vs White , Laviolette tells us that "Lunch was on the line" in all the drills and the Red team had the jump and they won handily, all 5 events- so lunch was on the white team lead by LaRose- (Ladd was the "GM & Coach" for the Red, LaRose for the White) everyone got treated to a LaRose v Commodore scrum with Chad losing his helmet, and lots of "woos" a la Ric Flair, from the very upbeat Red team each time they scored (holy cow, I counted 4 Glen Wesley goals for the red- I may have lost count!) Good, good stuff.

It appeared there was plenty of Dunkin' Donuts for all who wanted them, along with Juice, Hot cocoa and coffee, and overall, everything flowed nicely, and correct me if I'm wrong for the many who were there and have been to the past events, but this was a LARGE crowd today(??) seemed to be a nice full house. Which is great to see anytime.

The last question Chuck fielded before they took the ice, was a gal who asked if 'we could all sing Happy Birthday to Eric Staal, it's his birthday today' Chuck looked totally amused by that, and got the crowd underway. A chorus of Happy Birthday rang out, and a blushing Staal had just taken the ice and keeping his head down. After everyone was done, he waved to the crowd, and I could hear a smattering of players singing to him as he waved to the crowd- Lead by LaRose and Williams........

I managed to bump into Doug Warf, who told me he already saw my email about young Katherine Fristch and the anthem last night- he told me he has had so many people already come up to him about this morning about her. I left him with "I bet she'd do a great version of O Canada" ....;) which I think amused him.

Great job Canes......

[Zamboni]

First of all, kudos to SoCalcaniac for all of her detailed practice reports. Even though I've only been to a few practices, today I immediately knew which drill they were doing as soon as they started. That made it fun!

Eric was over by our side for the Happy Birthday serenade, and he did look a little embarassed, but clearly he enjoyed it. And it was particularly funny for me and my little daughter. My son stayed home to have some male bonding with hubby, and I didn't want him to be upset when we were leaving, so I told my daughter that the destination was "a surprise." Her response to that? "Are we going to a birthday party?" :lol: Well, I guess we were after all.

All the guys seemed in good spirits today. Plenty of smiles even from the most stoic. Ward wasn't letting the puck through at all, so no chance for the white team.

[c-girl]

It was a GREAT morning. This is the first year we've been STH so this was our first experience with this kind of thing. We thoroughly enjoyed every minute. It was great seeing the guys skating with huge grins on their faces, just having fun. The Commodore/LaRose thingy was so funny - Commie just threw Chad down like he was a little kid - Coach said they were like brothers from way back.

The segment where they had to get a goal before they could quit was priceless. Wallin could not get it in the goal and Cam finally just laid down in front of the net like he was taking a nap. So funny. Wallin got applause when he finally got it in.

Loved the Coach talk. He's a great speaker. The whole morning was well-organized and fun and it took me a while to get that silly little grin off my face. I just love this team and the guys.

[puckin_A]

I had a great time. Got to see a bunch of people from here that I have not seen in awhile.

Was sorry to see so many people leave right after the skate. Listening to Coach Lavi reminisce about the day of Game 7 and his daughter etc....was priceless.

and I agree SoCal, there were more people there than I have ever seen. It was great.

[Canesluver]

One of the funniest moments came during a breakaway drill. After the player's first shot, if it didn't go in, he had to keep trying. Well.... Nicky was having a hell-of-a-time. Puck just wasn't going in-- he was either off the mark, or Cam was stumping him. The guys on his "team" actually sitting down on the ice, laughing, 'cause it looked like he'd never get it in. Cam starting laughin and then just laid down on the ice and relaxed to just give Nicky and unchallenged shot.... And Nickey STILL MISSED on his first try! :lol:

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/tonka1960/Cam.jpg

[Jay]

This is obviously my first one, but I do have a few gripes:

1) It was billed as starting at 11am -- I got there at 10:45 and the Kaiton Q&A had already started.

2) There /wasn't/ enough DD for everyone. I went ahead down to listen to the Q&A then went up for food and the donuts were gone with probably 50 people in line total on either side.

