Coach Mike Bullard

Golden Horseshoe Jr B Hockey

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Coach Mike Bullard

Post by Caledonia Fan »

http://localsportsreport.com/gojhl/2016 ... t-coaches/

I read this article on the coaches from out west. A very good read, thanks. It got be thinking, were would coach Mike Bullard fit in as one of the best coaches in the GOJHL history. He has a very impressive record already and still going strong. We all know he had a good hockey career.
But, I think what he has accomplished as a coach is his legacy.
jax
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by jax »

I find this very amusing! Most of the coaches in the gojhl would have the same record as Bullard if they coached a team with what ownership provided Bullard. No legacy in my opinion..
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by Port hockey1 »

jax wrote:I find this very amusing! Most of the coaches in the gojhl would have the same record as Bullard if they coached a team with what ownership provided Bullard. No legacy in my opinion..
Anyone can put a bunch of talent together. Getting them to play as a team and play hard night in and night out is all thanks to great coaching.

Anyone who's followed this league for a longtime has seen great teams struggle badly at times. Bullard gets everything out of his kids. Look at Hubbert, he gets everything out of his kids no matter how many holes his teams have.

Anyone who say's Bullard isn't one of the greatest either doesn't know how these systems work, or they are simply bitter. :)
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jax
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by jax »

I disagree, not everyone can put together that kind of depth in a Jr B hockey club. You know it! Yes great teams go through difficult stretches. I'm not bitter at all! I just beleave he's not as good as some think. In my opinion.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

The test would be how would Bullard do with a team of lesser talent.

A guy like Bryan Kelly, when he had the old Port Pirates. Now in Thorold. He gets the best our of lesser teams.

I'd argue the 'greatness' of Bullard. He's coached his stud teams, agreed. I would be more inclined to say Mr. Rizzo is one of the best GM's ever. His ability to convince players to play for their program, has made that team great.

The last couple years, I think average coaches would have won the Sutherland Cup with those rosters. They just may not have won it as convincing.

Bullard is good, and must have close to (if not the) all time win record in Jr. B. But, he's been gifted with resources and rosters.

And that is not a slight on him, not at all. But I will say, for example...the Falcons only Suthreland Cup...Bullard had a 2 games to 0 lead on the Falcons, then got out coached 4 games straight to lose the series 4-2. And I'm certainly not saying the Falcons coach is/was better. Just saying, with more evenly matched teams, he lost a 2-0 game lead in the finals. I know that's just one bad experience in a great resume for him. But the year after, the resources and new ownership (I don't think Mr Hill owned Brantford, but I could be wrong) started flowing in.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by BillyTheKid »

jax wrote:I disagree, not everyone can put together that kind of depth in a Jr B hockey club. You know it! Yes great teams go through difficult stretches. I'm not bitter at all! I just beleave he's not as good as some think. In my opinion.
Say what you want about him and the team and the organization but there record and his coaching record speak for them selfs. He gets the best out of his players night in and night out yes they have way more resources then anybody else in the league but it takes a good coach to keep them all together and stick to the game plan. He keeps them on a tight leash-there to you never hear of any of his boys getting into trouble around town either. I'm not sitting here pumping his tires by no means and yes there are good coaches in the league some of them might even be better then him i dont know do you know? All i am saying here with the teams he gets to coach he wins just look at his record. Yes other coaches could probably do the same thing but they haven't have they ? I know what ur going to say well other teams don't have a bank account like them. Oh well the question asked here is Mike Bullard a good coach I believe yes it takes a good coach to get all of those studs to play like that night in and night out. The Yankees in there hay day were a team full of stars and there coach Joe Torre kept all those guys together also to win championships never heard anybody say he wasn't a good coach did you ? I know it's not a great comparison but they used to buy there teams and he coached them to championships. Might get ripped on for that comment but I just thought of that lol!!!! Anyways get over the jealousy because the ban can coach he doesn't need to go to another team why leave there ? Would be crazy to. Why would there GM put a bad team together to see if he is a great coach? No you put a team together every year to win a championship there's no guarantee your going to win it but somebody has to put a game plan together.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by Cali vairs! »

