Tagged: Portland Pirates

27Mar

Eric Selleck(25) Portland Pirates

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Eric-Selleck

Portland Pirates‘ 5th year left wing Eric Selleck(25) plays an almost unassuming tough guy style.

He’s had 12 fighting majors in 63 AHL games but also has a career tying 6 goals and best 13 assists with a +3 rating and a likely to increase 164 penalty minutes.

At 6’2″ 220 lbs. he’s definitely big enough to hold his own against just about anyone but will probably not eclipse the 200+ minutes he put up in his first two seasons.

He had a battler 28 bouts as a rookie a personal best/worst 214 minutes in the box.

After a couple of seasons putting up points at SUNY-Oswego, Florida Panthers signed the unrestricted free agent to a 2-year entry level deal and extended it twice before trading him in a farm squad deal to St. Louis Blues.

He managed to get himself a single NHL recall from the Panthers and got tossed in his debut for instigating a fight that caused him to wobble off ice.

He would remain up with the team but waited over another month for his next appearance, in which he put up his first point, an assist.

Without a contract for 2014/2015, he signed a minor league contract and has found himself a not so bad possibly temporary home in Maine.

20Mar

Andrew Campbell(45) Arizona Coyotes

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Andrew-Campbell

Arizona Coyotes‘ 7th year defenseman Andrew Campbell(45) is finding his place in the NHL.

He’s been up with the parent club for 22 games and looks to be holding his spot.

The former Los Angeles Kings‘ 3rd round pick in the 2008 draft (#74 overall) was in the prospect system for the previous six seasons skating 414 regular season games and 35 more in the playoffs with AHL affiliate Manchester Monarchs.

Never one to excel on putting the puck in the net or feeding the man for a goal, he’s always there to play an absolutely in your face, bruising style without taking many penalty minutes, the 6’4″ 208 lbs. blue liner has also been a plus player at +26.

He got into three games with the Kings last year during the final year of his 2-year extension but as an unrestricted free agent he went looking for more time; and found it.

Although the now 27-year old still doesn’t connect on the score sheet with only one assist, he plays a good 20+ minutes a game for a team that struggles to win, survive.

Set to become unrestricted once again, it is probably a good bet the former Portland Pirates‘ assistant captain will agree on another year to continue the rebuild.

27Feb

Henrik Samuelsson(15) Arizona Coyotes

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Henrik-Samuelsson

Arizona Coyotes‘ 1st round pick in the 2012 draft (#27 overall) US-born, Swedish center Henrik Samuelsson(15) gets the nod for his NHL debut and as luck would have it he is opposing his famous hockey dad and assistant coach for New York Rangers, Ulf Samuelsson.

His pa’s team got the best of his squad in a crushing 4-3 come from behind upset but the lanky 6’3″ 210 lbs. power forward had a good personal showing.

He skated 16 shifts for 9:33 total ice and even got a 1:19 on the power play. He also had one shot on net, one hit, one takeaway and was perfect on the face off dot with no points or penalty minutes.

In his first season with affiliate Portland Pirates he’s doing well with 10 goals and 15 assists in 50 AHL games and is a +1 on a bit of an uneven squad.

The 21-year old is used to doing well coming out of two straight WHL Championships with Edmonton Oil Kings in 2013 and 2014, a Memorial Cup and a regular season of more than a point per game production and a postseason with basically a point in each contest.

There’s little doubt that it should be a short trek for this one to be big league ready just like his dad was spending only half a season in the minors before playing 19 years in the show.

Heck, he already had 15 games of pro hockey experience as a teenager with MODO of the SHL before starting his three years of juniors.

23Feb

Colin Stuart(49) Providence Bruins

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Colin-Stuart

11th year left wing Colin Stuart(49) started 2014/2015 in Sweden’s tier 2 league Allsvenskan with Malmo. It was his second tour of overseas hockey. He played in 2012/2013 for Iserlohn Roosters of the German elite DEL.

He played in 31 games scoring 5 goals and 4 assists with a +4 rating but after a few months decided to leave and sign an spc with Providence Bruins for the remainder of the season.

The 32-year, former three time captain (once in his senior campaign at Colorado College) and 2008 Calder Cup Champion is a good guy to have around for his goal scoring and leadership abilities.

In 28 AHL contests the 6’2″ 205 lbs. forward has already amassed a tidy 8 goals and 8 assists.

He also has 58 games of NHL experience mostly with draft team Atlanta Thrashers and a couple of spins on the ice over two years under contract with Buffalo Sabres.

He should easily help the Boston farm club into a playoff berth.

See related: 12/6-10, 9/9-11, 12/12-11

17Feb

Alex Biega(55) Vancouver Canucks

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Alex-Biega

Vancouver Canucks‘ 5th year defenseman Alex Biega(55) earned his recall and spent a couple of weeks with the parent club but only practiced with the team.

As a small-ish 5’10” 187 lbs. blue liner he is mostly a stay-at-home style blue liner but has been consistently able to hit the 20-point mark through his four seasons in the AHL and could very well set new career high marks int the current campaign with Utica Comets.

With continued consistent play with the farm club, he received another shot and on little notice found himself suiting up for his first big league game.

The 26-year old skated 22 shifts for 16:32 total ice time with 2 hits, 2 break ups, 1 giveaway and 2 shots on net.

