Merry Christmas and Recap of Team President, Jonny Mydra's Meeting With Season Ticket Members

 

 MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

 

 I have written many Christmas morning blogs over the years but have to admit this one is different. It is a followup on a topic near and dear to Allen Americans fans.  

 

- Before I start I want to say Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all from Barry the Blogger. My thoughts are with the first responders, health care workers, essential workers, those in the military, Allen players and others who will be working today or away from their family. Our daughter, Erin, is a labor and delivery RN at Parkland Hospital and had to work yesterday and today, so we will celebrate Christmas tomorrow. Our son, daughter-in-law and only grandchild, the perfect two year old Stella, lives in the Washington D.C. area and won't be with us. 

It will be difficult for many who will have empty chairs at the Christmas dinner table today having lost loved ones in the past year or for other reasons are unable to spend time together with family. My thoughts are with you this morning. 

Since we won't celebrate Christmas until tomorrow I plan to spend some time today in the blog's way back machine to put together some Christmas photos from the past. Will post what I find later this afternoon. For long time Allen fans it should be fun.

 

- I promised I would provide a synopsis of the meeting Jonny Mydra had with the season ticket members (STMs) after the game last Friday. I know some of you were in attendance and reported out some of this in the comment section of the blog, so this might be redundant. I am always aware there are many fans that are not on social media, so rely on the blog for information. 

The questions and comments for Jonny were wide ranging and fell into two broad categories, those related to the on ice product and those related to the off ice product. It was a spirited standing room only crowd that provided a lot of feedback and asked a lot of questions. Topics included changes made to the coaching staff, the future on the Allen Americans, the role of Zawyer, the disconnect between the STMs and the players, and the general feeling the STMs are not valued as they were in the past. The conversation went on for close to an hour and as an observer I felt those in attendance had the opportunity to express their concerns, ask questions and share suggestions for improvements. They expressed their appreciation to Jonny for taking the time to meet with them, answer the sensitive questions the best he could and agree to some changes in the STM experience. 

 

ON ICE PRODUCT

Q: Why did the organization select a coach with so little head coaching experience who had not won as a head coach and had never worked in professional hockey? 

A: Joe Ernst interviewed a lot of people for the position. We wanted a coach that would create a culture of accountability and toughness. We are not where we want to be right now, and we need to be more competitive. Our STMs deserve better. Ownership knows that and BJ and Brett know that. We have to be better and start winning more, especially in front of our home fans.

Q: Does leadership have a plan how to move forward to get the team to the level where they need to be?

A: I read Barry's blog every single day and see the comments. I listen and try to figure out what the fan base is thinking so we can improve. One misperception I think some people have is Myles doesn't know or care. He cares very much. It is extremely important to him that we win. He is constantly trying to figure out ways to get things better. I can promise you he is not just ignoring this situation.  

 

Q: Why can't we find an affiliate to help this team out. We keep getting affiliates that don't seem to care? 

A: We don't get anywhere near the help other teams do. Ottawa has very good people but didn't give us much help. It has been the same thus far with Utah/Tucson. It is tough because there are so many long term relationships in the league. To the credit of ownership they are always looking for a better affiliate. At the end of the day we need an affiliate that signs more players and sends more players to us.

 

Q: Can you address the scuttlebutt that you see about ownership making decisions so they can justify selling or moving the team?

A: That is one question I can answer definitively. I feel extremely confident the team is not going to move or leave Allen. We are in the process of getting a lease extension with the City of Allen which should happen in the next year. There has never ever been any talk from ownership about moving this team from the CUTX Event Center. That is the one thing I can say unequivocally, the team is not moving. Being in this market was very important to Myles and LJ when they purchased the team. The goal is to get another 7-10 year lease agreement.

Q: What has been the impact of being spun out of the Zawyer group?

A: Anytime you have a lot of different owners involved in the team there is a lot going on. Zawyer is definitely still involved with the team. Joe Ernst is running the hockey operations for the Americans and makes the decisions on the hockey stuff. Myles and LJ started in hockey as minority owners in Jacksonville and our staff is very thankful they purchased the Americans. They treat us with respect and we want to work hard for them. When we came up for sale they were very excited about it and Zawyer told them they would help them with the purchase of the team. Myles and LJ signed a long term consulting agreement with Zawyer and REV Entertainment that covered consulting on business operations and hockey matters. Myles and LJ  are the majority owners, but Zawyer and REV also help run the team. REV has taken a bigger role recently on the business side and our staff is excited to learn from them. The past two seasons have been filled with a lot of change, but I am proud of our staff for how they have handled all of it. 

