Opening Night at Home allows Ethan Cross to connect with the fans, setting the tone for this season. As introduced during the pre-game ceremony, he keeps things simple yet effective. Skating out to cheers, he raises his stick to the crowd and performs a quick puck flip, returning the fans' energy and showing his determination for the season ahead.
Ethan gives everything on the ice, playing a hard-nosed, two-way game that fans can rally behind. Whether delivering a key hit, blocking a shot, or setting up a goal. Ethan ensures his performance contributes to a memorable opening night. His physical effort inspires teammates and energizes the crowd.
After the game, Ethan stays behind to sign autographs, take photos, and thank the fans personally. For Ethan, opening night isn't just about hockey; it's about connecting with the people who make it possible.
The home opener is a huge undertaking for any team, and is something that should stick with fans for a long time. For the Nevada Battleborn, they have a pretty strong advantage in this area because they have Las Vegas within their territory, the entertainment capital of the world. Nevada's opening ceremonies have always been the stuff of legends, especially with their nods to the states military history and Vegas's flair for the dramatic. Tonight however would be special for Drew McIntyre
The Battleborn front office had asked if he could do an impromptu duel with a black knight for control of the rink. Because of his experience with swordsmanship, the front office felt it was too good of an opportunity to pass up. Drew was honoured to do this mock battle and took the matter seriously, bringing his traditional claymore to the rink and fought the black knight (which he obviously won). From now on though, Drew trained one of the arena's entertainers to carry and wield a sword so that the tradition can continue for every home game!
Home Opening nights are usually big shows for the hosting team. Fans are watching with anticipation, waiting for the first look at what their favourite teams are going to look like this season. How does your player try to make opening night special? Do they stay behind to sign autographs for the fans? Do they give it 120% to get a win for the first home game of the season? Do they do special celebrations when introduced in the pre-game ceremony?
Opening night is always a special time, particularly for any team at their home opener. When it comes to the Patriotes, John Peanut, despite being the oddball humanoid peanut man, does his very best to entertain the crowd. One thing he does is that when announced for the lineup he takes a running start from the tunnel and essentially "bowls" his way through his goalie team-mate, which is all definitely in good fun and the crowd so far has seemed to enjoy it. The other thing he does is race fans at first intermission. They get to use these nifty three-wheel buggies to race round the ice, while he lays on his "belly" and scoots using his arms and legs. That's another entertaining thing. Peanut wishes he could do more of the autograph sessions, but unfortunately some people are still very stand-off towards him, and he understands. Not everyone wants the autograph of a peanut man.
For the Spectres Opening Night is always a special event. We are in New Orleans so traditionally it’s Mardi Gras themed. We have a celebratory parade before the game starts at 7. We do a day of fun activities around the city. We normally like to provide food and we go around doing a bunch of fun small activities with kids around the city. We have a big ceremony before the game introducing all of the players one by one which is always a great site to see. Now we are going to be doing a little extra on top of that. We’re working on putting together the week before a charity to give food to homeless and then also hand out food to children in some poverty driven areas that aren’t fortunate enough to get food on their plates at home. So we always offer up food to every kid from Elementary to High School.
Home openers are always a weird dynamic for me. I love being involved in home openers obviously, the fans show up early, they are excited, we are excited, they are loud. The arena staff usually put on a lot of fun activities for the fans, and we get to hear the new music playlist throughout the game. However, the games always tend to start off slow. I think that is because of the player introductions, then you combine the anthem and any banner raisings from the previous season. You kind of spend your first 15 minutes on the ice being stuck in the bench, and you kind of lose some of that launch adrenaline. However, once the game gets going, its game time. There is no time left to be slow and sluggish. You have to dive right into the game and try to get that first goal for the home crowd. You want the crowd to be loud, and scoring first is the easiest way to do it.
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The Greatest Show on Earth, hosted by Ken Jennings, is a game show like no other when it comes to bringing the best players from various leagues together. Ace Lightning was invited only because Toasty and Chris Valentine said no, and he was joined by such superstars as Travis Kelce, Bryce Harper, and Chris Paul. This list seems like it’s only players who are slightly over the hill.
It was split into a physical and mental competitions, which started with a Jeopardy style game with only sports questions, which Lightning dominated. No question, the smartest athlete of all time. The second part, the physical competition, was where Lightning faltered.
