More than 1,000 brave heat for inaugural Fan Fest

Garland Strickland looked at the line that snaked halfway around the Independence Events Center and grinned.

“I thought to myself, ‘There are some real hockey fans here this morning,’” said Strickland, who along with his wife Judy, is a season-ticket holder for the Missouri Mavericks.

They were part of more than 1,000 fans who braved 97-degree weather Saturday morning to attend the first Mavericks Fan Fest.

Shortly after 10 a.m., just moments after the south doors to the Events Center opened, more than 850 fans gathered in front of a podium to listen to team president and general manager Brent Thiessen’s announcements about the upcoming season, which begins Oct. 7 and 8 with two home exhibition games against the Evansville IceMen.

The action gets real Oct. 15 when the Odessa Jackalopes come to Independence for the regular-season opener before what will likely be an enthusiastic sellout crowd.

“The Fan Fest was just an amazing success,” Thiessen said. “When I looked out at the arena’s main floor and saw that it was totally covered by fans at 10 a.m., I couldn’t believe it. And over the course of the day (the Fan Fest ran until 3 p.m.), we had well over 1,000 fans.

“And believe it or not, we sold nine season tickets.”

He was chuckling because the big joke at the event was that every fan who attended already had season tickets.

Thiessen addressed topics ranging from the team’s new jerseys to a first-time promotion where a fan can actually bid on and adopt a player for the season.

The fan and player will have a supervised dinner and when the season concludes, the fan will receive the player’s jersey and stick.

“Our fans are amazing,” said Mavericks coach Scott Hillman, who pulled double duty Saturday.

He took part in a question-and-answer session on the arena floor, manned an autograph booth, and then joined 29 Maverick hopefuls on the community ice next door to the main arena as the team hosted its first Making the Mavs Tryout Camp.

And the coach liked what he saw from the amateur contenders.

“One player from the tryout camp is guaranteed a spot on the roster of players who will try to make the team in October,” Hillman said, “but to be honest with you, we’re making our evaluations right now and we might invite four or five guys.

“There was some talent out on the ice.”

Many of the fans who left the Fan Fest headed over to the community ice for a spirited scrimmage at 3 p.m.

Mavericks forward Brett Hammond watched the action out on the ice and looked at the standing-room-only crowd and said, “In years past, I played in front of about this many fans on some of my former teams. And these fans are here for a scrimmage – and they don’t even know any of these guys.

“This just shows how much the fans want hockey here in Independence.”

Hammond was joined by teammates Simon Watson, Derek Pallardy, Bill Vandermeer, Karl Sellan and newcomer Cole Ruwe (please see related story).

“When I came over here,” said Vandermeer, who is confined to a wheelchair after an offseason accident   shattered both of his heels, “I had no idea what to expect.

“Would there be 100 fans? Would there be 200 fans? When I saw all the fans outside and then came inside and saw the floor was packed, I just had to smile. We have the best fans on earth.”

While early predictions didn’t place Vandermeer back on the ice until mid-February, he said he’s gunning for a Nov. 15 comeback.

“That’s a month after the season starts,” he said, “and I don’t want to miss more than a month. Last year was special, and this year is going to be incredible. When this many people come out on a hot day like today, I can’t want to get back on the ice and play for them.”