icepuddle

A Self Wake-Up Call

So. It’s been awhile. With writing for other sites, I pretty much abandoned my pet project, the blog that got things started for me 9 years ago.

But, I’ve had some things happen that take more than a tweet thread to explain.

Some people know what has been happening, but it’s time to tell the whole story. You may have noticed that I haven’t really traveled as much this hockey season–I have been sticking mostly to Thunder games, and I’ve only been to 3 AHL games all season, where originally I had been planning to go to a few more. I guess all those years traveling on the road have finally caught up with me, as for the first time I had to seriously put myself ahead of my work.

Back in September, I guess my eating habits–and my age–caught up to me. After two straight nights of probably the worst stomachaches I have ever had, I found myself in the ER late on a Sunday night. After getting blood work and an EKG done, I was diagnosed with gastritis and prescribed four doses of what I like to call pink crap a day for 10 days–and go on a bland diet. Lots of chicken, turkey, rice, whole grains, veggies–which I was able to follow.

I was feeling a lot better–then in early October another stomachache struck. It was kind of my fault, I got a little greedy with a bigger meal thinking I could handle it. I had been advised by my original ER doc if the symptoms returned to come back in, which I did. On this visit, I was given a referral for a local gastroenterologist, and scored an appointment two days later.

My gastro doc reviewed my records from the ER and noticed something in my blood work. He ordered a second round of blood work and sent me to get an ultrasound a little over a week later. The ultrasound showed gallstones, which means one thing–my gallbladder has to come out.

Tomorrow morning, the surgery happens. Good news is it’s laparascopic, which means I can come home the same day to start my journey back to normalcy.

Since that appointment in October, I’ve really been working on improving my health. For my self birthday present this year, I finally got a gym membership at a Planet Fitness around the corner from my house (only took me 7 years of living where I am to finally do it), and I’m there 3 mornings a week on the treadmill catching up on my podcasts. With the unusually warmer than usual winter, I also have been taking as many lunchtime walks on my work campus as possible. And I’ve even kept up a mostly bland diet. I am seeing some results–I’m down almost 20 pounds since mid-September, and I’m finding I have a little more energy to actually want to do things.

That will be a test during my recovery time from my procedure. I can’t drive for one week (no live Thunder games for me till February 8th) or do any heavy lifting (which I normally don’t do anyway) for 3 weeks. I’m sure my diet is going to be limited for the first couple of days too. Luckily the weather will be cooperative so I hope to do some walking outside once I feel good enough to do so. Since I’ll mostly be on house arrest (as I’m calling it) I have a couple of books ready to be read, and I have plenty of streaming options on Netflix, Hulu, etc. And I have my annual AHL All-Star project and my Solar Bears recap for Raw Charge to work on. Good thing I hadn’t made travel plans to go to California this year. Since I’m not working (I’m out until my follow up appointment in a week and a half) I can stay up and watch all the events, even the Hall of Fame ceremony. Now to find someone who’s streaming the state of the league address…

One comforting thing about all this is I know several people who have gone through the same procedure and are doing well, they’ve been giving me advice on recovery. And I have a full list of volunteers/visitors as a support system.

The moral here? When life gives you a wake-up call, answer it. It may be the best thing you can do.

Weekend Wrap: A Beastly Split

In what has become an annual tradition since the move from Stockton, the Thunder opened the home portion of their schedule on Saturday against Brampton.

img_7501-1 — Pregame introduction at center ice…–Tracey Lake

And it was a…fiery introduction to this year’s roster.

Once the rink was cleared and the anthems were sung, it was time to get things started.

The Thunder found themselves down 1-0 late in the first after a goal by David Pacan, Shortly after that, a hit by Brampton’s Jonathan Racine knocked Mike Szmatula out of the game. The referee may not have called a penalty, but Racine was not about to get away with it unpunished.

Brian Ward taking one for the team.–Tracey Lake

Unfortunately, Ward was given an extra two minutes for instigating, and the Beast capitalized. Jordan Henry scored on the ensuing power play, and Adirondack found themselves down by two after 20 minutes.

Adirondack got on the board in the second. Just seconds after leaving the penalty box from serving a hooking penalty, Peter MacArthur scored his first of the season to cut the Beast lead in half.

