Bulldogs Game Day #52 vs Penticton

After last playing at home January 22nd- a 3-1 win over the Salmon Arm Silverbacks for their 19th win in a row- the Bulldogs return to home ice tonight after 4 games in a row on the road as the Penticton Vees make their only regular season trip to the 'pound. The Vees have won three in a row and are unbeaten in NINE games, while the Bulldogs have lost three in a row. The last time these two teams met- November 19th in Penticton- both teams were streaking, having both won 7 games in a row. The Bulldogs won that game 3-1 after taking a 3-0 lead after two periods.

The 93.3 The Peak pregame show is on the air at 6:45 tonight with Ace and myself, the puck drop is at 7:00pm. For those not in The Peak's listening range, catch the internet broadcast through the BCHL's Fanzone

During the broadcast, send an email to the PRESSBOX

Now, for the first of several installments of "four degrees of game day" First up is Bulldogs Athletic Trainer/Equipment Manager Matt Auerbach. I hope you enjoy gameday with Matt.

Four degrees of gameday- Edition #1

Matty Auerbach

Game day preparation begins the evening before game day. Matt will sharpen the skates for the players that like to skate ONCE on freshly sharpened blades before the game.

All laundry is also done the night before, so on game day at 8:30am when Matt opens up the room and turns the lights on, the dressing room is already set up for pregame skate.

Gameday

9:15am- Any physio, wrappings, tape jobs, or anything else needed to get players ready for the game day skate are done.

Game day skate from 10:30am-11:15 or so.

Matty will then watch the gameday skate, and attend to any players needs.

If the team is on the road that night, the loading of “the trunks” begins. There are two trunks.

One trunk contains equipment, tape, laces, tools, the skate sharpener, riveter, and any spare skate and helmet parts.

Matt says “If I ever need it for a game it’s in there”

The other trunk is medical. It holds all needed medical supplies from medications to wraps, towels, gatorade mix, food, powerbars etc.

11:15am-Game day skate is done. Matt then does laundry immediately so it’s ready for game time, then sharpens the remaining skates for that night.

12:00pm- Matty then sets up the dressing room for the game. Jerseys and socks are put into the individual player stalls. Then on tables in the room Matt sets up sweat towels, gatorade, all sorts of tape, powerbars, and anything else. This part of the day ends at 1pm.

1pm- Matt heads home for lunch and rest and relaxation.

3:30pm- Back to the rink first for the pregame shower. Follwing that, Matt sets up the hallway outside the room with the Bulldogs banner as a divider. He then sets up the skate sharpener in hallway, and the stick preparing table. The stick prep table has everything the players need to get their sticks ready- tape, a heat gun, glue, wax, etc.

About 3:45 first players show up. Jordan Kremyr is usually the first

Matt then sets up the stationary bikes in the hallway outside the room for players, and the glove dryers for intermissions and after warm up to keep the players gloves dry.

All of this is usually finished by 4:30pm

4:30-6:00pm Matt attends to any lingering injuries, and any wraps, tape jobs, or anything else needed to get players ready.

5:30pm- In the dressing room, the players do their warmup of stretching etc. After that’s done, around 5:45 or so, Jim Hiller talks to players about the nights game.

While that’s happening, Matt and his assistant Jamie Amos set up the bench.

On the bench for a game there’s tape of all varieties, spare sticks, Matt’s medical bag, and ice.

Jamie Amos then sets up water bottles, towels, as well as the pucks used for warm up.

Jamie then sets up the penalty boxes with 2 water bottles each side, a towel each side, and a bag of ice each side. Jamie also delivers the frozen game pucks in a cooler, to the scorekeepers booth

6:25-6:45pm The players are then on the ice for warm up, which Matt and Jamie watch, and make sure everything is going smoothly.

6:45 to 7:00pm Any final player concerns are dealt with, and Matt then listens to the 93.3 The Peak FM pregame show and usually catches Jim Hiller’s interview, then half of interview with the other coach. Thanks for listening Matty. Then it’s everyone out of the room and onto the bench and the ice for gametime.

After game is finished, laundry is started post haste, with the jerseys going in first. Matt then delivers ice to any players needing it, and deals with any injuries. By the time the players are done icing, most of the players are gone. Dressing room cleanup then begins, followed by the take down of the hall way set up, the skate sharpener, the bikes, the stick prep table, and the Bulldog banner.

Hometime is about midnight for your average home game.

Thanks for stopping by the blog
GO DOGS GO
Hammer