The Calgary Dragons have developped a nickname and I am not sure how we got it honestly. The arena is called the Big Parm and we love Cutlet a la Parmigianna. What we do Pre Game is we fill up two buckets with red tomato sauce and then throw in some Cutlets inside. We have 2 players go at it, bobbing for Cutlet in the buckets full of Tmato Sauce with some Cheese. The Winner gets to bring home some cash and the rest of the team tends to throw money on their favorite. So far, Esa has been one hell of a Cutlet bobber, I think its because he is the one that came up with the idea of the Parm and this whole Parm joke but I can be completly wrong. It would make sense since his name is Esa Parmborg. Player of the game also gets a Cutlet a la Parmigianna necklace that he can wear proudly and gives him the right of DJ before the next game and he gets to be like Dana White and prepare the next Bobbing for Parm matchup.
This season will not be one of the best for the Specters. The team is not expected to be very good and the entire organization knows it. Unfortunately we now have to deal with having no fans to cheer us on and keep us motivated during what is sure to be a very rough season. We have pumped in fan cheers from when the team won our first championship as we make our way to the ice and during the pregame warmups. During the stoppages of play we have videos from different fans telling us why the Specters mean so much to them and win or lose we will always be THEIR team. The team knows how hard this whole situation is to the fans, and we are going to give it everything we got win or lose for the best fans in the SHL. We all just have to remember we will get through this thing together, no matter what happens.
With no fans allowed in the arenas it has made some interesting pregame rituals and also made it very awkward during the pregame ceremonies. Skating out to no cheers or piped in crowd noise is definitely awkward. I think for us as players it is most important to still do our normal routines as best we can and not let the lack of fans in the stands interfere with our normal pregame rituals we all have and do. By being able to keep some degree of normality even with a pandemic it has helped us stay ready and prepared for games and still hype ourselves up together before each game. It definitely does not hurt to get your hands on those smelling salts as well to really get the senses tingling and ready to go smash someone through a wall. In the end though it is on each of us to act as a sort of crowd for the rest of our teammates, help hype them up before each game and cheer for every big play like we were in the stands watching ourselves.
Not having fans in the arena will be a big challenge for us. I was never put in this situation so I don’t know how much it will impact me and my teammates but we are going to try to stay focused on the game. We know the fans and family will still be watching us from television so we have to keep playing at our best. The organization gave everyone an iPad so they could listen to music or watch videos when travelling or in the locker room. I decided to play among us with my new teammates Gabriel Johnson, Sabo Tage, Reid Sutherland and Dee Centerman IV. I want to be close friends with them and want them to be comfortable in this new environment. Vaseline Podcalzone sent us a video called acquire the sire. We have played this video during warmup and it has helped us become better players and we have seen in preseason our performance has been better.
Yes Covid still around and not having our fans in house to watch live home games has really put a damper on our spirits. The coaching staff and players have to perform regardless the situation our us and we have done a remarkable job. Everyone has their own way of pumping themselves up prior a home game, I've seen teammates hit the gym and pump out some reps, seen others in our entertainment center just blasting their favorite music tunes. But the best way to get pumped up for a hockey game and is a ritual we all par take in as a group, is to lay it all out on the ice! Our game performances is was carries us through this and the next game. Playing together as a unit and going to battle with our brothers when no one else matters most than the guy sitting on either side of you in that locker room.
Well it is a little sad to see that COVID is still affecting us in this way but on the verge of a vaccine there is light. But since there are no fans Noah looks up videos on youtube of games when there was fans to remember what times were like. But teammates usually just give others pats on the back and some don't even care about this. It still does suck to not have fans and hopefully soon there will be fans because Battleborn games are never the same. But some things that Noah does to prep for a game with no fans also is just not to think about it. Imagine if they are there in you're head as much as possible. The noise, sound, yelling. Just picture it in your mind as the audio from the speakers spits out the fake one. That's how Noah Johns III deals with the no fan situation.
Since there's like 5 people living in Winnipeg, some fans have been allowed in the stadium with mad social distancing. Fans need to enter a competition called "So you think you can scream?!" on the Aurora's website where they gotta show that they can replace at least a thousand fans all by themselves. Those fans are expected to make as much noise as an entire section so they need to have an impressive pair (of lungs) to get access to the building.
Those crazy fans are all the Aurora need to get pumped. When you see dabbing, screaming adolescents on the big screen all night long, you want to do your best of course.... The fact that the team lost more than they've won at home so far this season doesn't scare team GM Kez Muerto, insisting that the Aurora's first season will be "played in front of fans, goddammit."
Manitoba's government was questioned about this whole practice but since the Winnipeg Aurora is beloved by everybody, they decided not to get involved. They know it's bad press to piss off Kez Muerto.
