We have added more fans to our games and moved to a much larger arena. It will never be like the Jack. accoustics were way smaller and it may have been a smaller crowd but the percentage of hard core ice dogs fans at the Jack was most certainly larger than it is now .

Good luck to Fourgrounds they have a tough job ... It will be interesting to see the vibe in the arena come playoff time ...

I miss the Jack sometimes, especially memories of it during the playoffs when it was rocking !

:duh:

I would like to see the song before the beginning of the game changed. That song by whatever girl (I think it is the same one that wrote the last song for the dogs and she was from Niagara Falls) signing is so not the song for the ice dogs. I sounds so karaoke. I have also noticed that bones is not in the crowd to much anymore. I think the only time I see him is when he is handing out birthday cards.

That's great... I have no issues with the girls themselves, but they could be doing a lot more... And Yes!!! Bones should absolutely get more involved... I mean sure, it's great when Bones taunts the other team... But Cameron REALLY brought it for the prospects game, and made what was essentially a blow out have a big game feel...

It would even be nice if they could become 'Personalities at the game' like Laura-Leigh, and Rod Mahood... The players should always be the star of the show, but come on... Instead, we get 3-6 nameless girls, that pretty much all look the same, act the same etc... It just feels a bit creepy to me, and maybe that's the 40 yr old me, I know the 20 yr old me would be all over having them at the game...

I get that they're supposed to be 'Eye-Candy' but I feel that's perhaps a bit demeaning, their job is to be pretty, and be looked at. I just wish there was a way to make them less (and I hate to use this word) pointless. Like you said, maybe trying to pump up the crowd, or maybe we'd need a different group of girls for that. Most of the time when they're not dancing, they're standing around looking bored.

I'd just like to see someone getting some energy out of the crowd, make it feel like a big league experience. My uncle played hockey, and I grew up going to his games in the OHL, AHL and NHL... Though I was very young, I can remember it being a 'Big Ticket' feel... The rink was 'THE' place to be... It was exciting, it was moving, and I don't just mean the action on the rink. There was a mascot capering about, there were people pumping the crowd up. At the risk of sounding like a 'Negative Nelly', we feel kinda minor league by comparison.

But here's the good part, we don't have to. We have a winning team, we have a great new building, granted it's not optimal for hockey as previously stated. But we have a great fan base who get behind just about anything. We generally cheer on command, the merch store sells various noise making things, there are freebies given away that help with the noise making... The way the building pushes noise to the roof is our biggest barrier to having a Loud, Raucous, hard for the other team to play in, building...

[quote=fourgrounds;83728]We 100% agree, we actually had a talk with the game day staff post prospects re: Ice Girls and Bones getting more involved and trying to amp up the crowd more. Cameron (The CHL pump up guy) was a prime example of what the Girls and bones should be doing at some point during as many whistles as possible. We are going to work on this and see what we can do.



We need to hire that Cameron, chl guy, or somebody like him, to get the crowd going.
He was amazing and earned his money that night!!!

Yes, come to think of it, why does it seem bones is less in the crowd, high fiving the kids, etc

I don't know, I still see Bones shaking his ass at the other team's bench from time to time... And I see him wandering around shaking hands with kids and such...

[quote=maddog;83732] I agree where is Cameron from...he sure gets the fans going...back in Niagara falls days we use to get the happy trumpeter claude scott from quebec city .... he would come to some games.. and got the fans going ......playing trumpet hanging upset down from glass.....back them glass was a lot lower than now... :clapclap:

Agree 100%, the percentage of hard core fans now in the meridian, is way less than the jack, therefore much louder at the jack
I'LL TELL YOU, IF IT WASN'T FOR FOURGROUNDS MAKING SOME NOISE AND TRYING TO GET THE CROWD TO, IT WOULD BE SO QUIET IN THE MERIDIAN, YOU COULD HEAR A PIN DROP
I SEE SO MANY PEOPLE JUST SITTING THERE DOING NOTHING
I GUESS THIS IS BECAUSE OF MORE CASUAL FANS NOW
THUMBS UP TO FOURGROUNDS FOR TRYING TO GET THE CROWD TO MAKE NOISE

You know though I often wonder if it's a case of the 'Japanese Wrestling Fan' syndrome, meaning it's cultural in nature... You're told to sit down and shut up all the time, at school, at home, at work... It gets hard to break that habit... You see so many kids at the games now, I almost wonder if they feel that they need permission to be loud... Schools being what they are now a days...

As Dearly Departed Uncle George used to say : It was bad enough we try and make them all think a like... Now we're gonna dress them a like too... Bad Theory...

I hurried home from work hoping to make that exact point but you beat me to it. If a sweaty guy in ill-fitting jeans can rev the crowd up that much then imagine what the best mascot in the OHL can achieve with a few cheerleaders thrown in for good measure. It is tough to engage the crowd as was done in the confines of the Jack so Bones and company are going to have to evolve. What we saw at Top Prospects was a prime example of the potential for live actors.

Now onto Fourgrounds (bet you thought I was going to stay off topic). You want the crowd involved without stepping on auditory toes, combine your mobile camera operator with video graphics. Imagine instead of zeroing in on a comatose guy with a big beard, you picked a section or two at a time and challenged them to cheer, make noise, get on their feet ie. Show the whole section doing "what they're told" on the big screen and remind some other section that they are next. Pick your moments that will inspire the team and tell the crowd (on video) why they should - with video and/or graphics - penalty kill; power play; what a goal; what a save; what a hit; or, did you see that shot...? When there is a stoppage in play, get the crowd amped up with sound also and tell them to keep it going make it a count down, put Bones on the camera being his rowdy self etc...