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Tagged: Calgary Flames

01Feb

David Wolf(45) Calgary Flames

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Calgary Flames‘ undrafted rookie left wing, the German-born David Wolf(45) already had 7 years of pro experience playing for teams in his home country, including 5 in the top league DEL, before signing his one-year deal.

He was reassigned to Adirondack Flames to start his first season in North America.

In 35 AHL games he’s posted 12 goals and 9 assists with a +8 rating and 4 fighting majors.

He’s tied for the team lead in scoring, 3rd overall in points and second for time in the sin bin.

The big 6’3″ 215 lbs. power forward never shies away from the rough stuff and was the most penalized player in 2011/2012.

His all around solid style and ability to connect with the score sheet earned him a recall from the parent club.

In his NHL debut he skated 16 even strength shifts for 7:27 of total ice time, was 50% on the face off dot, had 1 shot on net, 2 hits and one takeaway in a 4-2 come from behind victory.

The 25-year is getting a bit of a late start but may be at the right point of game maturation to stick.

30Jan

The AHL moves west

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At 3:30pm ET AHL president Dave Andrews announced the creation on a Pacific Division that will play in the Western Conference of the league starting 2015/2016.

The cities effectively losing teams are Oklahoma City Barons, which happened earlier this season, Norfolk Admirals, Glens Falls/Adirondack Flames after only one run, Worcester Sharks and rivals Manchester Monarchs.

Picking up teams will be soon to be former ECHL franchises Ontario (Los Angeles), Bakersfield (Edmonton) and Stockton (Calgary). San Diego (Anaheim) will be a new city for triple A hockey although did at one time have a Gulls, and San Jose‘s farm club will play out of the same building as the Sharks; and will likely be renamed.

It’s fairly well-thought that Manchester, Adirondack and Norfolk make announcement to join the double A league and there’s rumors racing around Worcester is exploring the options and would have the best chance at success by resurrecting the Ice Cats, while Oklahoma City may get back into the fold under their old successful Blazers‘ banner after a year on the sidelines.

This move was 100% inevitable and can easily make fiscal sense. Those west coast teams draw fairly well with their fan base of hockey lovers.

On the plus side for Eastern Conference folks, chances are Utica, Rochester, Charlotte, Hamilton and even possible Toronto enter in their rivalry picture.

The big news is the top level of minor league hockey in California has arrived.

21Jan

Taylor Vause (34)

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Undrafted, 3rd year mini-center Taylor Vause(34) has earned every inch of the ice he’s played on.

He joined Texas Stars on an ato after four plus seasons of junior hockey in the WHL, where he was team captain with Swift Current Broncos scoring more than a point-per-game in his last campaign (37-46-83 in 72 games).

Generously listed at 5’10” 185 lbs. he was able to put up his first pro goal and an assist in 5 AHL contests.

He signed a pto to continue in the lone star state for his rookie year and re-upped with a second tryout before getting a full-on contract.

While it took him a little time to find his spot in the lineup, once in he was a bit slow to start but finished with 4 goals and 13 assists in 55 games, which was a decent debut for the tenacious forward.

He also appeared in 3 postseason matches registering no points.

It was reported he signed a one-year deal with Idaho Steelheads in the off-season but after attending Texas‘ training camp was kept on board once again and split his playing time with both clubs gaining more consistency on the score sheet.

And even though he played in only a pair of playoff games, he did have his name included on the 2013 Calder Cup Trophy.

The 23-year decided to ink his next deal with Colorado Eagles and quickly established himself as a scoring threat.

It didn’t take the Calgary native to earn a recall and signed another pto with Adirondack Flames.

He had been in their training camp.

The small pivot made an impact almost immediately and one month in was given an spc to stay with the team, although he was later reassigned back down after cooling off.

It only took him a week to return as he exploded for a 3 goal, 3 assist performance in his 3-game ECHL stint.

He’ll certainly have to keep his energy level up and connect but he might have found his home for at least the short term and will likely get an NHL camp look.

12Jan

Joni Ortio(37) Calgary Flames

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Calgary Flames‘ 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#171 overall) Finnish-born goaltender Joni Ortio(37) earned a 1-0 shutout on recall in his first game of 2014/2015.

