CALGARY, AB — The Calgary Roughnecks will be back at Scotiabank Saddledome for the first time since April 10th.
It’s been a while since the Riggers have taken the floor at the Rough House and they are excited to get back home, especially in a playoff contest.
“It’s been a long time since we’ve been back at the ‘Dome,” said Shawn Evans, who leads Calgary in post-season points with 10. “It’s been about four or five weeks. I’m excited to get back to the Roughnecks fans, the best fans in the league. I’m hoping for a packed house.”
After defeating the Colorado Mammoth in the West Division Semi-Final, the team guaranteed at least one more home game, one of the motivating factors for the team.
They wanted to bring one home for the fan and they got their wish.
“That’s one thing we talked about in there — let’s bring a playoff game home,” said Dane Dobbie. “We get to do that now. That was a motivation factor for us. Our fans are so loyal and they deserve a playoff game. We were 0-6 and they were still there behind us celebrating. Anything we do they celebrate. If we lose they celebrate. They are a loyal group of people and I can’t wait to get back there.”
The Roughnecks excitement to suit up in front of their home fans was fueled by a great playoff run put on by the Calgary Flames and witnessing the passion and elation by the fans.
The Riggers are hoping to put together a similar run and replicate some of the excitement that the Flames created.
“We’ve all seen the Flames games and seen the C of Red,” said Curtis Dickson, who hails from Port Coquitlam, BC but now calls Calgary home. “We know how awesome our fans are. It’s big for us to get back home to be able to play in front of them again.”
For Roughnecks’ Captain Andrew McBride, it’s a special opportunity.
The Saddledome hosted almost 16,000 fans in last year’s Game 1 final against the Rochester Knighthawks. A similar yield would offer an edge to the home side.
It’s an advantage McBride and the Roughnecks will gladly try to take advantage of.
“I can’t even express how excited we are to get back in front of our home crowd,” McBride said. “It’s something we really addressed at the start of the game – trying to reward our home fans. It’s one of our goals all year because we want to be a part of that.
“You saw what the Flames have done getting the city excited, you saw what the Stampeders did with their Grey Cup run, and we really want to be a part of that. As someone who lives in the community in Calgary, it’s special to be able to do that. We’re jacked up to get in front of our home crowd in two weeks. We want that place absolutely rocking because it does make such a big advantage for us.”
