So this week's discussion is: Should the IceGators give the boosters another shot?
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... 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. There are eight more weeks until the IceGators' season opener at the RiverKings. Every Friday for the remainder of the offseason, we wrap up the activity with the IceGators and across the SPHL. We'll cover player signings, league news, and other related information in one neat little package. There has been some sad news in the hockey world today. First, former New York Islanders coach and Hockey Hall of Famer Al Arbour passed away this morning at the age of 82. Arbour coached the Islanders for 19 seasons, 1,500 games, and won four consecutive Stanley Cups in the early 1980s. This afternoon, the hockey world was saddened with the loss of Ray Miron, the co-founder of the Central Hockey League - which recently merged with the ECHL. Miron was instrumental in increasing hockey's popularity in the United States, and has served in every level of professional hockey. If you're watching minor league hockey, you have Ray Miron to thank for it. The Louisiana IceGators continued to beef up their forward lines with three signings that were released on Monday. The Gators signed former Ice Bears and RiverKings RW Phil Bronner, two-year FHL C Ryan Patsch, and rookie RW Jeremy Plourde. Former IceGators RW Adam Stuart, traded to Peoria for C Alex Hudson, has signed a contract with ECHL Evansville. Also returning to the ECHL is defenseman Eric Tallent, who signed up for his third season with the Tulsa Oilers. Tallent played three seasons for the IceGators from 2010-13. Breaking: News reports from Poland have stated that C Jeremy Boyer, who recently signed with PHL Orlik Opole, is no longer with that team due to undisclosed reasons (the Polish translation is unclear). The IceGators retain Boyer's SPHL rights, and there is a very good chance that he will re-sign with the team. Stay tuned, this story is rapidly developing. In Columbus, the Cottonmouths have reported three players have re-signed with the club for 2015-16. Defensemen Kyle Johnson & Andy Willigar and G Shannon Szabados have elected to play for the Cottonmouths next season. The FireAntz have picked up their second player from EIHL Dundee, Forward Shane Lust. Lust has played the last four seasons in France and England, and is slated to begin his first professional season in North America. The Huntsville Havoc further bolstered their roster with the signing of veteran forward Brett Lutes, formerly of the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Lutes will be playing in his 12th professional season, in a career that has spanned 626 games among six different leagues. Huntsville also announced their promotional schedule. The Havoc will feature nine different specialty jerseys this season, with themes including Freddy Krueger from A Nightmare on Elm Street (I'd love to see the gloves for that game!), Star Wars, Weiner Dogs, and Batman. Defending SPHL champions Knoxville have re-signed C Josh Cousineau, and inked rookie forward Ryan McDonald from D3 Framingham (MA) State. The expansion Macon Mayhem have yet to publicize any player signings, and are the only SPHL team yet to announce such news. Coach Kevin Kerr has stated in a interview that they do have players signed and attending ECHL camps in the preseason. On the heels of the trade that sent G Adam Courchaine to the IceGators for RW Benji Rubin, the Mississippi RiverKings signed scrappy LW Corey Bellamy. Bellamy played last season with the Havoc and racked up a league-high 302 penalty minutes in only 38 games. The most surprising signing of the week belonged to the Pensacola Ice Flyers. Defenseman and former Peoria Rivermen captain Cole Ruwe, who announced his retirement back in April, has elected to return to hockey and head south to Pensacola. The Ice Flyers also signed a pair of rookies this week. Luke Hannon, a 24-year-old forward from Liberty University was added to the roster, as was Austrian forward Patrick Divjak, who played four years of collegiate hockey at Niagara University before spending last season playing in his native Austria. Pensacola also announced their promotional schedule for the 2015-16 season, which will feature theme jerseys featuring Minions, the Blue Wahoos baseball team, the movie Top Gun, and throwback Pensacola Ice Pilots jerseys from their years in the ECHL. Dear IceGators: ECHL throwback sweaters need to happen. Finally, the Peoria Rivermen made public their first player signing since acquiring LW Adam Stuart from the IceGators by announcing the return of two-time SPHL goalie of the year Kyle Rank. Actually... Who do you love to hate? Which of the SPHL teams do you consider the IceGators' biggest rival? Do you hold ill will for the Ice Bears - the team that swept the Gators out of the postseason two years in a row? Perhaps Pensacola or Peoria is your personal pet peeve. I'm sure there are some people with contempt for the Columbus Cottonmouths, and those who do not favor the FireAntz. Does the thought of the RiverKings raise the rage inside you, or are you hostile to the hapless Havoc? Go ahead... Pick your poison. No mention of Macon, mind you... they don't matter. Note: Like the last poll... If you have trouble viewing or voting on mobile devices, scroll to the bottom and view as Web/Desktop. Recently, SPHL Commissioner Jim Combs had an interview on the minor league news website The Sin Bin. Several topics were discussed in the 27-minute-long session, covering the league's history, Mr. Combs' background and where he evolved from a hockey referee to league commissioner, player success stories such as IceGators-to-Stanley Cup goalie Scott Darling, two-time Olympic gold medalist Shannon Szabados, and former IceGators