Week 22: Minnesota Northern Lights

Minnesota Northern Lights general manager Shawn Jones steps into the pod. Shawn and @swancommander dive into the FPHL's newest expansion team. Dave Jackson gives the suspension report.

The conversation continues in the Discord — join free here: https://discord.gg/7UVWaJyR4d

Transcript

SPEAKER_03 0:16

Testing the right speaker. Right. Testing the left speaker. Left. Sound successfully recovered. Connected. And now. The countdown has countdown has gotten. And now, now. Are you ready for a journey that goes beyond the door? That's coffee we've just delivered its 15th anniversary. One hockey is now bringing you behind the scenes. Behind the scenes. Beyond the arena. Beyond the glass. This is FPHL. Beyond the glass. Beyond the glass.

SPEAKER_04 1:14

What's going on, everyone? Welcome back to another episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass. I'm your host, Eric Swannick, Swan Commander on social media. This is the official podcast of the Federal Prospects Hockey League, and we've got an interesting episode for you coming up. We are going to catch up with Sean Jones, the general manager of the Minnesota Northern Lights brand new expansion team for next season. We've got neutral site games coming up in Minnesota. So we're going to talk with Sean. Sean has been around the block. He's been involved in hockey for a very long time. He's had many stops in different leagues. He's been involved in a lot. So we're gonna we're gonna talk to Sean before we do. We're gonna start off with Dave Jackson, catch up on some suspensions, and let's go. What's going on, Dave? How are you?

SPEAKER_01 2:06

Eric, I'm great. I'm great. How about yourself?

SPEAKER_04 2:08

Doing good, doing good. Almost time for playoff hockey in the Federal League.

SPEAKER_01 2:12

It sure is. Great time of year. I think we just uh trade deadline coming up or just just passed, or um, I know it's any day now, so there should be some teams uh selling and some teams buying and making that push to either uh win the cup or uh just to get into the playoffs. So exciting times.

SPEAKER_04 2:31

Yeah, for sure. Interesting to see how everything you know you know is shaping up for the end of the season. We're gonna have the college guys involved now and everything. Um yeah, suspensions. Obviously, everyone wanting to be on their best behavior, hopefully, trying to uh you know, trying to make sure that they're eligible to play in playoffs and um maybe some guys not on their best behavior too. I mean, I want to get your thoughts on that too. Maybe after we run through the suspensions on, you know, kind of if you expect, you know, is if there's typically an uptick and maybe some carelessness or recklessness from teams that are kind of seeing a writing on the wall that their season's about over and maybe how that suspensions might carry over to next year, or just kind of what um from your your point of view, what that you know, what that looks like and some of the logistics behind the scenes and making sure that everything stays clean the rest of the year, regardless of individual, you know, individual player or team situations.

SPEAKER_01 3:21

Yeah, for sure. And it just I don't want to jinx myself here, but it seems that last couple of weeks it's been it's been fairly quiet. Um, nothing really egregious. Uh guys are playing hockey, you know. We you know, we didn't have any lewd gestures or slurs this weekend, which is which is good. And um, you know, we uh Friday night we had uh we had a player thrown out for uh instigating a fight uh for Columbus in the last five minutes. And and that I'm not sure if we've talked about that in the past before, but that rule in there it's it's an automatic game misconduct if you instigate a fight in the last five minutes of play. It's really kind of semantics because you're gonna serve five minutes for fighting anyways, and you're out of the game. But the game misconduct's tacked on, but it's not an automatic suspension. Automatic suspension, um people seem to think it's automatic, but it isn't. It's in the rule book that says you may be suspended if you instigate a fight in the last five minutes, and that's to prevent guys from you know, nothing to lose, settling up accounts. There was a play earlier in the game, and then now we're five minutes to go, I'm gonna go jump a guy and instigate a fight as payback. Those are suspendable offenses. If you have a play in the last five minutes where let's say a guy gets run from behind, um guy elbows you in the face, and you drop your gloves and start a fight with him, that's not a suspendable instigator penalty. That's that happens organically. And and that's what happened in this case. There was a there was a hit, there was a fight, goaltender came out, goaltender came out and had words with this player. Uh the player took exception to the goaltender having words with him. He shoved the goaltender in the chest, goaltender's teammate came around, jumped him, and they fought. And um, so it was it, you know, that's not a case where I'm suspending somebody for being an instigator. That that just that was in the heat of the moment, that's what happened. So I rescinded that. So there was no no suspension for instigating in the last five minutes. Um player with verbal abuse who was tossed from the game, but he was tossed from the game uh early in the second period. Um again, no lewd gestures, no, no slurs, just you're running the mill, not happy with what was going on. He got ejected, he missed half the game. Uh, we don't suspend for that. It's just, you know, you're missing half the game, um, no harm, no foul. Go take a shower and come back next game.

