Tagged: Oklahoma City Barons

05Aug

Nathan Deck(8) Stockton Thunder

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Nathan Deck

3rd year, undrafted defenseman Nathan Deck(8) will return to Stockton Thunder for another season.

He has signed three 1-year deals with the team but spent the majority of 2012/2013 in the AHL with Oklahoma City Barons.

Initially recalled in December and signed to a pto he was upped to an spc on Valentine’s Day. He marked his first league goal and 7 assists in 33 contests.

The 5’11” 185 lbs. blue liner was on the roster to start the postseason with OKC but was returned to the Thunder for their run that took them all the way to the last round. He skated 8 games through the Western Conference and Kelly Cup Finals scoring a goal and three assists.

In 88 ECHL games he has a tidy 14 tallies and 34 helpers with a +18 rating.

The still very young 23-year old has always shown he can be an offensive threat, an attribute he showed in juniors with Prince Albert Raiders compiling 96 assists in 4 years.

It would be no surprise to see him score an AHL training camp invite.

28Jul

Gary Steffes(25) Bakersfield Condors

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Gary Steffes1

4th year undrafted center Gary Steffes(25) has played under contract with Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League for all three years of his pro career.

He’s skated in 169 games scoring 61 goals and 68 assists but ran up an abysmal -26 plus/minus.

The 6’1″ 185 lbs. forward was called up by Lake Erie Monsters, where he appeared in 16 AHL games pocketing his first higher league tally and added 2 assists.

He also appeared in training camp with Oklahoma City Barons but was released before the start of the regular season.

For 2013/2014 he has signed a one-year deal to suit up for Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL.

The 26-year old is likely a shoe-in for another recalled especially if he can put up numbers in the higher double A league.

05Jul

Will Acton(14) Edmonton Oilers

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After a couple of seasons with Toronto Marlies in the AHL, 3rd year undrafted, unrestricted free agent left wing Will Acton(14) signs his first NHL contract with Edmonton Oilers.

He follows his former coach, Dallas Eakins and dad, new assistant coach Keith Acton west to Alberta, agreeing to a two-year, two-way deal that will almost certainly see him play with their top notch minor league affiliate Oklahoma City Barons.

The 25-year played almost an identical amount of games in each of his two seasons in Ontario and showed an uptick on the score sheet in 2012/2013 with 8 goals and 11 assists. He was able to take that even further in the postseason scoring 4 goals and 2 assists in 9 playoff games.

At 6’2″ 190 lbs. he has a big enough frame to be considered a power forward and with the move and new challenge will likely pay dividends.

Will Acton

03Jun

Olivier Roy(38) Oklahoma City Barons

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olivier-roy-1

Edmonton Oilers‘ 5th round pick in the 2009 draft (#133 overall), goaltender Olivier Roy(38) had himself a pretty sparkling sophomore season spending most of his time in the AHL with Oklahoma City Barons.

He started to get reassigned to the ECHL Stockton Thunder with more frequency towards the back third of the season and played in 22 Kelly Cup Playoff games backstopping them all the way to the Finals.

Injured during game 4, he had to sit on the sidelines for the last contest before his team bowed out but put up a very impressive streak 0f 7-2 with a 1.21 GAA and .961 SV% to propel his squad into the postseason.

Then his 12-7 mark helped push the team to the last round of the playoffs, beating a pair of teams with better regular season records.

Almost ironically the 6′ 180 lbs. backstop also played in 22 AHL games. He ended with a 9-9-1 mark and a 2.77 GAA and .902 SV%.

He turns 22-years old this summer and be on the final season of his 3-year entry level deal. His pretty impressive performance should net him a look between the pipes for the parent club in the upcoming campaign.

In the meantime though, he was reassigned back up to join the Barons‘ practice squad to continue to gain experience in their playoff push.

 

29May

Tyler Bunz(30) Stockton Thunder

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Edmonton Oilers‘ 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (#121 overall) rookie goaltender Tyler Bunz(30) stepped in for ECHL affiliate Stockton Thunder in the Kelly Cup Finals,when an injury took out the starter and helped extend the series to at least a fifth game before bowing out to the eventual winners, Reading Royals.

Signed to a three-year entry level deal he started his first season in AHL training camp with Oklahoma City Barons before being sent down to gain playing time with the glut of backstop prospects in the system. He also appeared in a couple Oilers‘ camps.

He appeared in 37 games posting a 16-16-2-2 record with a 3.35 GAA and .886 SV%. He also had one shutout. In one AHL game with OKC he didn’t fair nearly as well.

The 6’1″ 198 lbs. net minder was very impressive in his last two campaigns in junior hockey with Medicine Hat Tigers. He won more games than any other goalie in his team’s history and was named WHL best in his final year.

Even with the accolades, he may be assigned for another season in Stockton to continue bringing up his game.

The 21-year old may be off to a bit of a slow start in his pro career but that could all change in a hurry.

Tyler Bunz

 

25May

Eric Hunter(15) Stockton Thunder

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Double draft pick, 2nd year center Eric Hunter(15) was the hero in game 4 with 2 tallies, including the game-winning goal, giving Stockton Thunder a heartbeat in the ECHL Kelly Cup Finals.

Originally a Chicago Blackhawks‘ 8th round pick in 2004 (#229 overall) he was never signed and went back into the pool only be selected again a couple of years later by New York Rangers in the 6th round (#174 overall). They also didn’t sign him.