A too many men call on the Thunder haunted them early in the third, as Jackson Leef scored on the ensuing power play to restore the two goal lead. Desmond Bergin followed up less than a minute later with his first goal of the season to cut the lead to 3-2. The Thunder tried late to tie it up, but were unable to get that tying goal, and the Beast escaped with the 3-2 win in front of a sold out crowd.

Alex Sakellaroupoulos took the loss in net, finishing with 18 saves on 21 shots.

Both teams packed up the buses late Saturday night, then headed southwest overnight to Brampton, where the two teams had a rematch on Sunday afternoon.

A few lineup changes for Adirondack in this one: Colton Phinney drew the start, while Alexandre Carrier made his season debut in place of Szmatula. Rookies Jakob Reichert and Nikolas Olsson slotted in for Shane Eiserman and Matt Salhany.

Jake Linhart got the visitors on the board midway through the opening period with his first professional goal on a power play. Brampton tied it up with a power play goal of their own less than three minutes later, courtesy of Nathan Todd. Jackson Leef put the Beast ahead 2-1 early in the second with his third goal of the season.

The Thunder made a comeback early in the third. In a span of 2:10, Dennis Kravchenko and Ward scored to give Adirondack a 3-2 lead. The Beast tied the game at 3 with 3:51 remaining in regulation on David Vallorani’s first of the season.

It was on to overtime for the first time this season. With 40 seconds to go in the extra session, Kravchenko scored his second of the game, earning the Thunder the weekend split with a 4-3 overtime win.

Phinney finished with 23 saves in his second win of the season. James Henry added three assists.

This Week:

The Thunder return to the CIA for three home games this week. Wednesday, Worcester visits for the first time since Adirondack eliminated them in the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs last spring. On Friday, Maine makes their first ever appearance. Saturday, the Railers return on Military Appreciation Night and the first specialty jerseys of the season.

Split in St. John’s

The latest up north after a 2-1 road trip to start the regular season:

-Congratulations are in order for forward John Edwardh, who took the first ECHL Player of the Week honors for this season. In his lone appearance on Saturday, he put up two goals and two assists in a 6-3 win over Maine.

-The first signing of the regular season is a familiar name to both Thunder and A-Devils fans, as forward Alexandre Carrier joins the team. The Quebec native split last season between Atlanta and Allen, where in a combined 59 games he picked up three goals and nine assists. Since turning pro in 2011, Carrier has mostly bounced around the ECHL, playing for Trenton, Elmira, Wheeling, Orlando, and Utah. He spent parts of two seasons with the Albany Devils, appearing in a combined 18 games with no points. In 2015-16, he appeared in 47 games for the Thunder, with 5 goals, 8 assists, and 108 penalty minutes.

-And a reinforcement has been brought in from Binghamton, as defenseman Tariq Hammond was sent down. Hammond made the Binghamton roster out of camp, but had yet to make an appearance in a game this season. Last season, he appeared in 5 games for Binghamton after finishing his collegiate career at the University of Denver, with one assist.

Now to recap the two game set against the expansion Newfoundland Growlers…and it was a tale of two Thunder teams as Adirondack earned the split.

On Tuesday night, the Thunder fell behind early and could not recover, dropping a 7-3 decision. The Growlers scored on a very early power play 58 seconds into the contest, then doubled their lead 6:05 in on a Brady Ferguson goal. Peter MacArthur was awarded a penalty shot late in the first, but was denied by Growlers goaltender Michael Garteig. Newfoundland made it 3-0 21 seconds into the second, then Edwardh’s third goal got the Thunder to within 3-1. After Ferguson’s second goal of the night pushed the Growlers ahead 4-1, Conor Riley scored his second to cut the lead to 4-2. Newfoundland put the game away late in the period on back to back goals by Sam Babintsev and Ryan Moore for a 6-2 lead, chasing Thunder starter Colton Phinney in favor of Alex Sakellaropoulos. Shane Conacher’s second goal of the season early in the third brought the Thunder to within 6-3, but Newfoundland scored the extra point with a Scott Pooley goal with 4:29 to go in regulation.

Phinney finished with 20 saves on 26 shots in 40 minutes, while Sakellaropoulos only faced four shots, stopping three. Four Thunder skaters had one assist each.

