INDEPENDENCE, Mo. – The Missouri Mavericks of the Central Hockey League made several announcements in front of fans and media at a press conference Tuesday at Independence Events Center.
The Mavericks unveiled the team’s 2012-13 slogan as “Give M Hell”, announced the team’s radio partnership and the home opener will be on Saturday, November 3rd. The Mavericks also unveiled a new jersey design, details about the upcoming Fan Fest on September 8th among other items at the event.
GIVE M HELL The Mavericks call Independence, Missouri home and it is also the home of the 33rd president of the United States Harry S. Truman. The team will once again honor his famous phrase with a slightly different spelling of “Give M Hell” as the campaign slogan for the 2012-13 season. The team, along with Justin Park of Park Design, has also created a logo for this year’s campaign which features a shield with the “M”, a horseshoe and a hockey puck with the text “Give M Hell” under the shield. RADIO PARTNERSHIP WITH ENTERCOM AND 1660-AM The Mavericks have partnered with Entercom Kansas City and all 66 games this season will be aired live on KMBZ 1660-AM. Mavericks play-by-play announcer Bob Rennison will again bring the action to Mavericks’ fans for all 66 games. Mavericks’ games will also be available online and on the team’s mobile application. “We’re pleased to be partnering with the Missouri Mavericks and happy to be bringing the live action to their passionate fan base all-season long,” Ryan Maguire, Program Director of 610 Sports Radio said, speaking for Entercom Kansas City . “They are a great addition to an already impressive roster of local sports teams we work with on our family of radio stations.”
Brent Thiessen%2C President and General Manager of the Mavericks speaks at yesterday%27s event.
The Mavericks will open up their home portion of the 2012-13 season on November 3 at Independence Events Center at 7:05 p.m. The opponent is to be determined, and the remainder of the Central Hockey League schedule should be announced soon. .
FAN FEST SEPTEMBER 8th AT IEC Fan Fest will be hosted on Saturday, September 8 from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. at Independence Events Center. Fans will have the opportunity to participate in “Q & A” sessions with the Mavericks’ staff, coaches and select players at the event. Throughout the day, there will be many interactive games and events for children. The Mavericks and defenseman David Simoes have also partnered with the American Red Cross to host a blood drive at the event.
JERSEY DESIGN The Mavericks also unveiled the jersey designs for all three jerseys this season. Once again, the Mavericks will use their white and black jerseys as their primary home and away jerseys and the team will still have their alternate orange jersey. On the white jersey the Mavericks’ logo is now encircled with a crest. The thick stripes on the sides and arms of the jersey are now orange as opposed to black. The orange jersey also had a slight change in which the text across the front is now three colors as opposed to two and the horseshoe patch has been added to one of the shoulders. The Mavericks black jersey has not changed.
In addition to the business announcements, Mavericks Head Coach Scott Hillman announced the team has signed forward Brian Bicek and defenseman Blake Forsyth.
Mavericks Head Coach Scott Hillman
Bicek, 26, enters his fifth professional season and fourth in the CHL. The Downers Grove, Illinois native played the past two seasons for the Evansville IceMen where he had 121 points (60 G, 61 A) and 164 penalty minutes in 124 games. The 5′ 9″, 175-pound forward led the IceMen in goals in each of the past two seasons and he set a career-high with 33 goals last season. Prior to playing for Evansville, Bicek played the 2009-10 season with the Muskegon Lumberjacks in the International Hockey League (IHL), and he played his rookie season with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees in 2008-09. Overall, Bicek has tallied 215 points (100 G, 115 A) and 325 penalty minutes in 263 professional games. “To me, Brian Bicek is simply one of the most exciting players in the CHL,” Hillman said of his newest forward. “He has incredible speed and is one of the elite goal scorers in double-A hockey. He plays hard every shift no matter what the score. Brian is very excited to get to Missouri after playing against our club the last two seasons, and we are equally excited to have him on our side instead of against us.” Forsyth, 32, returns to the Mavericks after playing last season with the Rapid City Rush. The 6′ 3″, 191-pound defenseman finished with 16 points (1 G, 15 A) in 60 games with Rapid City in 2011-12. Forsyth played for the Mavericks the previous season and led all CHL defensemen with a +26 plus/minus rating. He joined the Mavericks at the end of the team’s inaugural season and played in seven games with Missouri and all seven playoff games. In total, the Winnipeg, Manitoba native has three goals and 17 assists in 73 regular season games with Missouri and two assists in 16 playoff games played. Forsyth has played eight seasons professionally and has played in 475 games with 24 goals, 113 assists and 805 penalty minutes. “Blake Forsyth is a team favorite in the locker room,” Hillman said. “He is a no glitz, no glamour type of old-school defensemen that only has one care and that is winning. Blake, coupled with players like David Pszenyczny and David Simoes give us a good core of shut down defensemen that will make it miserable for opposing players to find space in the defensive zone.” Contact the writer at
robert.keith@prohockeynews.com
Contact the photographer at
daniel.russell@prohockeynews.com Related
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