Florida Everblades | CollegeHockeyPlayers

12Sep

Matthew Pistilli(36) South Carolina Stingrays

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Undrafted right wing Matthew Pistilli(36) had himself a nice 3-year entry level deal with Carolina Hurricanes that expired at the end of the 2012 season.

He split most of his time between minor league teams but played almost the full tilt (73 games) in the AHL last campaign scoring a career high 12 goals, 13 assists and 25 points with a less than great -12 rating.

He had 17 goals and 18 assists in 39 games on reassignment with Florida Everblades then added another 3 tallies and 7 helpers in 13 postseason contests.

Entering his 4th pro season, the 6’2″ 219 lbs., should-be power forward signed a contract to skate with South Carolina Stingrays in the ECHL.

First things first though, he scored an invite to join new affiliate Providence Bruins training camp.

No doubt, the almost 24-year old should be on the short list for a recall, if a player gets injured.

29Aug

Jaroslav Janus (30)

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Tampa Bay Lightning 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#192 overall) goalie Jaroslav Janus(30) hopefully heads to the home country Slovakia to continue his pro hockey career development as he’s signed a tryout agreement with HC Slovan Bratislava.

The 3rd year goaltender’s entry level deal was up and he was a restricted free agent going into 2012/2013.

With no room in the minors and he’s yet to make an NHL appearance, this was thought to be the best idea in the quest to keep getting him playing time.

The 6’1″ 189 lbs. backstop had a career year with Calder Cup Champion Norfolk Admirals last season.

In 34 games he posted a 23-8 record with a 2.36 GAA and .914 SV%.

Unless he gets comfortable playing closer to his birthplace, it’s likely that if the Lightning just have too many goalies in their system, someone else will come a knocking for the 22-year old.

24Jun

Jacob Micflikier(18) EHC Biel

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Entering his 5th pro season undrafted, under-sized as previously stated in a previous post, forward Jacob Micflikier(18) flies from North American hockey to skate with EHC Biel of the Swiss NLA.

It’s a move that makes sense for the 27-year old, unrestricted free agent. For 2011/2012, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with Washington Capitals but spent the entire season with Hershey Bears. He also was injured and limited to 57 games but had a career year for assists with 35 and would have been on par for highs in points and possibly goals too.

He leaves on a high, which is probably why the climate change likely makes it more appealing from a player standpoint. He’ll probably do pretty well playing this style hockey and we wish him all the best.

See related posts: July 18, 2011 & November 30, 2010

26May

Kevin Quick(4) Florida Everblades

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4th year defenseman Kevin Quick(4) signed an AHL 2-way contract with Norfolk Admirals in the offseason after spending most of the first 3 seasons of his career with the team signed to an entry level deal with Tampa Bay Lightning.

He appeared in 6 NHL games in his rookie year registering an assist. The blue liner also skated 18 ECHL games in that season.

In 2011/2012, the 24-year old spent most of his time with Florida Everblades and eventually won the Kelly Cup with the team.

He did skate 14 games with the Admirals and now that the lower league has reached its’ conclusion, he will likely rejoin them for the Calder Cup Finals, where he can be used pretty effectively in case one of the players goes down with injury.

15May

Jaroslav Janus(30) Norfolk Admirals

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3rd-ish year Norfolk Admirals‘ Slovakian-born goalie Jaroslav Janus(30) got his first start in the AHL Calder Cup Eastern Conference Semi-Finals and blanked Connecticut Whale 4-0 to help his team take the 3-2 series advantage. He was a Tampa Bay Lightning 6th round pick in the 2009 draft (#162 overall).

A couple of nights later he would be in net again to sail his team to a 2-1 win into the Conference Finals.

In 2011/2012 he played in a career high 34 games winning 23 games with a 2.36 GAA and .914 SV%.

In the playoffs he’s really shutting down the opposition with a 1.69 GAA and .937 SV%. He has 3 wins against 1 loss.