In the rematch on Wednesday, with a few lineup changes due to injuries the night before, the Thunder earned the split with a 6-4 win. Matt Salhany drew into the lineup for the first time this season, and scored twice in the first period. After the Growlers tied the game at two early in the second, Adirondack scored three unanswered goals in a span of 6:40: Conacher and Riley each picked up their third goals, while Shane Eiserman scored in his professional debut late in the period. Newfoundland made it a game late in the third, scoring twice to cut the lead to 5-4 with 24 seconds remaining, but Conacher scored into an empty net with 3 seconds on the clock to clinch it. Sakellaropoulos picked up the win in net, stopping 27 of 31 shots. Cullen Bradshaw added two assists.

The Thunder return home on Saturday, kicking off a home and home series against Brampton. The two teams will immediately hop their respective buses after the game and head southwest to Ontario for the rematch on Sunday afternoon.

Weekend Coverage…and I did things…

One live game for me this weekend, and of course it will be the Thunder home opener.

And if you missed my other works this week:

-For Inside AHL Hockey ($), I recapped Binghamton’s week that was and how the Checkers spoiled Syracuse’s home opener.

-And in my first October appearance for Raw Charge, I recapped Orlando’s first two games of the season.

Thunder Recap, Week 1: A 6 Pack in New England

It’s been exactly 147 days since we last saw the Adirondack Thunder on the ice for a game that counted.

Saturday, it was time to turn the page and begin a new year, as the Thunder headed north to Maine to start their season against one of the newest members of the league, the Mariners.

And I will say, 2018-19 is off to a very good start.

Adirondack 6, Maine 3

(Author’s note: the ECHL recently gave their website a makeover and…it is the worst to navigate. Instead of a boxscore, all game updates are broken down by individual performances and comparisons to non-related teams. The app is still very functional, and I was able to find a link to use for actual boxscores.)

Before we get started with the recap, there was one important piece of pregame news: the leadership group for the Thunder was announced just prior to puck drop.

Replacing the recently retired Mike Bergin as the captain (you can now find Bergin behind the bench of Skidmore College‘s men’s hockey team as an assistant coach) will be James Henry. Very deserving for the man who has been with the franchise since the move from Stockton. Peter MacArthur, who had served as captain in 2016-17, and Brian Ward will be the assistants.

Now on to the gameday storylines:

-Saturday marked the regular season head coaching debut for Thunder coach Alex Loh.

-Goaltender Colton Phinney would get the start in net.

-The game marked the first professional hockey game in Portland’s Cross Insurance Arena since the AHL’s Portland Pirates departed for Springfield following the 2015-16 season.

-There would be a few familiar faces in the Mariners’ lineup–former Thunder forward Terrence Wallin, who came over in a trade in September; defenseman Ryan Culkin spent parts of two seasons in Glens Falls with the Flames and Thunder; and backup goaltender Chris Nell appeared in 5 games for the Thunder last season, going 1-3.

It would only take 62 seconds into the season for Adirondack to grab the lead, as Brian Ward did the honors.

However, the Thunder were not done, scoring twice more before the first half of the period was even complete. Cullen Bradshaw and John Edwardh would each get their first tallies of the season, putting Adirondack ahead 3-0.

Maine would get on the board with 9:31 remaining in the period, as Jason Salvaggio became the answer to a trivia question: the first player in Mariners ECHL history to score a goal.

Culkin would cut the Thunder lead to 3-2 1:31 into the second period with his first goal on the power play. However, Adirondack would score the next two to break the game open. In a span of 1:24, Conor Riley would get his first, and Edwardh would pick up his second of the night, to extend the lead to 5-2. Alex Kile would get Maine back to within two goals at the 7:36 mark of the second.

Shane Conacher would put the exclamation point on the first win of the season with a power play goal with 6:24 remaining.

Phinney would get his first win, stopping 26 of 29 shots. Edwardh would also have two assists to complete a 4 point night. Desmond Bergin would also add two assists, and all but four Thunder skaters had at least one point.

3 Stars:

3. Jason Salvaggio (Maine)–1 goal

2. Alex Kile (Maine)–1 goal

John Edwardh (ADK)–2 goals, 2 assists

Video:

(Well, it’s…something. Although Riley tried in his fight?)