[nccanes]

The event was definitely the best that I've attended. I know some of us were hoping they'd mic Laviolette for this one, but we all decided that the language of him or those w/in mic range might not be rated "G".;)

I do wish (since they already has mics available) that someone would have announced the format of the practice before it began and how the red/white 'teams' were determined, etc. I think that would have drawn the crowd (and kids) in a bit more. But hey, we're making progress.

Food/beverage lines were ridiculously long, but if they are going to use the priority lounge for it, I don't think there much room to improve.

Too bad that folks either had to leave or didn't hear the announcement about Laviolette's Q&A -- it was great to hear lengthy comments from him.

[Canesluver]

"Cam is too good. I need hamburger."

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v295/tonka1960/AnnoyedorFocused.jpg





Jay-- There were boxes of donuts everywhere-- on ledges and counters all over the place. You didn't have to stand in line for those. But, in my experience, having been responsible for collecting RSVP's for several things I've organized in the past-- I'm guessing LOTS of people never bother to RSVP. You count the one's you get, add on another 20% or so, and pray no more than that show-up without RSVP-ing. Sometimes you guess wrong, and run out of food-- it happens. Even at my wedding, we invited 75 people and 50 showed up, but only 30 RSVP'd.

[talkingcanes]

I have to agree that it was the best one yet. The donuts were sitting on the counter for the taking and if you were hanging out with people willing to break in line in front of some poor child to get you a coffee cup, it was all good:laugh:

The QA with Chuck must have started at 10:30 because he was jabbering away when we got in around 10:40. He was the warm up act I guess. Chuck has lost weight since last season too.

I thought the practice was loose and fun for players and STHs. The QA with PLav seemed to have been a last minute addition and was very nice.

Always good to catch up with people I haven't seen in a while too. And when me, CL, Guin, et al get our shot at Bettman's job, watch out. You think the last set of rule changes was radical............:laugh:

[Canesluver]

....and if you were hanging out with people willing to break in line in front of some poor child to get you a coffee cup, it was all good:laugh:

Hey! No fair! She was looking the other way!!! You snooze -- you lose!!! :lol:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

It was an awesome event! And I agree as well, WAY bigger crowd than I've seen there before.

And I have to report again that Karen Prince is awesome. Puckin_A had been nice enough to let a friend of mine use her extra ticket today (thanks again!). Pharmkat, as ya'll know her, was here from out of town and very excited about going with us today. So, she came in this morning, and we headed out to the RBC. Just as we're pulling into our parking space at about 10:45 I realize I'd forgotten Mr SHC and my two tickets!! I was SO relieved when I explained the situation to the ticket taker and heard him turn around and say "Karen?" Thank goodness it was the one person who knows how to treat customers right! Some very nice person walking by heard us explaining the situation and gave us an extra he had (thank you if you're reading!!!) and Karen was nice enough to let the other of us in as well. She really is the best thing to happen to this organization. I hope they treat her that way!

[Jay]

Oh, and for those of you who were there, I was the poor guy with the hand up for 10 minutes before they called on me. I asked Chuck if the Canes' were ever going to do anything to embrace its roots in hartford. (i.e. Gordie Howe #9 in the rafters, anyone? he's one of the best ever)

[nccanes]

Just as we're pulling into our parking space at about 10:45 I realize I'd forgotten Mr SHC and my two tickets!!

Okay - I was really having trouble figuring out how you managed to leave home without Mr SHC and how Karen Prince solved that problem for you. ;) :lol:

She's great - must know nearly every STH by name and/or face.

[PennsyCanesFan]

Oh, and for those of you who were there, I was the poor guy with the hand up for 10 minutes before they called on me. I asked Chuck if the Canes' were ever going to do anything to embrace its roots in hartford. (i.e. Gordie Howe #9 in the rafters, anyone? he's one of the best ever)

And they really can't because the City of Hartford won't let them, unfortunately.

[StormShaman]

And they really can't because the City of Hartford won't let them, unfortunately.

More correctly, they can't because Pete Karmanos willingly surrendered everything associated with the Whale (that wasn't specifically the property of the NHL itself) as part of his exit agreement from Hartford.

