En4cer45: June 2010

The Blue Jackets and Syracuse Crunch ended their 10 year affiliation this season; sending both clubs on a search for a new AHL affiliate. The Crunch settled on the Anaheim Ducks, while the Blue Jackets pulled a Columbus Clippers signing a 1 year affiliation (with an option) with the Springfield (MA) Falcons. Now what do I mean by pulling a Columbus Clippers? Well, anyone remember the 2 seasons the Clippers were affiliated with the Washington Nationals, just waiting for the Cleveland Indians affiliation with Buffalo to end. Who are the Jackets waiting on…well another Cleveland team of course. The Jackets are hoping to become affiliated with the Lake Erie Monsters once there affiliation ends with the Colorado Avalanche in 2 years.

But any way a quick affiliation/history lesson on the Falcons. This affiliation change is probably the best thing to happen to the Falcons in a long time. Springfield was the only AHL team last season to not win 30 games and missed the playoffs for the seventh straight season; the club has only made the playoffs once in the last 9 seasons. When the Falcons joined the AHL in 1994 they were affiliated with the last 2 NHL franchises to relocate, being affiliated with the Hartford Whalers until their move to Raleigh and the team remained affiliated with the Winnipeg Jets. The teams remained affiliated even after the Jets became the Phoenix Coyotes. The last 5 seasons the Falcons were affiliated with the Tampa Bay Lightning (05-07) and the Edmonton Oilers (07-10).

But I’m rambling and this isn’t the point/reason for this blog. The point of this blog is to get an idea of who’ll be on the Falcons this coming October. Now obviously any trades or free agent signings could change where players end up starting the season.

The Falcons figure to be a young team next season with 7 players making their professional debuts, 1 making his North American debut and 2 more will be playing in their first full professional seasons after playing in the AHL late last season. At center the Falcons have the 3 oldest players on the team. The two graybeards of the Falcons will be a pair of 29 year olds in Trevor Frischmon and Derek Mackenzie. Frischmon (75 GP 7-18-25) is coming off back to back 25 point seasons, more of a playmaker than a goal scorer with 38 of his 50 points being assists. Frischmon has played for a Blue Jackets affiliate since he came out of Colorado College in 2006, finally earning a contract before last season where he made his NHL debut. Now Derek Mackenzie is scheduled to become a UFA on July 1st but according to puck-rakers on June 10th he’s close to signing a new two-year two-way deal. Mackenzie (47 GP 17-30-47) was the captain of the Crunch last season and the team’s leading scorer despite playing in 30 less games than 2nd leading scorer Greg Moore. Last season also included Mackenzie reaching new highs in both games played and points in the NHL before a knee injury ended his season. 26 year old Greg Moore (78 GP 19-22-41) is a consistent scorer at the AHL level scoring at least 25 points every season of his career high including a 66 in 07-08, with 19 goals Moore just missed having his third consecutive 20 goal seasons.

Tomas Kana rocketed his way up the Blue Jackets depth chart last season. Playing in Alaska of the ECHL when the Jackets acquired him, pretty much as a throw in on a minor league deal from what I’ve read. He was then assigned to Syracuse and developed into a top six forward while also adding some grit to his game with the help of housemate/teammate Jon “Nasty” Mirasty in Syracuse. Kana finished with 28 points in 50 games while making his NHL debut, playing in the Blue Jacket’s last six games picking up his first two points in a game against Detroit. I think 10-11 is a make or break season for Maxim Mayorov, it’s the final season of his entry level deal. For those of you that don’t know Mayorov was the 4th best rated European prospect in the 2007 draft, but slipped to the 4th round due to the lack of a transfer agreement with Russia. Mayorov has back to back 30 point seasons while also getting into at least a few games with the Blue Jackets every year.

The biggest forward on the Falcons will be Tom Sestito at 6’5 who was plagued by injuries last season but still managed to score a career high with 10 goals. Sestito was a teammate of Jared Boll’s in Plymouth of the OHL where he scored 42 goals in his final season of junior. Sestito has spent more time in the penalty box then on the ice in the 4 NHL games he’s played in (24PIM, 21:17 TOI) picking up 17 penalty minutes in his NHL debut during the 2008 season. One lucky thing is that some Falcon’s fans won’t have to buy new jerseys since Tom’s older brother Tim played for the team from 2007 to 2009. Another family connection is Chad Kolarik whose brother Tyler was a 5th round pick of the Jackets in 2000. Kolarik who was picked up in a trade deadline deal ended up leading the Crunch in goal scoring with 26 also picking up 15 points in 17 games with the Crunch. The lone Crunch forward to not see time with the Jackets was Jordan LaVallee-Smotherman; the 6’3 Smotherman is a strong physical presence who seems to be good for 30 points every season. One site I checked seems to think his offense has regressed since potting 20 goals during the 07-08 season.