Bully in my mind is one of the best coaches in the league to. If you look at our team last year for a while they didn't play very well. When you have all these talented forwards who think they are elite players in the league it's hard to get them to ply together. Last year he made a lot of players realize there role on the team. Tyler hill is a great example. He thought he could walk through everybody when he first got here. Bully made him play a team system. You can say that the championship was bought but I don't think they would've won without bully getting the players to realize there roles.
From talking to players over the past couple years they have all said the same thing. He is a trustworthy coach that knows how far to push you. He knows when they need a night off or when they still can give more. Not saying he is the best coach in the league but he definitely is one of the best.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

Cali vairs! wrote:Bully in my mind is one of the best coaches in the league to. If you look at our team last year for a while they didn't play very well. When you have all these talented forwards who think they are elite players in the league it's hard to get them to ply together. Last year he made a lot of players realize there role on the team. Tyler hill is a great example. He thought he could walk through everybody when he first got here. Bully made him play a team system. You can say that the championship was bought but I don't think they would've won without bully getting the players to realize there roles.
From talking to players over the past couple years they have all said the same thing. He is a trustworthy coach that knows how far to push you. He knows when they need a night off or when they still can give more. Not saying he is the best coach in the league but he definitely is one of the best.
In my opinion there is no question that Bullard is one of the best coaches in the league and possibly the best but his record and abilities are clouded due to the resources available to him. This is no different than my opinion of Terry Masterson formerly of the NF Canucks. Great record but always was able to re-load due to resources ($). Terry is now coaching the Niagara Whalers who currently sport a record of 20-1 . On the opposite side of things, there is Rob Hubbert who always seemed to be able to squeeze out the effort from less talented squads on a variety of teams .

Still no question the Bullard is one of the best coaches in the league. It seems surprising that with his record he has not moved up to a higher level.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by Port hockey1 »

Those saying good teams win, no matter who's coaching;

Kitchener... Need I say more. :wink:
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by jfvoll »

oldtymer wrote: Still no question the Bullard is one of the best coaches in the league. It seems surprising that with his record he has not moved up to a higher level.
He's friends with the owners of Caledonia, I think his coaching job security is excellent.

He's a great coach none the less. I don't believe he's the greatest, the greatest to watch, btw.
StCathFalcons
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:This is no different than my opinion of Terry Masterson formerly of the NF Canucks. Great record but always was able to re-load due to resources ($). Terry is now coaching the Niagara Whalers who currently sport a record of 20-1 .
I almost spit my drink out reading this.

Only similarity between Masterson and Bullard, are the team rosters, due to resources. Masterson was an absolute HORRIBLE coach. Bull, can coach. And agreed, one of the best in the league. I just think the argument is, should he be considered one of the greatest ever. I'm just not sold.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by BillyTheKid »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:This is no different than my opinion of Terry Masterson formerly of the NF Canucks. Great record but always was able to re-load due to resources ($). Terry is now coaching the Niagara Whalers who currently sport a record of 20-1 .
I almost spit my drink out reading this.

Only similarity between Masterson and Bullard, are the team rosters, due to resources. Masterson was an absolute HORRIBLE coach. Bull, can coach. And agreed, one of the best in the league. I just think the argument is, should he be considered one of the greatest ever. I'm just not sold.
Lol very true don't put Terry in the same convo as bully please.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by ILuvHackey »

Port hockey1 wrote:Those saying good teams win, no matter who's coaching;

Kitchener... Need I say more. :wink:
That has more to do with depth than anything. They only roll two lines and the others basically sit.
oldtymer
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:This is no different than my opinion of Terry Masterson formerly of the NF Canucks. Great record but always was able to re-load due to resources ($). Terry is now coaching the Niagara Whalers who currently sport a record of 20-1 .
I almost spit my drink out reading this.