[Jay]

No rule against us putting #9 up in the rafters in some manner, though.

[RIO]

No rule against us putting #9 up in the rafters in some manner, though.


Now Jay -- I know nostalgia means a lot to people, but Gordie Howe is way too old to be hanging from a rafter.

[goalie33]

"Cam is too good. I need hamburger."

I'm so glad I'm not the only one who remembers the hamburger line. When my old seatmate was living in Denmark (she's in France now and the practice has resumed) and I'd give her game updates, I'd always refer to Nic as "Hamburgers."

As for Gordie's number in the rafters, if Peter Karmanos ever acknowledges the Whale past the point of matter-of-factly answering that this team used to play in Hartford, I'll eat my discontinued NC State diamond logo hat.

[nccanes]

Yes, I loved Nic's interview -- I always think of him saying "Don't Complain" too. :lol:

[SouthernHockeyChick]

We almost always bring up the hamburgers line in some way when talking about Nic. We usually say it in a barely-knows-English, Swede kinda voice as well, lol.

[Cool Hand Luke]

Oh, and for those of you who were there, I was the poor guy with the hand up for 10 minutes before they called on me. I asked Chuck if the Canes' were ever going to do anything to embrace its roots in hartford. (i.e. Gordie Howe #9 in the rafters, anyone? he's one of the best ever)

I think everyone knows that Gordie Howe was one of the best ever, but he played one year for Hartford. After playing 25 years for Detroit and 1 year for Hartford, I think it would be silly for us to retire "9" and maybe even somewhat presumtuous. It would be like the Leafs retiring Ron Francis' "10" up in Toronto for playing there a few months. But that's just my opinion.

[KaniacFever]

I had the best time today at the practice. This was my first one and it was a blast. Singing Happy Birthday to Staal was awesome and the poor kid looked embarrassed. Commie and Rosie were cracking me up and Cam laying down in front of the goal was just priceless. And its nice to see that the boys like the Whoo as I heard it quite a few times today, mostly led by Justin.

And to top the day off I finally got Erik to sign my jersey. He is such a nice guy.

[canesgirl22]

im a little confused lol what happened wit larose and commodore

[SoCalcaniac]

im a little confused lol what happened wit larose and commodore

They were doing their usual practice 'wrestling', jawing each other and giving each other hell. :lol:

[Jay]

I think everyone knows that Gordie Howe was one of the best ever, but he played one year for Hartford. After playing 25 years for Detroit and 1 year for Hartford, I think it would be silly for us to retire "9" and maybe even somewhat presumtuous. It would be like the Leafs retiring Ron Francis' "10" up in Toronto for playing there a few months. But that's just my opinion.

I didn't realize he only played 1 year at Hartford.

Why did the Whale retire his number if he only played one year?

[Teaching 4's]

:D ... Karen was nice enough to let the other of us in as well. She really is the best thing to happen to this organization. I hope they treat her that way![/quote]


She really is a truly nice woman. I grew up with her son, and now he's a volunteer firefighter with my husband. At the departments Open House (a few weeks ago) Karen wore her Stanley Cup Ring.... You couldn't wipe the smile off her face. :D

She's great at what she does, and an overall great woman.

[goalie33]

Why did the Whale retire his number if he only played one year?

Because he's Gordie Howe.

Also, Gordie only played one season for the Whale in the NHL, but he played three seasons in total. The first two were when the team was the New England Whalers of the WHA.

The simple fact is that Gordie Howe never put on a Canes sweater, and his number shouldn't be in our rafters. The franchise doesn't use #9 because of Gordie, and most people know that (just like Chiasson's #3), but it's not the sort of thing that deserves a banner.

[Cool Hand Luke]

I didn't realize they did retire his number, but maybe it was more WHA related. He officially retired in 1971 and was immediately inducted into the Hall of Fame. He signed with Houston of the WHA in 1973. Then he signed with the New England Whalers in 1977 along with sons Mark and Marty, then signed with Hartford for 1 more year when they joined the NHL in 1979. If you count the years in the WHA I guess it was more than just one with the franchise.

