ECHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

12Oct

Bobby Farnham (37)

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Undrafted left wing Bobby Farnham(37) has been on a little trip in search of a contract.

Upon completing his college career with Brown University Bears last season he signed on with the team down the street, Providence Bruins.

He skated in three games with the “hometown” team before being released and inked another ato with another local team just up the highway, Worcester Sharks.

He also lasted a few contests with them, concluding the regular season registering no points on the scoresheet.

The 5’10” 180 lbs. forward was offered a training camp tryout look by Hamilton Bulldogs but was cut a week before the start of 2012/2013.

From their he made the 6 hour drive to West Virginia and has agreed to a contract with the ECHL Wheeling Nailers and is on the opening night roster ready to officially start his pro career.

10Oct

Mikael Tam(52) San Francisco Bulls

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Undrafted rookie defenseman Mikael Tam(52) earned himself an AHL contract with Worcester Sharks after a sharp training camp and lots of smart play in exhibition games.

He’ll start his pro career with ECHL affiliate San Francisco Bulls but look for him to put up numbers quickly as he did in his last couple of seasons at juniors.

The 5’10” 193 lbs. blue liner plays like a young Andrew Ference and definitely has much offensive upside, while maintaining accountability in the defensive zone.

The now 21-year old was the player on the receiving end of the cheapest hit in (juniors) hockey history in 2010 as given by Patrice Cormier. He was out for the remainder of that season, but came back strong and never refuses an invite to mix it up.

We see an NHL deal in his future.

09Oct

David Civitarese(7) Reading Royals

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Rookie forward David Civitarese(7) will start the first full season of his pro career with ECHL’s Reading Royals.

He appeared in 10 games at the end of last season with Hershey Bears, signed to an ato after finishing up his college playing career. The 6’2″ 211 pounder ended up scoring his first professional hockey goal, his only point in the run.

Entering 2012/2013 as an undrafted free agent, he signs a one-year AHL deal to return to Hershey Bears for his first campaign.

The 23-year old attended their training camp but was recently reassigned after one exhibition game.

He was never much of a scorer in college but that could change.

09Oct

Tyler Hotstetter(27) Trenton Titans

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Undrafted 2nd year defenseman Tyler Hotstetter(27) finds himself back with Trenton Titans of the ECHL to start the 2012/2013 with a lot of players he saw only in the AHL last season when he was on recall by Adirondack Phantoms.

The 21-year is actually property of Philadelphia Flyers signed to another couple of seasons on a 3-year entry level deal.

In 34 ECHL games last year he had 7 goals and 7 assists in 34 games. Through 10 contests in the AHL he didn’t register a point.

The 5’11” 182 lbs. d-man could very likely see a complete season with the Titans. It will be interesting to see how many points he will be able to put up.

08Oct

Anton Blomqvist(29) Evansville IceMen

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Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#167 overall) giant Swedish defenseman Anton Blomqvist(29) is a thinker of a project for the team.

He’s huge at 6’6″ but only weighs 206 lbs., which seems awfully light in pro hockey for a guy that big.

Problem is he just doesn’t seem as engaged and attached to the play as he should be and rightfully needs to add way more muscle to his style.

In his rookie season with Springfield Falcons he skated in only 24 games due to suffering an early season concussion but also found himself to be a healthy scratch probably more often than he would have liked.

His entry level contract is only in its’ second season of a 3-year deal.

As the 2012/2013 season approaches the 22-year old was a training camp trim and gets reassigned to their ECHL affiliate Evansville IceMen.

This is big move (literally) because this guy needs playing time and some in-game coaching to develop into the type of player he could easily become. He has to put some points up too, as he managed a goose egg on the scoresheet last season.

08Oct

Jordie Johnston(25) Greenville Road Warriors

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Undrafted rookie center signed a one-year AHL deal with Connecticut Whale to start his first full season of pro hockey.

He skated in 3 games with interstate rival Bridgeport Sound Tigers at the end of his college career late last season. The 5’11” 185 forward didn’t hit the scoresheet in his first bid.

