ECHL | CollegeHockeyPlayers

20Jul

Marco Cousineau(31) Anaheim Ducks

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Anaheim Ducks go for another swim in the shallow pool with their 3rd round pick in the 2008 draft (#83 overall), goaltender Marco Cousineau(31). He signed a 3-year entry level deal midway through 2009/2010, but has only officially played in their system for the last two.

He was outstanding in his last two seasons in juniors and won the outstanding goaltender award in the 2009 Memorial Cup Tourney.

Maybe their continuing to bank on 6′ 200 lbs. net minder finding his pro game like he did when he was younger but in a couple of seasons, he’s mostly been limited to appearances with Elmira Jackals in the ECHL and Central Hockey League.

With the Allen Americans last year he played well winning 16 and losing 4 with a 2.53 GAA and a .918 SV%.

He’s still only 22 years old, so there’s plenty of room to grow but he has to be hoping he moves up the ladder and starts a bunch of AHL games in 2012/2013 with Norfolk Admirals.

19Jul

Stefan Legein(16) Los Angeles Kings

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Originally a Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft (#37 overall) right wing Stefan Legein(16) for some reason seems like he’s been around a lot longer than just 4 pro seasons.

He’s bounced around in the AHL a bit since a very mediocre rookie season with Syracuse Crunch to career highs with Adirondack Phantoms in the Flyers‘ system in his 2nd year. But that only lasted a year.

The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward was dished for future considerations to Los Angeles Kings and had a sort of rebirth in 2011/2012 with their affiliate Manchester Monarchs.

At only 23 years old, he played like a team leader on the ice, doing a lot of penalty killing while occasionally connecting with the scoresheet (14 + 11 in 63 games; 5 of those shorties). He recently re-signed, accepting their qualifying one-year, two-way offer.

You have to wonder if he will find reason to break out of his AHL shell and lace ’em up tight for the forthcoming training camp with the current Stanley Cup Champions.

18Jul

Sean Backman(16) New York Islanders

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New York Islanders‘ qualified and re-signed undrafted, 3rd year right wing Sean Backman(16) for another one-year, two-way deal.

The 5’8″ 165 lbs. forward skated in 66 AHL games last season with Bridgeport Sound Tigers putting up 7 goals and 11 assists, but was a rather terrible -11 on what was a fairly strong team.

He put up better numbers in his rookie campaign with Texas Stars, who were also a good team with a winning record.

The 26-year old was born only 30 minutes up the road in Connecticut and went to college about equal distance away from his current arena. Definitely must be nice to play his pro hockey so close to home and where he went to school but we’re sure the ultimate goal would be to be skating a little further south.

He has definitely shown the ability to find his way onto the scoresheet and digs for every second he’s on the ice.

17Jul

Brandon DeFazio(24) New York Islanders

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Undrafted, rookie left wing Brandon DeFazio(24) enters his 2nd pro season with a one-year, two-way NHL contract courtesy of New York Islanders that will very likely see him play much of the year with their AHL affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

He signed an AHL deal with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins for 2011/2012. In 66 games, the almost 24-year old forward scored 11 goals and 5 assists with 104 shots on goal and an equal number of pims, ranking him second on the team.

The 6’1 200 lbs. forward plays a very feisty style of game but it’s still to be determined what the Isles saw in him to offer him a big league contract to join the team’s system.

16Jul

Jimmy Bonneau(43) Worcester Sharks

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Big and tough guy Jimmy Bonneau(43) signed up for another season to keep the opposing players honest for Worcester Sharks, a job he handled with ease for the team in 2011/2012.

Going into his 8th pro year, the 6’3″ 220 lbs. left wing inked an AHL standard player contract to return.

He isn’t exactly looked to for goal scoring but put in a modest pair of pucks in the net, while dishing out 3 assists. His penalty minutes were up there for 54 games played at 168, which tied him for team lead in the category and was the leader in fighting majors with 22. Worcester led the entire league in fights (120).

Originally a Montreal Canadiens‘ 8th round pick in the 2003 draft (#241 overall), he skated mostly with their ECHL affiliate Cincinnati Cyclones before bouncing around the AHL with a few clubs, including another trip back to Hamilton Bulldogs.

For the time being though, he’s found a home in Central MA.

