September 2017 – Thoughts Inside The Box

Mostly Daily Update 9/28

Big…and surprising news…from the Mohawk Valley this afternoon.

New York Governor Andrew Cuomo visited Griffiss AFB in Rome for a pair of announcements for the city of Utica: first, an additional $10.5 million dollars in state funds will go towards more renovations for the newly named Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium, on top of the 7 million already tied into the current project.

Second, the AHL announced that the 2018 All Star Classic will be returning to Utica for the second time in four years, taking place January 28th and 29th between the Adirondack Bank Center and Turning Stone Resort & Casino, who again will be the main sponsor. For those that wonder why the Comets got the All Star events back so quickly…well, it’s based on city interest in hosting the event, which includes having adequate hotel and meeting center space, among other things.

My first All Star event was in Utica back in 2015, and I must say the Comets did an amazing job. I’m definitely looking forward to making my fourth straight All Star trip!

Meanwhile, in the Southern Tier, the next chapter of Binghamton hockey began with the opening of Devils camp. Four Thunder signees–Tim Boyle, Pierre-Luc Mercier, Tim Harrison, and the newly signed Desmond Bergin–are invites, along with defenseman Tim Erixon (recently cut by New Jersey) and veteran forward Tim Kennedy, who split last season between Sweden and Rochester.

Camping Updates 9/27

Following up on Sunday’s updates:

Syracuse and Utica both released their full camp rosters on Tuesday afternoon, with some interesting additions to both:

-The Crunch have invited veteran forward Jason Akeson to camp on a tryout, and also signed former Thunder forward Ty Loney and winger Troy Bourke to AHL contracts. Thunder signee Terrence Wallin is in camp on an invite as well.

-Utica received the services of former Devil Reid Boucher, who cleared waivers earlier in the day.

-Also in Utica: The Aud is getting an updated name as part of their renovations, The Adirondack Bank Center at the Utica Memorial Auditorium. The first event after renovations are completed will be Utica College’s home opener in late October, with the Comets to follow on November 1st.

After a split Monday with Ottawa and the Islanders, New Jersey finally made their first round of cuts to Binghamton Tuesday afternoon:

-Ben Thomson, Scott Wedgewood, and Bracken Kearns were placed on–and later cleared–waivers, while Mackenzie Blackwood, Brandon Baddock, Nathan Bastian, Brandon Gignac, Ryan Kujawinski, Blake Pietila, Kevin Rooney, Blake Speers, Yaroslav Dyblenko, Josh Jacobs, Michael Kapla, and Colton White are en route to the Southern Tier. First day of camp will be on Thursday, with game action 24 hours later against the Penguins, who start their preseason against Hershey at home tonight.

Rooney was recalled to New Jersey on Wednesday, and is in the lineup on the 4th line as the parent Devils face Washington in their final preseason tuneup.

Sunday Funday Update 9/24

AHL camps are opening for business!

I always looked forward to when New Jersey–and Carolina too–would make their first round of cuts. That meant it was almost time for my hockey season to truly begin.

Sigh…but not this time around.

Anyway…the show goes on for the rest of the league.

Tampa Bay, Buffalo, and Vancouver have all made their first round of cuts to their respective affiliates:

To Syracuse: Connor Ingram, Michael Leighton, Mat Bodie, Matt Spencer, Alex Gallant, Carter Verhaeghe, Kevin Lynch, Reid McNeill, Shane Conacher. Jamie McBain is currently on waivers and will join this group once he clears tomorrow at noon.

To Rochester: Eric Cornel, Vaclav Karabacek, Steve Moses, Kevin Porter, Brycen Martin, Casey Nelson, Devante Stephens, Jason Kasdorf, Jonas Johansson, Adam Wilcox, Kyle Criscuolo, Hudson Fasching, C.J. Smith, Brendan Guhle.

To Utica: Michael Carcone, Yan-Pavel Laplante, Evan McEneny, Zack MacEwen, Griffen Molino, Ashton Sautner, Jordan Subban, Alexis D’Aoust, Aaron Irving, Brett McKenzie, Carter Bancks, Wacey Hamilton, Jaime Sifers, Danny Moynihan, Anton Cederholm, Mackenze Stewart.

New Jersey has yet to make any assignments to Binghamton. The Devils will have two split squad games on Monday, in Brooklyn against the Islanders and in PEI for the Kraft Hockeyville matchup with Ottawa.

As for the camps themselves:

Syracuse kicks off their camp on Tuesday afternoon at the War Memorial. The Crunch will start their preseason slate on Saturday afternoon in Rome against Utica, then host the Comets on Sunday, October 1st.

Rochester will start their camp Monday afternoon at the Blue Cross Arena. They will take on Toronto Friday night at RIT, followed by a rematch on Saturday at HarborCenter in Buffalo.

Utica’s camp will begin this week (no dates available at press time), with the home and home series against Syracuse their only two preseason games scheduled.

