Tuesday, June 30, 2015

2015 Draft


Round 1 (1st) - Connor McDavid C
Round 4 (117th) - Caleb Jones D
Round 5 (124th) - Ethan Bear D
Round 6 (154th) - John Marino D
Round 7 (208th) - Miroslav Svoboda G
Round 7 (209th) - Ziyat Paigin D


Round 1 (27) Jacob Larsson D
Round 2 (59) Julius Nattinen C
Round 3 (80) Brent Gates, Jr C
Round 3 (84) Deven Sideroff RW
Round 5 (148) Troy Terry RW/C
Round 6 (178) Steven Ruggiero D
Round 6 (179) Garrett Metcalf G


Round 2 (53) Rasmus Andersson D
Round 2 (60) Oliver Kylington D
Round 5 (136) Pavel Karnaukhov LW
Round 6 (166) Andrew Mangiapane LW
Round 7 (106) Riley Bruce D


Round 1 (10) Mikko Rantanen RW
Round 2 (39) Anthony-John (AJ) Greer LW
Round 2 (40) Nicolas Meloche D
Round 3 (71) Jean-Christophe Beaudin C
Round 4 (101) Andrei Mironov D
Round 6 (161) Sergei Boikov D
Round 7 (191) Gustav Olhaver C


Round 1 (12) Denis Gurianov RW
Round 2 (49) Roope Hintz LW
Round 4 (103) Chris Martenet D
Round 5 (133) Joseph Cecconi D
Round 6 Markus Ruusu G


ROUND 2 (43RD) Erik Cernak D
ROUND 3 (74th) Alexander Dergachyov C
ROUND 4 (99th) Austin Wagner LW
Round 5 (134th) Matt Schmalz RW
Round 7 (187) Chaz Reddekopp D
Round 7 (194) Matt Roy LW


Round 1 (9) Timo Meier RW
Round 2 (31) Jeremy Roy D
Round 3 (86) Mike Robinson G
Round 4 (106) Adam Helewka LW
Round 5 (130) Karlis Cukste D
Round 5 (142) Rudolfs Balcers LW
Round 6 (160) Adam Parsells D
Round 7 (190) Marcus Vela C
Round 7 (193) John Kupsky G

Wednesday, June 24, 2015

Players signed as of June 24, 2015





The Bakersfield Condors, owned by the Edmonton Oilers, announced today that the team has signed D Nick Pageau to an American Hockey League (AHL) contract. Pageau spent the last two seasons in Bakersfield under ECHL contract to the Condors.
More   
  
 
 
 
The Stockton Heat, proudly owned by the NHL’s Calgary Flames, announce the first signing in team history as Louick Marcotte (Lew-ick Mar-cot), a forward out of the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League (QMJHL)
 
 
Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has signed defenseman Patrik Nemeth to a two-year contract extension and goaltender Jack Campbell to a one-year contract extension. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
 
Dallas Stars General Manager Jim Nill announced today that the club has signed Jyrki Jokipakka to a two-year contract extension. Per club policy, terms of the deal were not disclosed.
 
 
 
 

Monday, June 22, 2015

Sommer to serve as Barracuda head coach

June 19, 2015
 
The San Jose Barracuda officially announced today that Oakland native Roy Sommer will serve as the head coach for the Barracuda for the 2015-16 season, marking Sommer's 18th season as head coach of San Jose's American Hockey League development affiliate.

The team also announced that assistant coach Ryan Mougenel will also return for the 2015-16 season.

More

Sunday, June 21, 2015

Will the Calder Cup stay in Manchester?



     It is official.  The Manchester Monarchs ended their 14-year tenure in the American Hockey League by capturing the Calder Cup championship on Saturday night with a 2-1 win over the Utica Comets.

     The Monarchs took the series, four games to one, to complete a memorable final season in Manchester. The Los Angeles Kings’ top affiliate will play in Ontario, Calif., beginning in the fall.
     Executive vice president Matt Welch said the accomplishment of the Monarchs would stay with the city. “That’s New Hampshire and Manchester’s cup,” said Welch. “That was won here. The banner is going to be here. That’s ours and then hopefully the year after that, we raise a (ECHL) Kelly Cup.
     With that being said the Calder Cup will not belong to any team playing in the AHL.
     Most of the players on the Monarchs will be playing for Ontario next year. So technically they will be defending the AHL championship.

Tuesday, May 12, 2015

Division alignment announced


     The AHL has announced the new division alignment for the 2015/16 season. The new Pacific division will also include the San Antonio Rampage, and the Texas Stars.

