ECHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

11Jan

Mark Mitera(17) Reading Royals

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Anaheim Ducks‘ former 1st round pick in the 2006 draft (#19 overall) defenseman Mark Mitera(17) must have been doing his own workouts with a wait and see attitude before finally signing with ECHL Reading Royals for the remainder of the 2012/2013. He did have a tryout agreement with St. John’s IceCaps that fizzled.

His three year entry level deal was up at the end of last season. He finished with 75 games for Hamilton Bulldogs after being traded to parent club Montreal Canadiens early at the start of free agency in 2011.

At 6’3″ 213 lbs. he figured to be a bruising blue liner that simply beat his opponents into submission once he turned pro after four big years playing college hockey but that has yet to be realized.

Signing with the affiliate of AHL Hershey Bears could be a smart move for the 25-year old as chances are reasonable that he’ll receive a call-up with them, or he’ll sign a pto elsewhere as soon as post-lockout hockey begins to unfold and settle.

30Dec

Peter Mannino(35) Manchester Monarchs

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Undrafted 5th year goaltender Peter Mannino(35) had quite the wild ride in his rookie season playing minutes in three different leagues: ECHL (Utah Grizzlies), AHL (Bridgeport Sound Tigers) and NHL (New York Islanders).

He was officially signed to a one-year entry level deal with the Isles before being scooped up by Atlanta Thrashers as an unrestricted free agent for sophomore run. His solid play in net for their farm team Chicago Wolves got him re-signed for another two seasons in their system.

The 6’1″ 195 lbs. netminder eventually found himself, after a bit of a logjam in the St. John’s IceCaps‘ backstop prospects, returned to the ECHL to play with the now extinct Chicago Express. Eventually the former NCAA Championship goalie was loaned to Portland Pirates for the remainder of the regular season in a minor league transaction to finish out the remainder of his contract.

Looking into 2012/2013, the 28-year old found himself in unchartered territory without a place to play. He signed a training camp invite with Manchester Monarchs that turned into a pto and was recently upped to a one-year AHL spc.

He’s off to a fantastic start with a 7-3 record in 12 appearances and a 2.00 GAA and .932 SV%, as he looks to be regaining his form. He’s played NHL games in each of his pro career years.

Got to love the old style look to the pads he uses. Although rumor has it he’s in line for some more modern looking gear.

29Dec

Dan Gendur(9) Orlando Solar Bears

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5th year unrestricted right wing Dan Gendur(9) started the 2012/2013 season with an invite to participate in Springfield Falcons‘ AHL training camp.

Originally a Vancouver Canucks‘ 7th round pick in the 2007 draft (#206 overall) he has some experience in the league with 20 games played but only a goal and an assist to show for it.

The 5’11” 190 lbs. forward spent most of the last two seasons in the Central Hockey League with the now extinct Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees, where in 2011/2012 he posted 28 goals and 45 assists for 73 points in 62 regular season appearances, all career highs and good enough for top ten scoring in the league.

He was originally signed to a three-year entry level deal that expired as an unrestricted free agent with Nashville Predators in 2011 after being involved in a minor league deal.

The 25-year inked a deal with Evansville IceMen in the offseason to join the team for their inaugural season in the ECHL, moving up from the CHL to the better AA league, where he had played during his first two pro campaigns. In 14 games he tallied 4 goals and 3 assists.

But found himself to be involved in another trade that dished him and a teammate to another first season team, Orlando Solar Bears, where he currently resides and has posted 6 goals and 3 assists in 10 contests.

The winger put up 5 of those points (4 goals and an assist) in one game (12/28).

28Dec

Hugh Jessiman(19) Binghamton Senators

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8th year, former New York Rangers‘ 1st round pick in the 2003 draft (#12 overall), gigantic right winger Hugh Jessiman(19) signed a one-year, two-way deal with Ottawa Senators for the 2012/2013 season.

He (and every other eligible player) was reassigned to their AHL affiliate Binghamton Senators to start the new campaign.

The 6’5″ 233 lbs. mammoth has only ever skated in a pair of NHL games a couple of seasons ago with Florida Panthers.

He’s played 455 AHL regular season games with 7 different teams and last season posted a career high 27 goals and 44 points with Lake Erie Monsters and Abbotsford Heat.

By all accounts he should be a power forward that is impossible to move from the front of the net and a consistent 20+ goals, 20+ helpers forward.

In 25 games so far this season the 28-year old has 6 goals and 4 assists.

24Dec

Brett Gallant(44) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

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4th year, undrafted pugilist Brett Gallant(44) has already just about doubled a penalty minute high total from all of last season in just his first 26 games played in 2012/2013.

He’s currently second in the league with 138 pims, right behind dance partner in the pic, Bobby Robins.

The 6′ 185 lbs. left wing re-signed an AHL deal with Bridgeport Sound Tigers for a 2nd straight campaign after being recalled from Reading Royals late in 2011, where he proved his might in 17 appearances.

Not overly big-sized, the 24-year old is one tough customer to do battle with and has taken down much burlier opponents.

He started his pro career with almost two full seasons in the ECHL, leading Elmira Jackals in minutes spent in the sin bin with only half a slate of games to his credit and scored himself an invite to New York Islanders‘ prospect and training camps to put him on their radar.