Q: Can the contract with Zawyer be terminated?

A: That would be a question for Myles and LJ.

 

Jonny: In closing, there is one point I want to make clear and I hope you understand this. Myles is watching every single game. He realizes this is not acceptable and he cares very much about winning. It is good to have an owner like that. He is solely focused on having a winning product and he is trying to find the right formula to do that. If there is anyone that thinks that Myles doesn't care if the team wins or isn't watching the games intently or isn't very frustrated on how things have gone, that is wrong.   

 

 

OFF ICE PRODUCT

There were comments about how disconnected season ticket members are from the the team, reminiscing about how things used to be and suggestions for ways to reconnect with the STM's. Here are some examples/suggestions shared of how the fan experience can be made better:

- Get together opportunities with the players at some off-site location.

- More frequent autograph sessions with the players.

- Have post game press conference with STMs more regularly and bring along a player.

- Anyone can come into the STM lounge because nobody is checking badges at the door. Can this be fixed?

- More skate with the players nights.

- Communicate more with STMs through email. 

- Provide a beer stand in the season ticket holder lounge or a special line on the concourse for STMs.

- Communicate watch parties details more broadly and earlier. 

- Have injured players or those not playing stop by the STM lounge to mix and mingle. 

 

Jonny's comments:

"This is on me as I did not know the lounge for the STMs was not being monitored. That will be fixed for the next game, even if I have to be down there myself."

"You can ask what ever you want of me and that is totally fair because I work for you. But I would ask if things happen and you are upset just email me. I try to know what is going on all times, but that is not always the case."

"We want you to feel you are part of something, that should be a big part of being a STM. Your criticisms are fair. Please email me with specifics so I can execute on some of them."

"It hurts to hear you don't feel as connected to the team as you did in the past. We definitely want to fix it and make it better."

"This teams means more to me than you can possibly imagine. I obsess about it all of the time. It is very very stressful to me when we are not doing well. It means a lot to me you are still here supporting us and the fact we have so many in the room that care about the team is really cool. Obviously, there are some things I can't say in this forum. I live in Allen, I work in Allen, I am here all of the time. If anyone wants to go to lunch, grab a beer or just talk to me I am totally down to do that with any of you."   

 

- Another request that came up at the meeting was to establish a way STMs can be notified of practice times in case they wish to attend. I agreed to come up with a process. While all practices are open to the public and they usually start at 10:30 am or 11:00 am depending on which rink is used, the schedule does change. I will work with the Americans to come up with a process when STMs want to attend practice. In addition to getting specific days and times for practice to the STMs, entry to the rink is another issue that needs to be worked out. 

 

- Finally, and I can't emphasize this enough, if any Allen fan has a complaint, concern, suggestion or compliment you have direct access to the president of the team. He is willing to talk to you on the phone, through email or over lunch. He has made this offer several times in the blog over the last six month with very few takers. After the meeting with the STMs last Friday he did share with me he now has two lunch dates on the calendar. Jonny's email is jmallenamericans.com if you want to contact him.    

UPDATE

- It didn't take long for Jonny to react to some of the suggestions from the STMs. If you are a full or half season ticket holder, also known as Season Ticket Members, also known as a Patriot Club Members, you should have received an email that included the following information. If you didn't get this email make sure to contact your ticket rep to get added to the email list. If you don't know who your ticket rep is call 972-912-1000 and you will be helped.

Patriots Club Members:

Newly Scheduled Events - Bringing YOU Closer to the Players!

• Friday

  • Autograph Session w/ Inactive Players (Outside of Section 113)

  • All STMs get Free Access to the Friends TV Show Couch for Pictures

  • Postgame STM Press Conference with Coach and Multiple Players

• Saturday

  • Postgame Skate w/ Players

• Other Updates

  • We are working with the CUTX Event Center Staff to ensure the CryoBoost STM Lounge is more secure and only Patriots Club Members are allowed in. We will have security at the doors checking badges or names throughout the game.

  • Postgame Press Conferences will be more frequent moving forward and will always include multiple players and a coach.

  • We are working with our sponsors to find a location for an exclusive Patriot’s Club / Player bonding event in January.

  • Thank you for all the TEDDY BEARS this past Friday. We collected more bears than any season in the history of the team.

Thanks and we look forward to seeing you this Friday. Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays!