Hey there Falcons Fans, I know the one question on every ones mind walking in to the SMC these days is where has Self been? LoL Well I have been here Blogging! It's my turn to give all you fans the inside scoop on whats new with the Falcons on and off the ice, and much like the Bloggers before me I have done a little research reading up on my fellow team mates blogs. So at this point I believe I need to give you my nick names. Well the most obvious and what most of the boys would call me by BEFORE Christmas was Selfer, but after spending a week in Vegas with Curty, �Johnny Drama� is my newly acquired nick name. Apparently one of Curty's Christmas presents was the 1^st two seasons of Entourage and seems to think there is a resemblance there, and most of the boys agree.

I believe when Coux left off we were just ready to jump on a plane and head to Vegas for 6 days. Wait we are going to Vegas for 6 days, and we only have 3 games? That road trip must have been planned for the single guys. Thank You Tito and Mouge. Well as all you die hard Falcons fans know we were able to come home with 6 points, and most of the money that we arrived with. Unfortunately I don't have any crazy stories of celebrity hook ups or guys waking up in the morning with wedding rings on. But we defiantly enjoyed ourselves while we were there, oh ya and did I mention that we came home with 6 points.

So after Christmas break we take a couple studder steps and drop 2 games, but that doesn't last long, the boys get on a roll winning 7 out of 10 games. Now that all the extra servings of Christmas turkey is out of the system, its time for another break. A group of us who were not asked to play in Stockton during the all-star break decided to rent a couple of cars and head down to LA, check out Universal Studio's, and rub elbows with the Stars. So after we make the long trek down to Hollywood Blvd, get checked into our hotel we decide to head down to �Le Deux�, the local hot spot for all the A listers. We arrive, nice and early to avoid and lines, and the boys were looking good too might I add, we could have stopped traffic on the 401 if we had too (that will only make sense to the Ontario boys). It doesn't take long for us to realize that the only way they were going to let us in there is if we pooled all our paychecks together and maybe, just maybe they might let one of us in. Hollywood 1, Falcons Zero. They clearly didn't want us in there, we were looking just too damn good. You might think that this would be a devastating blow to our big plans for our all-star break, not even close. The next day we headed to Universal Studios, Odie was able to meet Jay Leno and and interview of �Jay Walking� with him, we are still waiting to see if it will be aired. After a full day at Universal the boys split up. A few of the guys were able to score some green room passes to a filming of the Criag Kilborn show, and the rest of the boys drove down to Anaheim and watch the Ducks play Detroit. Later we all met up at Hermosa Beach for a night out on the piers. So All-Star break is over, we barley make it back to Fresno in time for late afternoon practice because of a snow storm that close all highways through the mountains, wait did I just say that, snow storm in California, someone must be playing a joke on us. Anyways back to reality, all-star break was a success. Final score for the road trip was Fresno Falcons 5, LA 1.

Well its time to sign off and I still haven't answered the question that everyone wants to know, where have I been because I certainly haven't been on the ice lately. Well I think it may have already leaked out to the media, but for those of you who don't know I recently had shoulder surgery and am on the long road to recovery right now. So there now that you know that all your questions have been answered and you are up to date on what going on with the members of your Favorite hockey team the Fresno Falcons.

Johny Drama Signing off, Stay classy Fresno California.

Happy New Year Falcon Nation!  It’s your boy #24 Daryl Marcoux, a.k.a. Coo-Coo or Coux (actually pronounce the ‘x’ on this one) as I have come to be known.  I guess it’s time for me to take my shot at the old player blog. 

 

Doing a little research, I see that Rammer left you guys as we had just won our fifth consecutive game.  This streak then continued to seven games, beating Bakersfield and Victoria , before it was unfortunately snapped by those same Salmon Kings.  Then it was off to Utah for a pair of games, which we ended up splitting.  In the first game Utah came out hard, finishing all of their hits and using an aggressive forecheck to take the first game 5-2.  However, we bounced right back the following night, scoring six goals in a 6-1 victory which led us into the Christmas break.

 

I was lucky enough to be able to go home for five days or so over Christmas, but from the sounds of things I missed out on a ton of fun back here in Fresno .  About ten guys stayed behind over the break and the stories are nothing short of legendary.  Leaving most of the juicy stuff out unfortunately, the boys ended up doing a secret Santa gift exchange and even filled stockings for each other while sipping on some eggnog.  There was also talk of an incredible fondue party and a great Christmas night potluck dinner. 

 

It was great to get back to Fresno after the break, where the weather wasn’t -25 °C like back home.  We got right back into things with a game in Stockton on the 27^th, which unfortunately did not go our way.  Both teams were a little rusty from the time off, but Stockton was able to come away with a 2-0 win.  Then we returned home for a pair of games against Victoria .  The first game again didn’t go our way, as we lost a tight one 4-3, but we bounced back the very next night with a spirited 5-3 victory. 

