Brad Moran day on Friday

[RunTheGoalie]

Mark Stiles mentioned on Fan960 today that over 12,000 tickets have already been sold for the game against the Rebels on Friday, meaning Brad Moran is likely going to get one hell of an ovation when his #20 goes to the rafters - even if 75% of the crowd will have never heard of him.

However, I am quite certian that I overheard the PA announcer mention during one of this weekends games that the Hitmen wanted to try for a WHL regular season attendance record that game as well, which leads me to wonder, didnt Portland put in right close to 20,000 the game they retired Neely's (IIRC) number? Is the Dome even big enough for such a feat?

[Hitmen1]

IIRC when the leafs and or the habs come into the dome to play the flames the attendence is usually just over 20,000...but that would have to be with all seats opened, I'm not sure what the plans are for the game...I was at the saturday game and didn't hear anything about it.

[The_Vulk]

Yes, the PA did announce several times about making Brad Moran's jersey retirement game the attendance breaker game over the last few games.

Now wouldn't it be a nice surprise for the game, if the center-ice logo belongs to the Hitmen!

[RunTheGoalie]

IIRC when the leafs and or the habs come into the dome to play the flames the attendence is usually just over 20,000...but that would have to be with all seats opened, I'm not sure what the plans are for the game...I was at the saturday game and didn't hear anything about it.

That was before renovations in 1994 though. Even if you sold all of those SRO squares, Dome capacity isnt more than 19,300 now.

[Mileflames]

Brad Moran Jersey Retirement
Fitting a guy nicknamed Bugsy was the first Hitmen hero.

He became the first 50-goal sniper, the first 100-point luminary, the all-time leading scorer and only WHL most valuable player.

And it's fitting a guy nicknamed Bugsy will also be the first Hitmen to have his number retired.

http://slam.canoe.ca/Slam/Hockey/Jun...22/938718.html

The flames playoffs the team was saying it was 19,600, But they have closed off some of the seats again.

[RunTheGoalie]

Seems the PA announcer misspoke himself when I heard that record crowd comment. According to the Sun, the Hitmen are hoping for a regular season franchise record crowd.

Current franchise record is 16,073 set at this year's teddy bear toss.

[The_Vulk]

It was said on Wednesday, before game time, that already 12,000 tickets have been sold for today's (Friday's) game.

So Yes!

Let's fill the Dome!

Hang the Rebels... and Brad Moran's #20 jersey too.

[RunTheGoalie]

Actually, I did hear the announcer correct, but he didnt offer enough information. The Hitmen set the overall league attendance record tonight, crossing 300,000 fans per game. They have three more games to build on that record.

Anyway, my impressions of the game...

Wild game tonight. Pieper should have been tossed for that charge on Getzlaf. Both a charge and a very deliberate elbow to the head. That was as blatant an attempt to injure as there is. Typical WHL officiating though. Good on Landolt for sticking up for his teammate.

Dupont returned the favour by destroying Kuukka 40 seconds later, which led to a spirited fight with Vandermeer.

Phaneuf's hit was highlight reel quality - and legal this time. Good on Ryan White for standing up for his teammate - a 16 year old taking on the 19 year old Getzlaf, even though he got a bloody nose about it.

The Hitmen forgot to show up for this one on time, but did an amazing job of coming back from the 2-0 deficit. When Calgary got going, Red Deer just couldnt keep up. Nice to see the "best team in the WHL" finally live up to the billing.

I still hate Andrew Ladd, however.

Very nice banner for Brad Moran. Makes the banners the WHL hands out look like crap in comparison.

[Mileflames]

Jersey raising Moran's 'biggest honour'

'Bugsy' managed to keep his emotions in check -- just barely. Brad (Bugsy) Moran, the Calgary Hitmen's all-time leading scorer, said he was overwhelmed by last night's ceremony that saw his No. 20 hoisted to the Saddledome rafters -- the first Hitmen player to have his jersey raised to the roof.

"This is the greatest moment of my hockey career," Moran told the cheering crowd of 16,388.

"It's the biggest honour I've ever received."

Moran thanked a long list of people who helped him develop during a five-year WHL career. A video of Moran's highlights was shown on the Jumbo-Tron to Aretha Franklin's Respect.

http://www.canoe.ca/NewsStand/Calgar...43307-sun.html buy the sun to read more

[The_Vulk]

... Brad Moran is ... going to get one hell of an ovation when his #20 goes to the rafters - even if 75% of the crowd will have never heard of him.

The same went for the autograph session after the game.

Brad Moran signing autographs, to a very long line. Definately the longest line for any Hitmen player, past and present.

And there was alot of young people gettting his autograph whom, like you suggested about the game, most likely have never heard of him before (nor saw him play), but still wanted a chance to be part of history.