SPEAKER_00 5:51

Yeah.

SPEAKER_01 5:51

Um, we do suspend, however, um for verbal abuse post-game. And we've talked about that on this uh podcast before is that uh we don't find players in this league. Uh they work too hard for their money, so we want them to keep it in their pocket. Um but if you verbally abuse an official post-game and it rises to the level of being assessed to game misconduct, I've got to suspend you because um not having the ability to find that means you just get away with it for free. So post-game verbal abuse, you're pretty much always gonna see a a uh suspension come down on that one. Uh we moved to Saturday night, we had um an assistant coach who had a little bit too much to say to the opposing team's players. Uh that's something that we really frown on. Um as coaches, your job is to be leaders, to keep your players under control. And uh when that um you know becomes something where you're going after other teams' players, trying to trying to uh incite them, um we levy a pretty hefty fine. So we levy the fine on that one, and hopefully that'll uh modify the behavior. Having to cut a check for some money, usually, I mean for me anyways, if I uh if I ever have to cut a hefty check for something, I try and remember that going forward down the road.

SPEAKER_04 7:19

Um it hurts.

SPEAKER_01 7:22

Yeah. Um, and the last two were um in uh Port Huron's game against Indiana. We we we had we had a really interesting one where there was a scrum and we had a fight, and then off to one side we had a player. I referred to it in my review as uh he was ragdolling him. Um other player wanted no part of him, but he kind of he was pulling his sweater over his helmet. He wasn't really punching him, he's just kind of pulling his sweater over his head, he had his uh hand on his on his chest, he was moving him back and forth. He wanted him to fight, but he wasn't gonna he knew better than to sucker punch him. He wasn't gonna do that. He wanted he was trying to trying to gold the guy into fighting him, and the guy wanted no part of him. And unfortunately, unfortunately, that player ended up falling and hitting his head on the ice. Fortunately, he came back later in the game, so it was not a serious injury. Um but as far as what what do we call that? And the you know, I had to talk to the referees, and I'm not really sure what we call that because it's not a match penalty for attempt to injure because he wasn't attempting to injure him. Uh it's not fighting, it's not aggressor, he didn't punch him. So, what do we call it? I mean, so I think maybe we could just class that as, which is what I did in my in my review, I classed it as um unsportsmanlike conduct, continuing continuing an altercation, and because there was injury involved, he got a one-game suspension for that because we just can't have that. You gotta there's gotta be some price to pay for injuring a guy, even if it's not intentionally, right? And then on that same uh altercation, we had a instant uh aggressor penalty. Uh, there was a hit. The hit actually, I'm fine with the hit, but it looked bad. Uh, the player spun away at the last second as the they were going to the corner. He went down, he looked like he was hurt, he wasn't, he got back up, but that caused a gathering. And um one player decided that he was going to fight an opponent. Other opponent wanted no part of him, uh, never dropped his gloves. He uh basically tried to just turtle. He's covering up with his hands on his face, and the poor Huron player punched him eight times. Linesman intervened, stopped him, uh, no injury. But that's a textbook aggressor. And um, unfortunately, that was his third aggressor of the season, so that's a three-game suspension. Um, they just they're they're cumulative. So uh an aggressor penalty is an automatic one game, second offense is two games, third offense is now three games, so it's unfortunate.

SPEAKER_04 9:59

But so he's got a total of four.

