Friday, May 29, 2009

Bronze League Back Stories Volume One...The Stingers

Killer here, I had the opportunity to sit down with the coordinator for the three time champion Stingers this week, and find out the back story on the team. Hopefully between Dickie and I we will get the back stories on all the 10 Bronze League Teams:

Killer: How did you come to name your team the Stingers?

Dan: When we started the Stingers at Euless, 4 years ago, I was also coaching my grandsons squirt house team at Euless. At that time, we could choose any team name that we wanted. We looked at a bunch of different hockey leagues logos. So we chose the “Sting” after the Sarnia Sting of the OHL. Everyone loved the “bee” logo. We even had hats & tee-shirts made. So when we scrounged up a men’s I-League team & were trying to come up with a name, the guys liked my “Sting” logo on my hat & said “hey lets call ourselves the “Sting” like your grandsons team. I said fine, but to avoid any type of confusion between the 2 teams (especially for me), how about we modify it & call ourselves the “Stingers”. Everyone agreed and that’s how its been. Today, about 85% of our team that started with us back then, is still with us.

Killer: How did you guys settle on the Dallas Stars syle jerseys?

Dan: When we started, we went about a year without any style jersey. We then decided to get something & went with a black Pittsburgh Penguin style jersey with the “Sting” logo. It looked great, but was a little expensive. After a few personnel changes & a desire to go with something new, we ordered new (black) jerseys last summer & the white ones this past spring. We wanted to keep it simple & liked the way the Dallas Stars did their new ones. So we adopted their style with “Stingers” instead of “Dallas” on it. We got a hell of a deal on them as well. Lots of credit goes to David Mulvey for that!

There you have it folks, now you know a little more on the Stingers. Thanks to Dan Fenili for giving the Killer the full story.

32 Comments:

"General Solisomancy" The Uniform Czar said...

To be more accurate, the original Stingers jersey was a gold, air-knit practice jersey supplied by DPSC Euless house jersey that they supplied... Affectionately nicknamed the "Mocha" jersey, these are cherished pieces of Stinger history and still carried in the bags of many Stingers as an alternate jersey.

Anonymous said...

I guess I post this here now. Lets see where to start, I guess I’ll start with a couple Quotes "three time champion Stingers", "When we started the Stingers at Euless, 4 years ago" & "Today, about 85% of our team that started with us back then, is still with us". Am I wrong in understanding that the "I" in "I league" is for "Instructional League"? If that's the case what is a team that’s been together for four years now still doing in the league. Especially after winning it 3 times, And almost a forth, if it hadn't been for a rouge team (Lady Stars) that they did beat twice during the season. In my opinion it's time the Stingers got bumped up to the D league where they belong, or moved own. Now please don't try and give me the argument the "well look at the experience the newer player get by playing better teams" well you don’t see 15-16 year old kids playing with 9-10 year olds to give them experience do you.

That being said how about we take a quick look at the Ice Gators too. Here’s a team that already has over 3/4 of their team playing together in the D league (look up the Jedi team and compare) with that being the case they too have no reason to still be playing as a full team in the "I" league.

Anonymous said...

When you look at the Gators and the part of them that play in D league, please take notice of the points in d league. Jedi is no where near a contending team in D league. We play there for more ice time and to improve our game. Also please review the rules and know that you can play one league down. Nobody was talking about the Gators our first season when we lost every game. That was 3 seasons ago. Sorry that your game is not getting any better. Maybe you should try playing more.....

BRUNO

Anonymous said...

I throw this out there to see what kind of feed back comes in....

Since SOOOOOO many of you do nothing but complain, before, during and after the games about this player or that player and how this team is full of "ringers" or that team is a "C" league team, How do YOU suggest NYTEX clean up the league? Remember they are trying to keep the cost down so people new to the sport can afford it. BTW lets be honest here, more than 60% of the players on the ice have NO buisness playing in the "I" league and a full 25% are "C" league or higher level players! Oh and please dont give me that bullshit about "well I just want to play with my buddies" or "playing with higher level players make us better"! Thats a load of crap and you know it! The lower skilled players get maybe 5 touches of the puck per game and LEARN NOTHING! except maybe how to trash talk and act like and ASS CLOWN! If you want a "TRUE" instructional league then reply here with positive ways on how to fix it?????