Only similarity between Masterson and Bullard, are the team rosters, due to resources. Masterson was an absolute HORRIBLE coach. Bull, can coach. And agreed, one of the best in the league. I just think the argument is, should he be considered one of the greatest ever. I'm just not sold.
The point is that you can't go by record to determine who is a better coach. Masterson won 2 Sutherlands and might have been 3 in a row between 96 and 98. Was that due to pure talent or coaching. Bullard won 4 in a row but also had the resources. I would suggest Bullard has even better resources than Masterson ever did.

PS 2 Sutherlands I think that's double the cups the Falcons have won.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:The point is that you can't go by record to determine who is a better coach. Masterson won 2 Sutherlands and might have been 3 in a row between 96 and 98. Was that due to pure talent or coaching. Bullard won 4 in a row but also had the resources. I would suggest Bullard has even better resources than Masterson ever did.

PS 2 Sutherlands I think that's double the cups the Falcons have won.
I agree you can't go by record alone. 100%. All I'm saying, Bullard is a good coach with great teams in front of him (WAY better coach than Masterson). I'm not saying he's (Bullard) the greatest.

Nor am I suggesting St. Catharines, or any of their coaches, are the best ever.

But since you brought it up, I will say...The Falcons won their Suthy with an nth of the resources (money) Masterson pumped in to his teams, to draw players (Falcons are a for non profit organization. There are no Hill or Masterson owners in St Kitts to use their wealth of resources $). So yes, two bought Suthy's for the Canucks (great teams I might add), one earned one by the Falcons. Thank you for bringing that up. :mrgreen:
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by Caledonia Fan »

oldtymer wrote:
StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:This is no different than my opinion of Terry Masterson formerly of the NF Canucks. Great record but always was able to re-load due to resources ($). Terry is now coaching the Niagara Whalers who currently sport a record of 20-1 .
I almost spit my drink out reading this.

Only similarity between Masterson and Bullard, are the team rosters, due to resources. Masterson was an absolute HORRIBLE coach. Bull, can coach. And agreed, one of the best in the league. I just think the argument is, should he be considered one of the greatest ever. I'm just not sold.
The point is that you can't go by record to determine who is a better coach. Masterson won 2 Sutherlands and might have been 3 in a row between 96 and 98. Was that due to pure talent or coaching. Bullard won 4 in a row but also had the resources. I would suggest Bullard has even better resources than Masterson ever did.

PS 2 Sutherlands I think that's double the cups the Falcons have won.
Bullard only won 3 Sutherland Cups in a row as a coach. He won a Sutherland Cup as the GM of Brantford Eagles in 2009. Scott Rex was coach of Brantford in 2009.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:The point is that you can't go by record to determine who is a better coach. Masterson won 2 Sutherlands and might have been 3 in a row between 96 and 98. Was that due to pure talent or coaching. Bullard won 4 in a row but also had the resources. I would suggest Bullard has even better resources than Masterson ever did.

PS 2 Sutherlands I think that's double the cups the Falcons have won.
I agree you can't go by record alone. 100%. All I'm saying, Bullard is a good coach with great teams in front of him (WAY better coach than Masterson). I'm not saying he's (Bullard) the greatest.

Nor am I suggesting St. Catharines, or any of their coaches, are the best ever.

But since you brought it up, I will say...The Falcons won their Suthy with an nth of the resources (money) Masterson pumped in to his teams, to draw players (Falcons are a for non profit organization. There are no Hill or Masterson owners in St Kitts to use their wealth of resources $). So yes, two bought Suthy's for the Canucks (great teams I might add), one earned one by the Falcons. Thank you for bringing that up. :mrgreen:
Actually Thorold has won as many Sutherlands as St Catharines.

I don't think anyone would compare a St Catharines coach to Bullard. Bullard wins hands down.

I always found the Falcons an interesting organization. They used to win the shoe on a consistent basis but would consistently choke in the Sutherlands. They could be considered the Buffalo Bills of Junior B hockey. I am not so sure I see that changing this year even with the new Caledonia rule. They have a tremendous amount of talent ( Girhiny is one of the best recruiters and location of Brock/Niagara College helps) ) but which team shows up is anyone's guess. They will win the odd game against Caledonia but in a seven game series, Bullard's team will win.