Maybe we could do more with the history of the franchise, but as SS said I think we are somewhat limited because of licensing issues with the "Whalers" name. It was cool when they played Brass Bonanza a couple of times during the playoffs. How did Chuck respond to your question?

Maybe Aaryn would know more, I'd be interested in his take on it.

(PS I see goalie33 already clarified..*S*)

[svandijk1]

From Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_the_National_Hockey_League_retired_numbers

The Carolina Hurricanes revoked the retirement of numbers #2 (Rick Ley), #9 (Gordie Howe) and #19 (John McKenzie) which were retired by its previous Hartford Whalers incarnation, although Carolina has not issued #9 so far.

It's always been my understanding that Howe's #9 is unofficially retired by the Hurricanes primarily because Karmanos is a huge Detroit/Howe fan.

[petecaniac]

I thought the free skate today was great! My Daughter was the one who posed the question to Lavi about how he felt when the Canes won the Cup. I was very impressed by the Coach and his public speaking ability. He related many anecdotes and kept the remaining crowd enthralled by his stories...I especially liked his story about the "Stanley Cup Ties" quite entertaining LOL
Pete

[cdhawkin]

This is obviously my first one, but I do have a few gripes:

1) It was billed as starting at 11am -- I got there at 10:45 and the Kaiton Q&A had already started.

2) There /wasn't/ enough DD for everyone. I went ahead down to listen to the Q&A then went up for food and the donuts were gone with probably 50 people in line total on either side.


The website says 10:30-12:00. Also, how were you not able to get doughnuts? My husband and I managed to get some at 11:15 and that was 15 minutes after Chuck had finished speaking. Maybe you looked on the wrong side?

I thought the event was much better than those in the past. There must have been more than twice as many people there as last year. I am going to call my rep tommorrow and ask how many people came. I would be interested to know.

I wish they had let people know that Lav was going to address the crowd so so many people wouldn't have left but from what one of the Sales Reps said, Lav told them that he would decide when practice was over whether he would address the crowd or not and when he decided to, many had left already. I also thought the "fun facts" sheet was a neat little addition to the event. The Rutherford story was very interesting.

It looks as if they have hired some new staff. I saw some faces I've never seen before today. Maybe the new people are bringing some organization skills to the event planning. It seems as if all of the events like the Cup Viewing have gone really well.

I am already looking forward to the next event.

[Jay]

The website says 10:30-12:00.

Quoted from my email: "Doors will open at 10:30 AM, and the team will begin skating at 11:00 AM."

To me, this implies that the event starts at 11am. It wasn't very well indicated, in any point.


Y'all also have to remember that this is my first year as a STH. I don't have any "last year" experiences... I'm just looking at this from a fresh standpoint.

[nccanes]

Jay - I was surprised that Chuck was already speaking when I arrived as well. I figured the food was the only thing that would be happening at 10:30. I also didn't realize that there were donuts laid out at the little countertops here and there, until I got up a 2nd time to see how long the lines were.

You weren't alone. And I've had tickets for a number of year. ;)

[puck_it]

the break down of communication... AHHH a running theme...

[pharmkat]

And I have to report again that Karen Prince is awesome. Puckin_A had been nice enough to let a friend of mine use her extra ticket today (thanks again!). Pharmkat, as ya'll know her, was here from out of town and very excited about going with us today. So, she came in this morning, and we headed out to the RBC. Just as we're pulling into our parking space at about 10:45 I realize I'd forgotten Mr SHC and my two tickets!! I was SO relieved when I explained the situation to the ticket taker and heard him turn around and say "Karen?" Thank goodness it was the one person who knows how to treat customers right! Some very nice person walking by heard us explaining the situation and gave us an extra he had (thank you if you're reading!!!) and Karen was nice enough to let the other of us in as well. She really is the best thing to happen to this organization. I hope they treat her that way!

Yes, thanks P_A for my ticket! I claim partial responsiblity for the forgotten tickets as SHC missed me so much we just got to talking as usual. :p But I would've felt incredibly bad if they had not gotten in.

[puckin_A]

no problem! ;)