- The home game against Peoria on 11/8/15 has been moved to Saturday, 11/7/15. This means that the home opening series against the Rivermen will be three games in as many nights.
- The away game at Columbus on 3/4/16 has been moved to Sunday, 3/7/16. This game will remain a road game against the Cottonmouths.
- The home game against Peoria on 3/16/16 has been replaced with a home game against the Ice Pilots on 12/20/15. The 12/20/15 game was originally scheduled against the RiverKings, but was moved to March 2nd.
More schedule changes for the IceGators. I didn't catch an official announcement from the SPHL or the IceGators, but both the schedules on both websites confirm them.
IceGators head coach Drew Omicioli announced the signing of two rookies who are fresh out of college and looking to make their mark in professional hockey. Forward John Scorcia and goalie Matic Marinsek will join the team in October for training camp. The signings continue the trend of recruiting players from the northeast. Wednesday's signings bring the preseason roster to 19 out of 30 players. The IceGators currently have 2 goalies, 5 centers, 7 wingers, and 5 defensemen. Scorcia comes to the IceGators from the Division III Salve Regina College in Rhode Island, where he recorded 105 points in 99 games during his four-year career there. The vast majority of those points - 65 of them - were assists. Scorcia joins a talented group of forwards, and will have to work hard to earn a spot on the opening day roster. “I have seen John play and he has a very similar style to Stephen Buco,” Omicioli said. “He’s a guy who can come in and be an impact player immediately. He has excelled in each level that he has played including the NAHL and his collegiate career. The IceGators’ goaltending staff has immediately improved with the acquisition of Matic Marinsek. Marinsek, a former member of Slovenia’s under-20 national team, won a gold medal at the U-18 World Championships in the 2009-10 season. In 14 games with HK Olimpija's U-20 squad, he recorded a 1.99 goals against average. The 6’3”, 206-pound Marinsek continued his success at Division III Norwich (Vt.) University. Marinsek appeared in 29 games for the Cadets, compiling a .905 save percentage and a 1.70 goals against average. Marincek has an excellent opportunity to be the backup to Adam Courchaine this season. “(Marinsek) was 9-2 in his sophomore year and 8-2 in his junior year,” Omicioli said. During his senior year he played only three games because of an injury, but he’s fully healthy now. His goals against (average) 1.97 as a sophomore and 1.65 as a junior showcase how valuable he can be between the pipes. He’s a guy coming in who could make a difference.” This week's poll is going to be a touchy subject. However, we don't shy away from being mildly controversial here. If you have followed the team for some time, you may know that the IceGators are the only SPHL team without an active booster club. There are a couple of informal fan groups who are not formally affiliated with the team, and there are some functions that booster clubs do (player adoptions, for example) that the IceGators manage directly. So this week's discussion is: Should the IceGators give the boosters another shot? After the flurry of activity over the past two weeks and a short week due to the Labor Day holiday, the league took a slight break this week. There has been a few signings and returning players around the league this week, and we'll get right to the action. The Pensacola Ice Flyers get top billing this week when they announced their new jerseys for the upcoming season. Like the Rivermen, the Ice Flyers will feature three sweaters this season: A white jersey, a gray jersey, and this....
The Ice Flyers also announced the signings of a pair of rookies this week. Defenseman Nathan Bruyere played two seasons of college hockey in Canada with Lakehead (ON) University. Bruyere had 13 points in 18 games last season for the Thunderwolves. Right winger Blake Hietala comes to the Ice Flyers from Michigan Tech, where he scored 5 goals and 9 assists in 29 games during his senior season. Columbus announced the least surprising signing of the off-season this week with the return of goalie - and possibly the league's most popular player - Shannon Szabados to the Cottonmouths. Szabados looks to get plenty of work in the pipes this season with the likely retirement of Andrew Loewen, and she should get these puppies broken in pretty quickly. Over in Fayetteville, the FireAntz re-signed their captain, center Derek Elliott. Elliott will begin his fourth season in Fayetteville, and his first full season as captain. The Iowa native scored 14 goals and 19 assists in a difficult season, and he will anchor the team under new coach Jeff Bes. Huntsville picked up two more rookies for their camp roster. Jordan Ruby completed his four years with NCAA Rochester (NY) Instutute of Technology, appearing in 65 games. In his senior season, Ruby had a 2.10 GAA with a .924 SV% and played one game with ECHL Toledo. Forward John McGinnis played four years with Division 3 Bowdoin (ME) College, and scored 9 goals and 14 assists in his senior season. The RiverKings added a pair of players this week by re-signing winger Ryan Marcuz and newcomer Nick Duhn. Marcuz split time last season between the RiverKings and FHL Danville, and put up a total of 9 goals and 19 assists. Duhn, a center, spent the last four seasons playing for Carleton (ON) University, playing in 52 games and scoring 7 points during his collegiate career. The Ice Bears re-signed defenseman Bo Driscoll, who was a solid late-season addition for Knoxville's run to the President's Cup. Joining Driscoll this week is Mattias Eriksson, a 6'7 blueliner from Sweden. Peoria continued to bolster their impressive roster this week by re-signing high-scoring center Garrett Vermeerch. The former SPHL rookie of the year saw his production dip slightly last season, but still cracked the 40-point plateau with 18 goals and 24 assists. The Rivermen added two additional defensemen, former Fayetteville blueliner Brandon Greenside and collegiate player Mike Gunn. Gunn played in a couple of games for Peoria last season after completing his college career at Northeastern. This blog's observant readers are probably thinking right now, "Isn't today Thursday?" Well done, I did release this recap a day early. We're heading to Pensacola on Friday to catch the Emerald Coast Beer Festival for a weekend of beer, beach, and shenanigans.