After five seasons of junior hockey with Prince George Cougars, he elected to attend college in Canada and played for another four years with University Of Alberta.

He maintained a close to or more than a point per game production since his second campaign in juniors and upon completion of his higher education inked his first pro contract, a 1-year AHL deal with Lake Erie Monsters.

The very decently sized 6’1″ 194 lbs. center skated 75 games in 2011/2012 scoring 6 goals and 10 assists, although wasn’t retained by the team for another season.

Looking at a crowded hockey landscape due to the impending NHL lockout, he signed another one-year agreement to join Stockton. In 60 games, he was regaining that scoring touch with 17 goals and 22 assists.

He continues the pace in the postseason with 5 goals and  7 assists in 21 games, while holding a +4 rating.

He was also recalled by Oklahoma City Barons on 4 occasions putting up a goal in 11 contests. After attending training camp with the team, he was sent back to start the regular season but later added to the roster on an spc.

The 26-year old is likely in line for another AHL tour of duty for 2013/2014.

Eric Hunter

 

 

27Feb

Bryan Helmer(40) Springfield Falcons

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20th year, undrafted veteran defenseman Bryan Helmer(40) signed a contract to play with Springfield Falcons very late in the game, maybe waiting to see how the NHL lockout would unravel before making his move.

He has played an absolutely head-popping 1104 AHL games through 19 seasons and counting. He needs 1200 to catch the number two guy, so he may finally retire at 40-years old as the bronze medalist in the category. He has gold in the Calder Cup Playoff games played though with 158 and three Championship rings to his credit; two in 2009 and 2010 as captain of Hershey Bears and back in 1995 with Albany River Rats, his second year pro.

The solid 6’1″ 209 lbs. d-man has always been thought of as a good two-way player that isn’t afraid to jump up into the offensive action. He does have a pretty impressive 129 goals and 434 assists.

He’s played 146 NHL games (mostly from 1998 – 2004) with four different teams and as recently as 2009 with Washington Capitals. He has a modest 8 goals and 18 assists.

He’s like the ultimate team guy no doubt and we’d love to see him back somewhere for his 21st pro season.

Bryan Helmer

07Feb

Mark Arcobello(26) Oklahoma City Barons

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mark-arcobello

Edmonton Oilers‘ 3rd year, undrafted center Mark Arcobello(26) started his pro career on an AHL contract with Oklahoma City Barons.

He was reassigned to their ECHL affiliate Stockton Thunder at the beginning of the 2010/2011 season and things took shape pretty quickly, as he connected for 7 goals and 13 assists in 33 contests and was MVP at the All-Star Game.

The undersized 5’9″ 165 lbs. kept proving his critics wrong as he climbed up to the next rung and finished his rookie season with 11 goals and 11 assists in 26 games.

His consistent efforts paid off with the Oilers signing him to a 2-year entry level NHL contract. He stayed with their top farm team but was showing that despite his smaller stature he had a knack for the net, finishing his sophomore campaign with 17 goals, 26 assists and a nice +16 rating. He continued to strike through 14 Calder Cup Playoff match-ups adding another 13 points (5 goals and 8 assists) to his totals.

To start 2012/2013 as the lockout halted the highest league, he was teamed up with a #1 overall and 1st round draft picks to skate on a line with for the Barons.

The 24-year old further showed his skill set and looks to be on pace for career highs in goals, assists, points and got the nod as a Western Conference AHL All-Star Game starter.

He received his first NHL call-up and skated 19 shifts for 18:15 of total ice time in a overtime losing effort.

Despite being returned after only a 24-hour visit, it’s not looking like much of a stretch for him to find at the very least a part-time home in the show.

25Apr

Mike Brodeur(29) Houston Aeros

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For the first time in his 8-year pro career, goaltender Mike Brodeur(29) didn’t sign a contract to play with a team  for the 2011/2012 season.

This is after two seasons in the Ottawa Senators‘ system, where he appeared in 7 games from 2009-2011. Last season he appeared in NHL, AHL and ECHL games.

Then seemingly out of nowhere, he signs a pto 3 weeks before the end of regular season with Houston Aeros and finds himself to be the back-up but would come in to relieve an injured Matt Hackett in each of the first two games AHL Calder Cup Playoffs and got the call to start game 3 backstopping 31 shots for the 1-0 win to put them back in the series.

Aeros did get bounced from the Calder Cup Playoffs by Oklahoma City Barons on Tuesday night.

Originally a Chicago Blackhawks‘ 7th round pick in the 2003 draft (#211 overall), it’s a wonder where the 29-year old will end up next season.  We wouldn’t be surprised to see him go the Europe route.

22Apr

Colin McDonald(13) WBS Penguins

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5th year Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins‘ forward Colin McDonald(13) is putting goals in the net in the Calder Cup Playoffs like Noah loads animals into the ark: two at a time.

He potted a pair in the first game and another two in the second game, both wins for the 2-0 lead vs. Hershey Bears in the AHL Eastern Conference Quarterfinal series.

Originally drafted by Edmonton in the 2nd round of 2003 (#51 overall), he appeared in only 2 games with the Oilers but did get his first NHL goal.

He’s played in 5 games this season with Pittsburgh Penguins, the team he signed a one-year, two-way contract with as an unrestricted free agent but didn’t register a point.

In 374 AHL regular season games he has 94 goals and 85 assists. He put in a career high 42 last season with Oklahoma City Barons but had a best this year with assists at 35 and a +12 plus/minus.