SPEAKER_01 10:01

No, he's got three. Three, okay. Three games, third offense, three games, and um we've been doing that for four years. Um, I've probably suspended 40 to 50 guys for aggressor, um, with the same formula, the same judgment, and uh that's what it is. So that's all we had, and uh now we're going into the playoff races, and like you alluded to earlier, we're gonna hope the players realize how important it is and not put themselves or their teams in a bad position by being suspended.

SPEAKER_04 10:33

Yeah, absolutely. And how about some of the players that take the opposite stance that realize hey, you know what? Writing's kind of on the wall, it's not looking good for us. I'm gonna let you know, whole uh, you know, 56 game season of frustration pour out now.

SPEAKER_01 10:49

Well, that's something that uh Paul Jean will also address, the director officiating, he'll address that with the officials, especially in games where there's either two teams that are out of it, or you got one team that's really you know, either in it or trying to make it, and one team that's out of it with nothing to lose, you make the officials aware, like it doesn't change your officiating standard. But when guys start doing stupid things, you throw the book at them because yeah, uh, it really becomes it becomes babysitting at that point. And you if you can if you can identify that there's players out there truly not caring what they do, then as officials we don't we don't need to cut them any slack either. We just need to throw the book at them and get them out of there for the protection of everybody and protect them from themselves too. I mean, you know, if you don't take care of it and leave them in the game, they might do something worse.

SPEAKER_00 11:41

Right.

SPEAKER_01 11:42

Hurt somebody, hurt themselves, get suspended even longer. So yeah, uh there's there's very low tolerance by the officials for for teams and players that are out of the playoff race and out of the playoff hunt. Um, we don't want to see guys get hurt, so you know, we uh we impress upon the officials how important it is to identify those types of situations.

SPEAKER_04 12:03

Yeah. And is that something that you typically do see an uptick in in terms of between two teams that are out of it or something, or is it just something to be more aware of? Like, what does that look like from a league, you know, from your league staff point of view behind the scenes? Like obviously you said it, you know, you you guys, uh, you know, Paul Gene will be speaking with the officials and everything. Um, but how big of a um topic is that this time of year?

SPEAKER_01 12:27

Well, I think his historically, anyways, is my fourth year doing this. There really hasn't been an uptick late in the season. Um, I think guys, guys that are going on to the playoffs realize how important it is to play hockey. And I've sort of got the impression that guys that are out of the playoffs, they just don't want to get hurt. They don't want to get hurt going into the summer. You know, they want to be able to enjoy their summers, they want to be able to train all summer, get ready for next season. So uh I think they for the most part, they avoid the extracurricular stuff, and I hope that continues this year.

SPEAKER_04 12:59

Yeah, for sure. And do you want to get into in terms of suspensions, anything that does happen carrying over to next season or how that works?

SPEAKER_01 13:06

Yeah, so all our suspensions are cumulative and they work on a 365-day calendar. So if, for example, if I suspend somebody this Friday night for aggressor, I go back 365 days. So I go back to March 10th, March 11th of last year, and I go forward and see if they've been suspended since that date for this similar type of infraction. And if they have, then they become a repeat offender. So it really having the season wind down really has no effect on whether they're gonna have a lengthy suspension or not. It just carries on for the next calendar year. And even if they go, I mean, if they go to Europe, I guess it would change, but if they go play in any other North American professional league, they all honor our suspensions. So, you know, don't do something stupid because the season's ending. It'll it'll follow you into next season, which could really affect a team signing you, could really affect a team renewing you. Um, you know, yeah, you want to change teams, you want to change leagues even, but you're sitting out a 10-game suspension to start the season. That that really doesn't uh that doesn't entice a team to sign you.

SPEAKER_04 14:19

No, not at all, right? Because you know, you get a five-game suspension here at the end of the year, and you got to sit out the first five games next year. I mean, typically, it typically if you're moving up a level, you're trying to prove yourself, and those first five games are extremely important. So it uh, you know, to your point, a guy trying to, you know, guy trying to switch leagues or whatever. I mean, it's uh, you know, audition time and yeah, you're gonna be sitting out.

SPEAKER_00 14:41

Totally. But totally. Well, let's hope we don't have to worry about that.