His numbers shouldering the majority of the starts with AHL affiliate Adirondack Flames are only slightly off the marks he set from the previous season with Abbotford Heat as a rookie.

He actually was one of very few players to appear in three leagues in his first year, starting with 4 games in the ECHL for Alaska Aces, where he posted a 3-1 record and a phenomenal 1.01 GAA and .944 SV%.

In 9 NHL games that same season, the 6’1″ 185 back stop went 4-4 with a 2.51 GAA and ..891 SV%.

He came to North American pro hockey having already played a full campaign in his home country Liiga for HIFK and parts of three previous years with TPS.

The 23-year signed a two-year extension after his entry level deal was up.

He’s on a one-way contract next season so it will be interesting to see if he makes a clean jump up the ladder.

15Dec

Tim Erixson(34) Chicago Blackhawks

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Chicago Blackhawks love their Swedes and defenseman Tim Erixson(34) becomes their latest addition via trade.

He was actually born in America but spent much of his time growing up, playing juniors and his first three years of pro hockey as a teenager in the SHL with Skelleftea.

Originally drafted in the 1st round by Calgary Flames, he was traded when he refused to sign to New York Rangers, where he spent most of his rookie season on reassignment to then differently named affiliate Connecticut Whale/Hartford Wolf Pack and went right to work on the score sheet with 3 goals and 30 assists.

The sort of smaller looking than his stats suggest 6’2″ 200 lbs. blue liner did play his first 18 NHL games in his first campaign registering two helpers.

He lasted only one season of his three-year entry level deal as he was a prospect part of the huge Rick Nash off season transaction that sent him to Columbus Blue Jackets.

He spent the first half of his sophomore campaign with their farm club, Springfield Falcons putting up more fantastic offensive marks (5-24-29).

Recalled to the parent club, where he stayed for the remainder of the season he managed to appear in 31 games with 5 assists and a +4 rating to his credit.

Not sure what the factors were that had him fall off the depth chart but even though he was summoned half a dozen times he only appeared in two games in his third season, while he increased his point totals to a point-per-game player in the minors.

The 23-year old signed a one-year one-way extension to stay put and would only skate contests in the show for his fourth run.

He finally got his first NHL goal but once again found himself on the dispensable list and lands in probably the best situation he could possibly ask for.

See related: 3/22-12

01Dec

Ian White(28) Providence Bruins

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11th year veteran defenseman Ian White(28) last played a game in the AHL in 2006 with the newly introduced Toronto Marlies, while still under his entry level contract with Toronto Maple Leafs.

He was a 6th round pick in the 2002 draft (#191 overall) and up until the 2013/2014 season he strung together 503 NHL appearances, 6 years with the Leafs, stops with Calgary Flames, Carolina Hurricanes, San Jose Sharks and most fruitfully late career two campaigns with Detroit Red Wings, where he put up a career high 25 assists and 32 points with a phenomenal +23 rating.

The not huge 5’10” 185 lbs. d-man had season ending injury in 2013/2014 limiting him to only 25 games for 2 goals and 2 assists but a tidy +5.

He was a beast on the score board in four years of juniors in the WHL with Swift Current Broncos. His totals of 77 goals and 145 assists in 246 games with a +31 is impressive for such a late selection.

Regardless, he was an unrestricted free agent was in Winnipeg Jets‘ training camp but released and found himself over in Russia with Traktor Chelyabinsk for a minimal 10 games.

At only 30 years old, he’s definitely still got a lot of game left in the tank.

He signed a pto with Providence Bruins and has appeared in 7 games scoring 1 goal and 3 assists but is a kind of bad -7 plus/minus on a team that’s been struggling.

His veteran presence works on this roster and it would be no surprise to see him score a deal.

10Nov

Kevin Westgarth(15) Belfast Giants

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Undrafted 8th year right wing Kevin Westgarth(15) found no takers for his gritty game in the NHL so he has decided to join storied English hockey franchise Belfast Giants for the 2014/2015 campaign.

The exceedingly large 6’4″ 234 lbs. forward was invited to Edmonton Oilers‘ training camp before being released right before the start of the new season.