This Week’s Schedule:

The road trip continues north this week, as the Thunder pay a visit to the other newest team in the league, the Newfoundland Growlers. Under the direction of former Devil Ryane Clowe, the Growlers are 1-1 after a split with Florida.

The two teams will face each other on Tuesday and Wednesday at 5:30 PM EST (remember from the IceCaps days, Newfoundland time is 90 minutes ahead), then Adirondack will return home for their opener on Saturday against Brampton.

Getting Closer…

Daniel Perigo and Jakob Reichert are 2 of 13 Thunder forwards on the opening roster.–Tracey Lake

We are a day away from the beginning of the ECHL regular season. While 12 teams get started tomorrow, the Thunder will have to wait until Saturday to begin their season in Maine against the expansion Mariners.

Before the games can begin, it’s time to set the season opening roster:

Goaltenders: Colton Phinney, Alex Sakellaropoulos

Defensemen: Desmond Bergin, Matias Cleland, Jake Linhart, Jordan McNaughton, Kelly Summers, Blake Thompson

Forwards: Cullen Bradshaw, Shane Conacher, John Edwardh, Shane Eiserman, James Henry, Dennis Kravchenko, Peter MacArthur, Daniel Perigo, Jakob Reichert, Conor Riley, Matt Salhany, Mike Szmatula, Brian Ward

Reserve: Nikolas Olsson, Michael Sdao

A closer look at the roster:

-11 players have played at least one game in a Thunder uniform.

-3 players are former NHL draft picks.

-7 players have at least one game of AHL experience.

-14 players are U.S. born, representing 10 different states: Massachusetts (3), California (2), New York (2), Rhode Island (1), Michigan (1), Minnesota (1), Colorado (1), Wisconsin (1), Illinois (1), and New Jersey (1).

-The rest of the roster are all Canadian born, with 4 from Ontario, 2 from Alberta, and 1 each from Manitoba, Nova Scotia, and British Columbia.

To get to this roster, the following moves were made once the preseason slate was completed on Saturday:

-Released from camp were forwards Al Graves and Nolan Sheeran, and goaltender Ian Sylves.

-After backing up Cam Johnson in Binghamton–including a brief appearance in Saturday’s opener against Toronto–Colton Phinney returns to the Thunder now that Mackenzie Blackwood is back from traveling with the parent Devils to Europe.

Coverage Schedule:

Only one game on my agenda this weekend, as I will be traveling to Syracuse for their home opener against Charlotte on Saturday.

And if you missed my last two stories for Inside AHL Hockey ($), I recapped Binghamton’s preseason and their opening night win over the Marlies.

Thunder Preseason Wrap

Goaltender Ian Sylves is looking to impress at his first pro training camp.–Tracey Lake

On Friday, just three days after training camp opened, the Adirondack Thunder finally got back on ice, as they played their first game since mid-May, a preseason tilt against division rival Reading.

With just seven players returning from last season, and a new coach behind the bench, this was a perfect time to figure out lines and pairing that hopefully will click once the regular season begins.

New garb for the Thunder, as worn by Shane Conacher.–Tracey Lake

With Colton Phinney still with Binghamton, both goaltenders in camp–former Union netminder Alex Sakellaropoulos and rookie Ian Sylves–were essentially battling for the emergency backup spot should an opening come up (and if you recall from last year…it’s definitely a possibility).

Sakellaropoulos would get the start in Friday’s opener in Glens Falls against the Royals. Adirondack would get an early advantage after a hit on Thunder defenseman Matt Salhany, who had to leave briefly to get stitched up. The guilty party, Royals defenseman Ilya Nekolenko, would get a 5 minute major and a game misconduct. On the ensuing power play, which became a 5 on 3 with another Royal in the box for an earlier call, Shane Conacher would score for the 1-0 Thunder lead.

Reading would tie the game late in the period after former Thunder ATO Bo Pieper would get his first. He would follow that up with an early second period goal to put the Royals ahead 2-1. The Thunder would re-tie the game at 2 with just under 13 minutes to go in the period with a goal by Matias Cleland.