SPEAKER_04 14:44

Yeah, absolutely. Hopefully, everything continues on the trend that it has been. Um, awesome. Well, sounds great, Dave. And uh right back at it next week.

SPEAKER_01 14:52

Great speaking with you as always, Eric. Have a great weekend.

SPEAKER_04 14:55

Thanks, Dave. You too. What's going on, Sean? Welcome to the podcast. How's it going?

SPEAKER_02 15:02

Sounds great, Eric. Uh, you know, going really well. We're working night and day to get this uh, you know, this hockey team off the ground, the Minnesota Northern Lights. And uh, we're very excited about the prospect of uh playing at the Ralph Inglested Arena here at Thief River. We're a regional team, obviously. We're tapping into the regional market, which is probably about you know 75 miles uh in the people in this area drive to to this this venue because it is a special venue and people are are used to driving here for events.

SPEAKER_04 15:31

Yeah, absolutely. So let's let's kind of go back to the beginning. So you're the general manager of this team. When um were you in this since the beginning when this was just an idea to bring the team here? Did you get hired on later on? What what's what's you know for you?

SPEAKER_02 15:46

Yeah, well, you know, Don and I go back a few years. Um, we were working on a project in Beaumont, Texas, um, to bring a team there. Of course, it would be nice for the Zydeco because it's only two and a half hours away. Um, unfortunately, the ice plant in the building was not working, and they the city did not want to work with us and redo it. So without ice, you don't play ice hockey, obviously, Eric. So we moved on from that. And Don, I've been trying to work with Don on some different markets uh the last couple of years. Don and I have developed a very good relationship. I have the utmost respect for Don Kernan and Sarge and all the staff. Um, Don Kernan is a brilliant man. Uh Sarge is a brilliant man. They they do great work and they've developed a an unbelievable minor hockey league. Um, and my hat is off to both of them. Um, and so I I I have this great relationship with them, and and so obviously, my background, I'm you know, I'm 63 years old. I'm not I didn't fall off the turnip truck yesterday. So I've done a lot of different teams and a lot of different businesses and stuff over the years.

SPEAKER_04 16:50

You and Don, so you and Don go down to Beaumont. Doesn't work, doesn't work out there. How did how did Minnesota come to materialize? What was the process there?