The Falcons could have 4 rookies at forward next season; those 4 are Matt Calvert, Tomas Kubalik, Kyle Neuber and Tyler Murovich. Now a lot of people this fan included believe Calvert will make the big club after an impressive training camp last season and at least according to the latest Dispatch chat he already has a fan in new coach Scott Arniel. Kubalik came over from the Czech Republic to play with Victoriaville of the QMJHL picking up 75 points in 58 games with the Tigres; he missed time this season while playing with the Czech National Team at the World Juniors Tournament picking up 9 points in 6 games. Now Neuber I’m not sure of, I haven’t heard anything about the Jackets signing him but he did play 1 game with the Crunch last season. Neuber drafted in 2009 draft is a potential enforcer for the Jackets, Neuber picked up 526 penalty minutes in 4 seasons in the OHL. Also I guess some OHL reporters say Neuber possesses “one of the most devastating uppercuts they have ever seen”. If that’s true I can’t wait to see it in Nationwide even if it is just in the preseason. Murovich at the moment is the only player I know that is exclusively signed to an AHL deal, Murovich is pretty much a point per game player picking up 52 points in 54 games with Saginaw and 6 points in 5 games with Syracuse last season.

Here's a video of Neuber from Canucks camp in 2008 (The Jackets drafted him as a 20 year old)

Other than Mackenzie the only other free agents at forward are Sestito, Kolarik and Smotherman. All are RFAs and according to a puck-rakers post in June Sestito and Kolarik will be qualified. There wasn’t a mention of Smotherman but since it was only his 1st season with the organization I’m guessing he’ll be qualified as well. One other restricted free agent is Mike Blunden. Now the team will probably sign him to a two-way contract, I think Mike will make the Jackets as a 3rd-4th liner.

Does everyone remember the old TV show called Growing Pains? Well that might be a good title to keep in mind when thinking about the Falcons defense. Of the 11 potential Falcon’s defenseman I came up with, 5 that could be making their pro debuts after college and junior careers and 3 that have played in 3 or less AHL seasons. Hopefully the Falcons can get more offense off the backend then the Crunch did last season with Nick Holden leading the returning D with 23 points. Of the 6 only 2 didn’t score 20 points and Jonathan Sigalet just missed scoring 19 points.

Jonathan Sigalet if he plays in Springfield he’ll be the team’s most experienced defenseman; this will be his 6th full AHL season after coming out of Bowling Green. Sigalet led the Crunch in +/- last season with a -2 (yeah it was that kind of a season for the Crunch). David Liffiton is the only other defenseman with the more than 3 years experience in the AHL. David Liffiton is far more physical player than Sigalet even though both had similar point totals last season. Liffiton’s 118 penalty minutes were 4th on the team second behind Sestito among the players mentioned in this blog. Liffiton and Sigalet will be the veteran leaders of the Falcon’s defense.

The only defenseman from the Crunch to wear a Blue Jacket’s jersey last season was Grant Clitsome (giggle quickly then move on). As a 9th round pick (just a heads up the NHL draft now has only 7 rounds) it’s probably amazing that he’s played in the NHL at all, let alone picking up multiple points in his NHL debut. He’s the 2nd lowest draft pick ever to play for the Jackets, Andej Nedorost selected 286th overall is the lowest (Clitsome was selected 271st). Clitsome is the team’s lone free agent on defense and after last season’s strong play he’ll definitely be qualified. Nick Holden was supposed to compete for the 7th defenseman spot on the Jackets until a summer bout with Mono ended that and possibly led to Clitsome making his debut. Holden is a big body with a scoring touch; he just hasn’t found it in the pros yet, Holden still holds the record for most points in a season by a defenseman for his junior team the Chilliwack Bruins. Holden and Clitsome will be competing again for the 7th defensive spot on the Jackets this preseason.

Fans of the Jacket’s Kris Russell will probably enjoy Brent Regner whenever he makes it to the NHL. While Regner is a little bigger than Russell both had comparable numbers during their final 2 years in junior, both having 47 points their 3rd year and at least 67 points their final year. Regner seemed to be more of a playmaker in the WHL than Russell with him having 52 assists and picking up 67 points his final year of juniors, while Russell scored 32 goals in his final season before turning pro (hey Kris anytime you want to do that in the NHL that would be great). Now I know these guys were probably playing 25+ minutes in the WHL, so I can only go off the stats I have so take these numbers as you would. I’m expecting a big season from Regner, the only reason I can say this is because Brent added at least 30 points every season in junior including a whopping 41 from his first full season to his second WHL season (6-47-67). The only other defenseman leftover from last season’s Crunch is Michael Ratchuk. Ratchuk was picked up in the trade for Stefan Legien, so far one of the few trades by Scott Howson that I’m not a fan of. I’m going to be honest I haven’t read many positive comments about Ratchuk, from puck-rakers saying he was awful after being picked up to another site saying he was a -8 through 4 games. That’s probably why the Dispatch said he could be switched to forward next season.

Everyone remember when I brought up growing pains earlier, well these are who I was talking about, the group of 5 rookie defenseman making their professional debuts this season. When the AHL season starts October 8th this group will be made up of 2 19 year olds, 2 20 year olds and the old man of the group 21 year old Theo Ruth. The Hockey News’s future watch issue 4 of the Blue Jacket’s top 10 prospects are among these rookies.

