Calgary Flames‘ 2nd round pick in the 2011 draft (#57 overall) 2nd year defenseman Tyler Wotherspoon(26) was recalled on a number of occasions during the 2014/2015 season but only managed to appear in one game and went a fairly tough -3 plus/minus.
In his rookie campaign though he skated 14 NHL games with 4 assists and a -3 rating.
He was steadily able to increase his assist totals in four years with Portland Winterhawks peaking at 31 helpers in his final season.
He was also won the 2013 WHL Championship and went to the Finals in 2011 and 2012.
The 6’2″ 210 lbs. blue liner put up AHL career highs for games played (61), goals (2), assists (22), points (24) and shots on net (107) but had a hard time finding playing time with the parent club.
That is until coach Bob Hartley decided to insert him into the lineup for his playoff debut in the Stanley Cup Western Conference First Round series vs. Vancouver Canucks.
Although he has been used sparingly, averaging roughly 9 shifts and 4 minutes total ice time per contest, he played effectively enough to stay and will likely see his role increased.
The 22-year old is signed to a 3-year entry level contract and set to become a restricted free agent at the end of next season.
He’s well-regarded by the coaching staff and has a real chance to make the 2015/2016 opening night roster on a squad with much defensive depth.
It’s all smiles for Portland Pirates, with barely three seconds (2.9) to go in the third period of a win or go home game 3 of the AHL Calder Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals as forward Francis Wathier(11) scores the 2-2 tie breaker to stay alive but still down 2-1 in the best-of-five game series vs. regular season points leader, Manchester Monarchs.
It’s make or break time for Worcester Sharks and Hershey Bears‘ rookie net minder, the North Pole, Alaska-born Pheonix Copley(30) steals the show backstopping 33 saves on 34 shots for the AHL Calder Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals‘ game 2 3-1 win and stranglehold 2-0 series lead.
Worcester Sharks host the first two games of the AHL Calder Cup Eastern Conference Quarterfinals best-of-five series vs. the higher seeded Hershey Bears, who get the final three match-ups at home.
The Sharks take a late 3rd period 5-minute major penalty for boarding that gets just returning forward Jeremy Langlois(28) tossed.
In the photo the Bears celebrate a quick tally on the power play to take the lead and added a pair of empty netters to take game 1 by a 4-1 score.
Manchester Monarchs took a 3-1 lead mid-way through the 2nd period in game 1 of the AHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinals vs. Portland Pirates and never looked back getting a 5-2 victory.
Los Angeles Kings‘ 3rd year prospect Jordan Weal(19) scored the opening tally and the game-winning goal to seal the deal.
Florida Panthers‘ fourth year center Ryan Martindale(8) found himself shuffled for a second year in a row from one minor league club to another. What changed this year though was when he arrived at Syracuse Crunch on loan from Panthers‘ affiliate San Antonio Rampage he exploded into a goal scoring machine.
He had 8 goals and 5 assists in 45 AHL games to start but when he switched squads he got as many tallies and one better helper in only 17 contests, almost a third less games since heading to the Eastern Conference. His 16 goals and 27 points are new career highs.
Originally an Edmonton Oilers‘ 3rd round pick in the 2010 draft (#61 overall), he played 2.5 years in their system with Oklahoma City Barons but was unable to live up to what he’d accomplished in his final three years of juniors with Oshawa Generals of the OHL. where there was a 20+ goal season, a 30+ and 2 straight campaigns with 40+ assists and almost 50 in his final run.
The 6’3″ 208 lbs. forward plays with a lot of jam and fires the puck on the net at least a couple of times each game but stays out of the penalty box. He’s mostly been a minus player but surprise he’s currently a +5.
The 24-year old is set enter his second restricted free agency but is still under contract to Florida. It would be easy to think they may pay some renewed interest now that he’s come to life.
Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 2010 draft (#103 overall) 2nd year defenseman John Ramage(49) was rewarded for his career year with affiliate Adirondack Flames, where he put up a career high 3 goals and 11 assists after only getting a single assist in 50 AHL games as a rookie.
The two-time former captain of University Of Wisconsin had his best college points mark as a senior, when the Badgers won the 2013 NCAA/WCHA Championship.
The 6′ 200 lbs. blue liner is definitely considered more of a stay at home style with good accountability.
In his NHL debut he skated 25 shifts for 18:10 total ice with a somewhat surprising 4 shots on net, 2 hits, 1 play breakup and went only a -1 in a 5-1 drubbing.
The 24-year old is set to become a restricted free agent at the end of the season but will join the parents club practice squad for the playoffs and almost assuredly be qualified to stay.
His dad is Rob Ramage, who was the 1979 1st pick in the draft and played 18 years, 1044 games and won the 1989 Stanley Cup with Calgary, so this one has come full circle. Although he was selected by Colorado Rockies.
Less than a year ago, Washington Capitals‘ 3rd year Russian-born right wing Stanislav Galiev(49) was barely a consideration to be recalled to the parent club when an injury took down one of the starters.
At the end of 2014 he appeared in first round playoff games for ECHL affiliate Reading Royals. He was also part of their 2013 Kelly Cup Championship team scoring 4 goals and 7 asssists in 10 games as a rookie.
All that changed at the beginning of the final campaign of his three-year entry level deal though, as he has exploded with scoring abilities for farm team Hershey Bears in 2014/2015.
The not exactly huge 6’1″ 187 lbs. forward has a career high (and team leading) 25 goals, 20 assists and 45 points through 64 AHL games with a +5 rating.
His 15 power play tallies also lead the league.
The two-time, consecutive 2011 and 2012 QMJHL Champion and 2011 Memorial Cup winner always put up big numbers in juniors taking the most assist honors in his first season 2009/2010 and leading the way in the 2012 postseason for Saint John Sea Dogs with 16 goals and 34 points.
In his first NHL game, he skated 13 shifts for 9:56 total ice with :18 on the power play and had one shot on net, one hit, one giveaway and one takeaway.
See related: 11/20-12
After four seasons in the St. Louis Blues‘ prospect system right wing Tyler Shattock(16) was not given a qualifying offer to continue with the team after putting up career best assists (16) and points (20) in the AHL with affiliate Chicago Wolves.
Originally a 4th round pick in the 2009 draft (#108 overall), he skated his first three seasons with then farm team Peoria Rivermen but was unable to replicate the numbers he achieved in four campaigns of the WHL, where he put up back-to-back more than a point-per-game totals first with Kamloops Blazers, then finishing out juniors with Calgary Hitmen.
The fairly big 6’3″ 200 lbs. forward was likely looking around for another contract but with no takers signed a one year minor league deal with Stockton Thunder and he has exploded on the score sheet.
He was already at least a bit familiar with the ECHL when he was reassigned for a brief stint early in 2012 with Evansville Icemen. Wasting little time connecting with the back of the net he scored 3 goals and 2 assists in 3 games and was quickly recalled.
Again, he got right to work with his new club and through 63 games has a team second 23 goals and a leading 39 assists and 62 points, while firing 141 shots on net and a new high 99 penalty minutes.
He was loaned temporarily for three games to Worcester Sharks earlier in the season but played more of an energy line, checking role and came away with no points.
The 25-year seems like he should be higher up on the hockey ladder than he is currently but it may be a better bet for him to take his game overseas for 2015/2016.
