It’s officially Opening Night for the ECHL, as 16 of 27 teams skate for the first time tonight. But we wait one more day before Adirondack takes the ice.
A few roster notes to pass on as we are less than 24 hours away from hockey that counts:
Here is your Thunder Season Opening roster, which was official yesterday afternoon:
Forwards:
Austin Orszulak, J.C. Campagna, Terrence Wallin, James Henry, Paul Rodrigues, Tim Harrison, Pierre-Luc Mercier, Brian Ward, Ty Loney, Eric Neiley, Troy Bourke.
Defense:
Mike Bergin, Tim Boyle, Kevin Lough, Nick Trecapelli, Desmond Bergin, Conor Riley, Stephen Johnson.
Goaltenders:
Ken Appleby, Nick Riopel.
Since then, two more players have joined the fold:
-Forward Chris Calnan was assigned to the Thunder by Binghamton hours after the roster was released. The Massachusetts native was signed to an AHL contract by the Devils in late August, but did not appear in Binghamton’s opening night win over Bridgeport. He is beginning his pro career after finishing four years at Boston College, where he was teammates with many Devils in the organization (Miles Wood, Steve Santini, Austin Cangelosi). In his senior season, he appeared in 39 games and put up 6 goals and 10 assists.
-Earlier today, an interesting addition: former Florida Panther Dylan Olsen signed a standard contract. The defenseman last played in 2015-16, splitting time between Portland (47 games) and Florida (8 games). The Calgary native has 124 NHL games under his belt, and 6 seasons in the AHL, including stops in Rockford and San Antonio, making him the most experienced player by far on the Thunder roster.
I will be on hand for the Thunder opener tomorrow, my lone live game this week…stay tuned Sunday for the results!
Thoughts Inside The Box 