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23Oct

Springfield Thunderbirds home debut

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The AHL‘s latest team Springfield Thunderbirds took to the Mass Mutual Center ice for their debut in front of a packed house containing 6793 folks.

The fans greeted their new team, which almost wasn’t until a last minute deal was worked out to buy out Portland Pirates and move them a little south and west to where the league office is located.

Minor league hockey has been a staple in the city since 1926, when Springfield Indians took to the ice.

They won 7 championships with the last one in 1990/1991, played for a few more seasons before relinquishing the franchise, but new ownership stepped right in to fill the void and Springfield Falcons were born.

When NHL affiliate Arizona Coyotes decided to move their farm team closer to home, it was close to curtains but pro hockey was once again saved.

The home squad, won their opener 5-4 with two 3rd period goals to tie it and the overtime game-winner to send the fans home happy, hopefully hungry for more.

They are the farm club of Florida Panthers.

22Oct

Stefan Legein (49)

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9th year career minor leaguer Stefan Legein(49) gets back to playing hockey for the love of the game signing with semi-pro Stony Creek Generals of Allan Cup Hockey for 2016/2017.

He’s already credited with a goal and and an assist in the first two games.

Originally a Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft (#37 overall), he was selected after his most productive season of juniors with Mississauga IceDogs, where he potted 43 goals and 32 assists for 75 points in 64 OHL games.

The 5’10” 185 lbs. forward only lasted a year and a half in the system before being traded to Philadephia Flyers, finishing out his sophomore campaign with a career high 26 goals and 11 assists in 76 AHL mostly with Adirondack Phantoms.

He also had a sordid -19 rating on a non-playoff team.

At the start of 2011/2012, he was once again on the move, this time to Los Angeles Kings.

He had a decent showing that was definitely off his previous year totals but in the end good enough to earn him a one-year extension.

The follow-up run wasn’t as successful though and his scoring totals dropped to a low of 17 points.

Signed to a minor league deal with Toronto Marlies at the start 2013/2014, he would decide to leave less a couple of months in for Sweden’s tier two Allsvenskan joining VIK Vasteras HK despite getting off to a quick start with 3 goals in 7 games.

As it looked like he would return to North American hockey, he changed it up signing a late contract with Heilbronner Falken of DEL2 and had decent success in the regular season but took it up in the playoffs striking for 4 goals and 4 assists in 8 contests.

The 27-year did come back in 2015/2016 inking with Manchester Monarchs of the ECHL.

He had played two seasons there in the upper league when he was a Kings‘ prospect.

One more transaction sending him to Tulsa Oilers and that may have been enough moving around for the veteran skater.

21Oct

Darik Angeli (24)

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Undrafted 2nd year right wing Darik Angeli(24) signed in the off-season to return to Manchester Monarchs for another campaign but was recently traded for future considerations to Western Conference hometown team Colorado Eagles.

He potted a modest 6 goals and 10 assists through 50 ECHL games playing a high energy, hard checking style with a -7 rating.

These marks eclipsed what he was able to produce in any single seasons of four at Ohio State University but not quite as well as he in two years of USHL junior hockey with Tri-City Storm, Chicago Steel and Sioux City Musketeers.

The 6’3″ 205 lbs. forward was loaned up on a couple of occasions, first early in his rookie run to Portland Pirates for a game (no points) and then late in the year he joined Manitoba Moose for 10 AHL contests scoring a goal and 2 assists.

The just turned 26-year old will likely have a breakout season and could even be looking at some extended time skating at a higher level of hockey.

20Oct

Aaron Dell (30)

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San Jose Sharks‘ 5th year goaltender Aaron Dell(30) received his first major contract as 2014/2015 was nearing its conclusion due to his stellar play through 26 AHL games with affiliate Worcester Sharks.

He had actually started the campaign in a second stint with Allen Americans, but this time as a first year team in the ECHL, before being loaned up and never looking back a month into the season.

Signed to a new 1-year deal going into 2015/2016, he became the starting net minder for new farm club San Jose Barracuda playing a career high 40 games with a 17-16-5 record, 2.42 GAA and .922 SV%.

He also received his first big league recall for a week, then was re-signed to a 2-year extension on the opening day of free agency and came into training camp with a strong performance.

Having prospects so close has probably helped him solidifying his spot in the system, as he was able to grab the back-up goalie roster spot and gets the early nod for his first NHL start.

The 27-year old scored his first win stopping 23 of 25 shots with a 2.00 GAA and .913 SV%.

It’s been a bit of a journey up but he looks to be embracing it and playing to stay.

19Oct

Jerry D’Amigo (19)

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7th year left wing Jerry D’Amigo(19) had some reports suggesting he would sign his first minor league deal to stick with last contract team Buffalo Sabres‘ affiliate Rochester Americans, the team he’s mostly skated for in the last year and a half.

He played 9 additional NHL games after a mid-season trade from Columbus Blue Jackets in 2014/2015, but failed to connect with any points.

The not exactly huge but tough playing forward has endured a couple of tough AHL seasons seeing his diminishing returns on his point totals.

