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Category: ECHL

14Jun

Greger Hanson(15) Allen Americans

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4th year undrafted Swedish-born left wing Greger Hanson(15) has received his first pair of AHL call-ups this season. From his impressive play, he looks like he could easily find a spot on a roster in the league.

Signed for a second year with Allen Americans of the ECHL, he won the last Central Hockey League President’s Cup with the team in 2014.

He was a point-per-game skater in the playoffs and throughout the regular season, continuing that scoring pace in the current campaign with a +26 rating.

The not huge 5’10” 185 lbs. forward scored his first higher league goal on loan to Worcester Sharks, adding three assists and got another one through 3 games with Oklahoma City Barons.

For his first pro season he would return home to skate with Sodertalje of the second tier Allsvenskan after four years at Northern Michigan University putting up stellar numbers in his junior campaign.

The already 27-year old proven goal scorer may be running short of time to prove his game in North America but he’s easily right on the cusp of jumping up a notch on the hockey ladder.

Original story 3/18-15

For a second straight season he wins a title, this time it’s Allen Americans‘ first year in the ECHL for the 2015 Kelly Cup.

His 12 goals and 17 assists in 25 games earned him the Most Valuable Player award.

Will he head overseas next to collect some earnings that he should get or stick around. We shall see.

13Jun

Colton Yellow Horn(17) Orli Znojmo

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5th year, undrafted left wing Colton Yellow Horn(17) took a good season and a half to settle where he was going to play to start his pro career after a highly successful run in the WHL with Tri-City Americans, which he left as the leading goal scorer in his final year.

He headed for Austria but lasted less than a dozen games before returning to North America, signing with Elmira Jackals. He finished out his rookie season and started his sophomore campaign with the team but was traded to Stockton Thunder after only two games.

His time with the Thunder only last a couple more games than he did overseas and he was off to the Central Hockey League to try his hands with Allen Americans.

The small 5’9″ but wide 190 lbs. forward played for the next two years with Allen leading them in scoring with 88 points in 2010/2011 and was a combined +24 plus/minus.

Having basically accomplished everything he could in the lower double A league, the 25-year old stepped up and signed a one year deal with Ontario Reign of the ECHL.

In 48 games, he currently sits atop the scoring leaders with 58 points (36 goals and 22 assists) but that will have to wait as he received his first AHL call-up and signed a pto with Manchester Monarchs.

In his debut, he notched an assist in a 3-2 losing effort but more importantly looks like he can play in the league and have an impact at this level.

He may be pint-sized in relation to other players but he’s wide like Sergei Samsonov was during his lengthy playing career.

Original story: 2/11-13

He managed to finish the season in the AHL skating in 28 games and he even appeared in four playoff contests scoring 6 goals 12 assists with a +5 rating and added a goal and an assist in the postseason.

After having a career year, he decided to head back to where it started signing a year deal in Erste Bank Liga Austria with Szekesfehervar.

No doubt he would hit the score sheet often to the tune of 20 goals and 23 assists in 43 games.

In another move that had folks wondering, for 2013/2014 he went to play for Nippon Paper Cranes of the Asia League.

The 28-year old continues to make interesting decisions where to lace up his skates as he returns to Austria once again to play for Orli Znojmo.

12Jun

Jeff May(11) Ducs d’Angers

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8th year veteran defenseman Jeff May(11) returns to Ducs d’Angers of France’s Ligue Magnus, a team he skated with in the 2012/2013 season.

Originally a Detroit Red Wings‘ 5th round pick in the 2005 draft (#151 overall) he was never signed.

Instead he bounced around from signing an ato with Norfolk Admirals to start his rookie season 2008/2009, played three games, was released, got added to Las Vegas Wranglers‘ roster for 23 ECHL games, before being grabbed by Providence Bruins on a pto for another 11 AHL games but was again released before San Antonio Rampage would ink him to a minor league contract and to finish it off Phoenix/Arizona Coyotes stepped in at the end of his first year to offer him a 3-year entry level deal.

Not too shabby.

He would be reassigned to start his sophomore campaign in southern Texas and played 102 games with the Rampage over the next two seasons scoring 3 goals and 12 assists with a hurting -25 rating.

To start his fourth year he was immediately reassigned down the ladder back to Las Vegas, where he had a career year skating in 50 games, netting 7 goals, 20 assists and a +14 plus/minus on a team that made in all the way to the Kelly Cup Finals.

He even had a pair of goals, 5 helpers and a +2 rating in 19 postseason contests.