He participated in Whale training camp and appeared one preseason contest before being reassigned to their ECHL affiliate Greenville Road Warriors to play his first official games of the 2012/2013 season.

The 25-year old lit it up in his last college season and hopes he can carry it over into the pro ranks.

07Oct

Paul Crowder(11) Wheeling Nailers

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4th year undrafted center Paul Crowder(11) started the season in Austria’s Erste Band Eishockey Liga with Znojmo Ovli HC but got injured half a dozen games into the season and was put on waivers.

No problem as the 27-year old returns for a third ECHL season with Wheeling Nailers, where he has found a home and a good deal of success in addition to being named team captain last season.

In 94 regular and postseason games, he struck for 31 goals and 50 assists and had just joined the team when they made their Kelly Cup run that took them to the Eastern Conference Final.

The 6’3″ 203 lbs. forward started his career signed to a one-year entry level deal with New York Rangers but played his entire rookie season in the AHL with Hartford Wolf Pack.

He failed to get a call-up in his sophomore year but was recalled by Manchester Monarchs for 5 games in last season.

He definitely has size to his advantage but even if he’s playing on an energy line should show more of a flare for scoring like he does in the lower league.

06Oct

Tony Lucia(12) Gwinnett Gladiators

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3rd year left wing Tony Lucia(12) signs a one-year ECHL contract to join Gwinnett Gladiators for the 2012/2013 season.

Originally a San Jose Sharks‘ 6th round pick in the 2005 draft (#193 overall), he wasn’t given a qualifying offer by the team after his 2-year entry level contract was up.

He spent his entire rookie season in the AHL with Worcester Sharks dealing with post concussion syndrome, limiting him to only a pair of games; and that even bled over to his 2nd season, although he did manage to appear in 46 games and scored a healthy 8 goals and 19 assists, while being a very accountable +8 plus/minus.

There’s was talk of Portland Pirates signing the 6′ 190 lbs. forward to an AHL deal as he was the only tryout player invited to their camp, but instead he inks with their ECHL affiliate and is probably on the short list for a recall.

05Oct

Jamie Tardif (9)

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6th year right wing Jamie Tardif(9) got the 2nd campaign of his tw0-way deal with Boston Bruins off to a productive start in AHL preseason.

He scored the first two goals, including the game-winner for Providence en route to a 4-1 win.

The 27-year old has appeared in 376 AHL regular season games posting 93 goals and 91 assists.

Originally a Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 2003 draft (#112 overall), he never signed with the team despite showing some impressive scoring skills in juniors.

The 6’ 207 lbs. forward started his pro career modestly, signing an ECHL deal with Toledo Storm but managed to skate for 3 different AHL teams in his rookie year on call-up.

From there, one of his suitors, Grand Rapid Griffins saw enough promise to sign him up for his full sophomore season.

Doing well in his first full run in the AHL, Detroit Red Wings offered him a 2-year entry level deal and he stuck with the Griffins for what amounted to 4 + years.

Although he has yet to appear in an NHL game, he possesses the ability to light the lamp and plays a gritty game, so there’s a small window he still has the ability to crawl through.

We’ll see if changing to number 9 from his long-standing 25 will give his game a psychological boost.

The pic is right after he flipped the puck up and in for his goal.

03Oct

Alex Hudson(12) Ontario Reign

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Undrafted “2nd year” center Alex Hudson(12) has to be smiling with the new deal for the 2012/2013 he signed: one-year with the seemingly ECHL stacked Ontario Reign. More than good, which it should be judging by the talent it’s signed in the offseason, but almost undoubtedly this will be a fun team to play with.

The 6′ 209 lbs. forward scored 2 goals and 7 assists through 20 games in his pre-rookie campaign with Bakersfield Condors and gained an AHL call-up to Manchester Monarchs, where he skated in 15 contests but failed to register a point.

He was actually a mid-season signing after getting kicked off the University Of Nebraska in the fourth and final year of his college career for team violations. No where to turn except ink a professional contract to play.

The 25-year old, in his first full campaign (rookie season), definitely has the potential to land himself in the 15 goal and 30 assist scoring territory. We’ll know more when they hit the ice.