By Al Alven
Covering the Hershey Bears, Norfolk Admirals, Philadelphia Phantoms and Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins…
With 13 days to go until the start of the 66th season of AHL hockey, things are beginning to take shape. This past week, in the Southern Division alone, a number of developments went down. From rookie/prospect games to Mario Lemieux demoting himself to the minors (huh?), it’s been an interesting week.
Let’s take a closer look…
“Minor” Mario?
O.K., so that thing about Lemieux sending himself to the minors was a little misleading. Still, it’s something I never thought I’d be typing. “Lemieux” and “minors” just do not belong in the same sentence. Anyway, for those who haven’t heard, Mario Lemieux will be playing for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in an exhibition game against the Pittsburgh Penguins on Saturday night at the First Union Arena in Wilkes-Barre, PA.
Lemieux will wear three different jerseys (one for each period), each of which will be auctioned off after the game. Proceeds will be donated to various charitable causes, including the Twin Towers Fund.
You may recall Wayne Gretzky doing a similar thing a few years back. During his time with the Los Angeles Kings, the “Great One” suited up for the IHL’s Phoenix Roadrunners in an exhibition game versus L.A.
For the record, Lemieux has never appeared in a minor league game. He jumped straight from the junior ranks (QMJHL) to the NHL after being selected with the first overall pick of the 1984 Entry Draft.
Rookie/Prospect Games
On the ice, the highlight of the week was the pair of rookie/prospect games played between members of the Colorado Avalanche and Pittsburgh Penguins organizations. The contests were held on Monday (Sept. 17) in Hershey and Tuesday (Sept. 18) in Wilkes-Barre.
The Avalanche took a 4-3 victory in the first contest, thanks to the late game heroics of Mikhail Kuleshov. The 20-year-old Russian left winger deked around two defenders before scoring the game-winner with just 1:38 left in regulation. Darryl Bootland (the younger brother of former Bear Nick Bootland), Evgeny Lazarev and Jaroslav Obsut scored the other three goals for the Avs. Shane Endicott (two goals) and Colby Armstrong appeared on the scoresheet for the Pens.
In addition to the seven goals scored, the game featured a total of six fights and 110 penalty minutes. In all, 17 powerplay opportunities were awarded. The Avalanche went 3-for-8 with the man advantage. The Penguins went 2-for-9.
Aaron Molnar stopped 12 of 13 shots for the Avs. He was relieved midway into the second period by Chris Madden, who earned the win by stopping 11 of 13 shots. Petr Hamerlik turned aside 29 of Colorado’s 33 shots.
The Pens returned the favor the following night, handing the Avs a 3-2 overtime loss. With just 4.9 seconds left in the extra session, Alexandre Mathieu put the rebound of a Mark Moore shot past goaltender Molar to seal the victory for Pittsburgh.
Moore (the older brother of Avalanche center Steve Moore) and Martin Sonnenberg also scored for the Pens. Brian Willsie and Aaron Miskovich tallied for the Avs.
Goaltender Peter Budaj played the first two periods for the Avs, stopping 23 of 25 shots against. Molnar recorded 14 saves on 15 shots in the third period. For the Pens, Sebastien Caron was excellent. He played the entire game, stopping 40 of 42 shots.
From Hershey to Denver… and back?
Eight players from the Hershey portion of the Colorado Avalanche training camp were summoned to the team’s primary camp on Wednesday (Sept. 19). Forwards Kelly Fairchild, Mikhail Kuleshov, Evgeny Lazarev, Moore, Radim Vrbata, Brian Willsie and defensemen Jaroslav Obsut and Jeff Paul all received the call to join the big club in Denver.
Of this group, Kuleshov, Moore and Vrbata stand out as the best longterm prospects. Fairchild, a veteran minor leaguer, scored five goals in three scrimmages before the rookie/prospect games. Regardless, all eight of the call-ups are expected to be returned to Hershey before the start of the season.
Each of the recalled players should get plenty of opportunities to at least make an impression in Denver. Colorado plays six preseason games before the team opens the regular season on October 3 at Pittsburgh.
Fourteen other players will remain in Hershey, including forwards Darryl Bootland, Aaron Miskovich and Charlie Stephens (all of whom are still without contracts). The Bears officially open their training camp on Monday at Hersheypark Arena.
Admirals Setting Sail
In preparation for their training camp (which opens on Saturday), the Norfolk Admirals have signed a number of players to AHL standard player contracts over the past several weeks.
The team signed defenseman Jonathan Aiken and forward Shawn Thornton on Sept. 6, then inked defensemen Jeff Helperl and Chris Bogas, and forwards Olivier Morin and David Thibeault on Tuesday (Sept. 18).
Also on Tuesday, sixteen players officially accepted invitations to attend the team’s training camp. The invitees are: forwards Brad Both, Bret DeCecco, Ryan Dolder, Rick Kowalsky, Troy Lake, Quintin Laing, Nick Lent, Jason Stewart, Chris Pittman, Bobby Russell, Mark Scott and Kelly Smart, defensemen Mike Josefowicz, Jaroslav Kerestes and Dion Lassu, and goaltender Tyler MacKay.