We've got the Flavordome staff on the top of their games to recreate the home ice experience we're used to having during more regular times. There are no fans in the stands, but we imported several zoos worth of animals to roam around the stands. They have to be separated with barriers blocking off different sections, since we don't want the animals to eat each other, so we've got various arena sections filled with different environments. The best is for sure the howler monkey section, filled with a cacophony of howler monkeys screaming at the top of their lungs for the entire game. it's a real energy boost for the inferno on the power play to get excited and ready to play hard. The arena is a disaster zone btw it's such a mess... we will.... uh... deal with that later. If the stench builds up too much we'll get used to it and other teams will not be able to accommodate, so that'll just give us an additional home ice advantage.
For season 58, the Edmonton Blizzard are getting pumped with loud music before each game. Captain Nokazoa spent some of last season's fines on getting us a big boombox. Not one of the fancy Bluetooth ones, closer to a 1980's era ghetto blaster with 2 cassette decks. But it has an auxiliary cord, so anyone with an iPod or an older iPhone can play their jams. none of that "airpods required" bullshit. In fact, its everything that was used in my personal highschool locker rooms, including the mixtapes of horrible underground rap and techno.
Just like nothing got the team pumped up like knowing that they had the "3 Kings (G-Unit remix)" 3 months before everyone else, the Edmonton rookies get us all fired up by playing [I'm not sure what it's called. I'm an old fuddy-duddy and shazaam doesn't have that new shit on it], followed up by the same cascade tracks from 15 years ago.
The main way we're replacing the vacant energy from the fans might sound simple enough, but it's been crucial for us so far. We're simply relying on the teamwork and trust that we've developed as a team during the extended preseason. We've been practicing in quiet arenas this entire time, which has forced us to be more vocal on the ice and learn to anticipate each other's actions even more. While we used to be able to ride the wave of excitement during games, we are now making is a pseudo competition amongst ourselves of which player can stay the most engaged and help drive the team forward. Things like staying vocal and active on the bench are obviously helpful, but it truly boils down to the thousands of hours of practice time each of us has put in with our linemates. We will not let something like not having fans at the arena put a damper on how incredibly hard we've worked this offseason. I think it's without a doubt the hardest I personally have trained and practiced and there's just no way we will let that go to waste. Fans or no fans, this year feels different for us on the ice. If we lose, it certainly won't be for lack of energy, drive, or effort.
The Anchorage Armada arena staff have been hard at work making sure that the players are still getting hyped up. They've been attempting to replace the crowd noises with numerous different strategies. Game one they just gave everyone a megaphone and had them shout encouragement at the players. However the team complained that it was too distracting so they had to go with a different strategy. Game two everyone brought a bluetooth speaker and played their favorite music all at once, but nobody could even hear it on the ice. Before they could come up with a plan for game three however, someone left the arena doors unlocked and a polar bear made his way in. He runs around the stands and concourse, and even ripped off one of GM Gabriel Johnson's legs when he tried to run through the tunnel. So far he hasn't made it onto the ice so the game goes on, and the team uses his growls as motivation to run the other team out of the barn.
It's a bit weird for the Quebec City Citadelles to play in an empty arena. the Videotron Center is usually buzzing with noises at all hours of the day, so the restrictions are really confusing for the players. One of the way the management help the players to play in an empty arena is to have recording of the fans taken in previous season play during games. They have a sound engineer watching the game from the rafters and playing sound at appropriate moment. Excitement during a good zone entry, disappointment when the other team goalie make a save, boos when the other team have the puck, all that kind of stuff. The Citadelles were also able to get a few amount of people to assist the games, respecting social distancing of course. It's mostly for charity or youth team, so the kids can still be entertained. They assure to spread them through the whole arena.
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In order to recreate that joy the fans give us we’ve found that it is helpful to start naming the cardboard cutouts of all the people in the arena. It started by just giving the lady and man that are in the corner close to us on our side of the bench some names. The lady and man sent in pictures of themselves and gave a pose that looked out of the 19th century. Dead eyed staring into the camera lense and looking completely devoid of emotion. It was just a little funny thing at first. But then we started giving them back stories. We started talking about how the lady is named Linda and the man is named Robert. Linda and Robert were once married but divorced after Linda couldn’t take Robert’s lack of ability to fix toasters any longer and Robert couldn’t take Linda’s lack of interest in his unpublished novels. They didn’t speak for years which caused a rift among their children. But they just happened to buy tickets to a Newfoundland Berserkers Hockey Game and did not know that they would end up sitting next to each other. They stand next to one another being awkward. Stuck in the moment it is infinite bad vibes, infinite awkwardness. So after every goal on that end of the ice we score, we make it a point to go jump into that awkward couple to remind them that hockey is pretty cool so stop worrying.
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