24Dec

Phil DeSimone(34) Albany Devils

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2nd year center Phil DeSimone(34) got a nice Christmas present from Albany Devils in the form of an AHL recall from Trenton Titans, where he’d been reassigned after only potting a single goal in 6 games.

Upon landing in the ECHL for the first time in his thus far short pro career he exploded for 5 points (3 goals, 2 assists) in 3 games earning his way back to the higher league.

The 5’11” 193 lbs. forward definitely has something to prove as he was signed to a contract with Albany after scoring an invite to the New Jersey Devils‘ prospect camp and impressing the brass enough to request he stick in the prospect system.

He played his rookie season with Hamilton Bulldogs getting 14 goals and 19 assists in the full 76 regular season schedule but was a jaw-dropping -30 plus/minus on a team that had the lowest amount of goals scored in the league.

22Dec

Denny Urban(37) Worcester Sharks

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Reading Royals‘ 2nd year, undrafted defenseman Denny Urban(37) received his first career AHL call-up to join an injury depleted Worcester Sharks‘ blue line that’s stepping in, stepping up and getting it done.

In his first game, he skated in pretty much all situations in a divisional matchup that featured 134 combined penalty minutes and 9 goals.

He notched his first league point, a helper and was part of the play that resulted in the game-winning tally, while skating a +1 plus/minus.

The somewhat small-ish looking 5’10” 177 lbs. blue liner competed with a lot of speed and kept it simple in his debut, but also looks to have a smart sense of positioning and definitely will be able to chip in on the scoresheet.

In 27 games in 2012/2013 with ECHL‘s Reading he already has 12 goals and 12 assists, which puts him on par for a career high in goals scored and he could even post bests in assists and points as well. He’s third overall in team scoring and second in the league amongst d-men.

The 24-year old may be on his way to moving up the pro hockey ladder.

20Dec

Ryan Lasch(11) Fort Wayne Komets

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3rd year, undrafted right wing Ryan Lasch(11) started his pro career with a couple of seasons overseas, first in Sweden and then in Finland with Pelicans of SM-liiga, where he led the league in scoring with 24 goals and 38 assists in 59 games.

The California-born skater comes back to the North American hockey for 2012/2013, signing a deal two-year, two-way deal with Anaheim Ducks, which gives him some stability coming back to these shores.

No chance at him competing for a spot on the NHL roster right now, so he was reassigned to start the year with their new AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

In 11 contests the 5’9″ 170 lbs. forward (who looks a bit bigger on ice than those measurements) scored his first goal and added 3 assists.

Apparently the brass was expecting more or just wanted to try some different looks with a team was slow to start in the first third of the season, so they reassigned him to the ECHL Fort Wayne Komets.

The 25-year wasted zero time proving that his play is above this league. In 10 games, he exploded for 5 goals (including a hat trick) and 9 assists with a +4 plus/minus.

No surprise he was picked as the ECHL Player Of The Week for 12/10-12/16. If he continues on this tear, look for him to get recalled sooner than later but he’ll still need to put up points consistently to stay.

19Dec

Ben Blood (44)

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Ottawa Senators‘ 4th round pick in the 2007 draft (#120 overall), rookie defenseman Ben Blood(44) has been making the one hour drive between affiliates Binghamton Senators and Elmira Jackals more times than he even thought possible in the first two months of the season, and more trips are likely on the horizon for his first year pro.

Since the start of the 2012/2013 season he has been reassigned and recalled 8 times playing 17 games in the ECHL and 4 in the AHL scoring no points yet in either league.

He also skated 4 games with the Baby Sens last season when his college career wrapped up.

His intimidating 6’3″ 232 lbs. presence and ability to make the opponents’ players suffer in the attacking zone, combined with good on ice accountability makes him a worthy asset for either squad.

The 23-year old signed a 2-year entry level deal that keeps him in the prospect pipeline through next season.

If he can add some offensive upside as he did in his college career, he’ll be one big, well-rounded skater for either Sens‘ team.

17Dec

Ryan Schnell(38) St. John’s IceCaps

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Undrafted, 4th year left wing Ryan Schnell(38) is one of those players that has seemingly still yet to realize most of the potential he could bring to the table.

He spent his first three seasons in the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins‘ system, playing the majority of his games in the ECHL with affiliate Wheeling Nailers. Through 114 contests he’s only managed a meager 5 goals and 10 assists.

On the other hand, the 6’3″ 225 lbs. forward has amassed over 400 penalty minutes, which gives more of an indication what style of a game he plays.

Going into the 2012/2013 the unrestricted free agent, the 23-year old signed a deal pretty quickly to change up his scenery, inking a one-year, two-way AHL deal with St. John’s IceCaps.

He was reassigned after the opening month on the sidelines to Colorado Eagles. Although he may be first in pims for the lower league, he’s on for career points, already scoring a career high 4 goals and 7 points through only 12 games, and he’s a +5 plus/minus.

With the right coaching to help direct his abilities, we see a burgeoning power forward in the making. He was recently recalled to the IceCaps and in a pair of games has zero points and one fighting major to his credit. Old habits are slow to fade.