Tagged: Hamilton Bulldogs

27Jun

Corey Locke(84) TPS

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There comes a time when a player has pretty much done all he can in North America. Even though he was drafted by Montreal Canadiens in the 4th round of 2003 (#114 overall), has 573 AHL regular season and another 62 playoff games to his credit; plus 2 Calder Cup Championships (Binghamton 2011 and Hamilton 2007), has scored 197 goals and added 383 assists for a total of 580 points and has plenty of other accolades including league MVP to his credit, sometimes it’s just time.

28-year old center Corey Locke(84) signed on with TPS of SM-liiga for the 2012/2013 season as he becomes an unrestricted free agent after signing a two-year deal in 2010 with Ottawa Senators.

Odds are the quick thinking, skillful 5’9″ 175 lbs. playmaker will continue to produce a point per game even in the new environment.

It comes as a bit of a surprise that he would leave to go play in Europe as his two-way contract pays him pretty well and another team could easily use his services for another couple of seasons, but again, seems like more of a timing issue; and the level of hockey he’s entering will keep him at the top of his game.

Ironically he earned his only NHL point, an assist, last season. He’s appeared in only 9 big league games.

See related posts: 1/15/11, 5/6/11, 6/5/11.

22Jun

Jean-Philippe Cote (24)

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Entering his 10th pro season, defenseman Jean-Phillipe Cote(24) becomes the first signing for Tampa Bay Lightning‘s brand new AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch after winning the Calder Cup, his second, with Norfolk Admirals last season.

He inked a two-year minor league deal that will keep him in the system through 2014.

The 6’2″ 210 lbs. 30-year old started the year playing 10 games with Ontario Reign of the ECHL (his first appearance in the league) before signing a pto with the Admirals in mid-November that was bumped up to a standard player contract a month later.

Originally a Toronto Maple Leafs‘ 9th round pick in the 2000 draft (#265 overall), the big blue liner has appeared in 8 NHL games with Montreal Canadiens and won his first Calder Cup with Hamilton Bulldogs in 2007.

He spent his first 5 seasons with the team skating in 354 games with the team.

He may not be the most prolific scoring d-man but he’s accountable force out there and even put up career highs last season for assists (12), points (15) and plus/minus (+26) and postseason games played, so he’s a good guy to have on any team.

18Jun

Brian Willsie(24) Hamilton Bulldogs

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14-year veteran right wing, Hamilton Bulldogs‘ assistant captain Brian Willsie(24) maybe didn’t have the most productive point totals of his career, but his 18 goals and 26 assists were first in team scoring for 2011/2012.

As of July 1 he becomes an unrestricted free agent and could potentially sign with his fourth different team in the last 4 seasons.

With 381 games of NHL experience (52 goals, 57 assists and 5 full years with teams), no doubt the leadership quality he brings to any team he plays for is worth the price of his contract.

He played in his last big league contest as recently as two seasons ago with Washington Capitals  (a team he’s skated 132 of his career league games with) and even got an assist in the one game he appeared in.

He was originally a Colorado Avalanche 6th round pick in the 1996 draft (#146 overall).

It’s a bit of a wonder why the Canadiens didn’t call him up, when they brought a few of the younger guys in the system up and down on a number of occasions.

What’s next for the 34-year old? We wait.

 

19May

Pavel Valentenko(25) Avangard Omsk

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Connecticut Whale defenseman Pavel Valentenko(25) heads back home to Russia giving up his restricted free agency status with New York Rangers and signed a two-year deal with Avangard Omsk of the KHL. This team went to the Garagin Cup Finals last season and lost to Dynamo Moscow in 7 games.

He was originally picked by Montreal Canadiens in the 5th round of the 2006 draft (#139 overall) and played his rookie season with Hamilton Bulldogs before getting traded to the Rangers.

The 24-year old d-man has yet to appear in an NHL game and he may have slid on their depth chart, which may point to good reason for his departure.

In two seasons with Connecticut Whale, he scored 10 goals and 31 assists in 154 regular and postseason games. He had an especially good feed in game 4 of the Calder Cup Semi-Finals in what was his last AHL win.

The one stat that really sticks out for the 6’2″ 202 lbs. blue liner is his +39 plus/minus, a huge feat for a player that eats up all those minutes in his own zone. It’s kind of a wonder why he never got a look.

11May

Alex Henry(5) DEG Metro Stars

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13 year pro defenseman Alex Henry(5) leaves North American hockey for Germany (his second stint in the country; he was there in the 2004/2005 NHL lockout year). He joins DEG Metro Stars of the DEL (Deutsche Eishockey Liga).

The always daunting 6’5″ 220 lbs. blue liner was originally a 3rd round pick by Edmonton Oilers in the 1998 draft (#63 overall). He only played 3 of his 177 NHL appearances with the Oilers. He’s credited with 2 goals and 9 assists.