After that, the Royals would then score the next four goals. Forward Josh MacDonald would break the tie with his first of the preseason midway through the period. In the third, Reading would score three times in a span of 10:30 and jump ahead 6-2 on goals by Shane Walsh, Brayden Low, and Brian Morgan. Thunder defenseman Jordan McNaughton would cut the Reading lead to the final 6-3 score with 5:39 to go in the contest.

Sakellaropoulos would finish with 31 saves on 37 Reading shots. All three goal scorers also added one assist each.

On Saturday, the two teams traveled south to Pennsylvania to finish off the two game home and home set. Sylves, a camp invite from SUNY Buffalo, would get the start.

The teams would exchange goals in the first period. Reading forward Steven Swavely would get the Royals on the board 2:59 into the contest. Fresh off returning from Binghamton’s training camp, Brian Ward picked up his first of the preseason five minutes later for a 1-1 contest.

MacDonald would put the Royals back in front 2:09 into the second with his second goal in as many days. Just over two minutes later, Thunder newcomer Shane Eiserman picked up his first goal to re-tie the game at 2. Much like the night before, the Royals would then score the next four goals. First, a goal by Michael Huntebrinker with less than two minutes remaining in the second would put Reading back up 3-2.

In the third, the Royals would score three times in a span of 1:47, as goals by Morgan, Adam Schmidt, and Low would create a 6-2 deficit for the Thunder. Salhany would score his first with 13:11 remaining to cut the lead to 6-3, but Adirondack could do no more, and they would finish the preseason 0-2 with nearly identical 6-3 losses.

Sylves would finish with 22 saves on 28 shots, while the Thunder could only manage 15 shots, compared to 42 in Friday’s loss.

With preseason completed, Adirondack has the week to prepare for their season opener on Saturday, as they travel to Maine to take on the Mariners.

Open for Business

About a day late on the post, but…camp in Glens Falls is officially underway!

First, the participants. These include two players sent down by Binghamton on Monday as their camp wrapped up:

Goaltenders: Alex Sakellaropoulos, Ian Sylves (Colton Phinney remains in Binghamton until Mackenzie Blackwood returns from New Jersey’s European trip)

Defensemen: Desmond Bergin, Matias Cleland, Jake Linhart, Jordan McNaughton, Michael Sdao, Blake Thompson, Al Graves

Forwards: Cullen Bradshaw, Shane Conacher, John Edwardh, Shane Eisenman, James Henry, Dennis Kravchenko, Peter MacArthur, Nikolas Olsson, Daniel Perigo, Jakob Reichert, Conor Riley, Matt Salhany, Mike Szmatula, Brian Ward, Nolan Sheeran

Sylves, Graves, and Sheeran are in camp as tryouts. Ward and Edwardh were reassigned by Binghamton on Monday. Szmatula and Linhart were also part of Binghamton’s camp as tryouts before they were returned.

Earlier today, a new player joined the Thunder ranks, as defenseman Kelly Summers was signed. The Ontario native will be making his professional debut after finishing a four year collegiate career at Clarkson. Last season, he appeared in 40 games, scoring 6 goals and assisting on 24 others. Summers was a 2014 7th round draft pick by Ottawa prior to joining Clarkson.

The Thunder’s preseason schedule gets underway on Friday night at home against Reading, a 7:00 PM start. The best part? FREE ADMISSION! The two teams will meet again in Pennsylvania on Saturday.

Coverage Schedule:

Where you’ll find me this weekend:

Friday: Naturally I’ll be up north for Thunder preseason.

Saturday: I’ll be starting my regular season Inside AHL Hockey duties as I head to Binghamton to cover their home opener against Toronto.

Pre-Preseason Updates

We are less than a week away from October. (Which means everyone can STOP. ASKING.)

AHL camps are in full swing, and ECHL camps will get underway next week. As a matter of fact, a couple of Thunder players have already began skating.

Out west in Binghamton, the Devils camp kicked off on Tuesday with three Adirondack invites: goaltender Colton Phinney, who also spent time in New Jersey’s camp; forward Mike Szmatula; and defenseman Jake Linhart. Binghamton will play a pair of games against Utica this weekend, hosting the Comets on Saturday after visiting the Aud the night before. The Devils will open the season on home ice on October 6th against the defending Calder Cup champion Marlies.