We'll try not to paint the town in day-glo green... Today marks the first of a series of changes to Puck Off. Beginning today, I will be the IceGators and SPHL correspondent for the ECHL news website The Sin Bin. Recently, I have posted interviews from The Sin Bin with SPHL commissioner Jim Combs and Blackhawks goalie Scott Darling. I'm excited to join up with this up-and-coming website, and bring the IceGators and the SPHL to a larger audience. If you follow Puck Off on Twitter, my Twitter name will change to @SinBinIceGators. If you don't follow on Twitter - you should. I'd like to thank all of you for your support, the IceGators for their cooperation, and especially a couple of you for helping make this blog and its corresponding Facebook page a reality - I am eternally grateful for your assistance, friendship, and advice. There are more changes coming over the next couple of weeks, which I believe will make this page and blog the place to get the most in-depth news on your Louisiana IceGators. Again, thanks to all of you for your support and assistance, and I'm looking forward to seeing where this goes in the future. #LetsGeaux! Happy Labor Day, Gator Nation! In less than 60 days, hockey will return to the Cajundome. Last week, you picked Tanner Burton as last season's team MVP on the blue line. This week, Puck Off shifts focus to the other side of the ice. The IceGators had no problem scoring last season - they were the only SPHL team to have five 40-point scorers, and there's plenty of worthy candidates for team offensive MVP. Do you like guys who can straight up snipe? The pick Bret Peppler, who lit the lamp a team-leading 24 times and led the league in shooting percentage. How about playmakers who can sling the sauce? Shawn McNeil led the team with Adam Stuart with 32 dishes. Perhaps you prefer scorers who can do it all? No shortage of choices there - Jeremy Boyer had 17 goals & 28 assists, Jake Hauswirth scored 21 goals & 22 assists (in only 37 games), and Chris Wilson assisted on 25 goals while lighting the lamp 18 times. Go ahead, and pick your favorite offensive player from last season's team. We'll post the results on Sunday. We hope you all have had a nice Labor Day weekend! Finally, September has arrived, and hockey season is right around the corner! In just over two weeks, the NHL begins their preseason and there are now seven weeks until opening night in the SPHL. It's Friday, and once again we recap the activity throughout the SPHL as teams ramp up their preparations for the upcoming season. The SPHL signing deadline for protected players passed on September 1st. All unsigned players are now designated free agents, and free to sign with any SPHL team. The first schedule change of the 2015-16 season has been announced. The December 20th game with the RiverKings at the IceGators has been moved to March 2nd. The change gives the IceGators three consecutive Wednesday night matches that month, beginning with the RiverKings, then the Ice Flyers, and finally the Rivermen visiting the Cajundome. The updated schedule can be viewed here. The Louisiana IceGators threw down all of their cards on deadline day and re-signed the seven remaining players on their protected list. The Gators announced the signings of centers Jeremy Boyer & Luke Kasteel, wingers Stephen Buco & Matt Viola, and defensemen Tanner Burton, Jordan Ciccarello, & Dan Cornell. Later in the week, Buco signed with the Adirondack Flames and will be attending their training camp. In a conversation this week with Puck Off, IceGators coach Drew Omicioli likes how the off-season is progressing, stating, "I'm impressed with the overall talent level committed to camp thus far. I feel we have a complete balance of toughness and skill to go on with great goaltending and leadership - all the tools for a championship season." Regarding the team's preparations for next month's training camp, Omicioli continued, "I look forward to releasing the next group of signees and really looking forward to the level of competition at camp in five weeks." The Columbus Cottonmouths inked a pair of rookies to their training camp roster. Tyler Henry played his collegiate career in Saskatchewan as a winger for the University of Regina. Henry played in 92 games for the Cougars and scored 21 goals with 36 assists. Defenseman Bryan Dalliare finished up his junior career with the EHL Northern Cyclones in 2013-14, where he put up 36 points and 89 PIMs in 40 games. Huntsville added SPHL newcomers Ryan DeMelo and Ben MacAskill to their roster. DeMelo, a goalie, finished his collegiate career at