Anonymous said...

One way to possably fix it is, Drop down to say 6 or 8 teams. And if a player IS on a roster above the "I" league he can play no more then say 5 games total as a sub in the league. And a team can play with no more the 2 higher league subs in any one game.

Or something along that line

Anonymous said...

Hey Bruno,

How'd your team handle the game Saturday.

Real sportsmen like.
Thats the spirit of the I league

Anonymous said...

Its about time this subject is talked about. Remember this is a bronze league which should be a blend of "1st or 2nd year players and beginners" the i-in instruction is absent for about half the teams thanks to those coaches who VOLUNTEER their time. If I was a beginning player I would be fustrated playing in our league. Give it up for the Gators they have made tremendous improvement. That said, sure you can play down a league but really 3/4 of your team plays d-league and you have won 1/3 of your Silver league games. That brings us to the Stingers 4 years together. Guys guess what? Its time to move up or split up. The Hurricanes are another Lady Stars team bringing in any rogue A thru D league player not ashaned enough to play Bronze league. Basically every team has two or three players ready to take the next step.
I have a solution. Let make this league fun. Let encourage new skaters to come out. Here's the theory. I'm basing this on Fantasy sports:
1. every team gets to keep a core group of 6-9 players.
2. We have players designated at three levels beginner, intermediate, and Advanced.
3. Each team will have to have 2-4 beginners depending on the number of advanced players they have.
(you getting this advanced players can mentor beginners)
4. We have a great big draft party at Zuroma's with an hour of skills skating for the pool players where the newbees can be classified and team coordinators can scout. Everyone can have some beer food and leave knowing which team they play for. Concept here is equalize the teams and reduce the number of teams with only 5 to 10 players.
5. Designate those guys who have no spine by playing several levels down in our league. We Id them make them wear a orange arm band. If they score it doesn't count and give em a penalty or game misconduct. Really... This sounds harsh... but come on... why do high end players (A thru C) want to play with us???? Ego? Short Comings? Confidence?
We have a bunch really great guys and gals in this league. I have had the pleasure to play with several different teams and its fun getting to know the players on all the teams. This way the league stays competative everybody gets to know each other and the coordinators build their teams through the draft. I think this a option to bring the fun back and encourage new growth in the league. Sorry if I offended anyone including anyone on my own team. If we can't police ourselves then maybe some rules will help that.

Sens #2

Anonymous said...

The infiltration of sandbaggers has been the worse this season. It proves that, especially now with Jeff B. gone, there is nobody in charge. I’m sure the promises will start again at near the end of season on how it will be better.
It is outrageous to watch these guys go coast to coast. Real proud I-leaguers…
I’d like to remind all of you REAL I-league players that you’re getting ripped off. You are paying essentially to watch sandbaggers play from the ice. Is that view really worth it?

Anonymous said...

you want to talk about sportsmanship and the 'spirit' of i league whomever posted the 6th post...what about the coach getting on the ice walking over to our bench to yell at fans in the stands who are doing absolutely nothing and then standing like a big babby on the ice, not going back to his bench so the ref calls the game with a few minutes left..

our team wasnt comlaining when we lost every single game the first season and then won only one game the second. we have 95% of the same exact players who could barely skate the first couple seasons who have gotten leaps and bounds better (good for them) and we still have skaters who struggle staying on their feet. of coarse there will be better teams than others and i for one have no problem with teams like the stingers and aparently our team who have gotten better through the seasons and present a challenge to play against...thats how you get better by playing teams better than you. I personaly enjoy playing the stingers who always provide a real challenge (they beat us this season already) and i dont remember anyone on our team ever complaining when we used to be beaten severely by every team in the leage when we first started playing.

Although we have yet to play all the teams including the hurricanes, it seems as though there are several really good evenly matched teams out, not one dominate one, and the keg is up for grabs by anyone

good luck to all..

#10 ice gators

Anonymous said...