     The interesting part of this new alignment is the addition of the San Antonio Rampage. The Rampage just signed a five-year affiliation agreement with the Colorado Avalanche. Colorado was one of the eight teams mentioned that could be making the move west.

     The addition of the Texas Stars was defiantly a surprise. However it does make since with the addition of San Antonio. It also may have put an end to any rumors about the Pacific Division breaking off from the AHL, and the possibility of the teams playing a shorter schedule.

 Let’s see how this plays out after the schedules come out.   
 

 
 

For all you baseball fans I also have a blog about the Beat the streak fantasy game I am playing on MLB. http://beatthestreaktalk.blogspot.com/

Tuesday, April 28, 2015

We are the Champions of another league


     I was checking the playoffs for the AHL and the ECHL, and I saw that the Ontario Reign is playing against the Colorado Eagles. I started thinking, what happens if the Reign win the Kelly Cup for the ECHL? How funny would that be? Then I started looking at the AHL and the Manchester Monarchs are the playoffs for the Calder Cup. That would be even funnier. I also saw that the Worchester Sharks are in the playoffs. This is getting even better.

     We all know how that would work out if one of those teams won the Calder Cup. I started thinking of something funny. The Monarchs win the Calder Cup, but have to give it Ontario because they are the new AHL team for the Los Angeles Kings. The same for the Sharks.

     Add to that the Oklahoma City Barons who won’t belong to any league next year. What if they win the Calder Cup? What would they do with it?

     I began to wonder has this ever happened before, were a team won the championship and moved into a different league or folded all together.

     During the challenge cup era for the Stanley Cup many teams changed leagues. The Montreal Victorias of the Amateur Hockey Association of Canada won the cup in 1898. The next year they won it again while in the Canadian Amateur Hockey League. The Ottawa Senators did the same in 1903 moving from the CAHL to an independent team and again in 1904 moving to the Federal Amateur Hockey League.
I checked other sports and could not find any reference to a team winning a championship and then moving to a different league or folding all together. If anyone knows of this happening I would love to hear from you. Leave a message in the comments for all to see.

Sunday, April 26, 2015

Welcome to the AHL Pacific Division blog



     I would like to welcome you to the AHL Pacific Division Blog. As you already know the AHL approved the relocation of five teams moving to the new Pacific Division starting in the 2015/16 season. They are as follows:
  •  The Anaheim Ducks purchase the Norfolk Admirals AHL franchise and will relocate them from Norfolk, Va., to San Diego, Calif. 
  •  The AHL franchise owned by the Calgary Flames will relocate from Glens Falls, N.Y., to Stockton, Calif.
  • The AHL franchise owned by the Edmonton Oilers will relocate from Oklahoma City, Okla., to Bakersfield, Calif. 
  •  The AHL franchise owned by the Los Angeles Kings will relocate from Manchester, N.H., to Ontario, Calif. 
  •  The AHL franchise owned by the San Jose Sharks will relocate from Worcester, Mass., to San Jose, Calif.
     I was born and raised in San Diego and have always been a fan of hockey, the Gulls, and the Mariners of the WHL. I never had the chance to go to any of the games, and the only NHL game I have ever been to, were the Hartford Whalers. In our house we were huge baseball fans, and playing hockey in San Diego meant having to get up at 4 am and having to give up playing baseball. My parents could not afford both, so I chose baseball. 

     In the early 80’s I joined the United States Air Force, and was stationed in Germany for six years, then as a civilian contractor in Greece for two years. When the base closed in Greece I relocated to Las Vegas Nevada. It was in Las Vegas that I started going to hockey games. For the last four years I had season tickets to the Las Vegas Wranglers of the ECHL. I made a lot of friends at the game, and introduced a lot of coworkers to the game. It was such a great time, and the price was outstanding. I even became friends with a couple of the players. 

     The Las Vegas Wranglers are gone due to not being able to find a new home. There has been different reasons as to why, but I feel the biggest one is the talk about the NHL possibly adding a team here. I have been very depressed about no hockey this year, and when the news came out in January about the AHL locating, five teams in California, life started getting better. I watched the Bakersfield Condors, Ontario Reign, and the Stockton Thunder, now the Stockton Heat, play the Wranglers many times. Seeing this is like watching your children starting college. It is not the NHL, but it will be fun, and with a team in San Diego, I will be heading home for some games.

     This blog will be about the new Pacific Division. With it, I hope to share my love for this great game, and to hear from others, who also love hockey. I plan to visit each team’s venue, and hope to bring some behind the scene photos and videos from each visit. I hope to see you at the games, so we can talk, have a good time, and share a beer together.

Go Gulls, Go AHL Pacific Division.