After his big league contract was up, he decided to head for his first journey of French pro hockey but would return to Nevada for a third time, where he was able to post a career high 11 goals, 14 assists and 25 points while serving as the team’s assistant captain.

For his strong showing he received a pair of call-ups to Texas Stars, then Hershey Bears.

He averaged 30 assists in four of his five WHL years with Prince Albert Raiders and Lethbridge Hurricanes.

For 2014/2015 he signed with Ontario Reign and had another strong season but seemed to once again excel nicely in the postseason with 7 assists in 19 games.

With his departure for the upcoming campaign it could be the last of North American hockey the 28-year old has seen.

12Jun

Louie Caporusso(11) Iserlohn Roosters

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3rd year left wing Louie Caporusso(11) signs a one-year contract with 2013 Kelly Cup Champions‘ Reading Royals for 2013/2014.

He was originally an Ottawa Senators‘ 3rd round pick in the 2007 draft (#90 overall) and played a couple of seasons with minor league affiliates Binghamton Senators and Elmira Jackals.

In 36 AHL games he scored a single goal with 5 assists, which isn’t that amazing but in 70 ECHL match-ups he’s a point-per-game guy at 35 goals and 42 assists with a +20 rating. He continued on that scoring tear in 6 playoff games, getting a pair of tallies and 6 helpers.

The small looking 5’10” 200 lbs. forward was also a sniper in four years of NCAA hockey at University Of Michigan posting 68 goals and 76 assists in 160 games with an outstanding +48 plus/minus.

At still only 24 years old the former Hobey Baker Award finalist will be added to an already deep talent pool and definitely help the Royals defend their title in the upcoming campaign.

Original story: 8/16-13

After attending a week of Worcester Sharks‘ training camp, he reported back to Reading to start the season and once again was putting up lots of points (7-21-28 in 24 games) before deciding halfway through to split overseas and skate the remainder of the campaign with Augsburger Panther of DEL, where he continued on a similar tear.

He resigned with the team for another year and although his production slipped slightly he was still connecting with the net on a regular basis finishing 2014/2015 with 15 goals, 23 assists in 47 games.

For his 5th pro season, he signs on with the enemy, agreeing to play for Iserlohn Roosters and at only 25-years old he’s probably still just getting started.

11Jun

Blake Parlett(7) Medvescak Zagreb

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Coming off a career year, which also saw him get traded from New York Rangers‘ prospect system with Connecticut Whale to Columbus Blue Jackets and their affiliate Springfield Falcons, 4th year, undrafted defenseman Blake Parlett(7) signs his qualifying offer as a restricted free agent to stay where he is for a full season within the ranks.

In 78 AHL games in 2012/2013, he scored 8 goals and 24 assists with a combined +9 rating.

The seemingly bigger looking than 6’1″ 205 lbs. blue liner started his pro career on a minor league contract with Connecticut but spent most of his rookie season in the ECHL with Greenville Road Warriors.

After a good showing in first campaign, he was signed to a two-year entry level deal by the Rangers.

The 24-year old has yet to receive his first NHL call-up but he’s likely in line for a skate up in the big league if he continues to make a difference, connect for point in the upcoming season.

See related: 3/21-11

Original story: 7/22-13

Just like that the d-man gets dished from the Blue Jackets‘ system to Boston Bruins‘ minor league team Providence Bruins but left unsigned and was quick to pick up a contract as an unrestricted free agent with Florida Panthers for 2014/2015.

He played exclusively for their farm club San Antonio Rampage recording a career high 9 AHL goals and plus 9 rating with second best 26 points and tied for 67 games.

The 26-year old picks up his game and will move it to Russian for at least a season in the KHL with Medvescak Zagreb.

10Jun

Barry Goers(41) WBS Penguins

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Wheeling Nailers‘ 4th year undrafted mini-defenseman Barry Goers(41) was recalled by affiliate Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins on seven occasions, putting in an accountable effort when called upon.

The 5’9″ 175 lbs. (minimum weight any player is 9/10 times given) was finally given an AHL contract within the last month of the regular season and with one more appearance in the postseason will outplay his previous high from his rookie year with Las Vegas Wranglers.

Almost ironically he’s scored as many points in the current Calder Cup Playoffs, a pair of assists, as he did in the 2010 Kelly Cup Playoffs.

The 27-year old veteran blue liner could easily sign another ECHL contract for 2014/2015 and follow a similar path of call-ups but he may also grab a roster spot out of training camp or earlier in the off-season.

He’s easily earned it.