That is great Ice Gators and now (by your own admission) you are better and should only be playing for the Jedi. The purpose is to play I league, learn, get better and move up. By your own words you have learned and gotten better and is now time to play up full time. The Icegators can stay around but need to have I leaguers to learn and get better and let the better players just play with the Jedi. You guys are using the excuse of playing a level down to get ice time for really you are playing down because you can actually win against lower level talent.

Anonymous said...

#10 Gator, When the shots on goal are 53 to 4 and the score is 10 to 1. And you guys are bitching that can't keep shooting and scoring. And your player went after the Ref because he got a penality for scoring (again), thats really in the spirit learning and sportsmenship. I don't blame the coach for not leaving the ice (though i didn't see that part).

Anonymous said...

Can we get a solution here folks? This is a great league with a bunch of great guys. I agree the Gators have worked their butts off to get better. I see them at the skills classes and drop-ins. There are several players and teams improving. We need to make sure we include the new players. Lets see the Monkeys had 4 shots on goal in three periods? Do you think those guys learned anything? We need to find a way to level the games and make them competetive and fun. When teams are winning by 4 or more goals its a problem. Realize through 4 complete weeks only 1 one goal game and 1 OT game. I am not picking on any one team, we all must work on this.
Lets here some solutions with the bitching. please...

Sens #2

Killer Carlson said...

The problems with the league all stem from the fact that one season ends, and then two weeks later another one begins. There is not enough time to sit down, organize, and get a good plan in place for the new season. Teams like the Lady Stars and Hurricanes jump in, and dominate cause there is no time to do the research needed to prevent this.

We do have a proper playoff format in place this season, so that is a STEP IN THE RIGHT DIRECTION.

Next season I think that we need to sit down, get all the coordinators in one room, and even this thing out. There needs to be some give and take going on. Some teams are going to have to give up players to even out the league. I think we drop the size of the league down to 8 teams in two divisions.

And folks remember this, it is the BRONZE League now and not an I League. The reason it is called Bronze is becuase there are lots of D league players mixed in with the I League folks.

Keep this in mind, Brahma players compete in the gold league and Euless A league during the summers to keep their legs in shape. Do you think it is fair to the A League or Gold league that professional atheletes are in their with everyone else? Personally I dont mind this league having some good players, each team having one or two good players helps out that team. But the league as a whole needs to spread out these guys.

Anonymous said...

That’s pretty lame and sneaky to claim that all of a sudden it’s not I-league anymore. I did not sign up to “play” with D and C leaguers. If that’s the case, it’s time for me to head out to Euless or Grapevine…

Why not leave I-league what it is, instructional? Why not make a D-league into D-league and not-really-D-league. Or make it Brown and Ochre. Those colors are closer to represent what this league did become…

Anonymous said...

Killer if thats the case and NYTEC has just combined the I leage and the D league in to one. Then myself being a new player and trying to learn should take my money somewhere else that still has A,B,C,D and I leagues (like Euless). I may nowhere near the level of most of the players in the league (but i do try my best everytime i'm on the ice) and like someone else posted it just seem like i get an Ice level view to watch C and D player go end to end and skate circles newer players (loads of and experince there)

Killer Carlson said...

Alright let me clarify myself. Nytex did not under any circumstances combine both the I and D leagues into the BRONZE league and not tell anyone. The name change from I League to Bronze league was meant to class things up. Last season there were five official D league teams in the Nytex I League. Those were the lady stars, and the four teams from the parks mall were their four D league teams.

The Arlington teams were not invited back this season, and the lady stars went on their own way.

There are teams in the Bronze league this season that have guys that play in the D league. The Ice Gators roster has three people who dont play for the Jedi in the D league also.

I have an idea on how to solve the bronze league, I will make a new post with that idea now, and throw it out for discussion.

But dont think Nytex is trying to pull the wool over your eyes, and just take your money. There are sandbaggers everywhere, at every rink, at every golf course in every golf association, in every softball league, in every basketball league, everywhere, period. You are always going to have guys that want to play down a league to feel good and make an impact. Look at my next post for my solution to end the bitching.

Anonymous said...

