No System No Vision!!!!!!

[dynamitekid]

I know that I am known as the negative guy on here all the time but that is fine with me. At least I call a spade a spade.

I have posted before about wonder coach and his no system coaching style or what ever you call it. Here is a link to a article from a player traded away with no bone to pick, being traded to a contender and a much better situation. And I am sure if you talk to others that have been traded you will here the exact same story. So remeber this is not negative dynamitekid talking this is coming from a player who has no reason to be bitter.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/01/17/100spo_c07silvertips001.cfm

[dubfan]

Almost every team in the league except Everett.

[GBG BLEED BLUE]

I too was a big fan of Dane Crowley,and Kinda still am. I do not know why he would say something like that,unless he was treated unfairly or something like that,or being a victim to the trade deadline 2 season's in a row but if something like that happens it might be a good think because obviously team(s) like what they see in him and want him on their team.

I would be kinda mad too if my brother was on the same team and I got traded(I would eventually get over it)

I am sure glad that Troy Crowley is still on the Blades because he is a valueable part of the Blades,hopefully the same thing DOES NOT happen to him.

Now Dane Crowley has a good chance to win a Memorial Cup.

[ointhecreek]

I know that I am known as the negative guy on here all the time but that is fine with me. At least I call a spade a spade.

I have posted before about wonder coach and his no system coaching style or what ever you call it. Here is a link to a article from a player traded away with no bone to pick, being traded to a contender and a much better situation. And I am sure if you talk to others that have been traded you will here the exact same story. So remeber this is not negative dynamitekid talking this is coming from a player who has no reason to be bitter.

http://www.heraldnet.com/stories/07/01/17/100spo_c07silvertips001.cfm
Makes you wonder if he was confused or the Everett reporter misquoted him. This one from the Star Phoenix http://www.whlfans.ca/showthread.php?t=10456
I think he's just trying to please his new organization and especially his new head coach. What do you expect him to say, everything was better in Swift? We all know how well that would go over with KC! He will probably never see Swift again so isn't to worried about hurting anyone's feelings. I know I don't have any hard feelings about it. Seems to me he said something similar about Saskatoon when they traded him to Swift. Just have to take it in context.

[Broncs in RD]

Why is everyone jumping on him? He has a coach who was and still is NHL caliber right now of course they have a better system look at the record they are in 1st place. It is unfair cause he put his H and S into this club for the year he was here. Why be mad I am sure Everett has a better system than Dean is that a big problem maybe we should be mad at Dean not Dane.

P.S. Mods Erase the fire the coach threads they are pointless and there have been way to many of them started.

[Willis on the Welfare]

Okay, I know I said "never again" but this one is bringing me out of retirement.

Don't haterize on Crowley. Big City newspaper people (especially American ones) are NOTORIOUS for taking comments out of context. I'm sure Crowley was talking about Swift Current's style of being able to carry the puck up ice and improvise plays whereas Everett is STRICT systems. That's all. I'm sure Eric Doyle will tell you the EXACT same thing.

Dane was genuinely upset to be dealt from Swift. He liked the city and organization and is not the type of guy to take shots. He is a class act all the way. This year I had a work assignment where I got audio from people around the community reading "in flander's fields" for Rememberance Day. I attended the Bronco class at the local college. I asked any player to volunteer to read a line from the poem to be used in a radio special. This is a tough thing to ask a kid, they are not public speakers and Flander's fields is an emotional piece of poetry. Of all the Bronco vets, who do you think was the only guy to volunteer? You bet, #2. Taking nothing away from the other guys, who are the best character team we've had in awhile, it's just a small thing Dane did to step up and lead by example.

In order to get good players, you have to give up good players. Doyle's going to be a beauty, but make no mistake, Dane Crowley was a gem.