 

Alright Falcon Nation, it’s time for me to get going, I need to pack for our trip to Vegas.  Hope enjoyed this installment of the player blog and I wish everyone success and prosperity in the New Year. 

 

Coo-Coo

              Hey Falcons’ fans, this is Mike Ramsay known as Rammer, Ramathorn, and or Car Ramrod by the fellows of the dirty bird squad.  I will be bringing you up to date with the past two weekends. Our 3 games against arch rival Bakersfield Condors and our fun filled trip to Boise Idaho .  The first game of the weekend didn’t go the way we would have liked, losing to the condors 8-1 on home ice in front of our loyal fans.  We all knew that we had to go into their arena the next night and show them that we are a lot better team then what they faced in Fresno .  We came out hard the next two nights, both games needed extra time and the falcons prevailed in a shootout at the Rabobank Arena and in overtime on the Sunday afternoon game back at the Save Mart Center .  The weekend that didn’t look so good at the beginning turned out to be 4 point grab.

           

The boys were feeling good and ready to take the autobus as P.O. Beaulieu would call it to San Jose for Flight 2403 to Boise Idaho .  Before departure, some of the boys came up with a great idea and created the “geek squad” by purchasing some Play Station portables for the trip.  Medal of Honor was the featured game and it was an every man for them self combat.  Kenny Bernard looked to be the all time champion with his quick and smooth controls, but Brady Leisenring’s after hours practice looked to pay off as his sniping abilities improved drastically.  We arrived in Boise on Tuesday night after a 2 hour flight.  We knew it was going to be a tough road trip playing the steelheads in their building with a boisterous crowd and a home record of 6-1-3-1.  We came out hard taking a 3-0 lead, the steelheads came back with 2 power play goals in the 3^rd period but we stood strong to get the regulation win and the 2 points.

 

We had Thursday morning practice and then the rest of the day off to spend in Boise .  Some of the boys put together a ping pong tournament at the Holiday Inn pool and games area.  Oren Eizenman was the eventual champion embarrassing Josh Ciocco in the finals 21-7.  We also figured out that day who was on the Fresno Falcons “all dumb” team.  Mr. Self and Mr. Ciocco were the co winners and seemed to get the majority of the votes.  The Falcons ended up taking the next 2 games in Boise 4-3 in regulation and 4-3 in a shootout making it a great road trip.  Grabbing all 6 points and improving our overall record to 11-6-3-0 and a 5 game winning streak.  Alright Falcons fans, that’s it for my first ever players blog.  Thanks for stopping by, I hope you all enjoyed it and until next time, stay classy Fresno .

 

Rammer

Welcome Falcon nation this is your first installment of the Falcon 
player blog brought to you by Kenny Macaulay or Dougie as I have been 
recently named. The renaming was a must as we have two Kenny's and 
things get a little confusing when the coaches are barking orders.

  I am a little nervous getting the nod to be the lead off man for the 
blogging season. Just like being a first year pro this is also my 
first time blogging so please be patient as I try to navigate my way 
through this uncharted territory.

  Being one of 13 rookies on the roster there has been an adjustment 
period for all of us. For the guys coming out of college, like myself 
we are used to playing between 30 and 40 games a season so the busy 
schedule has been something to get used to. There are lots of 
characters on this team but we have come together quickly and are a 
very tight knit group which is a credit to the coaching staff for 
bringing in the right personel. The on ice chemistry has parlayed to 
off ice activities and as of early November upon the release of Rock 
Band for PS3 we have a band called The Dockers comprised of certain 
team members. Mike Self leads the way on vocals, Oren Eizenman on the 
drums, Matt Quinn plays the guitar with Kenny Bernard rounding out the 
band on the bass guitar. We are all rooting for them as they continue 
to work their way up to expert status.

  We are now 14 games into the season and we have had our share of ups 
and downs. As of today our record is 6-5-3 which is good for a tie for 
2nd in the pacific division. We have already ventured out to Alaska 
and although we played 7 periods of good hockey out of 9 we only had 
one point to show for our efforts. It was hard to take but we have to 
learn as we go and that week end was proof that we need to play a full 
60 minutes if we want to win.

This week end we face off against the Bakersfield Condors in a three 
games in three days series. You can count on the fact that this will 
be a great, entertaining week end of hockey. Although I have only 
played here a short while you get a good feel for the heated rivalry 
between Fresno and Bakersfield. You can bet this rivalry will surface 
this week end.

Thanks to all you falcons fans for stopping by. On behalf of the 
players and staff thank you for your continued support and we look 
forward to seeing you at the Savemart Center this week end as we 
battle the Bakersfield Condors.