Norfolk Admirals | CollegeHockeyPlayers

03Jan

Frederik Andersen(30) Norfolk Admirals

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Anaheim Ducks‘ 3rd round pick in last year’s draft (#87 overall), Danish goalie phenom Frederick Andersen(30) signed a two-year entry level deal mostly tending the cage with affiliate, Norfolk Admirals, but he did receive a first recall.

In 17 AHL games he’s posted a so-so 7-7 record on a team that is barely living up to expectations but his 2.42 GAA and .925 SV% is pretty convincing. He’s currently 2nd among rookie net minders in the league.

The 23-year old is a towering 6’4″ 230 lbs. frame in net but moves very well and could become the first goaltender from his country to play in the NHL.

Chances are likely that will happen.

31Dec

Rod Pelley(16) Norfolk Admirals

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7th year undrafted center Rod Pelley(16) has played the agitator role in the NHL for basically the entirety of his pro career.

He was originally signed by New Jersey Devils skating most of his rookie year with their AHL affiliate Lowell Devils but did get the recall for 8 games with the big club.

By the start of his second season he earned a job in Newark and was well on his way to patrolling the ice full-time as part of the show.

The 5’11” 200 lbs. was dropped back to the minors in his following year without ever getting the call to move back up but was squarely back in the NHL mix from 2009-2011.

He’s never been the type of skaters to add much to the scoresheet but consistently gets in the face of opposing players without costing his team by taking cheap penalties.

An early season trade sent him from the east coast to the west, where he took on the same role with Anaheim Ducks that he had during his entire time with New Jersey.

Looking into 2012/2013, the 28-year old was an unrestricted free agent and with no NHL in site, he signed a pto with the Ducks new farm team, Norfolk Admirals.

In 14 games, he has a pair of assists but has yet to spark a team that is easily better on paper than they are in the standings.

21Dec

Hampus Lindholm(4) Norfolk Admirals

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Anaheim Ducks‘ 1st round pick in the 2012 draft (#6 overall) Swedish defenseman Hampus Lindholm(4) goes from playing under 18 leagues and tournaments in his home country to signing a three-year entry level deal that potentially causes him to make an appearance in the NHL, if it wasn’t for the nasty little word that keeps anything from happening: lockout.

With that going on he starts the rookie season of his North American pro career reassigned to AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

In 19 games he’s posted his first professional hockey goal and added 4 assists with a +2 plus/minus on a team that lets up more goals than it gets.

At 6’3″ 195 lbs. he’s pegged to be the type of all around defenseman every team wants in their lineup.

He’s currently the youngest player in the league but left his team temporarily to compete in the 2012 World Junior Championships, which Sweden won last year.

20Dec

Ryan Lasch(11) Fort Wayne Komets

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3rd year, undrafted right wing Ryan Lasch(11) started his pro career with a couple of seasons overseas, first in Sweden and then in Finland with Pelicans of SM-liiga, where he led the league in scoring with 24 goals and 38 assists in 59 games.

The California-born skater comes back to the North American hockey for 2012/2013, signing a deal two-year, two-way deal with Anaheim Ducks, which gives him some stability coming back to these shores.

No chance at him competing for a spot on the NHL roster right now, so he was reassigned to start the year with their new AHL affiliate Norfolk Admirals.

In 11 contests the 5’9″ 170 lbs. forward (who looks a bit bigger on ice than those measurements) scored his first goal and added 3 assists.

Apparently the brass was expecting more or just wanted to try some different looks with a team was slow to start in the first third of the season, so they reassigned him to the ECHL Fort Wayne Komets.

The 25-year wasted zero time proving that his play is above this league. In 10 games, he exploded for 5 goals (including a hat trick) and 9 assists with a +4 plus/minus.

No surprise he was picked as the ECHL Player Of The Week for 12/10-12/16. If he continues on this tear, look for him to get recalled sooner than later but he’ll still need to put up points consistently to stay.

18Dec

Ondrej Palat(12) Syracuse Crunch

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Tampa Bay Lightning have certainly found a diamond in the rough with deep pick, 7th round in the 2011 draft (#208 overall), Czech left wing Ondrej Palat(12).

He was with Norfolk Admirals in his rookie campaign for their storied ride to the AHL Calder Cup Championship and scored 4 goals and 5 assists in 18 games.

He finished the regular season with 9 strikes and 21 helpers in 61 contests while going a +6 plus/minus.

Through the first couple few months of his sophomore season, the 6′ 180 lbs. forward is taking it up a notch on the score sheet as he’s on pace to post career highs for assists, points and plus/minus and may even break his goal scoring mark as well.

In 26 games with new Lightning minor league affiliate Syracuse Crunch, he’s potted only 3 goals (but that could change in a hurry with some explosive output streaks) and his 17 assists look to crush his mark set last season by a wide margin.

He’s also an outstandingly accountable +17 on the ice.

The 21-year old has always put up big numbers first playing in his homeland and then in two years of Canadian juniors before turning pro.

He’s signed through 2014 on a three-year entry level deal but that could get extended in the offseason to make sure he stays on pace to move up in the ranks with Tampa Bay.