It’s little surprise to see the 25-year old switch it up, accepting a one-year deal with Ilves of Finland’s Liiga.

Although he may be taking his game overseas at this point, he should be able to see some nice returns for his game and will likely start affecting the score sheet again.

18Oct

Luke Adam (90)

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7th year center Luke Adam(90) found himself in the tough spot of being an unrestricted free agent with few options heading into 2016/2017.

Accepting a tryout agreement with Calgary Flames, he was released to affiliate Stockton Heat, where matters didn’t improve and he was let go a second time.

He’d always scored big league contracts for each of his previous campaigns, staying with draft team Buffalo Sabres for the first 4 and a half years of his career before a mid-season 2014/2015 trade sent him to Columbus Blue Jackets.

The fairly big forward had consistently appeared in NHL games, spending the majority of his sophomore season up with the parent club appearing in 52 games scoring a respectable 10 goals and 10 assists.

More has always been expected of the #44 selection in the 2008 draft though, as he excelled as a point per game player through his final three years of QMJHL. and started strong in the minors.

The 26-year old didn’t spend too long thinking about where to go next, agreeing on a one-year deal with Adler Mannheim of DEL to start a new chapter.

Chances are good that he’ll detonate the score sheet in his new place and will work his way up the overseas hockey ladder in short order.

17Oct

Lucas Lessio (14)

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4th year left wing Lucas Lessio(14) was left unqualified by Montreal Canadiens heading into restricted free agency after being dealt a couple of months into 2015/2016 from draft team Arizona Coyotes.

The decently big power forward was given a training camp invite by Los Angeles Kings but released to affiliate Ontario Reign to continue.

A week later he was released from his pto.

Tough to say where things went south for the former high draft selection after a good rookie season with an AHL career high 29 goals and 25 assists for 54 points with Portland Pirates, then 26 NHL games and another good run in the minors.

Maybe it was his on ice accountability, which sits at a -11 in the big league and a very lousy -38 rating with three different farm clubs.

The former 2009 OHL Champion and 2011 Hlinka Memorial Tournament Gold Medal winner with Team Canada didn’t take long to pick up a new deal after a series of unsuccessful tryouts.

The 23-year old heads overseas on a one-year deal with Medvescak Zagreb of the KHL in hopes to turn the corner.

16Oct

Christopher Gibson (33)

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Heading into 4th pro season New York Islanders‘ goaltender Christopher Gibson(33) was one of the final training camp cuts sent to affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, but the parent club is currently a little stacked in net, so makes sense to give the prospect as much playing time as possible.

He’s posted back-to-back winning AHL seasons with similarly good numbers.

In his four game stint up in the NHL last year he went 1-1-1 with a 3.40 GA and .882 SV%, which maybe isn’t amazing but the thinking is he can step it up.

He was between the pipes for the minor league home opener and got the victory 2-1, which should have been ruled a shutout, stopping 38 of 39 shots and was awarded the first star of the game.

It looks to be another successful campaign working on the farm for the 23-year old.

Signed recently as a restricted free agent for only another season, good play could definitely have another club circling his wagon to get him to tend their cage.

15Oct

Daniel Ciampini (26)

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Sophomore skater Daniel Ciampini(26) was recently reassigned from 2016/2017 contract squad Ontario Reign to affiliate Manchester Monarchs just before the start of the new campaign.

The small-ish but sturdy player got right to work after no preseason match-ups scoring the first tally of the season for his new club and then added an assist in a 4-3 shootout loss.

He would post equal marks in the next contest (another loss) to continue his hot start of 4 points in only 2 ECHL games.

With this kind of point production, he will easily find himself on a short list for a recall and may not come back if he can start connecting in the AHL.

The soon-to-turn 26-year old could be just starting to ignite what he started in his college career.

14Oct

Kevin Poulin (90)

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7th year goaltender Kevin Poulin(90) makes one of the odder career decisions on record agreeing to guard the cage for Laval Predateurs of the LNAH for at least the moment.

After 5 years in New York Islanders‘ system playing NHL games in each of his seasons with the team.

The 6’2″ 206 lbs. net minder’s most outstanding effort had to be in the 2013 Stanley Cup playoffs, when he appeared in 2 games to put out the fire posting a 1.15 GAA and .933 SV%.

The follow-up season he would play in a career high 28 big league games with a just ok 3.29 GAA and .891 SV%.

He would still merit 1-year extensions and he was able to score three from his draft team but as he was to be reassigned once again to affiliate Bridgeport Sound Tigers, where he was between the pipes for 150+ contests, and maybe as a bit of a good sign to restart his career Tampa Bay Lightning picked him up on waivers.

Big problem though, they were basically all set with goalies and come November, he was traded to Calgary Flames and spent the entire season in the minors with Stockton Heat.

His AHL numbers were fairly decent on a non-playoff squad but he was left unqualified for the first time heading into 2016/2017.

Maybe he’s decided on the short term to continue close to his Montreal birthplace before taking his next step.

It would be surprising to see him stick here for too long.

10/27: Poulin signs for the remainder of 2016/2017 with Barys Astana of the KHL.