SPEAKER_02 17:00

Well, you know, Don and I felt like we really needed to try to get a team in Minnesota because of this the state of hockey, it's it's so so well, it's so hockey rich. And so we looked at a couple different venues. Um, we really want I really wanted to go to Duluth, Minnesota. I mean, Duluth, Minnesota's a gold mine, it's what a gold mine we have. Problem is you got the Amslo Arena where the Bulldog ladies and Bulldog men play. There's not enough ice dates. They also have the deck, which is the old building where they used to play, holds 5,000. It's a perfect minor league hockey building. And we went to the city, went to the mayor, and said, Hey, we want to be here. And um, the problem was is that the deck has an ice plant problem, and they're using a portable train system to make ice right now. It costs them about 300 G's a year. They they weren't gonna do it anymore. It was too much for the city, too much, too big of an expense. So they said, Hey, we just can't do it. We'd love to do it, but we can't, and there's no other building in Duluth. So when when that happened, we went to Rochester, Minnesota. Well, Rochester, Minnesota is a male clinic center, holds about 5,200 for for hockey, but they don't have ice in there. They did a$100 million renovation, they didn't put ice in there, which is crazy because they had a minor uh semi-pro team there years ago with sure Brooks played on. So I don't know. I talked to the mayor and she goes, I you know, I don't know now if they're gonna have to to tear up the floor and stuff, it's a probably a$10 million deal. And they frankly said, Hey, we're not gonna do it. So the the the outlier a little bit was the Thief River uh facility, the this Ralph Inglested Arena here in Thief River. Great building, holds 3,500, you know, perfect for minor league hockey, perfect for the FPHL. So, you know, I reached out to Travis Collins, the general manager. We start talking, and I told Don, hey, you know, we start talking back and forth. Don and I said, Well, let's let's make a trip. So we came up, we came up twice, and we felt like this this would be uh an opportunity for the league to get uh a team in Minnesota. So that's how that all started. Um, and then we you know we pulled the plug uh or pulled the trigger in the middle of December and opened up an office. And I you know, I've been kind of uh whole dog and pony show because it's it's a nonprofit. We set it up as a nonprofit organization, which is very unique. There's only one other pro team in the country, and that's the Andronic Thunder that's a nonprofit. So we we were doing that to bring back some of the funds back to the community and try to get this thing off the ground. We've got uh one other um personnel right now. She's kind of an office person, but I haven't even hired any salespeople. I've been the whole dog and pony show and recruiting and and the whole thing, and you know, obviously we're we're waiting to see what happens on the 27th and 28th. We think we're gonna have some great, great success with with uh with the tenants, and uh that's gonna kind of catapult the thing into the next level. Um, our merchandise, our our social media, we've done well with social media 5200 followers, 1.1 viewers in three months, it's phenomenal. Um, but you know, this is this is a market that that's hockey rich. The the probably the biggest challenge, Eric, is it's size, it's it's not a big area. Um, you know, you have to combine the region really. Uh about a 70 mile radius is gonna give you about 100,000 people, but uh, you know, and and that would work, you know. If if if we're the only show in town, which we are, um, and we put on the show, it'll work. So, you know, I'm I'm here, um, you know, for the time being. Um, will I stay here for the long term? I don't know that. Um, I am actually working on another franchise for our league in Grand Island, Nebraska, and we ran into a problem with the ice plant there, and that's where I probably would have been, to be honest with you, because I have an investment group and I'm part of that. Um it just it just wasn't meant to be because they they built the building 20 years ago, they never put the ice plant, never turned it on. I mean, it's never been turned on, they've never made ice there, and so it sat and there's corrosion. I know they spent all the plant, just never used it, never used it. The locker rooms, I went in the locker rooms there, and they're there. I I said to the GM there, Tyler uh tire water, Tyler Tirewater. He said, I'm looking around and going, Well, these have never been used. He goes, Yeah, 20 years. They built all this up and didn't didn't use it. So now they want a hockey team. And the problem is Honeywell did an assessment, and the chillers got corrosion because it's been sitting there for 20 years, so now they have to replace the chiller, and there's some stuff in the ice month they need to replace and get a dehumidifier, so it's about a$900,000 bill. The city wasn't crazy about putting the money up, but the state of Nebraska has a fund for stuff to be fixed like that. So they went to the state, and the states had gave them the thumbs up, so they're gonna put the the the stuff in the building, but it's not gonna they're not gonna get the money till probably the end of May. So by the time they get it in, it's not a 26 27 season, it's a 27 28 season, and that's what we'll do. Um, but since I'm here I'm gonna run this and do my my darndest to make this successful and then probably either hand it off or kind of bounce back and forth. We don't know. Don said, well, maybe you run both. I said, Well, I don't have an S on my chest, so but uh, you know, it's it'll be interesting to see how it goes here. Um, you know, we're we're we're optimistic, you know. And Don and I are are you know, we work, we Don and I talk probably three, four times a day. And uh he knows that uh, you know, I'm this is not the first rodeo that I've been. I mean, I was a commissioner as well. I was a commissioner major league roller hockey for two years, um a professional roller hockey league. Um, you know, so and then I went back into the the East Coast Hockey League and it was a GM of the Knoxville Cherokees. We moved the team to South Carolina and PD, where PD is now a new team in our league in the FPHL. We were there for a number of years. So, you know, it's been just uh just a rat race of hockey and and and business. And then I kind of got out of hockey for a while and and started uh or got into a company that was uh a um manufacturing company. And uh when I got into the company, the company was almost three-quarters of a million dollars upside down the balance sheet, basically bankrupt. And I turned it around within a year and a half, and uh that organization was sold in 2016. I was there for a few years. I'd gotten out of hockey, I was done traveling, I mean, moving my family everywhere. Yeah, I just said enough is enough. So we came back to Minnesota and I've been here ever since. Of course, uh, you know, was gonna go to Beaumont, uh, Grand Island, you know, now here in Thief River. So I I'm living in Thief River. I have a home in the Twin Cities. Um, but uh, you know, we got a lot of work to do and we're we're doing it.