goalie & two-time Kelly Cup champ Riley Gill. Additional topics covered included the potential for future league expansion, how the SPHL remains cost-effective for fans and owners, the challenges of arena availability, and the league's unique playoff format. The entire interview may be found on the Sin Bin's website. If you don't have the time to listen to the whole discussion, here are a few highlights. Mr. Combs responses are in italics, and my comments are below. The IceGators' early signings in the 2015 off-season had a common thread. Tyler Barr, Alex Hudson, and Anthony Pisano are hard-nosed players who can drop the gloves effectively. Barr and Pisano play more like traditional enforcers, where Hudson has a more balanced game. Having multiple enforcers on a team in the SPHL is rather uncommon, due to the league's smaller roster requirement. Teams that have gone with a 'punch first' philosophy do not typically do well. History does not seem to favor the IceGators, but there are three simple reasons why Louisiana will be an exception. 1. The IceGators can scoreThere is a common link between Huntsville, Fayetteville, and Bloomington's poor seasons. All of these teams had toughness, but were not strong in the offensive zone. None of these teams scored over 150 goals in their seasons. In contrast, the IceGators averaged 182 goals a season over the last three years. The IceGators have always had offensive talent, and those players should have even more space to operate. 2. Hudson will not scrap as much as you thinkAlex Hudson isn't the type of player who will back down from a challenge, but he shouldn't generate the number of penalty minutes as he did last season. In fact, the 172 PIMs that he racked up last season were a career high by a wide margin. Hudson is a grinder and an instigator on the ice, and he will get into his share of scraps; but he won't get tapped by coach Omicioli to take care of business as he was occasionally called upon to do in Peoria. 3. Pisano plays defense, and Barr is a ForwardEighteen man SPHL rosters do not allow for a lot of flexibility when it comes to employing enforcers. One-dimensional scrappers who do not play a regular shift can find themselves out of a job in this league. Also, having two forwards who are enforcers means that the other forwards' ice times are increased. In the case of the IceGators, Tyler Barr is a left winger who has the ability to play as a top-6 forward. However, even if Barr's role was reduced to that of a 10th forward, Defenseman Anthony Pisano doesn't affect the makeup of the three forward lines. Coach Drew Omicioli mentioned certain events during last season that were factors in his decision to make the IceGators more physical this season. However, anything can happen during the season. For example, all three of Fayetteville's enforcers did not play the entire season due to injuries or disciplinary actions. It's clear, however, that Omicioli wants to make sure that his skill players have room to make plays in the offensive zone and to get tougher on the other side of the blue line. Hopefully for the Louisiana IceGators, their efforts will not result in a repeat of recent history, but instead mirror the 2011-12 Augusta RiverHawks - who led the SPHL in wins as well as penalty minutes.
Toughness, scoring, and wins... Sounds like the old ECHL IceGators, doesn't it? There are rare things in hockey: Winning a championship, scoring a natural hat trick, watching Mike Sheehan call a good game, and finding a long-term goaltender in the SPHL. Teams like Knoxville (Bryan Hince) and Columbus (Andrew Loewen) have been fortunate enough to have found tenders who have stayed several years. The Louisiana IceGators are still hoping that the stars align and they find that quality netminder who will stick around for a few seasons. Today, we'll look at a list of experienced A-level goalies (in alphabetical order) who are in situations where they could possibly be available for another team.
In a couple of weeks, the SPHL will release the schedule for the 2015-16 season. However, for hockey junkies trying to get their off-season fix, we will stop at nothing to give you an idea what the schedule may look like for the upcoming season.
Tentative Dates
Note: These are tentatively scheduled dates. Dates and opponents are subject to change.
UPDATE: Schedule released on July 17th. The remaining three home dates have been added.
The Louisiana IceGators know how to make a splash. They partnered up with the Peoria Rivermen and sent their top-scoring winger Adam Stuart up north for the tough-as-nails center Alex Hudson. Stuart put up a team leading 32 assists and 53 points to go along with his 21 goals in the regular season. The Calgary native also racked up 141 penalty minutes, with many of those minutes coming by way of misconducts for chirping enthusiastically to the referees.
In return, Hudson led the Rivermen in assists with 26 on his way to a 39 point season, to go along with a team high 172 penalty minutes. IceGators fans should be familiar with Hudson's performance in the playoffs, as he put up 2 goals and an assist while hitting everything in a green sweater. The Lowdown
The IceGators needed to upgrade their defensive zone game, and they have landed the man to help out. A bruising two-way player, Hudson's arrival will give the IceGators a formidable center trio with Hauswirth and Boyer, allowing coach Omicioli the ability to roll three lines. He should be projected to anchor the top penalty killing unit, and should get most of the face-off work late in close games. An experienced player at the ECHL level with stints in Bakersfield, Alaska, and Colorado; Hudson may also be tapped for a leadership role in the locker room.
Alex Hudson's Career Stats |
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