STEELHEADS BLOG

The website HockeysFuture.com has been rolling out prospect rankings for each of the NHL teams and it was Dallas's turn under the microscope late last week.

Seems the folks at Hockey's Future don't think all that highly of Idaho's role in developing future Stars, as only four players who have ever worn a Steelheads sweater made the list of twenty. One of those four, Tyler Beskorowany, has yet to play in a game for the team, dressing as a backup goaltender in the first round of the playoffs this past spring.

Here are the four: Richard Bachman (8th), Beskorowany (12th), Sergei Korostin (17th), and Aaron Gagnon (19th).

There are a handful listed in the "Other Notables" column, such as Michael Neal, Mathieu Tousignant, Luke Gazdic, and Guillaume Monast. In fact, now that I look at it, that's it. Those are the four.

Couple thoughts real quick -

1) Bachman actually moved down two spots in this year's list. Seems hard to fathom, seeing as how he was arguably the best goaltender in the ECHL last season and was playing absolutely out of this world in the playoffs before being recalled to ride the pine in the AHL. His size (5-foot-10) seems to be his biggest enemy, despite his production at every level he's ever played at. The two prospects who jumped him? First-round draft pick Jack Campbell (a goaltender) and 19-year-old right wing Tomas Vincour.

2) Aaron Gagnon made the list? It seems odd to think, since he was with the Steelheads back in 2007-2008, that Aaron Gagnon is still just 24 years old. He made his NHL debut last season and had a wonderful season for Texas of the AHL, leading the club in goals (27) and points (58). There are some who think he's got a shot to make Dallas's opening-night roster as a fourth-line grinder.

The next question is probably, "which of these players might play in Idaho this coming season?" We probably won't know until mid-September at the earliest (when Texas opens AHL training camp) but, logically, you'd think Beskorowany would be sent here to follow in the footsteps of Bachman and Matt Climie in net for the Steelheads. In fact, both he and the Stars organization seem to be anticipating it.

Beyond that, the crystal ball is really foggy. Perhaps Sean Backman, signed by Dallas late in the spring out of Yale? I also think it's entirely possible we haven't seen the last of Michael Neal or Guillaume Monast here in Boise.

We'll see. Training camp is a little over a month away and new head coach Hardy Sauter is filling roster spots.

Something to keep in mind, though: two of Idaho's top players last season - Tyler Spurgeon and Mark McCutcheon - fell into the Steelheads' lap very late in the game as final AHL cuts were made. So, when you look at the high quality of players Sauter has already signed and consider that we'll be getting some players assigned by our affiliates in Dallas (NHL) and Texas (AHL), it figures to be another highly-competitive training camp.

Stay tuned ... opening night is October 15 here at Qwest Arena against the Victoria Salmon Kings!

Labels: Alumni Update, General

I guess it's the price you pay for playing hockey deep into May ... I woke up this morning and thought, "only about six weeks left until training camp opens up."

Training camp? Already? Feels like the season just ended.

I suppose that's a good thing - I love the games, the competition, but I also love summer and I'm not ready for it to be over yet. However, I hear the calendar isn't going to stop because I want it to so I guess we move on.

If you haven't been keeping up this summer, here's a recap of what has happened around here: One coach left for the Western Hockey League, another one came in from the WHL. An affiliation was renewed, the team re-signed an all-star and a local favorite, and I went to Seattle to see my beloved Mariners play (and, get this ... they won).

Not a boring summer by any stretch of the imagination.

In all, new head coach Hardy Sauter has signed eight players (click here to keep a running tab of who has put their name on the dotted line) thusfar with more in the works. You may notice a trend among the eight signed thusfar - they have all worn a Steelheads sweater before.

Yes, you do have varying degrees of experience. For instance, Matt McKnight is going into his third season with Idaho, while Dustin Molle played two games for the team late last season. It's part of a plan, however, for Sauter. He's no dummy. He knows what the Steelheads accomplished last season. And he knows it'd be foolish to walk in here and say he doesn't want any of those players back.

Sauter won't get everyone back. Evan Barlow is in Finland, Brett Blatchford signed with Toledo, Steve Oleksy signed with a team in the International Hockey League. And there will be others who don't come back. But he has already brought back a core of players from last season's team ... there will likely be at least a couple more, too ... to show the new players how to win at this level.

You can click here to hear Doug Plagens talk to Coach Sauter about the whirlwind as he prepares for his first season as Idaho's head coach.