SPEAKER_04 23:39

Yeah, and one thing that's really interesting about you know your location, you mentioned that you're recruiting players. Um, what do you project like the amount of locals? And when I say local, I mean Minnesota kids playing on this team because I think that's got to be a big advantage. Um, you know, to having a team there, there's a ton of local talent and really a lot of local talent on both sides of the border, not only from Minnesota, but you know, you have some guys from Canada. Um you know, it's uh very favorable in terms of local talent.

SPEAKER_02 24:08

Absolutely, you know, Don and I's kind of theory on this is to have between 65 and 70 percent of the players from Minnesota, and then you know, we'll we'll splice in the Canadian kids north of the border, and you know, maybe a Russian or two or whatever, but you know, this is gonna be a majority of of Minnesota players, and a matter of fact, I'm gonna I'm gonna try my darndest to have a Minnesota coach.

SPEAKER_04 24:31

Yeah, I think it makes a lot of sense. I mean, you know, kind of everything feeds each other, right? Like that should you theoretically you would think that you know the you know the the town will rally around the locals, the attendance should be up. I mean, it's actually a really cool, unique environment when you have a fan base that's not only there to see their hometown team or their home, you know, their their hometown team, home state, hometown. Um, but also it's hometown players, which is really cool, really unique. You don't get that in too many, you know, you don't get that in too many places.

SPEAKER_02 25:01

Yeah, absolutely, Eric. No question. I mean, you know, if we get a kid that played in North Dakota or Bemidji State or you know, Concordia or a small college in Minnesota or or whatever, you're even junior player north of the border. You know, you got War Road, Rosso, you know, you got all these these these areas that that have produced some great hockey players, and you know, our our our position is that you know the the league's got a celebrity rule that uh we'll try to tap tap into some of those celebrities. I mean it's it'll be fun for the community.

SPEAKER_04 25:29

Yeah, for for sure. Um now obviously neutral site games coming up. What can people expect there? What do you guys expect there? Obviously, it's a little bit of testing, you know, bit of testing the waters, bit of promotion, bit of kind of doing a maybe a dry run. Um, you know, for your own, you know, um, you know, your own uh data or whatnot of you know, kind of like a practice run in terms of putting on a game and everything for the you know for the building. What what are the expectations there in terms of what you guys expect and what fans could expect that come and check it out?

SPEAKER_02 25:59

Yeah, you know, we've got uh you know, I was I was over in Grand Forks yesterday, which is part of our market, as long as we're not playing, you know, equal nights with the North Dakota Hawks, um, you know, the the Division I college program. Um and uh, you know, and they're gonna be you know probably deep in the playoffs if they're that far. But you know, we we really have said it the 27th, 28th is no competition. But you know, we we're we're advertising iHeartRadio, which he's reaches about 300,000 people in the region, um, about the games. We're we're we're talking about you know the 27th and 28th. Uh iEartRadio is sponsoring the two nights. Um, we're gonna we're gonna shoot from the red line for uh a little space in the uh in the the goal area the with a board. You go in there, it's gonna you're gonna win a bunch of money. So it's uh you know it's something that it kind of used to be a deal that they would do. You don't see it much anymore. Um, you know, somebody can win 20, I think it's$25,000. So it's kind of a fun thing. It doesn't happen very often. I mean, I've only seen it a couple times in 30 years, so I mean the chances are pretty rare here, but but it hey, it's fun for the crowd, you know, we're gonna do it both nights.

SPEAKER_04 27:05

Back in the day, a long time ago, I think some woman won a won a truck. I think it was uh aquasosny back in the day in the Federal League. Um, I think it was an older woman too, shot from the blue line to the red line, and right won a brand new truck if I remember correctly.