Willi$

http://www.ryanswitzer.blogspot.com

[Flathead]

Why is everyone jumping on him? He has a coach who was and still is NHL caliber right now of course they have a better system look at the record they are in 1st place. It is unfair cause he put his H and S into this club for the year he was here. Why be mad I am sure Everett has a better system than Dean is that a big problem maybe we should be mad at Dean not Dane.

.
Agreed, don't be mad at Dane, he's just calling it as he sees it. Ask around the rink one night, what the problem with the team is and at least 8 people will tell you the same thing.

[transplantedbronco]

I gotta agree as well. Why be mad a Dane for telling the truth. They do have better systems in place. Look at their record this year. That says it all. He calling it like he sees it. I also think the media may have edited a lot so it sounded more harsh than what he actually said. But even if they didn't, can't be mad a Dane for this.

[Offsider]

P.S. Mods Erase the fire the coach threads they are pointless and there have been way to many of them started.

I think we should look at all sides not just the ones with rose colured glasses .If you look at my post they are backed by facts and stats .The fact is that we only have about 8 years of 200K pre year losses left so the time is now . It is not just Dean ,the bad thing most people in Swift will not come to the rink unless we are winning . The marketing people need to get people in the city into the seats 2/3 of our season ticket holders are from out of town so that means there are only 400 to 500 hundred city people out of 16,000 .We need to become a hockey town again people need to now all the players by face.We need a coach/gm that talks to the everyday person stayes in the city for the summer and gets the hipe going. this team is very fun to watch last night was a great game to be a fan . Look powerplay 3 for 6 without Nelson , Shindo and Bortis .Thats what people are talking about if our top guys don't want to do the job and the young guys do take notice and most times Dean will stay with the samething over and over . The Broncos from top down. Have to get things going get some hipe back into Bronco hockey like Bronco Rep told me last night I don't want do be watching SJHL hockey in ten years . Bring back Bronco HIPE!!! to Swift Current

[bronco rep]

Offsider we are the diehard FANS. You look at guys around this city whose kids are involed in hockey & you never see them at the rink , But are always asking questions about how the Broncos are doing. These are guys who have to come out & start supporting this team. I have said it before & i will say it again in order to get these people to buy tickets they have to go door to door. Put the pressure on these people. If we sit back & wait for these type of people to buy tickets i am sorry but it will be SJHL. Maybe Best Western has a answer, he seems to have a answer for everything else.

[Big Ern]

Maybe Best Western has a answer, he seems to have a answer for everything else.

HA ha ha ha ha....LOL LOL LOL LOL
Funniest one I've heard in a while! LOL haha yeehoo

[Flathead]

[QUOTE=bronco rep] I have said it before & i will say it again in order to get these people to buy tickets they have to go door to door.QUOTE]
Whammo, you nailed it! The old staff like Zimmerman, Gourlay, Drinkle, Bergoin, etc etc, used to come around all the time, to talk hockey, sell lottery calenders, sell promos, lottery tickets, whatever, they were out there pushing Broncos hockey and it worked. I know though that it's not the new guys fault, it's the boards new way of running the team, Nyhagen and Boutilier both seem like very personable people, it's just to bad the public doesn't get a chance to know them.

[Scout]

It sounds like a missed a good one Sunday night but was glad we won. I did catch the end of the game on my way back to town. I found this on Brads Blog and what he and Cory had to do on Sunday when most of us rested for the game Sunday night. I hope Brad doesn't mind that i posted this from his blog but if he does then i will remove it.

Sunday, January 21, 2007
Long 36 Hours Ahead
I write this after finding a spare moment between setting up for tonight's game against the Calgary Hitmen and heading over to Grandma's for a big dinner with the family.