Starting his pro career with Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL for the first three seasons; he closes this chapter of playing hockey having played the last four years with the team, including the last two as their captain.

The 32-year old has played a massive 546 regular and postseason games with the Bulldogs and 701 AHL contests overall. Hardly considered for his offensive prowess, he’s found the back of the net only 19 times and filled in the scoring sheet with 78 assists.

08May

Brock Trotter (39)

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When St. John’s IceCaps picked up center Brock Trotter(39) in early March on an AHL loan deal he was on the sidelines nursing an upper body injury that made his immediate playing future a bit unclear.

He managed to return before the regular season concluded and skated in the last couple games with the team after missing 20 previous contests.

The point per game forward failed to reach the scoresheet.

The IceCaps’ Calder Cup future was already sealed though and they opened as the number 2 seed in the Eastern Conference.

Throughout 8 postseason games (so far) he is back to form contributing 5 goals, while adding 4 assists but none would add up more importantly than the pair he pocketed in the Semi-Finals‘ 2-1 overtime game 3 win vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to put them in the series lead.

He’s set to become an restricted free agent as summer approaches and bets are on that Winnipeg Jets will make a move with Phoenix to sign the fully stretched 5’10” 185 lbs. minor league scoring machine up for another season.

02May

Mike Vernace(48) Connecticut Whale

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6th year defenseman Mike Vernace(48) has been on quite the ride through the AHL this season as he was traded twice and is currently playing for his third team in the 2011/2012 season.

Ironically all three teams he skated for are still in the postseason.

He started the year with Norfolk Admirals, the team he’d been with for the entirety of 2010/2011 and even got into 10 games with the parent club Tampa Bay Lightning.

From there he was dished to Florida Panthers but skated only with San Antonio Rampage.

That relationship lasted only 22 games before he was once again passed along to New York Rangers in a trade deadline deal and reassigned to Connecticut Whale, where he’ll play his former team, the Admirals in the AHL Eastern Conference Semi-Finals in a best-of-seven series.

Originally a San Jose Sharks‘ 7th round pick in the 2004 draft (#201 overall), the 6’ 216 lbs. blue liner has only appeared in 22 NHL games throughout his playing career.

It’s a bit doubtful that he’ll crack New York Rangers‘ lineup next fall or if they’ll even sign him up for another year, as he’ll be a UFA at the conclusion of the playoff run.

We still think he’s got plenty of pop to crack a big league lineup.

05Apr

Gabriel Dumont(40) Montreal Canadiens

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Montreal Canadiens‘ 5th round pick in the 2009 draft (#139 overall) centre Gabriel Dumont(40) received his first NHL call-up and skated 13 shifts for 8:25 minutes of ice time in his debut.

The 5’9″ 180 lbs. forward is in the 2nd season of his 3-year entry level deal.

He’s having a career year in the AHL with Hamilton Bulldogs for goals and points this season with 13 markers and 22 points. He also performed pretty well with them in last year’s Calder Cup Playoffs hitting the scoresheet for 6 goals and 3 assists in 20 games.

The one knock for 2011/2012 is his plus/minus, which is a lowly -14.

Without much size, the 22-year old is going to have to rely on his speed and tenacity if he wants to make it to the NHL on a more permanent basis.

28Mar

Frederic St. Denis(32) Montreal Canadiens

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Undrafted 4th year defenseman Frederic St. Denis(32) is getting his chances to play in the NHL with the only team he’s ever been signed with, Montreal Canadiens.

In 11 games he picked up his 1st NHL goal and just got his first assist to go with it. He’s also been an accountable zero plus/minus.

He’s played 196 AHL games with Hamilton Bulldogs scoring 12 goals and 53 assists on what has always been a good team with the exception of this season, where it’s just so-so.

It will be interesting to see if Montreal re-ups with him for a 5th campaign as they look to rebuild.

20Mar

Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers(43) Anaheim Ducks

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Anaheim Ducks‘ goaltender Jeff Drouin-Deslauriers(43) has been around a lot more years than most folks would even remember.

He was originally an Edmonton Oilers‘ 2nd round pick in the 2002 draft (#31 overall) and had spent the first 7 years of his career playing in their system starting with Edmonton Roadrunners, Hamilton Bulldogs, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, Springfield Falcons and Oklahoma City Barons (all one-time Oilers‘ AHL affiliates).

He also played 58 NHL games over two seasons with Edmonton.

One thing about his netminding, even when he didn’t put up a winning record, he never really had a terrible GAA or SV%.

That fact was not missed by Anaheim, who signed him to a two-year two deal as a free agent for 2011-2013. Oddly enough, he’s posting his worst numbers for their AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch but is 1-0 in a start with the Ducks and in his 2nd start tonight.

The 27-year old stands 6’4″ 200 lbs. It’d be no surprise to see him win a starting job soon, like he did in ’09/’10 with Edmonton.