SPEAKER_02 27:19

Yeah, yeah, it's kind of crazy. But so we've done the stuff with iHeart and Midco, which is TV. Uh that's reaching 200,000 people. We're you know, during the NHL games, the college games, uh, we're doing the ads uh for the 27th and 20th, also season tickets. Um, we've got uh you know Papa Murphy's put uh 10,000 flyers on pizza box the last two months, so everybody in the area knows about the game, you know, and and we've got a very reasonably priced deal for 12 for kids and 14 for adults in general admission because it's just easier for general mission for these two games. We don't, you know, we're not gonna season ticket holders and all that stuff. That's all next year. But yeah, you know, we we think that um we you know we we're we're hopeful that we can fill it both nights. I don't know, it's hard to say, you know. Um everybody says, Oh, yeah, we're coming, you're coming, but you know, unless they show up and buy a ticket, you don't know. That's the that's the the roll of the dice, the crapshoot. And obviously, from Don and my perspective, we you know we're we're hopeful that uh we're gonna get great crowds at night. And if we do, people are gonna see a show. Um, not just hockey. So Topeka and obviously in uh India are kind of good rivals, and uh we've got we've got a um we're gonna have lights going on, light show. We're gonna have flares when the guys come out shooting up, you know, 50 feet and you know all the different things kind of put on trying to put on a little show. Now it's not gonna be what we're doing in the fall, that'll be big time, but we're gonna give them a taste of this because they haven't seen it before. So I think that'll help a little bit. Um, and you know, maybe maybe they'll get excited about it. And you know, we haven't sold a lot of season tickets yet, but hopefully we'll you know, we'll have the booths up uh those nights, and maybe people like it enough to say, Hey, you know what, we're gonna buy a season ticket.

SPEAKER_04 29:00

Yeah, for sure. Yeah, that's awesome. Um, Sean, anything you want to end off on?

SPEAKER_02 29:06

No, I just you know, I appreciate you, Eric, and appreciate the FPHL, you know, Don and Sarge and Smitty and Dave and all the guys. Uh what a what a fantastic league we have here. Um, you know, the business model works, it's worked for what 16 years or whatever. Yeah, we're adding teams. Yeah, yeah, yeah. We're working, uh, you know, we got new teams coming in the league. Uh, you know, Don's on planes all the time, meeting with arenas and in ownership groups and stuff like that. And uh it's exciting, you know. I mean, it the league isn't going backwards, it's going forward, and that's the exciting aspect of it. And you know, Don Kernan, uh, the man's been doing this for 50 plus years. He knows what he's doing. Sarge has been doing this for 50 plus years. You know, we've got the the right combination of people in place to you know to make this league work continually uh down the road and expand. Um, I don't know where it's gonna go. I have no idea. I mean, I've been involved with the Western Pro League, the East Coast Hockey League, the Central League, the Continental League, the USH I've been all over the board, you know. But um, the one thing I can say is it's uh it's a real pleasure uh to be involved with the organization that has you know top-notch people, of course, like you and Don and Sarge and Dave and Smitty and all the guys. So and certainly Paul Gene, our referee in chief. So we we've got a great crew.

SPEAKER_04 30:26

Yeah, that's awesome. Well, I appreciate it, Sean. I appreciate you coming on. Um, yeah, wish you the best of luck, obviously. And I'm excited to see these neutral site games.

SPEAKER_02 30:35

Yeah, sounds good, Eric. Thank you so much for the the the day and the time. And uh so certainly apologize for the technical difficulties we had.

SPEAKER_04 30:42

So nah, we worked through this one. Um, but no, sounds good, Sean. Um, yeah, thanks again, and I will we'll catch up soon. And that's gonna do it for this episode. Let's do our proof of attendance token code. Our proof of attendance token code is going to be Minnesota. Enter the code at swanhockey.io on the podcast page, and you will be eligible to receive your proof of attendance token for watching this episode. Codes must be entered by 9 p.m. Eastern time, the night that this show airs, which is Wednesday night. And uh our magic number is five. Collect five or more of these tokens, and you will have access to the member only chat in Club Fed inside the Swan Hockey Discord server. You can get there from the link in the description of this episode or from swanhockey.com. And that's going to be all for this episode. Until next time, I will see you guys soon.

SPEAKER_03 31:34

Thank you for being the best part of this episode of FPHL Beyond the Glass by Swan Hockey. We will see you soon. We will see you soon.