I thankfull received a full night's rest last night as i am definitely going to need it for the upcoming stretch of days that will consist of this:

Sunday:
Noon-3:30pm) Dinner at Grandma's with the family for Grandpa's birthday celebration, even though he left us on November 25th.
3:30-4:00pm) Stop at Safeway to pick up intermission prizing for tonight's cart races
4:00-10:00pm) Work tonight's game where i'll try to get everything done before 10:00pm, including all cleanup, media, stats, etc.
10:00pm-2:30am) Drive to Calgary
2:30-3:30am) Try to find hotel!
3:30-9:00am) Check into hotel and head to bed (gain an hour)

Monday:
9:00am-Noon) Sit in a conference room with 20 other WHL team marketing departments for some meetings
Noon-1:00pm) Break for lunch (there is even an optional meeteing at lunch, good one!)
1:00-4:30pm) Sit in a conference room with 20 other WHL team marketing departments for some meetings.
4:30-5:00pm) Drive to IKEA
5:00-6:00pm) Shop at Ikea
6:00-11:30pm) Drive back to Swift Current (lose an hour)
11:30pm-8:15am) Sleep

Tuesday:)
8:15-9:00am) Get ready for work
9:00am) The usual work day!

I strongly encourage everybody that reads this not to talk to me on Tuesday, as it could be a rough day in the sleep department for moi.

I'll try to post a recap of what the Marketing Meetings consist of. Typically it's the big market teams (Spokane, Calgary, and Vancouver) that ask all of the questions that are completely irrelevant to us smaller market teams (Swift Current, Moose Jaw, Prince Albert). Ie: What are some approach angles that we can use to fill the top 20 rows of the upper bowl in our facility?...Excuse, upper bowl? We have 11 rows.

Anyway, i need to get over to Grandma's. To anybody who posts a comment, keep them coming as they are the only way to know that people are reading this. Until Tuesday, peace!

PS - JK the rematch is on, you know i make good - i sure hope you do.

Posted by Brad Boutilier at 9:09 AM 1 comments


Sounds like a full day to me. This follows after Cory and Brad were in Moose Jaw the night before for the early bird draw. I think Flathead that if time permitted they would love to go around and meet the public but i think they have a hard time finding time to breath during the season.

Scout

[d-man]

what's the address for brad's blog?

[minirep]

Last time I checked that is what they get paid for. Alot of people put in long hours it is part of the job. Years ago there was one marketing person. Hopefully he learned something at the meetings to help get fans into the rink. Maybe hire somebody from Medicine Hat they got the fans back to the rink. applause

[Flathead]

Sounds like a full day to me. This follows after Cory and Brad were in Moose Jaw the night before for the early bird draw. I think Flathead that if time permitted they would love to go around and meet the public but i think they have a hard time finding time to breath during the season.

Scout
I'm not saying they don't do anything. I'm just saying the other guys got around to visit the public a lot more. After a lengthy discussion with a long time board member last week, it was explained to me why they don't get out as much as they did in the past, I'm just not sure if it's the right approach. I have nothing against Cory or Brad, I think they do a great job at what they're allowed to do, with the resources offered to them.

[observer9]

Sunday:

Monday:
9:00am-Noon) Sit in a conference room with 20 other WHL team marketing departments for some meetings
Noon-1:00pm) Break for lunch (there is even an optional meeteing at lunch, good one!)
1:00-4:30pm) Sit in a conference room with 20 other WHL team marketing departments for some meetings.
4:30-5:00pm) Drive to IKEA
5:00-6:00pm) Shop at Ikea
6:00-11:30pm) Drive back to Swift Current (lose an hour)
11:30pm-8:15am) Sleep

Scout

I thought this said "sit in conference room with 20 other marketing departments for some of the most boring meetings" at one point?

Jeez, nearly 9 hours of sleep Monday night? Wow, looks like a long Tuesday ahead. Riggers in the patch can probably relate to the hard times ahead.

[bronco rep]

Here is a good one for the marketing guys. Broncos round table for 1hr @ some cozy lounge every Mon night starting at 6:00pm. With Ryan & Jon. Bring in a couple Broncos for every show. Bottom line if you want to sell this product you have to put it out there big time. Get the people to know these kids. I bet on most night if you ran this thing at bp's the place would be packed. Anymore marketing ideas?

