Month: November 2017

Rico and Blender: An Appreciation Post

Now that my jaw has been put back in place after being on the ground for most of the day…

With the bombshell news that Adam Henrique and Joe Blandisi have been traded to Anaheim for Sami Vatanen…I lost the two players that bridged my 7 years covering–and being a fan of–the A-Devils.

Let’s start with Rico, since I’ve known him the longest.

Back in 2010, when New Jersey returned to Albany after a 4 year hiatus in Lowell, I had to start making the transition from knowing who was who in the Hurricanes organization to refreshing my memory on who was still with the Devils.  About 95 percent of who was with the River Rats in 2006-the last year of the original NJ-Albany partnership-had moved on to other teams.  I only knew a few names from that last season in Lowell (i.e. Stephen Gionta, Tim Sestito, Louis Robitaille), and I hadn’t really done my homework on who New Jersey had drafted in the last 4 years because, well, at the time I wasn’t that into watching draft picks.

So, as the new team arrived and I started watching, getting to know the players and their skill sets, Rico was probably one of the few more consistent guys on that 2010-11 team (remember, this was back in the days of Lou, David Conte and the AHL team got whatever body off the scrap heap that may have a shot).

Off the ice, in the rare chances I got to interact with anyone on the team (remember, what’s social media in 2010?), he was always one of the players I talked to the most.  I never had a problem with asking and getting autographs or photos with him (and he had the Rico smile, even back then).  I still tell everyone the story of how at the Booster Club bowlathon midseason I needed someone to take a photo of me and Nathan Perkovich on the lanes, and he volunteered to do it.  And nearly took a selfie of himself with my camera (if only he actually did take a photo…) in the process.

So when he finally made New Jersey for good back in 2011-12…I had found my favorite NHL Devil.  Of course, I’ll forever be grateful for that one fateful goal…the one where I screamed so loud at Recovery Room in Troy I’m sure people in Vermont heard me…

When he came back down to Albany in 2012 during the lockout–this was a few months later–he still remembered the fanbase, actually coming right to my group one night post game early in the season.  Now, normally I can handle myself around players, but on this particular night, when I saw him in the doorway in the back entrance of the arena, I was literally star struck. Luckily, I got myself together just in time.  Unfortunately, an injury in late November that year cut his visit short, and he would return to Jersey to rehab till after the lockout ended.

But the best moment was probably that first home preseason game in September 2015, the first official Welcome to the Shero Era night, I guess you could say.  A friend and I decided last minute to get tickets for that game, and I remember standing in line at a Starbucks on the Thruway and finding out via Twitter we could meet Rico before the game.  HOLY CRAP!

So…we waited for the right time to get into the Rock–Cory, Palms, and Andy Greene were also part of the welcoming committee–and followed the rush of people upstairs to the concourse and waited patiently.  When it got to be our turn, he saw both of us and his face lit up instantly.  The fact he still remembered who we were after all this time…thismoment is why I’m involved in hockey.  It was a very quick 30 second conversation and a photo, but to me, it was worth it.  Of course, stupid me doesn’t get my newly lettered Rico jersey signed at that time (smacks self hard again).

On the same night this happened, I was introduced to Blender.  Well, the on ice version of him anyway.

The kid was all over the place in that game against the Islanders.  Fighting, scoring, you name it.  I was so impressed that I figured I’d never see him come down to Albany.

Well…a couple of weeks later, there he was, walking around at the preseason Fan Fest at the arena.  I introduced myself to him and had mentioned how much I liked his play in Jersey, that I was happy to have him in Albany and I wasn’t going to let him leave (he laughed at that comment).

Blender, to me, was one of those players you couldn’t help but love watching him play, no matter what he did on the ice.  Pregame habits–soccer, jumping into the glass during warmup–became normal parts of my game day the last two A-Devils seasons while he was here.  Off the ice, he was such a wonderful person to get along with.  I even got to know his mom a bit since the family came down from Ontario to visit quite often.

Out of everything I miss with the move to Binghamton, I think my conversations with Blender postgame (when I actually did stick around) are one of the things I’m missing the most so far.  Just simple non hockey talks about random stuff, basically.  Luckily, I did get to see him in both my trips to see the Devils this season.  I had told him I’d see him in Utica in December…well, I guess not now.

Adam and Joe…thank you so much for helping shape 7 years of local memories for me.  Enjoy the sun in Anaheim.  I’ll miss you tons, but hopefully I will see you on the ice again soon.

Advertisement

Up North with the Thunder 11/22

Yeah, it’s about time I updated this thing.

With one game to go on the Epic Road Trip–record after 11 games is 6-4-0-1–there have been a couple of changes to the roster:

-First, overnight Friday into Saturday, Adirondack struck a trade with Orlando, sending rookie forward J.C. Campagna to the Solar Bears for forward Andrew Radjenovic.

