Good morning,
As I mentioned in my last entry, I have plenty that I want to say in regards to this past weekend, and after a restful Sunday I'm back in the swing of things today.
First off, I'll say that I am excited as can be knowing full-well that the Battlefords North Stars and Flin Flon Bombers are now 'official' playoff opponents for the upcoming SJHL Bauer Conference Survivor Series. I've covered this league for four years now, and can officially say that I will have seen the Battlefords North Stars face each team in the Bauer Conference at least once in a playoff series.
This rivalry really intensified this weekend, and I'm excited to see what lies ahead.
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I confess that right now I'm feeling a lot of frustration and anger regarding Saturday's broadcast. I know I probably shouldn't dwell on the negatives, but I feel terrible about the fact that broadcast kit conked out before the game. Every effort was made (by yours truly and CFAR 590 in Flin Flon) to fix the issue, but unfortunately at 7:10 PM on Saturday the only way the broadcast was going to get on the air was through my cell-phone.
I owe color-man and operator Matt Ryan a tremendous amount of thanks for all of the extra-work he had to do in lew of the situation. Matt is an enormously valuable part of the North Star's broadcast team, and I hope people appreciate his work and passion like I do. Matt, I owe you a beer or two pal. Cheers.
The same goes for CFAR's Rob Hart for his efforts. Rob, thank you. I look forward to several visits with you over the next few weeks.
I'm aware of the fact that it wasn't my fault, and that sometimes these things happen. But for the moment I feel guilty, and disappointed for not being able to deliver a broadcast worthy of the game itself. They say that a performer is only "as good as his last performance" or that an athlete is "only as good as his last game." Well this broadcaster feels pretty low right now. The only way that I will truly feel better about all of this is after tomorrow night's broadcast is completed on a working-kit.
Even though the circumstances were truly out of my control I still humbly apologize.
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A quick take on the Flin Flon fans.
I can say with 100 percent sincerity that I love going to Flin Flon to call games. Their fans are incredibly passionate, and they know the league just as well as anybody. I definitely appreciated how kind and welcoming the fans were to me as a broadcaster, and I look forward to more enjoyable interaction with the Flin Flon faithful in the weeks to come.
As the playoff rivalry heats up, I can only hope that the fans on both sides continue to get involved and cheer their hearts out.
I love the fact that Flin Flon Bomber fans are posting on this blog, and I encourage them to do some more as the playoffs draw nearer. That being said, I want the dialogue to be kept clean and respectful. I will not tolerate personal jabs at players, coaches, fellow fans, or broadcasters that are not directly related to on-ice incidents.
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I want to make something abundantly clear. I considered Tony Oak's fight with Ashton Bernard to be extremely even. That being said, I considered Tony the winner of the fight for for these reasons:
- I saw Oak land more direct punches.
- Bernard was bleeding, Oak was not.
- The Stars seemed to gain more of a boost from the tilt than the Bombers did.
Was the blood caused by a visor and not a fist? Probably. Did Bernard score the take-down? Yes.
One thing is for certain, I don't think we've seen the last of Tony Oak and Ashton Bernard.
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Speaking of Tony Oak - He has agreed to be a guest on tonight's edition of the Co-Op Leisure Time Sports Fix. I'll ask him about the fight, about the winning goal, and we'll dive even further into the Flin Flon/Battlefords rivalry.
I've had the pleasure of watching Oak play in the Battlefords for the past four seasons, and not only is he a great competitor on the ice, but a great guy off the ice too. To me it would be shame if Oak was not playing hockey at a high level next season.
I'm also supposed to be joined by Flin Flon Bomber's head-coach and GM Mike Reagan. As I was leaving the broadcast booth Saturday night, not only did Reagan kindly help me with my gear (which I'm grateful for), but he also said, "Should be heck of a playoff series."
No kidding.
I am looking forward to tonight's show more than you know.
I am also grateful for the fact that Mike Reagan is extremely easy to deal with. It's always comforting for a broadcaster knowing that the coaching-staff from the opposition is courteous, and easily accessible. It also helps that Bomber's assistant-coach Michael George is from North Battleford.
I recorded an interview with George that was supposed to run on Saturday's broadcast. I will make sure that it runs tomorrow night instead.
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A couple of brief scattered thoughts before I sign off:
- It was great to see Blake Tatchell, Cole Gibson and Colin Phaneuf breakout offensively.
- Woody Klassen played his best game in recent memory. Boy is he fun to watch when he's at his best.
- Speaking of fun to watch - The Battlefords North Stars need to find a way to shut-down Andrew Johnston, because he killed them this weekend.
- Flin Flon goalie P.J. Musico is 'that good.' But both Kyle Birch and Graham Hildebrand have won a playoff series in the past two years, and one will need to rise up to match Musico. Birch did a great job Saturday at doing so.
- It's so much easier to respect the opinions of blog-posters when they
attach a name to their comment.
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Have a great Monday, and I hope you can catch the show tonight. It goes at 8:00 on CJNB/CJNS.
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3 comments:
Hey Dano, i had a great trip to Flin Flon for the first time ever. The Fans were pretty good, i took my ribbing like a man on Friday as they gave it to me not too bad. I sat behind the Battlefords net for the First and Third period. I had this nice older couple of Ladies which were great behind me. On Saturday if looks could kill i would have been dead 1000 times over. A couple of fans were trying to get me going saying comments but i just left it alone, it was a great time.
PS Dano It was great to do some unwinding with ya lol.
Hey fans remember you can watch the Stars on the SJHL website when they are playing in Flin Flon. I watched both games over the weekend that way. The $5 a game was well worth it. But don't try to listen to Dan at the same time as there is a good 30 second or so delay...to funny. It is like watching our games here in NB on the internet it just a camera following the play no play by play but at least you get to see the game. And that brings me to my point. Dan be careful that you don't over inflate a fight that really was not as you say. Tony was back on his heals in that one and the cut came from the visor so I guess you can take liberties and make Tony sound bigger then he is unless you saw the game live huh? Oh well makes for good press and fan participation that is what all good broadcasters needs to do sell the sizzle. Helps the sales and marketing dept of the radio station sell some air time so keep making it sound awesome Dan. Yep that Tony is a real fighter for sure, hey I hear he cut someone this last game and boy did he ever have the upper hand. So folks go out buy a ticket for the next game cause Tony is going to do it again! Got to sell the game man.
who cares who won the fight they fought and its over with. It would be stupid for them to fight again I don,t think either player wants to be suspended or hurt for the playoffs. I think they both can play hockey and both will help their teams being on the ice. Not that I dont like hockey fights but at this time of year its not that necessary. Teams should not need motivation from this now ( unless a game is a complete blowout).
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