No official information on when Binghamton’s camp will open is available. They too have two preseason tilts, a home and home series with Wilkes-Barre/Scranton starting Friday in Pennsylvania, then finishing Sunday afternoon in the Southern Tier.

Meanwhile, another player has joined the fold in Adirondack:

On Friday, the Thunder acquired the rights to defenseman Desmond Bergin from Quad City for the ever popular future considerations. Bergin will be starting his second professional season after spending all of last year with Greenville. In 60 games, the native of Natick, MA scored 7 goals and assisted on 19 others. He was traded by the Swamp Rabbits to Quad City for Jack Nevins on August 14th. Before turning pro, he played collegiately at Harvard and spent one season in the USHL.

Up North with the Thunder 9/21

Three days, three signings! The Adirondack roster is starting to fill in quite nicely.

-First signing of the week: forward Paul Rodrigues. He comes to the Thunder from Norfolk, where he scored 12 goals and assisted on 20 others in 57 games for the Admirals. After finishing his collegiate career at SUNY Oswego, the native of Ontario started his pro career splitting time with Pensacola in the SPHL and South Carolina. He is also the older brother of the Sabres’ Evan Rodrigues.

-Signing #2: After his rights were acquired by the Thunder in exchange for the rights to Phil Lane back on the 5th, Eric Neiley officially came to terms.

-And to finish it off, a big return for Adirondack: after spending a majority of last season with Syracuse during their run to the Calder Cup Finals, defenseman Mathieu Brodeur will return to the Thunder for a third season. He began last season in Glens Falls, appearing in 15 games with 19 points, before being summoned to the Crunch in early December on a tryout agreement. That PTO would eventually be replaced by a standard player contract for the remainder of the season. In 56 games with the Crunch, Brodeur scored 3 goals and picked up 10 assists, then appeared in 22 games during the playoffs, adding one goal and three assists.

Now that we are getting closer to training camp (AHL camps will start opening over the next few days), let’s look at the Thunder roster so far:

Goaltenders: None. I’m thinking one goalie from each organization–likely Ken Appleby and Nick Riopel–will split time between the pipes.

Defensemen: Mathieu Brodeur, Mike Bergin, Tim Boyle, Stephen Johnson, Kevin Lough, Conor Riley.

Forwards: J.C. Campagna, Tim Harrison, James Henry, Pierre-Luc Mercier, Eric Neiley, Austin Orszulak, Paul Rodrigues, Terrence Wallin, Brian Ward.

Now, in the ECHL, only 16 skaters and 2 goaltenders are eligible to play on any given night, unlike in the AHL and NHL, which use 18 skaters. Right now Adirondack is at 15, before New Jersey and Tampa Bay even send down any of their prospects.

Once Binghamton and Syracuse release their training camp rosters–no one has yet to be assigned to either city–I may have a better idea of who may possibly join the Thunder come October.

Sunday Reading 9/17

How about some links for your Sunday as NHL training camps get rolling?

First, up north: an awesome tribute at Cool Insuring Arena on Saturday, as Dallas Stars broadcaster Dave Strader, who began his career as the original voice of the Adirondack Red Wings, was honored with the official renaming of the press box. (The Post Star) (WNYT) (Facebook)

A preview of the newest faces in Rochester, who look to have a resurgence after years of playoff futility. (Let’s Go Amerks)

Looking at prospects in Tampa’s training camp, including a few names you may see in Glens Falls. (Raw Charge)

A couple of A-Devils alumni were factors in New Jersey’s first scrimmage of camp on Saturday. The Devils face Washington at home on Monday to start their preseason slate. (Fire and Ice)

Former Comets coach Travis Green was a winner in his first NHL preseason game, as Vancouver defeated the Kings 4-3 in overtime. The Canucks and Kings are off to Asia for the NHL China Games, which will take place in Shanghai and Beijing later this week. (Vancouver Canucks)

Finally…look everyone, the Times Union Center is almost done renovating. Too bad they would rather host foam parties and bull riding than house an AHL hockey team. (Times Union)

Up North with the Thunder 9/8

And more players join the fold in Glens Falls! Let’s get you caught up with the latest.

-On Tuesday, the Thunder and the Atlanta Gladiators pulled off a 1 for 1 rights deal: forward Phil Lane’s rights were sent to Atlanta in exchange for the rights to forward Eric Neiley. Neiley is coming off a career year in his second full pro season–in 61 games, the Pennsylvania native scored 27 goals and added 20 assists. He also made six appearances with Providence, going scoreless.

Lane appeared in just 26 games for the Thunder due to injuries, but was productive in those appearances, scoring 10 times and picking up six assists.

-On Thursday, Adirondack signed forward Tim Harrison, who made his professional debut in Glens Falls late last season. In four games, the native of Duxbury, MA picked up two assists after coming over from Colgate.