On Wednesday (Sept. 19), four more players were added to the training camp mix when the parent Chicago Blackhawks assigned forwards Tyler Arnason and Matt Henderson, and defensemen Kent Huskins and Arved Rekis to Norfolk.
Today, center Syl Apps III accepted an invitation from the Admirals to attend training camp as well. This addition brings Norfolk’s camp roster to 30 players.
Apps is grandson the great Syl Apps, a Hockey Hall of Famer who led the Toronto Maple Leafs to three Stanley Cup Championships in the 1940s. His father, Syl Apps II, was a member of the 1969-70 Calder Cup Champions Buffalo Bisons.
In other Admirals news, the team recently announced that the proceeds from the Sept. 28 exhibition “Blue and White” game will be donated to the United Way Attack on America Relief Fund.
What’s up in Philly?
The Philadelphia Phantoms opened their exhibition schedule with a 5-1 win over the Albany River Rats on Thrusday night (Sept. 20) at Continental Airlines Arena in East Rutherford, NJ. Rookie J.F. Caudron scored twice for the Phantoms and Maxime Ouellet stopped 18 of 19 shots in 60 minutes of play.
Guillaume Lefebvre, Mark Freer and Patrick Leahy also scored for Philadelphia. Sylvain Cloutier notched Albany’s lone goal.
Ouellet, primed for his first full season at the pro level, outplayed the New Jersey Devils’ top goaltending prospect Ari Ahonen (who played the first two periods). As a member of Team Finland, Ahonen defeated Ouellet and Team Canada in the semifinals of last year’s World Junior Championships.
Brendl making his case
Of the nineteen players listed on the Flyers roster for tonight’s (Friday, Sept. 21) preseason game vs. the New York Islanders, eight are expected to play primarily with the Phantoms this season. These players are: forwards Mark Greig, Mark Freer, Petr Hubacek, Guillaume Lefebvre and Marty Murray, defensemen Joe DiPenta and John Slaney, and goaltender Neil Little.
Pavel Brendl will make his second appearance of the preseason tonight as well. Although many have him pegged to start the season with the Phantoms, he is making a strong case for himself to earn a roster spot with the Flyers.
The knock on Brendl, the wildcard in the Eric Lindros deal, has always been his perceived lack of conditioning, commitment and motivation. In New York, the Rangers became convinced that Brendl was a headcase and were more than happy to ship him to Philadelphia, along with Kim Johnsson and Jan Hlavac.
However, Brendl arrived in training camp this season in excellent condition. He looked sharp in early practices and scrimmages, then put on a show in the Flyers’ first exhibition game, a 6-1 win at Washington. Brendl had two powerplay goals and an assist in that contest and, at many times during the game, was clearly the best player on the ice.
Obviously, we’re only talking about one game here. Still, Brendl has shown an instant chemistry with linemates Jeremy Roenick and John LeClair. As it is now, Rick Tocchet has been penciled in as the right winger on that line.
If Brendl is indeed sent to the Phantoms, it won’t be until near the end of the preseason. The Flyers want to give him every opportunity to show them what he can do. So far, he seems intent on complying with their wishes.
Other probable Phantoms looking good in early preseason action with the Flyers include forwards Hubacek, Murray, Jesse Boulerice, Tomas Divisek and Vaclav Pletka, and defensemen DiPenta, Francis Lessard and Bruno St. Jacques.
Scrimmage set for this Wednesday
The Phantoms recently announced that the team will hold an intrasquad scrimmage at the new Polonia Bank Flyers Skate Zone in Northeast Philadelphia on Wednesday, Sept 26. The game will feature Phantoms players broken into “white” and “black” squads. The opening faceoff is scheduled for 7 p.m.
Preseason schedule announced
On Wednesday (Sept. 19), the American Hockey League announced its preseason exhibition schedule for the coming two weeks. The following is a listing of games involving Southern Division teams…
Saturday, Sept. 22 Albany @ Philadelphia (First Union Center, 11 a.m.)
Tuesday, Sept. 25 Syracuse @ WBS (First Union Arena, 7 p.m.)
Thursday, Sept. 27 WBS @ Syracuse (War Memorial at Oncenter, 7 p.m.)
Friday, Sept. 28 Hershey @ WBS (First Union Arena, 7 p.m.)
Saturday, Sept. 29 Wilkes-Barre @ Hershey (Hersheypark Arena, 7 p.m.) Norfolk @ Philly (Flyers Skate Zone at Voorhees, NJ, 7 p.m.)
Sunday, Sept. 30 Philly @ Hershey (Hersheypark Arena, 6 p.m.)
That’s all for now. See you next week…
(I would like to take this opportunity to dedicate this and the rest of my written work this season to the memory of those who lost their lives during the tragic events of September 11, 2001, as well as to all of those who suffer from the evils of terrorism around the world. Please, keep hope alive… always.)