Radjenovic, a 26-year-old Ontario native, is in his second ECHL season, and already on his third team.  He started the year with Cincinnati, appearing in 10 games and scoring twice, before being acquired by Orlando and not dressing for any games.  He has prior ECHL experience with Bakersfield in 2014-15, with 8 points in 22 games.

Campagna had appeared in 12 games for the Thunder before the trade, with 3 goals and 6 assists.  He already has two assists in 2 games so far for the Solar Bears.

-Earlier today, the first non-Binghamton/Syracuse AHL callup, as forward Brian Ward was signed to a PTO with Utica.  This is Ward’s third AHL team in three seasons, having previously appeared in one game for Charlotte in 2015-16 and 8 games for Albany in 2016-17.

Ward is one of six Adirondack skaters to appear in all 17 games so far.  In those 17 games, he has 5 goals and 6 assists.

Reverse Goalie Swap 11/13

So the current #1 goaltender in the ECHL gets a recall to the AHL.  Sounds like a nice reward for a job well done, right?  Or a “let’s see what you can do at the next level” story?

In this case, a rookie backup gets sent down for the weekend to regain some confidence, plays three games in three days, and turns into a virtual brick wall.

After a three game in three day stretch that saw him give up just four goals–not counting a shootout winner–goaltender Connor Ingram was recalled to Syracuse on Monday.  All he did was go 2-0-0-1 with a 1.30 GAA and a .960 save percentage, which currently tops the ECHL among goalies that have played at least 3 games/180 minutes.

Programming alert: tomorrow on my weekly visit to Raw Charge, I’ll have more on Ingram’s weekend, including GIFs!

With Ingram returning to the Crunch, Nick Riopel’s one game stint as backup to Michael Leighton came to an end, and he will return to the Thunder net.

Also recalled to Syracuse: defenseman Matthew Spencer, who also appeared in all 3 Thunder games this weekend as well, going scoreless and +1.  He was paired for most of the weekend with former Crunch defenseman Mathieu Brodeur, incase anyone in Crunchland was wondering.

One other trade I missed from Thursday: a few hours after the Crunch sent down Ingram and Spencer, the Thunder acquired forward Ben Murphy from Norfolk in exchange for defenseman Ryan Segalla.   In 9 games for Norfolk this season, the Massachusetts native has one goal and one assist.  He made his professional debut late in the 2015-16 season with Tulsa after finishing a four year collegiate career at Bowling Green State, where he was a teammate of current Thunder forward Pierre Luc Mercier.  Last season, he appeared in 16 games for Tulsa and 49 games for Norfolk, with a combined 16 goals and 15 assists.  Segalla appeared in 4 games for the Thunder, with 0 goals and 4 assists.

Up North with the Thunder 11/10

Or should I really say, out west with the Thunder, with the road trip still happening.  But anyway, I digress.

There’s going to be a couple of new faces in the Adirondack lineup as they embark on their second three in three weekend of the season:

-On Thursday, Syracuse sent down goaltender Connor Ingram and defenseman Matthew Spencer to the Thunder.  With the Crunch only playing four games in the next 8 days, while Adirondack has 6 games in the same timespan, the plan is for both players to get some extra game action in, much like Colton White did at the end of October with his three game appearance before returning to a regular spot in Binghamton’s lineup.

Ingram has made six appearances for the Crunch thus far, going 1-3-1 with a 3.36 GAA and .860 save percentage.  He last started on Saturday in Laval, taking a 5-2 loss against the Rocket.

Spencer has appeared in just two games for Syracuse thus far, with no points and a -1 rating.  He last played on October 28th in Rochester.

To take Ingram’s spot, Nick Riopel was recalled to the Crunch and  will back up Michael Leighton on Saturday at home against Charlotte.  How long he stays up remains to be seen.

-This may not be the only roster action we’ll see before the weekend is out.  By Sunday at 3:00 PM, all 27 ECHL teams must lower their roster limit from 21 to 20 players.  With a seemingly different Thunder lineup every week so far–27 different players, goaltenders included, have made at least one appearance, with 8 appearing in all 10 games thus far–this will be an interesting decision to see who ends up on the chopping block.

Up North with the Thunder 11/4

A quick update on Adirondack as the Epic Road Trip of 2017 continues:

-One transaction to report: after starting the regular season on a PTO with Springfield, defenseman Mathieu Brodeur officially returned to the Thunder on Friday, joining the team in Indiana.  Brodeur appeared in 7 games for the Thunderbirds, picking up one assist and 17 penalty minutes.  He’ll take over for defenseman Ryan Segalla, who was placed on reserve.

-Remember when the ECHL announced its partnership with Marvel?  Well, the Thunder revealed which jerseys they will be sporting on November 25th.  Here’s a hint:

Naturally, when you’re the Thunder, you get the Thor jerseys, as shown in this ECHL press photo. And they’re not bad.  You’ll have the chance to bid on them via MeiGray.com at a later date.