Watching the games on the net, it appears the crowds are very sparse since the Icedogs are playing so many Friday games. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.


Going forward it will be interesting to see how the Falcons fare. With the Icedogs now playing on Friday nights



What will be interesting is how the Falcons will fare going forward. With the Dogs now playing on Friday nights, it would appear that the crowds for the Falcons are dwindling.
BillyTheKid

Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by BillyTheKid »

oldtymer wrote:
StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:The point is that you can't go by record to determine who is a better coach. Masterson won 2 Sutherlands and might have been 3 in a row between 96 and 98. Was that due to pure talent or coaching. Bullard won 4 in a row but also had the resources. I would suggest Bullard has even better resources than Masterson ever did.

PS 2 Sutherlands I think that's double the cups the Falcons have won.
I agree you can't go by record alone. 100%. All I'm saying, Bullard is a good coach with great teams in front of him (WAY better coach than Masterson). I'm not saying he's (Bullard) the greatest.

Nor am I suggesting St. Catharines, or any of their coaches, are the best ever.

But since you brought it up, I will say...The Falcons won their Suthy with an nth of the resources (money) Masterson pumped in to his teams, to draw players (Falcons are a for non profit organization. There are no Hill or Masterson owners in St Kitts to use their wealth of resources $). So yes, two bought Suthy's for the Canucks (great teams I might add), one earned one by the Falcons. Thank you for bringing that up. :mrgreen:
Actually Thorold has won as many Sutherlands as St Catharines.

I don't think anyone would compare a St Catharines coach to Bullard. Bullard wins hands down.

I always found the Falcons an interesting organization. They used to win the shoe on a consistent basis but would consistently choke in the Sutherlands. They could be considered the Buffalo Bills of Junior B hockey. I am not so sure I see that changing this year even with the new Caledonia rule. They have a tremendous amount of talent ( Girhiny is one of the best recruiters and location of Brock/Niagara College helps) ) but which team shows up is anyone's guess. They will win the odd game against Caledonia but in a seven game series, Bullard's team will win.

Watching the games on the net, it appears the crowds are very sparse since the Icedogs are playing so many Friday games. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.


Going forward it will be interesting to see how the Falcons fare. With the Icedogs now playing on Friday nights



What will be interesting is how the Falcons will fare going forward. With the Dogs now playing on Friday nights, it would appear that the crowds for the Falcons are dwindling.
What does the crowd of the falcons games have to do with anything here in this convo. Corsairs get about 150 fans on average they still win every game. Your post was pointless here it really was. Repeated your self 5 times who's cares the dogs play on Friday nights now. Guess that makes bully a bad coach now and the falcons coach is a bad coach to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons choke under pressure to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons beat the corvairs last Friday night bc the dogs played on Friday night. See where I'm going here your post made zero sense here in this convo. But I guess it did make sense though bc the dogs play tonight it's Friday
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by ILuvHackey »

BillyTheKid wrote:What does the crowd of the falcons games have to do with anything here in this convo. Corsairs get about 150 fans on average they still win every game. Your post was pointless here it really was. Repeated your self 5 times who's cares the dogs play on Friday nights now. Guess that makes bully a bad coach now and the falcons coach is a bad coach to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons choke under pressure to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons beat the corvairs last Friday night bc the dogs played on Friday night. See where I'm going here your post made zero sense here in this convo. But I guess it did make sense though bc the dogs play tonight it's Friday
I lol'd.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

BillyTheKid wrote:What does the crowd of the falcons games have to do with anything here in this convo. Corsairs get about 150 fans on average they still win every game. Your post was pointless here it really was. Repeated your self 5 times who's cares the dogs play on Friday nights now. Guess that makes bully a bad coach now and the falcons coach is a bad coach to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons choke under pressure to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons beat the corvairs last Friday night bc the dogs played on Friday night. See where I'm going here your post made zero sense here in this convo. But I guess it did make sense though bc the dogs play tonight it's Friday
Thank you...I too was a bit lost at this rambling. I think someone was a little too offended at my 'Masterson was a horrible coach' comment. LOL
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:Actually Thorold has won as many Sutherlands as St Catharines.
Of note, GM of Thorold and St Catharines Suthy Cup Champions, was Frank Girhiny. Girhiny two, Canucks two.

