AlphaDog
07-12-2007, 05:41 PM
[from St. Catharines Standard, July.11/07]
IceDogs make their pitch to local business community; More than 800 season tickets sold two months before club's home opener
ALISON ROGERS / Standard Staff
Sports - Wednesday, July 11, 2007 @[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED] 01:00
In the midst of wooing corporate sponsors for the upcoming season, the Niagara IceDogs got a shot in the arm from the past.
Frank Milne, now in the business of harness racing, coached the St. Catharines Black Hawks to an Ontario Hockey Association championship back in 1971.
Those were the hallowed days of the legendary Marcel Dionne.
"What he knew, he got from God," said Milne, a St. Catharines resident. "We didn't teach him."
Turning his attention to the newly branded Niagara IceDogs, Milne joined the voices who predicted the new franchise will catch on across Niagara.
"They're going to see a good product here," said Milne, who operates Sire Management Inc. "From the looks of the camp Saturday and Sunday, they're going to have a good-looking team."
Milne was among the business and sport representatives who attended the team's local launch at a brunch reception Tuesday at the Quality Inn and Convention Centre.
The event was co-hosted by St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan and featured a video presentation on the team, complete with a couple of scraps. There was also a pitch by IceDog management for support of its Founders Club corporate sponsorship program.
IceDogs owner Bill Burke found a couple of takers with the requisite $15,000 among the 100 attendees.
With more than 800 season tickets sold more than two months before the club's home opener on Sept. 21, Burke presided over a feel-good community gathering.
For former St. Catharines mayor Tim Rigby, now a regional councillor, the arrival of the Ontario Hockey League franchise was a pleasant surprise.
"We always hoped that junior (A) hockey would come back to St. Catharines, but this came right out of the blue," Rigby said.
Rigby praised the efforts of St. Catharines council for agreeing to modifications of the Jack Gatecliff Arena, but said it will be up to Niagara residents whether the team succeeds.
"It's not just St. Catharines, (the team) needs support from across the region," he said.
IceDogs' coach Mario Cicchillo is among the IceDogs officials who will be relocating to St. Catharines with the move from Mississauga. He confessed to blowing his first Niagara task, by forgetting to pick up fresh strawberries for his wife a few weeks back.
"I'm going to make it up to her with cherries today," he promised.
Cicchillo presided over the OHL's top scoring team last year and said he likes the feel in St. Catharines.
General manager Dave Brown said the IceDog players - none of whom were present - are also thrilled with the new locale.
"In another place I might have had a busy summer moving players, but the players are excited to be moving to Niagara," he said. "They were high-fiving and jumping up and down when they were told."
It was left to David Frizzell, director of sales and marketing for the team, to try to close the deal with sponsors. He outlined benefits for sponsors, but also spoke of the team's commitment to community involvement through programs like Adopt-a-School.
The IceDogs open training camp in St. Catharines in August.
arogers@[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED]
IceDogs make their pitch to local business community; More than 800 season tickets sold two months before club's home opener
ALISON ROGERS / Standard Staff
Sports - Wednesday, July 11, 2007 @[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED] 01:00
In the midst of wooing corporate sponsors for the upcoming season, the Niagara IceDogs got a shot in the arm from the past.
Frank Milne, now in the business of harness racing, coached the St. Catharines Black Hawks to an Ontario Hockey Association championship back in 1971.
Those were the hallowed days of the legendary Marcel Dionne.
"What he knew, he got from God," said Milne, a St. Catharines resident. "We didn't teach him."
Turning his attention to the newly branded Niagara IceDogs, Milne joined the voices who predicted the new franchise will catch on across Niagara.
"They're going to see a good product here," said Milne, who operates Sire Management Inc. "From the looks of the camp Saturday and Sunday, they're going to have a good-looking team."
Milne was among the business and sport representatives who attended the team's local launch at a brunch reception Tuesday at the Quality Inn and Convention Centre.
The event was co-hosted by St. Catharines Mayor Brian McMullan and featured a video presentation on the team, complete with a couple of scraps. There was also a pitch by IceDog management for support of its Founders Club corporate sponsorship program.
IceDogs owner Bill Burke found a couple of takers with the requisite $15,000 among the 100 attendees.
With more than 800 season tickets sold more than two months before the club's home opener on Sept. 21, Burke presided over a feel-good community gathering.
For former St. Catharines mayor Tim Rigby, now a regional councillor, the arrival of the Ontario Hockey League franchise was a pleasant surprise.
"We always hoped that junior (A) hockey would come back to St. Catharines, but this came right out of the blue," Rigby said.
Rigby praised the efforts of St. Catharines council for agreeing to modifications of the Jack Gatecliff Arena, but said it will be up to Niagara residents whether the team succeeds.
"It's not just St. Catharines, (the team) needs support from across the region," he said.
IceDogs' coach Mario Cicchillo is among the IceDogs officials who will be relocating to St. Catharines with the move from Mississauga. He confessed to blowing his first Niagara task, by forgetting to pick up fresh strawberries for his wife a few weeks back.
"I'm going to make it up to her with cherries today," he promised.
Cicchillo presided over the OHL's top scoring team last year and said he likes the feel in St. Catharines.
General manager Dave Brown said the IceDog players - none of whom were present - are also thrilled with the new locale.
"In another place I might have had a busy summer moving players, but the players are excited to be moving to Niagara," he said. "They were high-fiving and jumping up and down when they were told."
It was left to David Frizzell, director of sales and marketing for the team, to try to close the deal with sponsors. He outlined benefits for sponsors, but also spoke of the team's commitment to community involvement through programs like Adopt-a-School.
The IceDogs open training camp in St. Catharines in August.
arogers@[NO EMAIL POSTING ALLOWED]