Norfolk Admirals | CollegeHockeyPlayers

23Feb

Matt Fornataro(39) VIK Västerås HK

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In a pair of moves that sort of amounted to “trading” a bishop for a rook: 4th year, undrafted forward Matt Fornatoro(39) heads on to his third AHL team, Rockford IceHogs after spending a couple of seasons signed to an spc with Norfolk Admirals.

The 6’1″ 190 lbs. 26-year old played 161 games for the Admirals scoring 33 goals and 52 assists. He was a +8 plus/minus and has always worked hard for any contract in triple A hockey he’s signed.

In a very simultaneous, coordinated transaction, Tampa Bay Lightning picked up 9th year forward Brandon Segal from Chicago Blackhawks and assigned him to Norfolk.

9/17-12: Fornataro flies the North American coop for the Swedish 2nd tier league Allsvenskan. He joins VIK Västerås HK for the upcoming season.

21Feb

Jon Kalinski(40) Hershey Bears

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4th year Philadelphia Flyers‘ 6th round pick in the 2007 draft (#152 overall) left wing Jon Kalinski(40) was the pawn that got moved by the team to the Tampa Bay Lightning to pick up defenseman Pavel Kubina.

He has appeared in 22 NHL games scoring 1 goal and 4 assists but it’s been almost two full seasons now since his last recall.

At 6’1″ 180 lbs., the 24-year old doesn’t exactly play a big man’s role out on the ice but maybe he’s going to be a bit of a late bloomer and will mesh well with the team in Norfolk to help kickstart his playing career away from the Flyers‘ system for the first time since turning pro.

In 247 AHL games (regular season and playoffs) with Adirondack/Philadelphia Phantoms he has 37 goals and 52 assists and a shaky -15 plus/minus.

9/17-12: The great underachiever signs a one-year AHL contract with the former enemy Hershey Bears for 2012/2013.

18Feb

Ty Wishart(6) New York Islanders

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Former 2006 1st round draft pick (#16 overall) defenseman Ty Wishart(6) finally got his first NHL call up by New York Islanders.

He appeared in 20 games with them last season after being acquired from Tampa Bay Lightning and put up a goal and 4 assists with a +5 plus/minus, which was no easy feat on what was a bottom feeding team.

He played a total of 17:16 and was even +/- and played some shorthanded time in the 5-1 loss against St. Louis Blues.

Currently in his fourth season, the sizable 6’4″ 218 lbs. 23-year old may be taking a bit more time to catch on as a full-time NHL-er and considering he’s hits restricted free agent status at the end of this year, he might be dangled as bait for shopping.

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.

03Feb

Danny Richmond(7) Lake Erie Monsters

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Defenseman Danny Richmond(7) is one of those high draft picks (Carolina Hurricanes‘ 2nd round in 2003, #31 overall) that just have never quite lived up to expectations.

He was just traded out of Hershey, where he saw limited action, and just couldn’t find his spot on a fairly deep roster after signing a one-year, two-way deal with Washington Capitals in the offseason. This happened to be his 8th AHL team in six years.

The next chapter in his pro career takes him to Cleveland to skate for Lake Erie Monsters, as he was traded out of Chocolatetown. We’ll see if he’s able to gain any traction and maybe another look with Colorado Avalanche.

He has 49 games of NHL experience, registering 0 goals and 3 assists and a -12 plus/minus. He mostly has been less than accountable in his defensive zone.

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.

25Jan

Marc-Antoine Pouliot(23) Phoenix Coyotes

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Former Edmonton Oilers‘ 1st round pick in 2003 (#22) and former Rimouski Oceanic linemate of Sidney Crosby, forward Marc-Antoine Pouliot(23) got an early New Year’s gift with a recall by the new NHL team he signed with as a free agent in the offseason, Phoenix Coyotes.

In 9 games he has a pair of assists and is a -3 plus/minus.

He skated in 168 NHL games with the Oilers to start his career and had 21 goals and 32 assists. In three games last season with Tampa Bay Lightning he had no points.

In the AHL he’s basically a point per game player but just has yet to be able to translate that to the higher league.

For Portland Pirates he has four goals and 12 assists in 25 games and is a +4 player.

In his 7 pro seasons he’s played more games in the NHL 4 times to 3 in the AHL.

22Jan

Mark Bell(18) Anaheim Ducks

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11 year veteran, former Chicago Blackhawks‘ 1st round draft pick in 1998 (#8 overall), 31-year old center Mark Bell(18) received his first NHL call-up with his new team for the 2011/2012 season, Anaheim Ducks.

He now has 446 big league games to his credit, registering 87 goals and 95 assists to go along with 597 penalty minutes.

For the last couple of seasons he played in the Swiss-A League but signed a one-year, two-way contract to come back to North American pro hockey early in the offseason.

In 32 games with the Ducks‘ AHL affiliate Syracuse Crunch he has 5 goals and 8 assists but is a kind of miserable -11 plus/minus.

19Jan

Trevor Smith(23) Tampa Bay Lightning

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5th year undrafted winger Trevor Smith(23) has played in 7 NHL games (all with New York Islanders) but that was back in the 2008/2009 season.

He’s bounced around the AHL with a couple of teams since then but signed a one-year, two-way contract in the offseason to join Tampa Bay Lightning‘s prospect system.

As the team’s assistant captain, he’s having himself a heck of a first half of the season with their affiliate, Norfolk Admirals. In 39 games, he leads the team in points posting 16 goals and 28 assists and is an outstanding +17 plus/minus.

This play has earned him his 1st recall in three seasons and some more ice time in an NHL game, where he hopes to add to his one goal and no assists scoring.

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.