04Dec

Riku Helenius(31) Syracuse Crunch

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Tampa Bay Lightning 1st round pick in the 2006 draft (#15 overall), Finnish goaltender Riku Helenius(31) has already had quite the ride through North American pro leagues and Europe in his 5-year playing career.

In his rookie campaign he saw 7 minutes of NHL game action, 25 appearances in the AHL with then affiliate Norfolk Admirals and 11 contests with three different ECHL teams.

Entering his sophomore season he started with Norfolk but after a dozen games was reassigned to the top league in Sweden, where he stayed through the next year while still under he 3-year entry level contract.

For 2011/2012 the decision was made for him to join JYP Jyvaskyla in his home country’s SM-liiga, where he won the National Championship with the team and posted his most impressive numbers yet over the course of the regular season and in the playoffs.

The now 24-year old, 6’3″ 211 lbs. netminder was wooed back to the United States to compete for a job in the show. But due to the NHL lockout the first season of that 2-year deal (the 2nd is a one-way contract) may be spent entirely with the Lightning‘s new minor league affiliate, Syracuse Crunch. The same team that won the 2012 Calder Cup as Norfolk Admirals.

In 8 AHL starts, he’s off to an ok start with a 5-2 record on a very good team but has a not so great 3.04 GAA and .878 SV%. He may heat up as the 2012/2013 rolls on but he’s already mixed it up in a goalie fight early in his time back.

24Nov

Gabe Guentzel(10) Fort Wayne Komets

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Undrafted defenseman Gabe Guentzel(10) started his rookie season 2012/2013 under contract with Norfolk Admirals of the AHL and has played in 6 of a dozen games so far. He has an assist but is also a dismal -8 plus/minus on a .500 record team.

He was recently reassigned to their ECHL affiliate Fort Wayne Komets, where in his first game on Thanksgiving night he potted his first and assisted on another in the win. Not a bad start in the lower league for the 6′ 187 lbs. d-man.

The 24-year old could stay in the midwest for awhile but look for him to get called back up if he keeps hitting the scoresheet.

He skated in 12 regular season games at the end of 2011/2012 with Syracuse Crunch, the old affiliate of Anaheim Ducks, on an ato after finishing his college career; and appeared in another 4 postseason contests.

So, even though he’s not signed with the Ducks officially, he’s fully on their radar and participated as a free agent in prospect camp with the team.

19Nov

Emerson Etem(26) Norfolk Admirals

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Anaheim Ducks‘ 1st round pick in the 2010 draft (#29 overall), center Emerson Etem(26) is a rare example of a local kid signing with the hometown team and seeing how it’s a California story makes it even more like Twilight Zone.

After three pretty outrageously successful years in juniors, where last year he put up 107 points (61 goals and 46 assists) in 65 regular season games, the 20-year is ready for the next step. He signed a three-year entry level deal that keeps him with the Ducks through 2015.

The 6′ 195 lbs. forward probably didn’t expect to see as much time with the team’s farm team, Norfolk Admirals but with no NHL in site he’s skated 14 AHL games to start 2012/2013.

He’s recorded three goals and no assists. Last season on an ato with then Anaheim affiliate Syracuse Crunch he potted a goal in two games to get things started.

No doubt he seems to have the skill set but in the one game we saw him play, his team was eaten alive in a shutout so no one looked too good.

12Nov

Ryan Parent(3) Norfolk Admirals

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6th year, former 1st round draft pick of Nashville Predators in 2005 (#18 overall) defenseman Ryan Parent(3) has over 100 games of NHL experience but none since a couple of seasons ago, 4 games with Vancouver Canucks despite signing a two-year one-way contract with the team.

He spent all of 2011/2012 that he was healthy enough to play for with their new AHL affiliate Chicago Wolves but only managed to be 22 of a 76-game season.

Ironically he finished the season with a goal and 5 assists, which would have put him on pace for career highs on the scoresheet.

He also have a goal and 6 assists in the NHL.

As an unrestricted free agent approaching 2012/2013, he signed a pto with Norfolk Admirals a couple of weeks into the season.

The 6’2″ 205 lbs. d-man has one assist in 6 games but is a -5 plus/minus.

Admirals must like having the 25-year old on their team though, because they inked him to an spc. Still, it looks to be a smart move on their part.

07Nov

Bracken Kearns(16) Worcester Sharks

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8th year undrafted veteran center Bracken Kearns(16) signed a 1-year, two-way deal with San Jose Sharks just as free agency started in the offseason.

The 6′ 195 lbs. forward was coming off one of his best all around seasons in the AHL with San Antonio Rampage, where he posted a career high 22 goals and 52 points in 69 games and added another 7 points in 10 postseason contests.

He also played in his first 5 NHL games on a couple of recalls by Florida Panthers but failed to register a point in roughly 7 minutes of playing time a night.

The 31-year old brings a gritty style game to the table and can definitely connect on the scoresheet. He also knows that it takes hard work on the ice to achieve his goals having come up from over 100 games in the ECHL in his first couple pro seasons to make his mark felt in the higher level of play.

In just 10 games with Worcester Sharks to start 2012/2013 he already has 3 goals and 5 assists, roughly putting him on pace for another record setting season.