I don't think anyone would compare a St Catharines coach to Bullard. Bullard wins hands down.
I don't think anyone did compare any of the Falcons coaches to Bullard.

I always found the Falcons an interesting organization. They used to win the shoe on a consistent basis but would consistently choke in the Sutherlands. They could be considered the Buffalo Bills of Junior B hockey.
Ummmmmmmm, Falcons have lost six Sutherland Cup Finals, Canucks have lost four. I see how that makes the Falcons choke artists, but not the Canucks. But I'm pretty sure the Falcons, without the Masterson cash, have won more Golden Horseshoe Championships

Watching the games on the net, it appears the crowds are very sparse since the Icedogs are playing so many Friday games. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.
They've been getting 300-400 per game (I think), which is par for the course for them. Always more when Caledonia is in town.

What will be interesting is how the Falcons will fare going forward. With the Dogs now playing on Friday nights, it would appear that the crowds for the Falcons are dwindling.
No, same numbers pretty much. There's Falcon fans, then there's Icedog fans.
oldtymer
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
BillyTheKid wrote:What does the crowd of the falcons games have to do with anything here in this convo. Corsairs get about 150 fans on average they still win every game. Your post was pointless here it really was. Repeated your self 5 times who's cares the dogs play on Friday nights now. Guess that makes bully a bad coach now and the falcons coach is a bad coach to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons choke under pressure to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons beat the corvairs last Friday night bc the dogs played on Friday night. See where I'm going here your post made zero sense here in this convo. But I guess it did make sense though bc the dogs play tonight it's Friday
Thank you...I too was a bit lost at this rambling. I think someone was a little too offended at my 'Masterson was a horrible coach' comment. LOL
Wow .. what brilliant responses.. I especially like the LOL response .. must have taken hours to come up with that one.


Let me simplify the comparison so that perhaps even you will understand

Both Masterson and Bullard had winning records and won multiple Sutherland cups
Both franchises were well funded which are or were not dependent on gate revenue ( attendance ) to fund their organizations to pay expenses.
So the question is whether the quality of players or the coaching in either case had more to do with the winning record? I thought the comparison was rather simple but I did not take into account the intelligence level of the audience.

No offense taken on the Masterson comment. Never did I say that Masterson was a better coach than Bullard and I never will. Both had winning records with well funded teams.. How do you know that Bullard is a better coach? The team Bullard coached last year was in my opinion one of the most talented teams in Junior B history ... Did they win because of Bullard or talent?

With regards to the Falcons, I will also try to make this as simple as possible. They are a non-profit organization and are in large part dependent on gate revenue to fund their operations. Keeping it simple, less ticket sales means less revenue in to pay expenses. Expenses include the non-hockey costs to pay the extras ( non -hockey) that attracts the top players ( bursaries, scholarships, etc).

I apologize for not taking the audience into account. I will try to keep any comments as simple as possible so that they might be understood.

I will however not be able to lower myself to match the grammar level of Billythekid. Seriously .. ever heard of a run-on sentence or a coherent argument .. By the way who are the Corsairs.. Is that the farm team for the Corvairs ?

I anxiously await the multitude of brilliant responses to my post. I don't think anyone could top the "LOL" comment. Then again someone might use the " your mother wears army boots" response.
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:I anxiously await the multitude of brilliant responses to my post. I don't think anyone could top the "LOL" comment. Then again someone might use the " your mother wears army boots" response.
LOL, was keeping it simple...for a very simple response that was posted.

Gate venue is a very minor part of covering expenses. The loss of 20-50 fans, although adds up, is not fatal. The Falcons faithful continue to sponsor the team with board and ice advertisement. And fund raising such as successful golf tournaments and team sponsored dinners.