First off i agree that the purpose is to play I-league, learn, get better and move up. i know that at least for our team we have talked about it and made plans to move to a d-league team in the near future. sadly that would also mean that alot of players would have to find other i-league teams to play on because they would not be able to compete in d-league which sucks. 1 year of i-league does not mean its time to move up. we simply are not good enough to move up now and i dont understand why everyone seems to think so, we are only 3-1 this season with alot of hockey left to play.there are 2 undeafeated teams (we obviously are NOT one of them) and another team has the same record as us so far, so it makes no sense that of all teams WE should move up when we are evenly matched with one team and behind 2 other teams thus far. Last season we lost 3 games the season before that we lost half our games, before that we won 2 games and our first season we didnt win a single game... and we have never won the keg.

the "You guys are using the excuse of playing a level down to get ice time when really you are playing down because you can actually win against lower level talent" is complete B.S. first off read above...we are behind 2 team's and tied with one team. the reason a FEW of us are playing d-league is because the d-league team didnt have a full roster so they got a couple of us i-league players to 'move up' fill in the spots to give the other guys rest...the team had exactly one person on the bench before some of us filled in the roster spots. we are complety unproductive on that team, check out the stats. in the last 3 months our i-league line (matt hammond roger bishop jonathan senchi) have scored 1 goal. thats it. 1 goal. the other guys who play on the team moved up last season...nobody has moved down a league to play with us. at the same time i have seen guys playing d-league who also play on i-league on many teams i-league. I have no problem with that because you are allowed to do so. when we were getting crushed every single game by the stingers and other teams who had far more talent than us, we never complained that they had d-league players. most of us have been going to the hockey skills class and the drop in hockey to get better and it has been alot of fun to slowly get better as a team and finally be competative with them (even though they beat us a couple games ago)


The way i see it, there are 4 to 5 teams that are evenly matched and then a large gap in talent and the rest of the teams in i-leage. i have no idea how you go about bridging that gap but i dont believe that the good teams moving up to d-league fixes everything. if you have ever played d-leage you know that the talent is a complete different level than i-league...especially when the c league guys play on the d league teams it actually gets pretty fun to watch...lots of talent. None of the i-league teams would win a single game in d-league (my personal prediction) wich really would present the same problem in d-league that we have here in I-league.

I propose an i-league draft

#10 Gators

Killer Carlson said...

well spoken #10 Gators. Read my new post, and comment on that. I am curious to see where you are with my solution to the i league problems.

Anonymous said...

if they want to make a rule where you can no longer play in 2 different leagues..i would actually vote in favor of that, however it would effect most teams in the league...not just ours and possibly they would have to enforce that for the b, c, and d-leagues as well. I doubt they would ever make that rule though, they are making more money having people pay to play in 2 leagues than if they were only allowed to play in one,which im sure is why they are allowing it in the first place.


oh and to clear up a couple things about our last game vs spider monkeys,your right we were bitching because the ref told us not to shoot and score. that was the stupidest thing i have ever heard of,what are you supposed to do if you are not allowed to shoot the puck, just play a stupid game of keep away?? thats not hockey and if you think we were being "not in the spirit of i-league" or whatever, i completely disagree. It is obsourd that our guy got a penalty for shooting the puck and scoring. it was a wrist shot from the top of the circle...
furthermore nobody ever went after the ref. and it was not the guy who scored, it was a guy who was trying to understand the penalty because he to had never heard of such a thing and the ref sent him to the box from our bench...where he skated over to the penalty box and from there i have no idea what was said because i was sitting on the bench, but there was absolutely no physicaly going after the ref. you can point fingers all you want and the he did this and he did that blah blah blah, everybody does something on every team and as jeff bohl told me when i was bitching about something someone did to me that he didnt call,"its hockey"

not sure if killer carlson means that we only have 3 people who dont also play d-league...but if so that simply is not true. Mike Sosnowski, Stacy Del Buono, dave anderson, dj williams, robert doherty, austin hammond, roger bishop, jonathan SenChi and matt hammond all play i-league. matt, roger and jonathan have started playing d-league as needed a couple months ago to put more bodies on the bench besides one extra sub. the other guys, zack gunter and gaydos, mike wolf are i-league players who moved up to d-league as well last season and we have two new guys who havnt played in years who signed up on both teams. im sure people think its wrong or will hate that we do have poeple who are playing d-league and people who are trying to move up to d-league...but that is our complete roster right there for everyone to criticize lol

#10 gators

Anonymous said...