Episode 2 of the Podcast is here! This time, new associate coach Pete Dineen is the guest.

On Monday, the ECHL announced a partnership with Nickelodeon. Coming to every ECHL rink this season will be the “Nickelodeon Takeover Experience.”

What does that mean? Well, a team will have a theme night based on one of these characters:

(If you played any of these videos…I sorry.)

Another theme idea–and I vote for this one–is NickSplat, which gives a variety of ideas based on all the Nick shows most of us grew up on back in the day.

No word yet on which theme the Thunder will choose, but we do know the Nickelodeon game will be on Saturday, March 16th against Newfoundland. Yes, there also will be specialty jerseys.

Friday Headlines!

Before the weekend begins…let’s catch up on the news of the week!

-Add another rookie to the Thunder ranks, as forward Shane Eisenman was signed on Tuesday. The native of Massachusetts will begin his professional career after spending 4 years at New Hampshire. Eisenman appeared in 28 games in his senior season with the Wildcats, picking up 5 goals and 5 assists. In 120 career collegiate games, he scored 16 goals and assisted on 33 others. Eisenman is a former Ottawa draft pick, being selected in the 4th round of the 2014 NHL Draft by the Senators while playing for Dubuque of the USHL.

-Forward Brian Ward, who has spent the last two seasons with the Thunder, was rewarded on Thursday with an AHL contract, signing with Binghamton. He lead all Adirondack skaters with 30 goals last season, finishing third on the team with 53 points in 59 games, followed by another 9 points in 17 postseason appearances. He also had two separate AHL PTOs: one game with Utica, then two games with Providence, where he picked up an assist. Ward is no stranger to the AHL Devils–he appeared in 8 games with the Albany Devils in 2016-17, picking up one assist. Since Adirondack extended Ward a qualifying offer during the offseason, his ECHL rights will stay in Glens Falls.

-Now for some promotions to look forward to in the 2018 portion of the Thunder schedule…

Three specialty jerseys: Military Appreciation on October 27th, with a postgame auction; Hockey Fights Type 1 Diabetes Night on November 24th, which will be warmup jerseys available via silent auction; and Marvel Black Panther on December 15th, available by raffle.

December 15th will also be the annual Teddy Bear Toss.

The annual New Year’s Eve home game is also on tap, with a special 2 for $20.19 ticket special.

December 8th features a coat drive, with all donors receiving a ticket to a game in early January, and a post game skate with the team.

Finally, in case you missed my other works recently:

-Over at Raw Charge, I previewed the AHL’s North Division and used my schedule breakdown skills on Orlando. Twice.

-And in my 2018-19 season debut for Inside AHL Hockey ($), a summary of what has happened in Binghamton this summer.

We Can Has A Goalie?

Now that I’m finished introducing every signing so far…there has been a pair of transactions over the past two days, as we get closer to the start of camp:

-On Tuesday, a trade with Maine saw forward Terrence Wallin go from the Thunder to the Mariners, while in exchange Adirondack receives defenseman Matias Cleland. Cleland is a 24-year-old defenseman who split his first professional season last year between Orlando and Reading. In a combined 67 games, the Colorado native had 2 goals and 15 assists. He also appeared in four playoff games for the Royals, going scoreless. Prior to turning pro, Cleland spent four years at New Hampshire, then made his pro debut with Wheeling late in the 2016-17 season. Wallin had a breakout season with the Thunder last year, putting up 21 goals and 29 assists in 59 games, and an additional 6 goals and 4 assists in 17 Kelly Cup playoff contests. He would also make his AHL debut with Binghamton midseason, going scoreless in 4 games. Wallin is also a co-founder of Major 4 Sports, a website “for fans by athletes” that covers both pro and college sports, along with pieces by former teammates.

-Wednesday, a goaltender has finally joined the Thunder ranks, with the signing of Colton Phinney. Phinney comes to Glens Falls after splitting his first pro season between Jacksonville and Indy. He began the year with the IceMen, going 4-8-2 with a 3.25 GAA and .886 save percentage, then would join the Fuel late in the season, making one appearance on March 11th and getting the win against Toledo. He would also appear in one game for Manitoba, getting the loss. Prior to last season, the New Jersey native played four years for Princeton.