Blackhawks goalie Josh Horner Dives across the crease to stop a Kyle Moore shot from a game on September 15th in Powassan. That's the closest the Blackhawks have been to home since the season started in early September. PHOTO BY CHRIS DAWSON.
After seven games on the road, the Mattawa Blackhawks will finally play in front of friendly fans. For Blackhawks General Manager and owner, Dave Beauchamp, the dream is finally a reality.
‘How excited am I? About a ten, nervous, but I’m super excited. It’s really good for the town,” said Beauchamp.
“For the first couple of weeks, we travelled out of town to practice three times a week. The boys dealt really well with it. The weather delayed the ice, so we’ve really only been on the ice as a team collectively or on our own ice since Monday."
The Blackhawks transfer to Mattawa from North Bay really started, hockey wise, late last season, when the former North Bay Trappers played some late season and playoff games in Mattawa. Beauchamp has always been clear that he felt the lack of support in North Bay last year, once the Battalion arrived, hurt. But he understands it now.
“People didn’t really care to be honest; it would be like the NHL coming now to the Bay,” he said.
The franchise transferred, but Beauchamp says the team, even with a few holdovers from last year, is essentially an expansion team. He’s also aware that his team at times has played that way, and remains winless. He feels it is also tied in to the constant travelling, and that when they hit home ice, it will be different.
“The town’s excited; they want to see a winner. They want to see a team that works hard, the scores we’ve had recently we’re trying to eliminate. They don’t mind if we lose, as long as we work hard,” he said.
“We know we’re 0 and 7, and the fans have let us know, whether on social media or in the stores. They want a winner.”
Beauchamp says the move to Mattawa is paying off, with some supportive sponsors and a pretty strong fan base. He says the players feel a little like superstars in the town, and the fans have been very positive. He’s confident that will transfer to the gate. The Blackhawks feel they’ve done their part from a marketing standpoint.
“‘We had to be very cautious about what we sold our season passes based on the demographics in Mattawa. We are the most cost effective in the league.”
The fans may not have seen the Blackhawks on home ice, but they’ll be seeing a lot of them starting Saturday night.
Beauchamp says the schedule’s now pretty home heavy, a by-product of seven road games to start the season. He says in November and February the Blackhawks are hardly on the road at all, meaning fans will have lots of opportunities to cheer.
He’s confident they’ll have those chances.