[transplantedbronco]

That not a bad idea there bronco rep, and i dont want to sound negative but is that not drawing to the die hard fans who they already have going to games? (remember just a thought) I don't know what the answer is honestly. And any ideas are good right now, but I think they somehow have draw from a fan base they dont have right now. Some say we need the hockey moms and dads. But unfortunatly they are always going to their kids games and practices doesn't leave them much time in their lives for bronco games. We need the young adults to come out.

[bronco rep]

What i am saying is put this live on the radio for 1 hr every mon night. As far as getting the hockey Mom & Dads to the rink i see alot of them there & the other ones that are not there have to be fed Bronco hockey. Its like campaining you have to get in the publics eye.

[dubfan]

It kind of appears that some of the not so die hard fans lost interst in the team before Dean and Co. took over three years ago. When the change was happening I think a lot of people wanted Marc Habshied to come in and save the hometown team and that didn't happen. Marc Habshied is a great person and a coach of high regard but I highly doubt that he will ever be the coach in Swift.

I think that it is time that people who were not interested because of the team problems in the past, with poor management and players with questionable attributes off the ice, to come and give this "New" Broncos a chance again, I know they will be entertained and appreciated by the players and staff. I takes time to change an attitude in an organization and attain quality players when you are re-establishing and aquiring quality players. I give the Bronco management team kudos for a job well done and the effort by the coaches to mold this team into a long time contender is admirable. You have to give Dean credit for also helping to develop Dave as he has allowed Dave to be a part of the Hockey Canada program twice, I believe that Dean probably aided Dave in those endevours as he had worked with Hockey canada in the past.

The current players that have been picked and selected for this team are all high character kids and on top of that are solid if not great hockey players, listen to some of their interviews with Jon and Ryan, ask them what they think, take the time and talk to the players on the street. My prediction is that of the current roster (15-20 year olds) there will be at least 7-8 that will some day play in the NHL.

The change has been made, get back on the train, you'll enjoy yourself, be apart of the new organization at this time and you can be proud when they have their success in the future.

[ointhecreek]

It kind of appears that some of the not so die hard fans lost interst in the team before Dean and Co. took over three years ago. When the change was happening I think a lot of people wanted Marc Habshied to come in and save the hometown team and that didn't happen. Marc Habshied is a great person and a coach of high regard but I highly doubt that he will ever be the coach in Swift.

I think that it is time that people who were not interested because of the team problems in the past, with poor management and players with questionable attributes off the ice, to come and give this "New" Broncos a chance again, I know they will be entertained and appreciated by the players and staff. I takes time to change an attitude in an organization and attain quality players when you are re-establishing and acquiring quality players. I give the Bronco management team kudos for a job well done and the effort by the coaches to mold this team into a long time contender is admirable. You have to give Dean credit for also helping to develop Dave as he has allowed Dave to be a part of the Hockey Canada program twice, I believe that Dean probably aided Dave in those endevours as he had worked with Hockey canada in the past.

The current players that have been picked and selected for this team are all high character kids and on top of that are solid if not great hockey players, listen to some of their interviews with Jon and Ryan, ask them what they think, take the time and talk to the players on the street. My prediction is that of the current roster (15-20 year olds) there will be at least 7-8 that will some day play in the NHL.

The change has been made, get back on the train, you'll enjoy yourself, be apart of the new organization at this time and you can be proud when they have their success in the future.
Excellent post. applause I agree wholeheartedly. We were losing fans before Dean took over. The broncos were headed for rebuilding, any blind person could see that. The previous admin ran it right down and Dean has had to start from the ground up. We are starting to see the results at home. Our team is only going to improve next year and the next few years. No more excuses, time for people to get on board. nhl nhl nhl

[Offsider]

I do agree that interest was lost before Dean. I also don’t believe it was because Habshied was not hired .Myself am not a Hashield fan He made his coaching bread and butter off the Trap very boring hockey to watch with the new rules doesn’t seem to be that affective. I think were Bronco rep is going is that people have to start to believe that there is a since of mergence about the Broncos longevity in Swift Current. Sorry but we don’t make any money unless we see the second or third round of the playoffs .Or we get people in the stands. Every business owners in Swift should be a season ticket holder. The broncos need to show how important they are to the city I sound like a broken record but two 3rd’ of the season ticket holder are from out of town X 36 games plus playoffs The MAN from the Best Western can tell you how many hotel room that are booked by visiting teams there fans and families, All these people will not be here in the winter without the Broncos. I know of business people in town that did not renew there season tickets and did not even receive a call to see why. It starts from the top down and public perception in a small town is everything looks how many Board members got boxes in the lottery. That’s the stuff that makes the team look like it’s owned by an old boys club. You want to get people in the stands with a so so record you need a board, staff including players that the whole town known and that are approachable. I attended the beginning of the champion of the Broncos but they didn’t want your opinion they just wanted volunteers to sell beer lots of the meeting were canceled without notice never anything on the Broncos web site about meeting changes or rescheduling most people do lots of volunteering and running with there own things . When you show up for a meeting and it’s canceled a few times without notice they just quit. There is lots of good Ideals around to get this community owned team back on track if the power that be listen . bottom line is we can't keep losing $200000.00 per year HOW DO WE FIX IT !!

[Scout]

I agree 100% with what you said. I like the direction we are going and some major changes that were done, most were implemented by Dean (ie:no board member can billett a player ) As for myself, i would like to see either a meeting once every two months with an open forum and make it mandatory for all board members, coaches and office staff to attend where the general public, not just shareholders can ask any question of anybody present. Dean is very approachable and will answer any question with an honest answer if he can. Another thing is Cory and Brad should have one day set aside every two weeks where they must be out of the office to visit businesses around town. Matter of fact so can Eldon set one day aside. It's little but it shows the business people that they are appreciated. Maybe the team should have a team laison from Joe public who can take concerns from season ticket holders or business people to the board and team. I know if i have a problem it is hard to go to Dean or a board member when you know them so well and don't want to start a war. The person would have to be well known around the community and very approachable. I agree alot of hotels and food joints ride on the coat tails of the Broncos and lap up the profits but won't by season tickets or any other monies to the team. This is a few thoughts i have had over the year. I think a team liason would help the club tremondously instead of season tickets holders walking away out of frustration. At least the liason can bring it to the board and team so they know what going on and thoughts of the public in the community. Also do they still give tickets out to the school kids? Or how about wear your minor hockey jersey and be admitted free. Just some thoughts here.

Scout

[Scout]

Booty Blog

Brad: If you have a problem with me posting these ideas ,call me as i did not get your permission to repost.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
WHL Meetings Prove Me Wrong
I went into Monday's WHL Marketing meetings with a mindset that they would be similar to last year - irrelevant and boring. I have to admit that i was surprised at the amounts of valuable information Corey and i received.

We went over a handful of topics throughout the day, but the main ones were Effective Database Marketing and Creating Interest Through Player Profiles.

The database marketing is self-explanatory. You blanket people with emails full of content and information about the team and upcoming games. I am a pretty fast typer and hover around the 100 word per minute mark, but it is a constant struggle for me to get information out the public about the Broncos as typing takes up a lot of time in the day. Between the website, game notes, and now database marketing, i spent hours a day typing.

The player profiles topic is something interesting, and something any Broncos fan that reads this should start to see more of. In case you haven't noticed, there has been some new things posted on scbroncos.com that haven't been done in the past. Player Question and Answers, with Jeremy Schenderling, Zack Smith, and Brady Leavold along with a Porter's Perpsective are just 2 of many good things to come. At the meetings we talked about players blogs and having a couple of guys continually update a blog on their own seasons, as well as the teams season. An interesting idea and one that i would definitely love to pursue. Another idea we tossed around was simply giving a player a digital camera to take on a road trip with them. I think it's a great idea to have a veteran guy take snapshots of the bus trip, pre/post game meals, etc.