So, maybe you can follow the confusion as to why your comment made little sense. Because the gate has little to do with revenue, in the grand scheme of things, when your average attendance is barely hit.

But thanks for articulating what you really meant to say the first time.

We digress. Back to the topic. Bullard IMHO, is better than Masterson. Hands down. But I put Bryan Kelly at the top of the list of getting the most out of nothing, versus the Masterson and Bullard theories of getting the most out of a lot.
oldtymer
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:Actually Thorold has won as many Sutherlands as St Catharines.
Of note, GM of Thorold and St Catharines Suthy Cup Champions, was Frank Girhiny. Girhiny two, Canucks two.

So now you are taking credit for Girhiny success when he was with the Hawks .. really ! Thought they were different organizations. Perhaps the Falcons should hang the Hawks Sutherland pennant at the Jack

I don't think anyone would compare a St Catharines coach to Bullard. Bullard wins hands down.
I don't think anyone did compare any of the Falcons coaches to Bullard.

Duh ... that is what my comment said.. Seriously .. do you read the comments or respond first read later

I always found the Falcons an interesting organization. They used to win the shoe on a consistent basis but would consistently choke in the Sutherlands. They could be considered the Buffalo Bills of Junior B hockey.
Ummmmmmmm, Falcons have lost six Sutherland Cup Finals, Canucks have lost four. I see how that makes the Falcons choke artists, but not the Canucks. But I'm pretty sure the Falcons, without the Masterson cash, have won more Golden Horseshoe Championships

Six Sutherland Cup final losses .. they lost more finals than the Bills did Superbowls ... My comment stands .. thank you for supporting it

Watching the games on the net, it appears the crowds are very sparse since the Icedogs are playing so many Friday games. It will be interesting to see if that trend continues.
They've been getting 300-400 per game (I think), which is par for the course for them. Always more when Caledonia is in town.

Do you actually go to the games or just the Caledonia ones? They get maybe 200 for any other team. Friday nights appear to be down especially on nights the Dogs are playing ( like tonight)


What will be interesting is how the Falcons will fare going forward. With the Dogs now playing on Friday nights, it would appear that the crowds for the Falcons are dwindling.
No, same numbers pretty much. There's Falcon fans, then there's Icedog fans.
and you would be wrong .. Lets see what the attendance is for tonights Fort Erie game. Dogs are also playing ..

In terms of your moniker, that must be for the St Catharines Minor hockey organization? You don't seem to know too much about the Junior B team
oldtymer
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:I anxiously await the multitude of brilliant responses to my post. I don't think anyone could top the "LOL" comment. Then again someone might use the " your mother wears army boots" response.
LOL, was keeping it simple...for a very simple response that was posted.

Gate venue is a very minor part of covering expenses. The loss of 20-50 fans, although adds up, is not fatal. The Falcons faithful continue to sponsor the team with board and ice advertisement. And fund raising such as successful golf tournaments and team sponsored dinners.

So, maybe you can follow the confusion as to why your comment made little sense. Because the gate has little to do with revenue, in the grand scheme of things, when your average attendance is barely hit.

But thanks for articulating what you really meant to say the first time.

We digress. Back to the topic. Bullard IMHO, is better than Masterson. Hands down. But I put Bryan Kelly at the top of the list of getting the most out of nothing, versus the Masterson and Bullard theories of getting the most out of a lot.
I will give the Falcon faithful credit , they are a loyal bunch but they appear to be aging.

Give full credit to the Falcon organization for maintaining their position as #2 in the league ( so far) given the competition with the Dogs ( now Friday nights as well). It cannot be easy to attract fans or advertisers as all of the efforts seem to be on the Junior A team. The new arena is very nice but cannot be cheap to run.

Did they actually have a golf tournament this year ? They usually come around the St Catharines branch looking for prizes but I don't think they did this year
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Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:Give full credit to the Falcon organization for maintaining their position as #2 in the league ( so far) given the competition with the Dogs ( now Friday nights as well). It cannot be easy to attract fans or advertisers as all of the efforts seem to be on the Junior A team. Easier to keep faithful sponsors, because Icedog sponsorship would likely cost a lot more than FalconsThe new arena is very nice but cannot be cheap to run. They won't feel the Icedog Friday night hit this year, because they've done their fund raising and sponsorship drive for this season. Maybe they feel a hit next year? Time will tell. But their sponsorship is very strong. Main sponsor, Rankin, agreed to another five year agreement (I believe).