For the physical, it was basically an Olympic style set up, where everybody took turns doing the 100 m dash, followed by javelin throw and then for some reason there was also a bobsled race. Just a wild turn of events and unfortunately Lightning finished last in all three. Disappointing.
It is opening night in Thunder Bay! Jack Ellul has spent training camp and the pre-season preparing and signing autographs for fans but now it is time to focus. The locker room is buzzing with excited energy. Players going through their ritualized routines. Jack reflects on his game as he puts his skates on. This is his sophomore season. His couch is expecting more from him. The fans are expecting more from him. He is expecting more. Left skate. Right skate. The crowd noise can be heard in the dressing room. Jack knows that the Walleye fans are desperate for a good season. The way they have turned out to get autographs and support the team has shown that! Left glove. Right glove. This is also Jack’s first year in the New England system. Another set of eyes watching. Another set of expectations. If he is going to make the jump from the SMJHL to the SHL he will have to show he can play the tough minutes. Jack stands up and grabs his stick. It is game time. Hockey season has begun
It is that time of the year again, regular season hockey is back! The Specters do a whole day event for the first game of the season that starts at noon. There is a whole red carpet walk where players walk into the arena and greet fans, sign autographs, and take usies with whomever asks. Luca Pane was announced as one of the new Alternate Captains for the Specters and that means a couple more minutes of media time is needed now. During this opening day celebration, the Specters Captain, Atticus Hale, announced the two new A’s and set up a whole press conference to let fans see why Luca, and Darnel, were picked to wear the A’s. During the on ice introductions, Luca decided he would give back in some small way when his name was called. He decided to have a signed new jersey, with a fresh “A” stitched on to it, ready give to a young fan in the stands.
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RIP Dangel #AD26 | RIP TDZ
Bayley Winnipeg Aurora
S13, S15, S16, S25 Challenge Cup Champion
Zedward preps for that first home game religiously. He knows how serious Tampa Bay fans are about their hockey club, and especially this past season because he knows that the team (and Zedward specifically) didn't quite hit the heights they had hoped. So for this season, Zedward got to the stadium early, greeting fans, taking selfies, and giving away as much free signed merch as he was allowed! Zedward's favorite moment was when a kid came into the arena already wearing a signed Zedward jersey from when he was at Hamilton. Zedward was delighted to see he already had some die hard fans who were willing to jump bandwagons! But also told the kid they have to be a Barracuda for life now, or else they will be bullied online. On the ice, Zedward gave everything he had. Zedward didn't stuff the stat, but was happy to pull out the OT win to start the season strong!
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Akoustique Player Progression Director
Senior Member
Posts:269 Threads: 6 Joined: Oct 2023 Reputation:5
Discord: akoustique
Pronouns: He/Him
Player: Andrade La Sombra
The greatest show on Earth reminds me of a little super bowl champion team in the 90s, the SAINT LOUIS Rams, who were dubbed the Greatest Show on Turf, as they played on astroturf in the Edward Jones Dome. That’s besides the point though. If my player was invited, heck yeah he would go. I’ve always felt that Hockey players are the most physically and mentally gifted athletes on the planet. My players worst sport is probably baseball, because of those pesky curveballs, but he would be a beast on defense and could foul-tip his way to a walk or something. But the other sports would give him the upper hand. Colton Paraygeko is always warming up juggling soccer balls with his fellow ‘Zerks. For football, Colton Paraygeko would hold his own at the Tight End position standing 6’ 6” and 235 pounds. From the other athletes, he’d be joined by legendary Canadian football leaguer Johnny “Football” Manziel, tax dodger Lionel Messi and of course Fernando Tatis Jr.
Option 2: The dog days of the offseason feel a lot like the final days of the school summer holidays, where the novelty of rest and relaxation has worn off and you're almost ready to get back into the grind, so opening night at the Argodome is almost as big an event for Simo as it is for the fans. His first year as a professional, Simo saw the extra mile some of his now-former teammates on the Blizzard went to to make things fun, and now in the Pacific Northwest he's following suit. Each opening night, Simo hosts the annual Seattle Sign Symposium, where kids are encouraged to design signs for the game and have a shot at winning signed Argonauts jerseys; the criteria are nebulous, changeable and completely ready to be thrown out at his whims, but it's a comfortable rule of thumb that anything roasting one of Simo's old Detroit Falcons teammates has an edge on the competition.