He last played a full year with Calgary Flames and seemed to enjoy it as a most productive landing spot in 2013/2014 scoring a career high 4 goals and 3 assists in 36 games.

His last stint four+ years ago in the AHL with Manchester Monarchs he showed signs of converting his fists into scoring chances landing 11 goals and 14 assists in 76 games.

The now 30-year old is off to a hot start getting a pair of goals in his first two appearances and of course, already has one fighting major penalty too.

He should be a point per game kind of player in this league.

It remains to be seen if good play away from home for a season will get anyone interested in paying for his services to return.

24Sep

Nick Larson(17) HC Banska Bystrica

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2nd year right wing Nick Larson(17) has decided to take his game overseas, joining HC Banska Bystrica of the Slovakian league for 2014/2015.

He was originally a Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 2008 draft (#108 overall) but was never signed.

Instead he become an unrestricted free agent upon completion of four years at University Of Notre Dame. He signed an ato with Peoria Rivermen, where in 5 games he he went pointless.

The 6’2″ 200 lbs. forward put up ok numbers in college but was much better at putting the puck in the net through a pair of campaigns in USHL junior hockey with Waterloo Blackhawks.

To start his rookie season he eventually signed a two-way deal with Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

He was reassigned to ECHL affiliate Stockton Thunder to begin the year and was quickly recalled.

Through 17 AHL games he scored 4 goals and 2 assists with a +5 rating but to failed to stick on the young squad and was eventually sent back down a couple of months later.

He was later loaned to South Carolina Stingrays to play out the season and almost ironically started to regain his scoring touch, putting in 7 goals and 2 assists in 23 games.

It’s almost surprising that the 24-year old decided to take his game to another country but maybe a fresh start is what he needs to move up the ranks.

He was rumored to have inked a deal with Orlando Solar Bears but decided to jump ship.

22Dec

Akim Aliu(78) Hartford Wolf Pack

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5th year right wing Akim Aliu(78) is a bit of an enigma.

Originally a Chicago Blackhawks‘ 2nd round pick in the 2007 draft (#56 overall), the rough and tough forward has only played in 7 NHL games while under contract with Calgary Flames, who picked up the last year of his entry level contract, then qualified him for another season.

In his first pair of big league games he notched a pair of goals and an assist but through his next five contests in last year’s lockout shortened season he failed to connect with the score sheet.

The 6’4″ 225 lbs. power forward spent most of his time with farm club Abbotsford Heat, where in 84 games he’s collected a sparse 14 goals and 11 assists with an unsettling -20 rating.

Through 214 AHL contests his point totals are surprisingly low.

It’s fairly well documented that the still young 24-year old has temper and attitude problems, which probably has a lot to do with his limited success.

He started the current campaign on a try-out contract with Hamilton Bulldogs but was released after 14 games.

Picked up a month later by a struggling Hartford Wolf Pack, in a pair of appearances he scored his first tally with the team, has one fight and unloaded 5 shots on net.

He seems to fit with the team pretty well but without a sizable increase of offense production, it seems unlikely he’ll be given an spc to stay through the regular season.

11Oct

Aaron Johnson(44) New York Rangers

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11th year defenseman Aaron Johnson(44) signs a 1-year, 1-way contract with New York Rangers, his 7th NHL team.

He was made their affiliate Hartford Wolf Pack team captain to start the season and there could be similar thoughts like what Nashville Predators did when signing him to a one-year deal, ship him to their minor league affiliate, Milwaukee Admirals for the season. But the parent club’s slow out of the gate and may need to switch things up even further, which would open the door for the 30-year defenseman to get some more games in the show on his stat sheet.

He’s played 297 big league games scoring 17 times with 45 assists and a nifty little +1 rating.

In the AHL his numbers are sort of phantomly similar with 26 goals and 86 helpers but he has a -5 plus/minus.

The former Columbus Blue Jackets‘ 3rd round pick in the 2001 draft (#85 overall) still has some left in the tank.

A couple of seasons ago, back with the team that drafted him, he put up a career tying 3 goals and a high mark 13 assists.

We think it’s likely he gets to the 300 NHL game club this season.

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