Did they actually have a golf tournament this year ? They usually come around the St Catharines branch looking for prizes but I don't think they did this year. Yes, In September. I wouldn't know who they approached for prizes, but was very successful. Golf, then dinner with auctions
oldtymer
Posts: 93
Joined: Wed Mar 30, 2016 11:14 pm

Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by oldtymer »

StCathFalcons wrote:
oldtymer wrote:Give full credit to the Falcon organization for maintaining their position as #2 in the league ( so far) given the competition with the Dogs ( now Friday nights as well). It cannot be easy to attract fans or advertisers as all of the efforts seem to be on the Junior A team. Easier to keep faithful sponsors, because Icedog sponsorship would likely cost a lot more than FalconsThe new arena is very nice but cannot be cheap to run. They won't feel the Icedog Friday night hit this year, because they've done their fund raising and sponsorship drive for this season. Maybe they feel a hit next year? Time will tell. But their sponsorship is very strong. Main sponsor, Rankin, agreed to another five year agreement (I believe).

Did they actually have a golf tournament this year ? They usually come around the St Catharines branch looking for prizes but I don't think they did this year. Yes, In September. I wouldn't know who they approached for prizes, but was very successful. Golf, then dinner with auctions
If the arrival of the Dogs to St Catharines has had no or little effect on the Falcon organization, then hats off to the organization. Its funny Masterson commented when he sold the Canucks was "He pointed to the Niagara IceDogs' arrival in Niagara as a major factor in many of the local junior B teams struggling."The IceDogs are not here to help us at all. They're businessmen. Everyone fights for the entertainment dollar. It's making it tougher," he said." And that was in the Falls not in the same city where the Ice dogs play

The advertisers must be a really loyal group as the low crowds would normally make it a hard sell.I would also be really worried that your fan base, while extremely loyal is long in the tooth. I went to a game recently and was surprised not by the small crowd (250) but the lack of spectators under the age of 55 ( not a Buffalo or Pelham game) . This would not be for lack of trying as they seem to put a lot of effort Into trying to attract the young ( mascot, puck toss, lucky programs and fan of the game) with limited success.

If the Icedogs continue to play on Friday nights and if they get better then things will not get easier for the Falcons

PS Lots of kids at the Icedog games
StCathFalcons
Posts: 181
Joined: Mon Oct 26, 2015 8:15 pm

Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by StCathFalcons »

oldtymer wrote:If the arrival of the Dogs to St Catharines has had no or little effect on the Falcon organization, then hats off to the organization. Its funny Masterson commented when he sold the Canucks was "He pointed to the Niagara IceDogs' arrival in Niagara as a major factor in many of the local junior B teams struggling. What's funny, is Masterson tried to bail out of the sale of the Canucks to Pietrangelo. So much so, that it messed with Pietrangelo getting things going the first year he owned the squad. Don't kid yourself. Masterson regretted the sale, the minute after it happened. And he tried to ruin it for Pietrangelo.

The advertisers must be a really loyal group as the low crowds would normally make it a hard sell.I would also be really worried that your fan base, while extremely loyal is long in the tooth. I went to a game recently and was surprised not by the small crowd (250) but the lack of spectators under the age of 55 ( not a Buffalo or Pelham game) . This would not be for lack of trying as they seem to put a lot of effort Into trying to attract the young ( mascot, puck toss, lucky programs and fan of the game) with limited success.

