New IceDogs owner on radio show

[Kevin]

Bill Burke, the new owner of the Niagara IceDogs, will be on the It's Your Call radio sports show on Monday June 4. The one hour show is broadcasted on 1220 CHSC beginning at 6:05 PM (after the 6:00 news). The show also allows for listeners to call in with their questions and comments.

Those unable to listen on the radio can still hear the show via the internet. For internet listening, visit www.localsportsreport.com and click on the "Its Your Call" ad, located on the right hand side of the screen (you will need to scroll down to see the ad). After clicking on the ad, you will be redirected to the 1220 CHSC website where you will need to click the "live streaming" link under the 1220 CHSC logo.

[slamr]

Thanks for the heads-up Kevin. I will definitely have to catch that show. Should be interesting to hear what he has to say. I would imagine he will be fielding a few questions about the state of the arena and any future plans.

[excanucksfan]

Its too bad the reception to 1220 is so bad in Niagara Falls. I will have to listen on-line I guess.

[fishfan51]

My kid has a ball game tonight so I won't be able to listen.......someone please post any interesting tidbits.

[back2back]

I intend on listening tonight so I can fill you in after. I think that if we have any questions, tonight will be the time to ask it. Does anyone have the call in number for the show.

[SpaceBalls]

At the beginning of the show, they said that they have icedog hats and the the logo is modified a little from previous years.

Mr. Burke said something about his Icedog office is on queenston street and he plans to have season tickets available by Friday.

They are hoping to have St.Mikes take Mississaugas schedule and Niagara to take St.Mikes schedule so Niagara will most likely be in the Central division.

Season tickets are going to be $499 for the seats at the sides of the rink and about $30 less for the seats at the end of the rink.

[Kevin]

I thought Burke said the office was going to be on Queen ST. but I could be wrong.

[dogfan]

Yes the office is on Queen St.

[back2back]

Trooper has covered all the major points, fishfan.

Burke also mentioned that:
-He and the Falcons signed an agreement last week.
-The OHL will vote on Tuesday at 1:00 on whether to allow the transfer of the Ice Dogs to St. Catharines.
-That the team is for all of Niagara and that the team will be marketed throughout the region
-He has hired a company that will do the marketing for the team

In one of the funnier moments, Chuck mentioned that they needed to ask Burke about the shortcomings of the Gatecliff rink or otherwise everyone will be writing on local sports report why those "nuckleheads" (i.e. Chuck and Rob) didn't ask the right questions. Burke did not mention any improvements to the rink and gave me the impression that there would be no major upgrades. He compared Gatecliff to Notre Dame. I guess that means no new seats.

[SpaceBalls]

admin said:

I thought Burke said the office was going to be on Queen ST. but I could be wrong.

Ya its Queen street. I wasnt really paying attention and heard queen and the first thing that came to mind was queenston. sorry guys.

[fishfan51]

Did he mention if the office on Queen street is open yet? Or if we can get our hands on those hats yet? Did he mention a Niagara IceDogs website? Will there be a select a seat night?

Did they take any callers? And were there any decent questions from the callers?

[Kevin]

Did he mention if the office on Queen street is open yet?

I think he said the office will be open on Friday. I believe its 34 or 36 Queen St. That will also be the day they kick off their season ticket campaign.

Or if we can get our hands on those hats yet? Did he mention a Niagara IceDogs website? Will there be a select a seat night?

Nothing mentioned about those things. I think having a select the seat night would be a great idea however.

Did they take any callers? And were there any decent questions from the callers?

They had a number of callers (around 8 or so). There were callers from Welland, Niagara Falls, St. Catharines and even one guy from Ottawa listening on the web. One caller asked about divisional realignment. Burke said for next season, the team would take the Toronto Majors place and play in the Central Division. However, there is talk of moving Kitchener to the Central division and moving Niagara to the Midwest so Niagara can play Erie more times.

Another caller asked if the games would be broadcasted on the radio. Burke said he wasn't sure at this point, but that Cogeco would be broadcasting most of the home games and that most of the away games would be on the OHL Action Pack on Cogeco. As well, all OHL games are video broadcasted on the internet.

[sportscrazy]

All of the callers seemed very excited about the IceDogs coming here. One lady called from the Falls and said that people in the Falls were still upset that their city rejected the IceDogs, but that most people will probably go to St. Catharines and watch the team there. Burke also said that there will be a mini training camp in St. Catharines on July 7 and 8th.

I am also glad that the host asked Burke about the arena. It was getting late in the hour and nobody had mentioned that yet. And yes the host was right, we would have complained on this forum if the question had not been asked ;D

I occasionally listen to the show and it was the best show I have heard in quite some time.

[slamr]

Another caller asked if the games would be broadcasted on the radio. Burke said he wasn't sure at this point, but that Cogeco would be broadcasting most of the home games and that most of the away games would be on the OHL Action Pack on Cogeco. As well, all OHL games are video broadcasted on the internet.

It doesn't make any sense not having games on the radio. I would hazard a guess that he is negotiating with a rival radio station and didn't want to get into that topic. I don't think CHSC is a good choice simply because it's signal is too weak for the whole region. Heck, all I have to do is drive over the skyway and I start to lose it.

I found the show to be a mostly "feel-good" affair with little in the way of tough questions for Burke. Rob Hubbard came up with a couple of good zingers too.

I was pleased to hear that they hired a pro firm to look after the marketing. If this is to be a truly regional team then it's critical that they market it all over the region. This is one area that I believe the Niagara Falls Thunder failed in...miserably.

Burke seemed cautiously optimistic about the make-up of the team. If the players can come anywhere close to repeating the successes of last season, we should be in for a real exciting year.

Can't wait to get my hands on some IceDogs merchandise.

I didn't think I would ever catch myself saying this but this is going to be a long summer. I can't wait for September.