There is an underlying reason behind all of this. Revenue! One thing our organization has never done is tap into the revenue stream of internet advertising. A part of this is due to the old fashioned nature of our hockey club, but the other is that we simply haven't pushed the button. Companies are paying millions and millons of dollars to get their name out there and this is another great opportunity to get a small piece of those millions. While we do have some small league ad tiles on our site, we don't have any banner or tower advertisements which could generate some legitimate dollars for us. Simply put, the more content we can get on the website, the more views the website is going to receive. The more views the website receives, the more money we'll be able to charge for advertisements. On any given month, we receive about 7,000 visits from unique visitors. What company wouldn't want 7,000 different people to see their advertisement and simply be able to click on it for more information? We average over 120,000 pages viewed and over 1,000,000 hits in each month, those are some pretty big numbers considering the promoting of scbroncos.com isn't at a premium. swiftcurrentonline.com does a fabulous job with internet advertising. Just take a look at their site and see how easy it is to get sidetracked with all of the tiles they have for advertisors. It still maintains a clean look, yet they generate some impressive dollars off of those ads.

If we were to do this, we definitely wouldn't be the first team in the WHL to do so. Just look at the WHL site and some of the other teams such as Portland, Calgary, and Regina. All are packed with ads.

[minirep]

I agree every business owner should have season ticket(s). It is a 100% income tax deductable, so why not? I do know some businesses that have season tickets and the employees don't even use them. Even when the tickets are free people don't go. We need to get more interest!!!

[dubfan]

Well done Brad and Corey keep up the good work and Scout those are valid thoughts as you have been around for a long time and know what happens and has happened in the past. On the advertising theme I believe that in the new revamped CCC a new video score clock could bring in significant advertising $$$. PA has a similar roof hieght and size scoreboard and it has video and there is always ads on in the breaks. I dont know what advertising costs and audience is but you would have a captive crowd of 2,000 and hopefully 2,300 that you would be hitting.

[Scout]

Never even thought of that. Every penny counts and a video with adds would be a good revenue source. I know Bronco staff and some board members read our forum so keep those ideas coming.

Scout

[Offsider]

I don’t know if one liaison would be the way to go I believe that if the fans new the players, coaches better they would support the team better. A few years ago I gentlemen I knew that would never come to bronco game met one of our 20 year old player around town something to do with his part time job. This meeting prompted the guy to come to a couple of games, and then we traded the player. And he never came back but it shows what can happen. They know that there is at least 50 seats a game that will be open, So take there to one of the surrounding communities and give them away Gull lake, Kyle, Hodgeville, Morse, Cabri or pick a street in the city and put them in the mail box, make more in the concession and maybe make some new fans. Brad and Cory have a tough job balancing advertising and entertainment .I have heard complaints of the adds between whistles and agree that sometimes they are a real mood breaker just when our fans get of there hands and become the seventh man they play an add don’t know what they charge for one of those spots but at the wrong time there not worth any amount. Just the same as the balance from rock and roll to the organ music that we all grew up watching Hockey with ,Gets young and old into the game . I know adds are money but the Broncos are selling entertainment not adds

[Scout]

The small surrounding towns are a big asset to this community. Maybe each game could be dubbed a small town game as in Cabri night or Kyle night, etc where if you come to the game from this town on that game night then your admission would be half. Just some thoughts but i think they are great.

Scout

[Flathead]

Have some nights where if you have a full price ticket, you can bring a friend for half price. You may as well make some money on the seat, it would be empty anyways. I like the rural town night, that's a good idea as well.