If the Icedogs continue to play on Friday nights and if they get better then things will not get easier for the Falcons

PS Lots of kids at the Icedog games
I'm amazed at the effort you're giving this, in pointing out your thoughts on lack of fans, or potential fans in the future. All in the 'Coach Mike Bullard' thread. Maybe you ought to start a new thread called "How I see the fall of the Falcons because of the IceDogs Friday night games?
BillyTheKid

Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by BillyTheKid »

oldtymer wrote:
StCathFalcons wrote:
BillyTheKid wrote:What does the crowd of the falcons games have to do with anything here in this convo. Corsairs get about 150 fans on average they still win every game. Your post was pointless here it really was. Repeated your self 5 times who's cares the dogs play on Friday nights now. Guess that makes bully a bad coach now and the falcons coach is a bad coach to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons choke under pressure to bc the dogs play on Friday nights now. The falcons beat the corvairs last Friday night bc the dogs played on Friday night. See where I'm going here your post made zero sense here in this convo. But I guess it did make sense though bc the dogs play tonight it's Friday
Thank you...I too was a bit lost at this rambling. I think someone was a little too offended at my 'Masterson was a horrible coach' comment. LOL
Wow .. what brilliant responses.. I especially like the LOL response .. must have taken hours to come up with that one.


Let me simplify the comparison so that perhaps even you will understand

Both Masterson and Bullard had winning records and won multiple Sutherland cups
Both franchises were well funded which are or were not dependent on gate revenue ( attendance ) to fund their organizations to pay expenses.
So the question is whether the quality of players or the coaching in either case had more to do with the winning record? I thought the comparison was rather simple but I did not take into account the intelligence level of the audience.

No offense taken on the Masterson comment. Never did I say that Masterson was a better coach than Bullard and I never will. Both had winning records with well funded teams.. How do you know that Bullard is a better coach? The team Bullard coached last year was in my opinion one of the most talented teams in Junior B history ... Did they win because of Bullard or talent?

With regards to the Falcons, I will also try to make this as simple as possible. They are a non-profit organization and are in large part dependent on gate revenue to fund their operations. Keeping it simple, less ticket sales means less revenue in to pay expenses. Expenses include the non-hockey costs to pay the extras ( non -hockey) that attracts the top players ( bursaries, scholarships, etc).

I apologize for not taking the audience into account. I will try to keep any comments as simple as possible so that they might be understood.

I will however not be able to lower myself to match the grammar level of Billythekid. Seriously .. ever heard of a run-on sentence or a coherent argument .. By the way who are the Corsairs.. Is that the farm team for the Corvairs ?

I anxiously await the multitude of brilliant responses to my post. I don't think anyone could top the "LOL" comment. Then again someone might use the " your mother wears army boots" response.
lol somebody get offended a little bit by my response ? Lol I don't care one bit about what you think about my gramer lol. I got my point across you read it and other ppl on here did to. That's weak if that's all you could come up with bud. The corsairs are the farm team of the big club but they don't have as much money though bc on Fridays they don't sell as many smokes bc the CORVAIRS are playing so it cuts into the profits. Going to have to figure out what to do on Friday nights here I guess. The smoke comments come from last year when you were running your mouth about them saying how there money comes from illegal smokes. You remember that oldtymer ? No prolly not bc your old. Find something else to run your mouth about bc it's getting old and your jealousy is getting old also. Anyways back to the topic here. By no means am I saying Bully is the best ever but I think he is the perfect man for that team. Night in and night out he gets the best out of those kids. As for Terry he was good at what he did to with those teams but in my opinion Bully knows a little bit more about the game then Terry. Can't wait to read your next blog here it's going to be great lol. It took me a while to thunk of all of this though. I hope to Corsairs got a good crowd tonight to being a Friday and all. Can you please wait to reply to this post please because I can't handle writing 3 comments in one weak. BTW you being old comment is me just showing how dumb you look on here running your mouth on a computer screen lol. Stick to the topic you want to start a new feed on attendance then do it. Sorry I hurt your feelings lol
BeenThereDoneThat
Posts: 398
Joined: Sat Dec 13, 2014 12:31 pm

Re: Coach Mike Bullard

Post by BeenThereDoneThat »

Congratulations Oldtymer, you've turned this interesting conversation into a pissing match :smt014 . Here's something to consider when posting your next rant, read it carefully------ then hit the DELETE button. :smt117
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