Falcons pick up 5 out of 6 points

Coach Russell here!

There's a whole bunch of growing going on. (I think that was a line in a song somewhere??) The Falcons have picked up 5 out of 6 points to start the season off, 3 out of 4 points on the road and our rivals coming to town in Hartford and Providence. A real good challenge for our men in black and blue, to further show how they have grown in the American Hockey League. Three of our Falcons have grown so much they have earned a look in the big dance in Tampa - Paul Ranger, Evgeny Artyukhin and Nick Tarnasky.

Carole Appleton and Damon Markiewicz do an outstanding job with getting the players out in the community, and we can't forget SCREECH who is just everywhere. Family Nights start Monday the 24th with Jim Campbell and Marek Kvapil at Friendly's, 529 Memorial Drive in Chicopee. Tuesday, the 25th we travel to Barnes Air National Guard Base, Westfield for our team poster shoot on our A-10 - All kinds of neat things, a pilot briefing and a tour of the base. BIG BOY TOYS. Yahoo! And of course my personal favorite, my Springfield Sliders Sled Hockey team, who are extremely motivated this year. We play Tuesday Nights at the beautiful Amelia Park Ice Arena in Whip City (aka Westfield)..

The 28th and 29th has Lowell and last year's Calder Cup Champion Philadelphia Phantoms coming to visit the Falcons in our new nest. The MassMutual Center is waiting to welcome them. It's the end of October and Halloween is just around the corner. What will you dress up as?

Speaking of dressing up, if anyone out there saw our Doug O'Brien and Mitch Fritz at the 2005 Fall Fashion Show last week, I need to see pictures of their runway strut. For those of you who don't know they are modeling for a great cause, the Rays of Hope Breast Cancer campaign.

November has the team on the road for three games the first week before coming home against Hartford on the 6th. I am looking for questions from my readers, so drop Carole Appleton at the Falcons a line (cappleton@falconsahl.com) with requests. Have a Grand Day...