The only rookie defenseman believed to have a shot at making the Blue Jackets out of training camp is 2009 1st round pick John Moore. Moore played with the Kitchener Rangers of the OHL last season picking up 47 points in 61 games including 3 in his OHL debut (2-1-3). Moore continued to impress during the OHL playoffs picking up 16 points in 20 games despite his team pulling a Boston Bruins in the OHL’s Western Conference Finals blowing a 3-0 lead to eventual Memorial Cup Champ Windsor. Now a lot of people think Moore will make the Jackets out of training camp, I’m on the fence; it’s not a negative thing I’m thinking long term. OK say he makes the team is he really better than any of the top six we have right now? (Commodore bashers put your hands down!) That means he makes it as a 7th defenseman where he’ll spend most of the time in the press box or playing 3rd pair minutes when he does play. So I say send him to Springfield where he’ll probably play in all situations and develop properly. Sorry about that went on a bit of a tirade; let me put my soap box away and ill move on.

David Savard led all Blue Jackets and QMJHL defensemen in scoring with 77 points in 64 games (13-64-77). Savard won the 2 awards a defenseman can win in the QMJHL while also being named a first team all star and helping Moncton make it to the Memorial cup. The Awards Savard won were the Emile Bouchard Trophy given to the league’s top defenseman and the Kevin Lowe Trophy as the league’s best defensive defenseman. Now you’d think winning the best defensive defenseman award would mean something in any league. Especially since the Q shoots out a superstar forward about every season, winning the award hasn’t led to NHL success only one winner is a NHL player. Now I found this quote describing Savard’s game very interesting “His +32 rating also attests to his outstanding defensive ability. He has a tremendous ability to read and react in his own zone, is hardly caught out of position and is great at clearing the puck when needed, all while exhibiting superb offensive instincts.” Thanks Hockeysfuture.com for the quote. Savard is another player that did what Regner did going from 12 his rookie year to 44 to 77 his 3rd and final season in juniors.

Steven Delisle probably has gotten the least press of these rookie defenseman. Delisle is one of the Jacket’s biggest prospects at 6’6 but he uses his size more for positioning than punishing opponents, one site seems to think it’d be a good idea teaming him up with a offensive defenseman (kind of like the Jurcina-Russell combo from last season) . Delisle was the captain of Gatineau before being traded to Rouyn-Noranda. Delisle appeared to be good for about 30 points while playing in junior. THEO! Hmm I don’t like it sorry Teddy you’ll never replace Mr. Welsh in Nationwide’s heart. Theo Ruth or as he’s probably mostly known as the player we got for Sergei Fedorov is leaving Notre Dame a year early to begin his professional career. Ruth is a stay at home shut down type defenseman that will never be known for lighting up the scoreboard picking up only 17 points during his college career. Cody Goloubef was a member of a Wisconsin defensive corps in which almost every member was either a 1st or 2nd round draft pick except the two that haven’t been drafted yet. I got to see Goloubef play at the Frozen Four last season but it was hard to get a read on him with both games being blowouts one for the Badgers and the other they were on the receiving end of. Of the two players coming out of college Goloubef is far more offensive picking up 37 points in 118 career games. So I’ve talked about 11 defensemen who’ll be competing for 7 or 8 spots in Springfield, meaning unlike last season the Gwinnett Gladiators will actually have a few Blue Jackets prospects on the team. We all these young guys I think it will make any camp these guys are in very interesting starting with CBJ Development Camp in late June.

The Crunch’s two main goaltenders were Dan LaCosta and Kevin Lalande, both are restricted free agents and from everything I’ve read it’s the end of the road for Mr. LaCosta. LaCosta posted a record of 7-15-1 with one shutout in 26 games. The 7 wins were his lowest total since winning just 5 in a season when he split time in both the AHL and ECHL. Kevin Lalande has gone 34-29-3 with 3 shutouts since being picked up at the 2009 trade deadline, with him just barely staying over .500 last season going 25-24-2 in 55 games played, a career high. Lalande is the smallest goaltender the Blue Jackets have at 5’11. Now for the rookie, Gustaf Wesslau (pronounced VESS-lauw) will be making his North American debut this season. For those you that might not know international hockey is played on a rink 15 feet wider than North American hockey, so that could lead to some adjustments in the early parts but that’s probably why he’s coming over for development camp. Wesslau finished second in the Swedish Elite League with a .917 save percentage and 3rd with a 2.29 GAA. In helping his team Djurgarden reach the league finals he finished with a 1.80 GAA and a save percentage of .940.

Here's a video of Wesslau

So there you have it folks who I think will start the AHL season in Springfield with a few extras. Barring any trades the 12 forwards I named should be there. Now of the 11 defenseman I named I think Ruth, Goloubef and Delisle will be the 3 down in Gwinnett. The reason I think that is two of them are coming out of college hockey and Delisle being that big could still use some more seasoning.

En4cer45

Monday, June 21, 2010

Who would you have drafted (2003 Edition)

Update on your 2010-11 Springfield Falcons

Friday, June 18, 2010

Your 2010-11 Springfield Falcons

Saturday, June 5, 2010

Who would you have drafted (2001 Edition)

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