This is the final year of his 3-year entry level deal. He’ll almost assuredly be qualified for another season and maybe even sign an extension for 2 more.

Between this 22-year old and their other goaltending prospect, Dustin Tokarski, this should be the future of the Lightning‘s occupancy between the pipes.

14May

Keith Aucoin(11) Washington Capitals

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Veteran AHL center Keith Aucoin(11) has played a whopping 673 regualar season games in the league throughout his amazing 11-year career run.

Despite appearing in only 43 games this season, he still ranked 5th in scoring with 70 points (11 goals, 59 assists).

On February 28, the 33-year old was recalled from Hershey Bears for the fourth time in a month by Washington Capitals and stayed in the NHL throughout their Stanley Cup Playoff run, which included a pair of 7-game series.

In his first 14 big league postseason contests ever he had a pair of assists but more importantly was utilized on the power play and provided a tough fourth line checking forward for the opposition to deal with.

The 5’8″ 171 lbs. forward (that plays with hockey stick that’s bigger than he is) has been in the Caps‘ system for the last 4 seasons and is scheduled to be an unrestricted free agent on July 1, but we expect him to be re-upped for at least one more year.

07Apr

Jeff Prough(22) Connecticut Whale

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Undrafted forward Jeff Prough(22) played in 17 games this season on call-up to Connecticut Whale (the team he signed a one-year two-way deal with for 2011/2012) but as they were suffering some overcrowding for spots up front, he was reassigned to Greenville Road Warriors of the ECHL to see if he could put some life into their Kelly Cup Playoff postseason run, who were on the brink of opening round elimination.

He scored their first goal but unfortunately it wasn’t enough as they were overmatched and sent packing until 2012/2013.

He’s a point per game guy in the ECHL but the 25-year old, 5’10” 170 lbs. left winger has been less consistent in mostly a fourth line role in the AHL.

He will be back up with the Whale soon as he’s on their clear day roster for the Calder Cup Playoffs.

25Jan

Mike Angelidis(10) Tampa Bay Lightning

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6th year, undrafted left wing Mike Angelidis(10) scored his 1st NHL goal in his 1st NHL game on his 1st shot on net. He only played a 4:01 of ice time through 7 shifts (the goal came during his 2nd time out there) in Tampa Bay Lightning‘s Monday night 4-2 win.

After four seasons to start his pro career in Carolina Hurricanes‘ system, he signed a one-year, two-way deal with the Lightning last year and re-signed with the team for the 2011/2012 season. He was named captain of Norfolk Admirals at the start of the year.

He’s on pace to set career highs in goals and assists in the AHL, if he can continue along the pace he started in the first half of the season.

18Jan

Brett Carson(7) Calgary Flames

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After 5 seasons in the Carolina Hurricanes‘ system, the team he was originally drafted by in the 4th round of 2004 (#109 overall), defenseman Brett Carson(7) was plucked from the waiver wire late last season by Calgary Flames.

They saw a big NHL future for the 6’4″ 220 lbs. blue liner.

He had been having some injury problems with his back that required surgery in the offseason. Still hindered, he has only skated in two games with the Flames this season and has been down to their AHL affiliate Abbotsford Heat on conditioning stints twice already for a total of 11 games.

He was recently recalled and hopes to start contributing with the team soon. So far in 80 NHL games, he has 2 goals and 10 assists but no points yet with his new team.

11Jan

Tim Spencer(33) Springfield Falcons

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5th year, undrafted forward Tim Spencer(33) started the 2011/2012 season in the ECHL with Chicago Express and Trenton Titans but it didn’t take long for him to earn a call-up to the AHL with Springfield Falcons.

Originally signing a pto with the team in November, he was recently upped to a standard player contract after just 12 games and three fights where he just pummeled his opponent.

He’s oversized at 6’6″ 230 lbs. and has no problem stepping in to protect his teammates or give a beat down on a deserving member of the other team.