Birds now play on Falcons Way

Mayor Charlie Ryan of Springfield and Falcons VP of Business Operations
Bob Oliver unvail the new street sign outside of the MassMutual Center

November 08, 2006

With the Springfield Falcons team practicing inside of the MassMutual Center on Wednesday, there was a special presentation taking place outside in which East Court Street has been renamed Falcons Way.

In a morning press conference located on the corner of East Court Street and Main Street, Springfield Mayor Charles Ryan, along with Falcons President and General Manager Bruce Landon and Vice President of Business Operations Bob Oliver unveiled the newest street name in the city; Falcons Way.

Along with the assistance from TSM Design, the Falcons held an open press conference to make the announcement and continue their effort to promote their 2006-07 season as Big Time Fun.

Inside of the MassMutual Center, the Falcons took to the ice Wednesday morning preparing for another busy weekend of hockey action. Springfield will host the Portland Pirates on Friday, followed by the Manchester Monarchs on Saturday night. The Falcons are coming off an impressive weekend last week when they took four of a possible six points and moved into fourth place in the Atlantic Division standings.

"One step at a time," said Falcons head coach Steve Stirling. "We need to build on what we did last week and continue to play a simple game. There is another test waiting this weekend."

The Falcons will begin Friday night with a matchup against the Pirates, who are tied with Providence for first place in the Atlantic Division. Springfield and Portland will actually meet twice this weekend as they travel to Maine on Sunday.

"It will not be easy, we are facing some quality teams this week," said Stirling. "Portland is at the top of the division for a reason, they have a good hockey club and we will need to be ready to play."

One area that was pleasing for Springfield fans last week was other sources of offense for the Birds, with rookie Justin Keller leading the way with two goals and three assists in three games. Jean Desrochers, who was recalled last Thursday from Johnstown, was also steady collecting his first two AHL goals on Saturday against the Worcester Sharks. Zdenek Blatny also collected a three-point night on Saturday against Worcester.

"I was fortunate to play between a couple of very good players in Marek Kvapil and Blatny," said Desrochers, who was leading the Chiefs in goals at the time of his recall. "Hopefully we keep things rolling, we played well last week and we are looking for the same this week."

The Falcons are currently on a two-game winning streak, East Court Street is now Falcons Way, Big Time Fun continues at the MassMutual Center this weekend.