ICEHOGS SALIVA INTRO WINS A TELLY AWARD

National agency recognizes IceHogs video

Rockford, Ill.- The Rockford IceHogs, members of the American Hockey League, received a “Telly Award” in honor of the team’s video open to the player introductions. The video is shown before IceHogs games and features the band Saliva and their hit song “Ladies and Gentleman”. The popular rock song has become a staple in sports arenas across North America.

Chris Toltzman, Mark Binder, Tracey Kelley, Melinda Macias and Jim Stone
produced the video, which can also be viewed on the IceHogs official team Web site, www.icehogs.com. The video won the award in the “Sports: Non-Live Video Production Category” and was submitted on behalf of Comcast Spotlight Rockford.

“We are very excited to be recognized for all the work that went into the IceHogs Video Open featuring Saliva,” said Toltzman, who also directed the video and is the production manager at Comcast Spotlight Rockford. “With the IceHogs entry into the American Hockey League and the beautiful new video board inside the MetroCentre, it was the collective goal of the IceHogs staff, Comcast Spotlight Rockford and Jim Stone and Double T from 104.9 WXRX to create a one-of-a-kind video open that our fans would be proud of and would compare to other video opens in the league.

“I give Jim Stone a lot of credit for the success of the video because his personal connections to Saliva’s management allowed us full access to the band. I also have to thank Saliva themselves for being so great to work with. Overall, making the IceHogs video open was an amazing and unforgettable experience and winning a national award like the Telly Award is a nice bookend on what was an unbelievable year for IceHogs hockey.”

The video was shot on Oct. 30, 2007, just three days before Rockford’s inaugural home game in the AHL. The highlighted song, “Ladies and Gentleman”, is featured on the Saliva’s “Blood Stained Love Story” album. The shoot was done at the Eagles Ballroom in Milwaukee during the bands’ sound check prior to a concert.

Toltzman and his staff used the footage from the video shoot and intermixed IceHogs game highlights shot by Binder and the sports departments at WTVO-TV channel 17 and WIFR-TV channel 23 in Rockford. The IceHogs plan to use the video during the upcoming 2008-09 season with fresh highlights.

The Telly Award is the fourth won by Toltzman for his work with the IceHogs. Toltzman and the IceHogs were also recognized twice in 2001 for the television commercials “Piggy Bank Night with the IceHogs” and “Season Ticket Campaign Featuring Super Fans” and in 2000 for “Season Ticket Campaign Featuring J.F. Rivard.”

In their 29th year, the Annual Telly Awards received over 14,000 entries for the 2008 awards from all 50 states and five continents. The Telly Awards honor the very best local, regional and cable television commercials and programs, as well as the finest video and film productions and work created for the Web.