16Jul

Eric Neilson(29) Syracuse Crunch

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8th year right wing Eric Neilson(29) is known mostly for not shying away from any on ice situation and it certainly serves a much needed role on any team. In 47 games last season he scored one goal and was assessed 74 minutes in the penalty box, a surprising career low.

For the 2012/2013 he signed a one-year standard AHL contract with Syracuse Crunch, which essentially keeps him in the same system that he spent last season with, the Calder Cup winning Norfolk Admirals. He did not appear in a playoff game though.

Still at 6’1 201 lbs., the almost 28-year old forward is one of those players that’s better to have on your team than have to play against.

He was originally a Los Angeles Kings‘ 5th round pick in the 2004 draft (#143 overall) but really didn’t spend any time with the team but rather played a few seasons in the ECHL before moving up a notch.

He was also one of the guys on that 2005 Rimouski Oceanic QMJHL champion team with Sidney Crosby.

15Jul

Jon Landry(7) New York Islanders

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It would be easy to have a case of mistaken identity in this roster move: defenseman Jon Landry(7), who last year played with Bridgeport Sound Tigers for 34 games on call-up and scored 2 goals and 18 assists, while going a +11 plus/minus is not to be confused with Jon (now) A. Landry, who played for Bridgeport in 2011 but didn’t skate last season.

This Jon Landry, like the other one though, was called up from the ECHL, where he was under contract with Colorado Eagles. The 6’3″ 220 lbs. d-man had 12 goals and 18 assists when unknowingly he left for good.

The couple seasons before that he played in the EIHL for a year and parts of one in Germany’s DEL. Mostly though, he was sort of hiding as an undrafted player in the Central Hockey League with Arizona Sundogs for his first 4 seasons since turning pro.

He did manage to win a President’s Cup Trophy as the top team in the league in his second campaign in.

Now the 29-year old seemingly out of nowhere signed his first one-year, two-way NHL contract with New York Islanders and will likely see more time in Bridgeport to continue to confuse everyone. Until he makes his NHL debut that is.

13Jul

Martin St. Pierre(39) Rockford IceHogs

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9th year veteran center Martin St. Pierre(39) heads back to Rockford IceHogs for the 2012/2013 season. He signed a one-year AHL contract to rejoin the team for another season.

The 5’9″ 187 lbs. forward led Springfield Falcons in scoring last year, as he has with any of the 4 other league teams he skated with, including the IceHogs in ’07/’08.

Undrafted, the almost 29-year old has always been an effective spark plug for whatever AHL club he’s played with, averaging over a point-per-game. In 440 regular season contests he’s rung up 125 goals and set up another 344 for a total of 469 points.

He’s also played in 38 NHL games with three different teams and struck for 3 goals and 5 assists.

Rockford may get the help they need from him to get back into the playoff picture.

12Jul

Nick Ross(42) EC Red Bull Salzburg

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Former Phoenix Coyotes‘ 1st round pick in the 2007 draft (#30 overall) defenseman Nick Ross(42) had his most productive season yet in the AHL (5 goals, 13 assists) despite playing only 35 games for Portland Pirates.

He was a healthy scratch for too many games in the final season of his 3-year entry level contract but obviously didn’t let that hinder his on-ice performance.

The 6’1″ 206 lbs. 23-year old blue liner was not issued a qualifying offer to return for 2012/2013 despite finally showing some signs of life and being more than accountable with a +16 plus/minus rating.

No worries, as he takes his pro game overseas to the Austrian Hockey League/Erste Bank Eishockey Liga signing with EC Red Bull Salzburg.

He’s still so young that we can easily see him continue to develop and impress enough to score another NHL contract down the road.

11Jul

Geoff Walker(17) Colorado Avalanche

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Undrafted, 5th year right wing Geoff Walker(17) had himself a career year with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last season putting up career highs in goals, assists, points, penalty minutes and shots of goal (18 + 26 = 44, 114, 176).

It was his second campaign with the club that signed him to consecutive one-year AHL contracts after the 24-year old posted good numbers with Manchester Monarchs after being call-up from Ontario Reign the year before.

At 6’3″ 225 lbs. more than just being an imposing on-ice presence, his style of game is an unrelenting, digging attack that he puts on display every game.

For 2012/2013, he signed his first NHL contract (one-year, two-way) with Colorado Avalanche and could see an opportunity to get called up to the show.

We expect him to have a good training camp to make that decision to reassign him to their affiliate, Lake Erie Monsters a tough one.