I am glad some of the beginners are saying something. This is my third season. I started skating last August, I was completely overwelmed by the serious skaters and frankly upset(pissed off) at the guys who were too good for the league. I chose to stick with it, get in skate school, take advantage of skills classes , and take few lessons. I still basically suck, but I have improved and have a goal to move to D-league sometime soon. I have spoken with people from rinks all over. They all say the i-leagues will have skaters who feel the need to beat up on the beginners its like an initiation thing. A true i-league would not keep scores and would be a organized scrimmage. Have instructors on the ice to help players improve and learn the fundamentals. The Bronze league here is the same caliber as the other similar leagues in town. Ask some of the guys in our league they have come from Euless, Grapevine, Various other Star Centers its the same thing everywhere This league has a great bunch of men and women. Lets get a solution to the problem and make it competetive for EVERYONE. Lets make this the best beginning level league in the metroplex by making it fun and competetive. NO MORE DYNASTYS.

Sens#2

Anonymous said...

great thoughts on the new post killer...everyone should check it out. It would be tough to accomplish especially for teams that have been playing together for years and teams like ours that are sponsored by our company so our employees all play together, however i believe it may be worth it...

Anonymous said...

I personally don't think having D-leaguers or whatever leaguers on a team is a problem...as long as these players remember they are playing in I-league and skate with the right attitude. I remember one game when we played one of the aforementioned, supposed D-league teams, and it was an awful game. They were passing the puck around to each other, and we, the I-leaguers, were standing around like monkeys in the middle; we couldn't take the puck away from them. That said, our team has a D-league level player (actually more like B or C league once he gets back in shape), and he plays with the right attitude. He sets people up, helps people out, and does not forget that we are in the I-league. Attitude is everything here...

Anonymous said...

Killer, my question for you is
If the Parks Mall teams were they D league teams how does one come into this league and still go 0-10.
And another only win 3 games. From what I heard they didn't want to come back because if all the sandbaggers in the I league.

Anonymous said...

what parks mall team went 0-10?

i actually heard that our facility didnt allow them into this league again this season...and alot due to nobody in our league wanting to play on the terrible ice at the parks mall......many many many complaints to knute about that

Killer Carlson said...

We all need to agree that having a perfectly matched even league is probably not possible. Look at the NFL, there is a strict salary cap in place to make it fair, but yet you still have teams that are terrible year in and year out like the Lions.

The parks teams were D league teams, but their D league was obviously weaker than our silver league. All this dialogue is good, lets keep it going, and work towards an agreeable solution

Anonymous said...

Arlington Bolts (Parks Mall) 0-10
Arlington Capts (Parks Mall) 3-6-1
Arlington Sens 7-3
Arlington Rangers 7-2-1

And those are "D" league teams playing in out "I" league?

Anonymous said...

Weaker or just not stacked with upper level players?

Anonymous said...

d-league teams at parks mall would get crushed by nytex d-league teams in my opinion...

Anonymous said...

I talked with a guy i work with and the main reason the Parks Mall teams were not willing to come back was, Every time that came to NYTEX to play a game they ended up playing the same 5 player no matter who they were playing. The one person he did mention was Zach. He was in every game that the parks mall team played last season. And he said unless NYTEX got a handle on the rostors they were refusing to come back to play at NYTEX.

Stingers 21 said...

Zack is a good kid but it does get super annoying to see him play on every single team. He once asked the Stingers if they needed players. That gave us all a good laugh.

Anonymous said...

people like #16 spider monkeys annoy me more than anything...all they do is hack, cross check slash and push i-league players...your an idiot #16, learn to play the game and stop picking on players who cant skate well.

Anonymous said...

I'll try mom...but you shouldn't be on the internet. Remember what the Dr. said.

Spider Monkeys #16

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