Manitoba Moose | CollegeHockeyPlayers

31May

Dany Sabourin(35) Hershey Bears

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Heading into his 13th season, Hershey Bears‘ goaltender Dany Sabourin(35) signs a one-year, two-way extension with Washington Capitals‘ organization for a third straight season.

Originally a Calgary Flames‘ 4th round pick in the 1998 draft (#108 overall), he has almost always consistently put together a winning season for whatever club he’s been with.

The 31-year old has played in 59 NHL games mostly with Pittsburgh Penguins over a few seasons and appeared in net with Vancouver Canucks and the Flames as well.

In the AHL he has 278 regular and postseason contests to his credit.

Whomever the Bears end up with to split time with him in the upcoming season, he is more than capable of shouldering the starting job or splitting the 76-game schedule with another netminder as he did in 2011/2012.

He has been recalled by the Caps but yet to tend for them in a game. Maybe that will change in 2012/2013.

05Mar

Shawn Weller(23) Texas Stars

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5th year right wing Shawn Weller(23) found himself in the uncomfortable scenario of getting traded from the first place St. John’s IceCaps in the AHL Eastern Conference to Texas Stars, who sit in last place of the Western Conference.

It was a deal that enabled some room for the IceCaps to pick up one of the Stars players on reassignment as some teams rework their lineups as the Calder Cup Playoffs approach.

He already had AHL career highs in points (24) and assists (14) and was heading towards his best year for goals (10 in 41 games) in a season as well.

Originally an Ottawa Senators‘ 3rd round pick in the 2004 draft (#77 overall), the 25-year old has consistently shown improved skating and puck handling abilities to go along with his average-sized 6’2″ 205 lbs. frame that he uses all of on the ice.

The move may land him another NHL deal and could put him in a big league game before too long.

09Feb

Evan Oberg(27) Tampa Bay Lightning

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With a rash of injuries Tampa Bay Lightning has been suffering through this season, call-ups from their AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals are plentiful, but no one player has seen more time in airports and on airplanes so far than 3rd year, undrafted defenseman Evan Oberg(27).

It honestly seems like he’s been recalled a dozen times in the first half of the season, but in actuality it’s more like 7 or 8 times. He’s played a whopping 1:21 minutes in the one NHL game he did skate in.

Seeing that this is the last season of his 3-year entry level deal he originally signed with Vancouver Canucks, some insiders are looking at him as potential trade bait. He was picked up this season in a minor league deal with Florida Panthers that brought the Lightning a pair of defensive prospects for their system.

He only skated in 5 games in the big league with no points to his credit and has already been returned once again to the minors with no appearance.

07Feb

Erik Christensen(40) Minnesota Wild

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It had been only a couple of seasons since 8th year center Erik Christiansen(40) played in the AHL, but before that it had been a few years when he appeared in 16 games with the affiliate of the team he was originally drafted and signed by, Pittsburgh Penguins (3rd round of 2002, #69 overall).

His only full season in the minors was his rookie campaign in 2004/2005, the year of the NHL lockout.

In his third season with New York Rangers, he came out of the gate slow and was eventually squeezed out of the lineup as the Blueshirts were looking for that right winning combination to click.

After many healthy scratches, he was finally demoted to Connecticut Whale on a “conditioning stint”.

In 5 games he scored a pair of goals and added an assist.

Looking to add some punch to their now struggling team, Minnesota Wild stepped in and gave up a prospect for some help up front they hope will pay immediate dividends.

He’s played 359 NHL games scoring 62 goals and 94 assists.

We shall see. . .

16Jan

Pierre-Cedric Labrie(20) Tampa Bay Lightning

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5th year undrafted forward Pierre-Cedric Labrie(20) has been finding his scoring touch in the 2nd season of a standard player contract he signed in December 2010 with Norfolk Admirals.

He was initially signed to a pto to start the year with the team.

In 29 AHL games this season he is on pace for career scoring highs with 6 goals and 13 assists and a +17 plus/minus.

Through 2010/2011 he put up 7 goals and 19 assists in 64 games with an impressive +14 mark.

He’s impressed the brass with Tampa Bay Lightning enough that they signed him to a two-year, two-way NHL contract last month and he was recalled in earlier this month for his first action in the show.

So far, he has only played limited minutes in 3 games (all losses) averaging less than 5 minutes a game but already has a first big league fight on his stat sheet.

An argument could be made that December is his best month, as it’s the month he celebrates his birthday and when signed his last two major contracts.

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.

25Dec

Matt Pope (27)

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For a few moments it looked like 4th year, undrafted forward Matt Pope(27) was making some waves and there might have been some under the breath mutterings of him being someone to look at in Vancouver Canucks‘ prospect system.

His 2nd full pro season was spent with their AHL affiliate Manitoba Moose but he was signed to a two-way NHL contract.

That came about after he signed a pto with the Moose at the end of his rookie season and joined the team for their Calder Cup run (12 games, 3 goals, 3 assists).

In that season with Manitoba he didn’t exactly live up to expectations and fell off the depth chart quickly.

From there he played a season with San Antonio Rampage but that came up short and going into his 4th pro season signed a deal a month before training camp with South Carolina Stingrays.

They just so happen to be the ECHL affiliate of Hershey Bears and on two call-ups he’s starting to gain some traction scoring 3 goals and 2 assists in 10 games.

17Dec

Drew MacIntyre(31) Rochester Americans

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9th year Rochester Americans‘ goaltender Drew MacIntyre(31) keeps an eye on the play in front of his net.

He was originally picked by Detroit Red Wings in the 4th round of the 2001 draft (#121 overall) and spent the first three years of his pro career with their AHL and ECHL affiliates before getting a short chance in the NHL with Vancouver Canucks, where he made a couple of appearances.

From there he bounced around in the minors signing one-year deals with Nashville Predators, Atlanta Thrashers and Montreal Canadiens before inking another one-year two-way contract with Buffalo Sabres for the 2011/2012 season, ultimately ending up in Rochester.

He has played in 250 AHL games.

17Dec

Scott Howes(13) Bridgeport Sound Tigers

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4th year undrafted forward Scott Howes(13) burst onto the scoring sheet when he joined Bridgeport Sound Tigers on a pto scoring 4 goals in his first 5 games with the team.

In 9 games he has 6 goals and 2 assists and may have found himself a home in the AHL for the season if he continues along at this pace.

Previously his only other call-up was with Manitoba Moose in the 2008/2009 season. A stint that netted him zero points in 5 games.

Last season in the ECHL, where he has spent most of his pro career, with Alaska Aces he was voted the playoffs MVP with 7 goals and 12 assists in 12 straight wins to help the team capture the Kelly Cup. He also tore it up offensively in the regular season with 22 goals and 36 assists in 59 games.

9/12 – 12: Seemingly out of nowhere, the now 25-year old signs a one-year deal with Central Hockey League‘s Allen Americans. Our guess is he’d be an easy call-up to skate with Texas Stars if needed.

27Nov

Jason Jaffray(15) Winnipeg Jets

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In his 10th year, undrafted wing Jason Jaffray(15) has always been a leader for the AHL squads he’s played for.

Through 41 NHL games, most of those with Vancouver Canucks, he’s defined as mostly a character player, who does what he needs to get the job done.

With his new team for the 2011/2012 season, Winnipeg Jets, he received his first call up and has been making the most of it.

He recently notched his first point with the team, an assist, in 5 games.

He’s the captain of affiliate St. John’s IceCaps, a team he has helped to a first place overall standing in its’ debut AHL season.

He is one of the most storied players in Manitoba Moose history and holds 6 different team records.