[Big Ern]

Great ideas, but I just read Keen's latest blog. He has something to tell you all.
http://www.jonkeen.blogspot.com/
There's no danger of the team leaving just yet...but of course they need all the money they can get. Apparently though, we shouldn't panic about them leaving just now. Of course I'm always worried about it....but read Keen's blog tonight. It's interesting!

[Offsider]

I guess we don’t need to worry about the team .With Jon’s inside info tells us were in great shape
When was the last time we sorry the Broncos made a profit what have they lost over the last 2-3 years
If Jon is offended because some fans want the team to profit and get more people in the seats and gets some Bronco Fever That He himself on air has complained that crowds have been small quiet and sit on there hands . Your corrected Jon winning is the key to marketing especially in Swift and who is in charge of that??

[Scout]

I noticed alot of arenas sell the name for the rink. Maybe sell the name like Saskatoon, Regina,etc. Innovation Credit Union Center wouldn't be a bad name and the city and Broncos to split the profit. Make it a five year contract at $100,000.00 and each splits $50,000.00.

Scout

[Scout]

Tuesday, January 23, 2007
This Again??


So I see there's another raging debate on one of the Broncos message boards about revenue and profit/loss margins with this hockey club. Great. Some of the posters are starting to agitate me with their thoughts and takes on this subject which they know nothing or little about.

Hey I'm no expert on this either but inside team sources tell me that barring the Broncos missing the playoffs, the hockey club should post a small profit this season (knock on wood). Some people seem to think this team is going to lose 200k this year? Where are they getting this from. And all this talk about the SJHL Broncos returning in 5 to 10 years . . . enough. The Broncos, the City, the fans and business owners are in this for the long term. Civic Center renovations at the price tag of $13 million is a big step towards securing this team well into 2015 and beyond.

I understand the financial obstacles this team has to overcome but I'm a big believer in the people who support this team. With all this negative talk creeping in it's almost like some want to see this franchise leave again.

Also, all these "ways to get more fans to the rink ideas". It's a nice thought but we all know what the biggest factor is in that, should I spell it? W-I-N-N-I-N-G. It's the best marketing tool a team can have. Just think what a nice playoff run would do for this city and the fans. The entire community rallying together as one - us against them. Business signs with "Go Broncos Go". Bronco fever taking over this city and the south-west. Just think what that would do for this team. It would be a revitalization of Bronco nation.

I was a part of the 2000-2001 playoff run (color commentator) that saw the Broncos battle Red Deer in the Eastern Conference Final. That was something special. We need another post-season to remember in the next two years. No doubt it will do a wonder for the team's bottom line.

Longtime Bronco fan/stickboy/colorman Ryan Switzer and I had a chat about this today. Nowadays there are just too many entertainment options out there. Staying home is a treat. With satellite TV, DVD players, home theater systems, video games, the internet, it's just too easy to spend the night at home. Back when the Broncos average crowd was 2500, there wasn't too many entertainment options out there. Going to the Broncos game was the event of the week. Now it gets lost in the shuffle with driving around the kids to different events and activities, and just trying to keep up with the quicker pace of life. Ryan pointed out that back in the 80's and 90's other groups in town and senior hockey leagues in the southwest would schedule their events around the Broncos home-ice sked. Times have changed. We just have to make the most of them. It really is up to us.

Anyways, just my thoughts, please feel free to agree or disagree in the comments portions.

On an unrelated note I just heard Peter Loubardias from Sportsnet refer to Colton Yellowhorn as the "Brocket Rocket". Choose to believe this or not, but Ryan S. actually came up with that one night when Yellowhorn was visiting the Civic Center as a 17 year-old with the Lethbridge Hurricanes. It spread like wildfire around the league, now Loubardias is telling it to the nation on Sportsnet tonight. That's great.

Broncos and Pats tomorrow night 7:30pm face-off. We're on the air at 7pm.

See you at the CC,
Jon