A collection of news items from the 2004 NLL Champion's Cup Final, between the Buffalo Bandits and Calgary Roughnecks, to be held tonight at 8:30 PM Mountain (10:30 PM Eastern) at the Pengrowth Saddledome in Calgary.

Attendance

The game isn't quite at sellout status as of this writing (there are a few dozen singles, last we heard), but it will be by game time, with just over 19,000 fans in attendance. The NLL's single-game attendance record came three years ago in the 2001 Champion's Cup Final, when 19,409 fans crammed into Air Canada Centre for Philadelphia's 9-8 victory over Toronto. The Riggers would have to sell about 300 standing room only tickets to beat that mark.

Out and About Before the Game

Local restaurant Coyotes will celebrate the game in dramatic fashion with a pregame party this evening, starting two and a half hours before the game. Partygoers will witness the smashing of a "Buffalo Bandits" car, a wing-eating contest (Buffalo Wings... get it?), and the dunking of a Bandit lookalike.

For those of you stuck in Buffalo, our friends at the Bandits Brigade will be hosting a Champion's Cup party at Cobblestone, behind the HSBC Arena parking ramp at the corner of South Park and Mississippi in Buffalo. There will be a DJ, prizes, food and drink, and an appearance by the Bandettes... oh, and Cobblestone is tuning every one of its televisions to the big game. The party begins at 9:30 PM; you must be 21 to attend.

How To Dress

The NHL's Calgary Flames have already staked claim to the "Sea of Red" concept, so Roughnecks owner Brad Banister has concocted the next best thing -- the "Blackout."

"When our team goes on the road they wear black boots, black shirts and black hats," Banister said. "We'd like to carry on that look when we meet Buffalo on Friday night. In other words, we want a black-out."

The Roughnecks have even ordered 10,000 pairs of black thundersticks, which (if Banister gets his way on fans' apparel) will create a very disturbing scene -- a dark arena with fans dressed in dark colors, smacking invisible (and irritating) noisemakers.

Special Appearance

File under "Only in Calgary" -- there's a genuine buffalo in the building tonight (his friends call him Apache), and he'll be on the floor prior to the game, performing tricks. "At 2000 pounds, he's an impressive looking fellow," trainer Dewey Wiley said, "but when handled right he's a real treat... he's almost worth the price of admission on his own."

Championship Game History

This is Buffalo's sixth trip to the title game and the first since 1997, when the Bandits lost at home to Rochester. They're going for the fourth title, having won previously in 1992, 1993, and 1996.

Calgary, in its third season, has never before reached the NLL Finals. In fact, the Roughnecks' only two postseason victories ever have been the two which got them through the Western Division playoffs (at San Jose, at Colorado).

Last Call

Two Roughnecks -- Ted Dowling and Tyson Leies -- have said they will retire after the game (no Bandits have publicly done so). Both can play critical roles in the game, Dowling for his offensive wizardry and Leies for his timely goals (followed, of course, by his crowd-thrilling Spiderman routine on the glass)... and with a capacity crowd in attendance, that could be quite a thrill.

Television

Although there is no true national television coverage in the United States, tonight's game is likely to be the most-watched in league history. The following networks will air the game live at 10:30 PM Eastern: Empire Sports Network, Comcast Sportsnet Philadelphia, Fox Sports Net South, Fox Sports Digital Central, and Cox Cable Channel 9 Phoenix.

In addition, at least three networks will air the game on tape delay: Victory Sports Television (Saturday, 1:00 PM Eastern), Fox Sports New New England (Saturday, 7:00 PM Eastern), and Fox Sports Net Bay Area (Saturday, 10:00 PM Eastern). Empire Sports Net is also planning a couple encore presentations; stay tuned for days and times.

Of course, if you're in Canada, watching the game from your living room is real simple -- The Score will show the game live, coast to coast.

Netcast

It wouldn't be an NLL Champion's Cup Final without the streaming audio. Visit www.tridec.com/nll.asx to catch all the action.

By The Numbers

Expect a tight game at the Saddledome. These teams don't score many goals (around 13 goals per game each), and they allow even fewer. With Steve Dietrich (Buffalo) and Curtis Palidwor (Calgary) expected to start in net, five-on-five goals may be hard to come by. Worry not -- Buffalo and Calgary ranked 1-2 in penalties committed, so there could be plenty of whistles and plenty of power plays.

CATEGORY                BUFFALO       CALGARY
Wins-Losses                10-8          12-6
Home W-L                    4-4           4-4
Road W-L                    6-4           8-2
Playoff Seed                6th           4th
Divisional Seed             3rd           3rd
Goals Scored           205 ( 3)      214 ( 2)
Goals Allowed          198 (t5)      187 ( 4)
Shot Percentage       18.8 ( 7)     19.5 ( 4)
Penalties              191 ( 1)      167 ( 2)
Penalty Minutes        520 ( 1)      377 ( 4)
Power Play Pct.       42.9 ( 6)     48.1 ( 4)
Penalty Kill Pct.     54.6 ( 6)     59.8 ( 5)
Power Play Goals        48 ( 4)       50 (t2)
Shorthanded Goals       14 ( 1)        7 ( 8)
Loose Balls           1274 ( 1)      877 ( 9)
Faceoff Pct.          39.4 (10)     54.3 ( 3)