-Vintage Canuck- Posted July 24, 2013 Share Posted July 24, 2013 Flames say Saddledome will be ready for NHL preseason: The dressing rooms are being rebuilt. Mechanical equipment is being replaced. Even the Calgary Flames’ administrative staffers have moved back into their offices. Slowly yet steadily, the restoration of the Scotiabank Saddledome continues in the wake of June’s mammoth flooding that saw the inside of the 19,000-seat facility fill with enough water to submerge the entire rink area and the first eight rows of seats. On Tuesday, team and building officials met to discuss where they were in their efforts and if they could still meet their target date of having the Saddledome ready for hockey by Sept. 1. That would allow the Flames to play their four home preseason games at the Saddledome in preparation for their NHL regular season home opener Oct. 6 against the Vancouver Canucks. “From a public standpoint, and from a hockey standpoint, we want everything to be operational. This week was the time to decide if we could proceed as planned,” Flames’ president and CEO Ken King, said Wednesday, “and the answer is yes.” Once the flood water from the nearby Bow River was pumped out of the Saddledome, engineers conducted tests to determine the structural integrity of the almost 30-year-old building. The Flames said everything was checked accordingly and that the current work consists of installing new kitchen areas and new seats while also replacing the electronic headquarters for the arena’s digital screen scoreboard. “We have orders in for new ice-making equipment,” said King. “We have a backup plant that we may not need but we have it ready. All of our event-floor equipment is new.” No official cost has been put on the damage done to the Saddledome. All King would say on the subject was the facility has insurance coverage and that the paperwork is being done. As with any renovation work, things can go off the rails – unexpected problems can pop up, delays can occur. King repeated all was on time and proceeding well, although he did acknowledge backup plans had been discussed. Beyond that, he declined comment. Already, the Flames have preseason games slated for Saskatoon (Sept. 16 against the Ottawa Senators) and Regina (Sept. 17 against the New York Islanders). If they had to play more preseason games outside of the Saddledome, the possibilities are limited – the nearby 6,400-seat Stampede Corral, Red Deer’s 6,700-seat ENMAX Centrium and the 5,400-seat ENMAX Centre in Lethbridge. The situation would be far more intense if regular-season games were in jeopardy of being rescheduled or relocated. To this point, the Flames don’t believe that will happen. With so much effort being put into reopening of the city-owned, Flames-operated Saddledome, little has been said about the possibility of a new arena, one built either on the Calgary Exhibition & Stampede grounds or elsewhere in the city. Sources have insisted if they Flames want a new facility, one where they could retain a greater percentage of the revenues, it would take almost three years to build. The Flames’ Saddledome lease expires in 2014 and the team may have no option but to stay in the arena it has called home since October, 1983. Canada's Sochi-bound Olympic men's hockey team will stage a three-day orientation camp in Calgary in late August. Forty-seven players will attend the camp at Hockey Canada's headquarters at Canada Olympic Park, located on the western fringe of the city. No on-ice sessions are expected due to the high cost of insuring so many star NHL players. http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/hockey/flames-say-saddledome-will-be-ready-for-nhl-preseason/article13400681/?cmpid=rss1&utm_source=dlvr.it&utm_medium=twitter Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canucks#01fan Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Good for Calgary! What a terrible flood, but I'm glad for their fans and the players that they've rebuilt everything Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pimpcurtly Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Too bad the Flames won't. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mustapha Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 The Saddledome is a really nice arena, I have seen some great games there over the years. The only knock against it is that the Flames play there... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Canucks_fo_life Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Saddledome will be ready for the flames to suck again? Horrible franchise with a horrible GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SeanAvery16 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Saddledome will be ready for the flames to suck again? Horrible franchise with a horrible GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drouin Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Saddledome will be ready for the flames to suck again? Horrible franchise with a horrible GM Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
apollo Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 wow good for them... u never want to see a flood or any other natural disaster happen. Not even to Calgary or the leafs. Glad theyll have it fixed in time so luongo can put on a good show for their fans :D well I wouldn't feel bad if anything happened to boston or Chicago... id call it karma for being the dirtiest and most classless cities + hockey teams Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 i'd rather have feaster, a respected hockey exec that won a stanley cup and a calder cup as gm, than the greasy used car salesman the canucks have now. it's not feaster's fault that he inherited a team in shambles. that said, it's great that the dome will be open and all, and calgary was super proud that they managed to have the stampede in spite of the flood, but how about allocate some resources to reopening the heritage dr. exit from glenmore so i can get the hell home from work in less than an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 i'd rather have feaster, a respected hockey exec that won a stanley cup and a calder cup as gm, than the greasy used car salesman the canucks have now. it's not feaster's fault that he inherited a team in shambles. that said, it's great that the dome will be open and all, and calgary was super proud that they managed to have the stampede in spite of the flood, but how about allocate some resources to reopening the heritage dr. exit from glenmore so i can get the hell home from work in less than an hour. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 So you'd rather have a GM that signs guys to an offer sheet that will cost you 3 1st round picks on a guy who has to clear waivers? OK then.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 compare that near miss to the canucks goaltending situation. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 I'd still stick with a GM that understands the CBA that was embarrassing even if it was a near miss. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tas Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 feaster's mistakes make him look like a moron. th leagues perception of gillis is already worse than that, and his mistakes cripple his team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
canuck73_3 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 feaster's mistakes make him look like a moron. th leagues perception of gillis is already worse than that, and his mistakes cripple his team. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matthew Lombardi 18 Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Didn't Feaster promise them the playoffs 3 years ago? LOL Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Drouin Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 He added there was a 'guarantee' too. At the time, I thought he was an idiot to say that. Nobody can guarantee these things. I clearly remember it. How he has not been fired for not living up to expectations... is beyond me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Erik Karlsson Posted July 25, 2013 Share Posted July 25, 2013 Jankowski. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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