Elmira last season then played 13 games for ECHL Brampton. DeMelo appeared in 13 games, with a 4.28 GAA and a .860 SV%. Blueliner MacAskill played college hockey at Dalhousie (NS) University, where he appeared in 126 games over five seasons. The Havoc now have 20 players signed for the upcoming season. The Mississippi RiverKings announced that Matt Harrington has re-signed for his third season. The 5'11" center scored 12 goals and 14 assists in 33 games with the Kings, and played in 20 ECHL games last year in a pair of callups. Harrington will attend training camp with ECHL Wichita. The Kings also released their promotional schedule, and are featuring three specialty jerseys as well as a pair of morning games in their Face Off Field Trip program with the local schools. The RiverKings will bring back a couple of popular promotions: Elvis themed jerseys and pink jerseys for breast cancer awareness. Also, for the second consecutive year, Mardi Gras hockey will be played, with the IceGators making the trip up to Southaven for a Fat Tuesday showdown. In Pensacola, the Ice Flyers acquired two rookies from the collegiate ranks: forward Scott Henegar and blueliner Jason Yee. Henegar, a forward, played in 114 games in four seasons with the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point and scored 37 goals with 38 assists. Yee, a defenseman, comes from the University of British Columbia, where he scored 7 goals and 20 assists in four years. Later in the week, the Ice Flyers re-signed high-scoring winger Nick McParland. McParland came to Pensacola in mid-season from ECHL Rapid City and made an immediate impact, scoring 22 goals and 18 assists in 38 games. Peoria formally signed former IceGator Adam Stuart, who is set to attend training camp with ECHL Evansville. The Rivermen also announced the re-signings of hard-nosed center Dan Bremner, forwards Jordan Sims & Mike Gurtler, and defensemen Chris Weidauer & Richie Zobak. Later in the week, the Rivermen closed deals that slated Mike Gurtler, Ben Oskroba, and veteran winger Matt Summers to return to Peoria.
It has become a trend this offseason that the Louisiana IceGators make big announcements. On the morning of the SPHL deadline for re-signing protected players, the team makes the biggest announcement of them all. The IceGators have re-signed the remaining players on their protected list, with the exception of goalie Scott Diebold, who has elected to retire and put his engineering degree from RPI to good use.
The players re-signed by the IceGators include center Luke Kasteel, wingers Stephen Buco & Matt Viola, and defensemen Tanner Burton, Jordan Ciccarello, and Dan Cornell. Given the high turnover in minor-league hockey, it is highly unlikely that a team can re-sign or trade twelve of thirteen players from their protected list. The IceGators managed to pull off this unlikely task. However, Jeremy Boyer's return to the IceGators was completely unexpected.
Boyer, who originally signed overseas in the Polish Hockey League, has re-signed with the team for his fourth season. According to news sources in Poland, Boyer fell ill while in training camp and elected to return home.
Jeremy Boyer is quite possibly the perfect teammate. He's the type of player who makes the teammates around him better, and the type of steady, lunch-box type player that coaches enjoy having. He has been the rock-solid anchor on the second line for the past three years, and is effective on both the power play and the penalty kill.
Jeremy Boyer easily wins the contest for most frequent flyer miles this summer. His round trip from Lafayette to Saskatoon to Poland and back was approximately 16,500 miles. If you're wondering what 16,500 miles of air travel looks like, here is an approximation of Boyer's summer travels.
Last season, the smooth playmaker dished out 28 assists while scoring 17 goals in his most productive year in Lafayette. Coach Drew Omicioli says that Boyer "Is one of the most versatile players in the league. Throughout last season he demonstrated he was not only a top offensive threat, but also was along with Alex Hudson was one of the top defensive forwards both even strength and on the penalty kill." The re-signing of Boyer, along with Jake Hauswirth, Hudson and the now re-signed Luke Kasteel, give the IceGators four quality skaters at the center position. Look for one or more of this quartet to get significant playing time on the wing next season.
Jeremy Boyer's Career Stats |
About usPuck Off provide independent coverage of the Louisiana IceGators and the SPHL. Archives
October 2015
Categories
All
|