Original story: 6/1-14

Not wanting to wait until someone else could sign him Wilkes Barre/Scranton stepped back in offering a one-year contract.

Playing in his first full AHL season he recorded modest career highs with 2 goals, 7 assists and 9 points in 51 games, then added another 2 helpers in 8 Calder Cup Playoff contests.

The soon-to-be 29-year old was definitely consistent enough to score the extension with the Penguins.

10Jun

Olivier Labelle (13)

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After posting a career high 57 points upon his 3rd term with Reading, he decided to take his game across the pond skating for a pair of seasons in Austria with Graz 99ers but saw his scoring diminish in the second campaign to half of what he put up in his initial year.

He decided to return to eastern Pennsylvania for a fourth time in 2014/2015 and further increased his game connecting for more new best marks in goals (30), assists (41), points (71) and plus/minus (+16).

The soon-to-be 30-year old will once again headed overseas signing for a year in France’s Ligue Magnus with Rouen Dragons, where he should have little problem leading the league in multiple categories.

09Jun

Austin Madaisky(5) Springfield Falcons

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Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (#124 overall) defenseman Austin Madaisky(5) definitely ate lots of Wheaties in the off season.

In 15 AHL games with affiliate Springfield Falcons he’s already tied a career high 4 goals in a single season and blown a huge hole in his previous assist mark (at 4) recently adding a 10th helper to his totals with a +4 rating.

This puts him on par to equal some pretty impressive numbers he posted in his final campaign of juniors in the WHL as an assistant captain with Kamloops Blazers. He had 37 assists in 2011/2012 and 20 in each of his previous two years.

All of this is perfect timing as the decently sized 6’2″ 205 lbs. blue liner is in the last season of his 3-year entry level deal and set to become a restricted free agent.

Original story: 11/16-14

With his status moving towards rfa, the parent club wasted little time to make sure he was signed for another year with a two-way deal.

Makes sense as he blew the lid off his previous scoring totals recording 12 goals and 23 assists in a career high 53 AHL games before losing the remainder of the season to injury. He led all blue liner points in the league before going down.

Despite all the lost time he still managed to lead the Falcons‘ defense in goals, assists and points for 2014/2015.

If the 23-year old can stay healthy, the deep draft selection may just find himself spending a significant amount of time in the NHL.

He’s easily in line for the opportunity.

03Jun

Alexandre Bolduc(49) Phoenix Coyotes

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6’1″ 197 lbs., grisly 7th year center, Alexandre Bolduc(49) found himself without a team after basically skating his first six seasons pro in Vancouver Canucks‘ system mostly with their AHL affiliate, the famed Manitoba Moose, a team he skated 232 games with.

It didn’t last long though, as Arizona Coyotes picked up his unrestricted free agency status with a one-year two-way deal. He’s mostly skated with Portland Pirates putting up 3 goals and 11 assists in 19 games.

He’s played 46 NHL games and scored a pair of goals and three assists. He was originally a St. Louis Blues‘ 4th round pick in the 2003 draft (#127 overall) but never signed with them.

He technically signed as a rookie with ECHL Bakersfield Condors but skated more games in the AHL. For the next season he inked a two-way AHL contract with the Moose, then a one-way deal with Manitoba before scoring a contract with the Canucks for 2008/2009.

An upper body (um, shoulder) injury kept him sidelined for most of this season but he’s come back strong.

Original story 3/25-12

After inking for a second year in the Coyotes‘ system as captain of their farm team, he moved on circling back to skate for the team that selected him out of junior hockey, St. Louis Blues.

He spent the entire 2013/2014 season on reassignment with Chicago Wolves.

The following campaign he would again be signed by Arizona and once more take the lead of affiliate Portland Pirates.

He ended up having a career second best 23 goals and highs of 29 assists and 52 points to lead the team in 62 AHL games.

For his 11th pro season the 29-year old leaves North American hockey for his first run at the KHL with Traktor Chelyabinsk.

03Jun

Andrew Gordon (10)

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After going to the Calder Cup Finals with the IceCaps 8th year center Andrew Gordon(10) signed a one-year two-way deal with Philadelphia Flyers on the second day of free agency.

Once again he was in the parent club’s training camp but reassigned early and played the complete 76 AHL game slate with new affiliate Lehigh Valley Phantoms without receiving a recall.

He did ok scoring 18 goals and 24 assists on a team that teetered on the .500 mark for most of the season.

With what looks to be diminishing opportunities to skate games in the show, the 29-year old has decided to take his scoring threat over to Europe and gets a one-year deal with Linkoping of the SHL.

See related: 2/28-12

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