One of those shots ended up being his first NHL goal and the 3-2 game winner.

He’s only signed to a one-year, two-way deal and now is looking more likely to get re-upped.

See related: 8/4-12

02Feb

Louis Domingue(35) Arizona Coyotes

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Louis Domingue

Here’s easily one of those stories that starts with “when there’s a knock on the door, you answer it”

Phoenix Coyotes‘ 5th round pick in the 2010 draft (#138 overall) 3rd year goalie Louis Domingue(35) was recalled to fill the open back up spot and he stepped right in.

The 6’3″ 210 lbs. net minder got pressed into 3rd period action to put out the fire that would become a 7-2 beating.

His play earned him the nod, probably on a coach’s hunch, to get the start in his hometown spot vs. Montreal Canadiens.

He stopped 18-20 shots, which turned out to be enough for a third period comeback to help him score his first big league win.

The 22-year old is one of those rare players to have pulled off the feat of appearing in games in three leagues, ECHL, AHL and NHL during one season.

Once again he’s splitting net minding duties for the farm team and putting up better numbers with a 8-4-1 record and a 2.40 GAA and .922 SV%.

On a two game reassignment to Gwinnett Gladiators he completely shut the door allowing only 2 goals with 1.01 GAA and .958 SV%.

In juniors he had the best save percentage of any other goaltender with a .912 mark for Quebec Remparts.

Signed through the end of 2015 he may have seen the last of the minors for the time being and may even start to compete for the number one job.

See related: 3/21-13

06Jan

Jordon Southorn(3) Portland Pirates

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Jordan Southorn

5th year defenseman Jordon Southorn(3) scored his first goal in his longest stint yet in the AHL.

He signed a 2-way contract with Portland Pirates over the summer and has been up and down a couple times already this season.

He’s skated in 11 games also adding an assist with a +4 rating on what is a roller coaster ride of a team.

The big 6’3″ 199 lbs. blue liner has played  in all kinds of situations: even strength, on the power play and short-handed and handled himself with seemingly steady precision.

Definitely a bit of a wonder why the former Buffalo Sabres‘ 4th round pick in the 2008 draft (#104 overall) went unsigned and has played most of his pro career in the ECHL.

He has 213 games for 6 different teams in the league to his credit scoring 34 goals and 74 assists with a defensively accountable +31 rating.

It was surprising to see him sent down the first time but it appears that decision is rapidly becoming tougher to make as he starts connecting with the score sheet and stays tough to play against in his zone.

30Dec

Tyler Gaudet(32) Arizona Coyotes

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Tyler GaudetArizona Coyotes‘ undrafted rookie center Tyler Gaudet(32) has been proving he’s got sauce since he first laced ’em up.

He began as an 18-year old in the QMJHL with Gatineau Olympiques but was dropped back when he failed to produce as a youngster.

The unassumingly large 6’3″ 205 lbs. forward played a couple half seasons in the CCHL with Pembroke Lumber Kings working on his game and eventually signed with Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds a year after his demotion.

He was slow to start but picked it up big in his second campaign with the team scoring 26 goals and 35 assists in 65 OHL games with a +25 rating and continued his hot streak into 9 playoff contests with a pair of tallies and 6 helpers.

Despite earlier uneven play he managed to land himself on the radar of the Coyotes and was signed to a three-year entry level deal before turning pro at the end of 2013/2014.

Arriving for his first development and training camps, the 21-year old showed the big club he was ready to go with an impressive, accountable two-way style game he was developing.

He was reassigned to Portland Pirates at the start of the season and picked up right away.

In 29 AHL games he’s grabbed 4 goals and 4 assists with a +2 plus/minus while helping keeping the club in the picture.

His consistent play has earned him a recall to the NHL.

In his debut he skated 12 even strength shifts for 9:20 of total ice with one shot on net, one hit and was a -1 in the team’s 4-2 victory.

If he can land a spot on the roster, he is easily the type of player that can be great on the penalty kill and help out on the offense too.

18Dec

Paul Bissonnette(15) Manchester Monarchs

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Paul Bissonette10th year veteran left wing Paul Bissonnette(15) for the first time in five years found himself on the outside as an unrestricted free agent after five seasons under contract with Arizona Coyotes.

Definitely a character guy out there for a team, he scored himself an invite to tryout with St. Louis Blues‘ training camp. He was released as the season was about to begin.

He was first rumored to sign with Cardiff Devils but then pulled the switch and inked a pto to join the Coyotes‘ farm club Portland Pirates.

The 6’3″ 220 lbs. forward is well known for putting his nose in the middle of trouble but in recent years has seemed to shy away from it mostly averaging only 50 minutes a season in the box and has fought only occasionally in the last three years.

Maybe his little goal scorer spree in the EIHL (6 goals, 11 assists in 15 games), while the NHL was on lockout, made him think of his game differently. He has 202 games in the big league to his credit and almost surprisingly is the proud owner of a +7 rating.

He was released from his tryout with Portland and the next day Manchester Monarchs chose to sign him.

He’s used very sparingly on a fourth line and seems mostly to be there to give the younger players a guy with some toughness and leadership to feed off.

The 29-year old was originally a Pittsburgh Penguins‘ 4th round pick in the 2003 draft (#121 overall) and played in their system for four years.