Mackcanuck Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Utica Comets president Robert Esche and Rockford IceHogs executive director Gordon Kaye have been selected as co-winners of the James C. Hendy Memorial Award, given to the outstanding executive in the American Hockey League for 2013-14. Without the benefits of a large, modern arena, Esche quickly took a market that had been without AHL hockey for two decades and revitalized it. Under his guidance, the Comets became the talk of the town, hosting 17 sellouts at the refurbished Aud and playing to more than 90 percent capacity for the season. Esche and his staff emphasized the organization’s place in the community and embraced the city’s rich history of professional hockey in making the Comets’ inaugural season a great success. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tystick Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Impressive! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Merely Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Funny how the Hershey Bears guy didn't win it. I had my money on him. But this is good news. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nuxfanabroad Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Took the town BY STORM, they did! Congratz RE, & thanks for gettin' it done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
RogerEpic5 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 good job Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
brownky Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 We seem to have a thing for collecting goalies. I'm not saying it's a bad thing, just... a thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poetica Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Good for him! Sounds like the team is doing really well in Utica. It was obviously a good decision to purchase the team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SpennyCanuck Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Good to see that the canucks have someone of his calibre helping develop the teams future stars Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
willhouse Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 Good news. Hopefully we can get some Calder cup trophies there in the next few years. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
yogolol Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 His team missed the playoffs, how doesn't a playoff team win this award? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dogbyte Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 His team missed the playoffs, how doesn't a playoff team win this award? Does it really need to be explained? If so it's probably not worth your while. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Coconuts Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 That's pretty wicked, it'll be fun to see them build on the success they had last year! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Great 8 Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 17 sell outs is pretty impressive. Next year hopefully Gaunce and Shinkaruk can bring more goal scoring and get the fans pumped up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
UticaHockey Posted July 10, 2014 Share Posted July 10, 2014 17 sell outs is pretty impressive. Next year hopefully Gaunce and Shinkaruk can bring more goal scoring and get the fans pumped up. At the end of June the Comets had over half the Aud sold in full season tickets. 22 game partial season ticket packages haven't even gone on sale yet. Should be even better year for the Comets. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JustABandwagoner Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 17 sell outs is pretty impressive. Next year hopefully Gaunce and Shinkaruk can bring more goal scoring and get the fans pumped up. Fox too :D Shinkaruk-Gaunce-Fox Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utica Fan Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 "His team missed the playoffs, how doesn't a playoff team win this award?" Sometimes, winning is measured in different ways. You take a chance and bring a AHL team to a economically challenged portion of New York State. You take a chance and bring a AHL team to a city where the AHL and 3 other post-AHL teams have failed. You take a chance and bring a AHL team to a city where naysayers are constantly giving you gloom and doom stories. The team arrives and the following happens in a city that they said it would never work: Inaugural season tickets sales reach 1000 sold in 4 days. 19 sellouts for a team that spent most of the 1st half of the season in LAST place. Ticket sales that averaged 90% capacity for the season. 50/50 drawings that saw the drawings eclipse $10k for most of the home games. 2014-15 season ticket sales approaching 2200 BEFORE the ticket sale program started. Community spirit and PRIDE at levels not seen here in a long, long time. In Utica, we measure success differently, not just by wins on a score sheet. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
surtur Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Fox too :D Shinkaruk-Gaunce-Fox Fox will be on the nucks winning rookie of the year after scoring 83goals sorry Utica. nah it should be a fun team to watch next season. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Utica Fan Posted July 11, 2014 Share Posted July 11, 2014 Sure wish I had access to your crystal ball. With all that knowledge it's a wonder you still find time to share your thoughts with us. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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