Other teams have been busy signing players as well. One big name has moved, but stayed in Idaho's division as Wes Goldie left the Victoria Salmon Kings and joined the Alaska Aces. Victoria didn't wait long to replace Goldie, snagging a pretty good centerman to play for the S-Kings.

Meanwhile, Bakersfield signed a veteran goaltender to go with a young forward and defenseman. Can't tell you much about the goaltender or the defenseman but the forward, Adam Naglich, is a solid player. He had two assists in five games for the Condors against Idaho last season. The Ontario Reign - the only team in the conference to miss the playoffs last season - has brought back two of its more productive players last season in forwards Jon Francisco and Tim Kraus. Kraus finished second on the team in scoring (53 points) as a rookie last season.

Stay tuned to IdahoSteelheads.com for the latest on player movement and get ready ... the October 15 opener against Victoria is barely two months away.

Labels: Alumni Update, Around the League, Media Coverage, Player Movement

No new coach. Yet. So it sorta derails this blog before we really get going, but we'll give it the ole sporting try anyway.

We're halfway through July and players are beginning to sign around the ECHL. Idaho has made its qualifying offers to eight players from last season's Kelly Cup finals squad.

So what could Idaho's team look like next year? Too early to tell, but keep in mind that this is a team that hasn't won fewer than 40 games since joining the ECHL for the 2003-2004 season.

Idaho's NHL affiliate, the Dallas Stars, announced on Friday that they had signed four players to two-way contracts (meaning the player gets a different salary depending on which roster - the NHL team or its AHL affiliate - he is on) and three of them are defensemen. Couple that with the earlier announcement that former Steelhead Matt Stephenson had signed an AHL contract with the Texas Stars and you start to see a crowded blue line in Texas.

Mike Heika of the Dallas Morning News breaks it down further in his blog and he mentions a name near the end that deserves a little discussion - Guillaume Monast. Heika (who is the team's beat writer and offering insight, not saying "this is how it's going to be") suggests the numbers crunch could punch Monast's ticket back to Boise for another season in the ECHL.

The 22-year-old defenseman from Quebec has one year remaining on a two-year contract with the NHL parent club in Dallas. Given the fact that Texas already has one defenseman under contract (Stephenson) and potentially four others on two-way contracts, is there room for Monast in Texas?

Let's look at the resume for a moment. He came to the organization from the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League with a reputation for scoring. With some of the other defensemen in Idaho, he didn't get much power-play time ... so the point total numbers never materialized. He didn't net his first goal until the playoffs (1 G, 4 A in 13 postseason games) and only had six assists in 68 regular-season games.

But while the point totals don't jump off the page, another number does: "Nasty," as his teammates called him, was a staggering plus-30 in the plus/minus rating during the regular season. As in, Idaho scored 30 more goals than they allowed when he was on the ice during even-strength situations (goals surrendered on the power play don't count against a player's plus/minus). It carried over in the playoffs, where he was plus-15 in Idaho's run to the Kelly Cup Finals.

Do the math with me - 81 games when it was all said and done ... and, in those, Monast was plus-45. Plus-freaking-45.

I've heard the arguments that plus/minus can be a bit of an overrated statistic but, for a defenseman, there's not much else to hang your hat on. You're just not going to get the goals and assists that a forward does without about five times as much icetime and a whole lotta power plays. That leaves plus/minus and a team's goals-against average to help statistically quantify a defenseman's performance.

Do I need to mention it again? Plus-45.

And, as for the other statistic I mentioned (Idaho's goals-against average as a team) - 2.65, which comfortably the best in the ECHL during the 2009-2010 season. No other ECHL squad gave up fewer than 200 goals ... and Idaho held its opponents to 191.

Is Monast a finished product? No. You'd like to see a bit more consistency in his game, perhaps a little more physicality (though he did demonstrate a willingness to drop the gloves if necessary). And you'd like to see him become more of a factor in the offensive zone.

But, keeping in mind that he's on an NHL contract, isn't it in Dallas' best interest to see what it has? Not that they're sinking millions of dollars into Guillaume, but they do have a vested financial interest in him. Simply shuttling him back down to Boise and letting him play out his contract - remember, he didn't get so much as a token callup to the AHL last season, either - doesn't strike me as the most prudent thing I've ever heard.

Of course, like Heika, I'm speculating and theorizing. Perhaps the Stars organization has every intention of putting Guillaume in a Texas jersey this season. However, it looks like the possibility exists that he could be back in Idaho.

Stay tuned ...

Labels: Alumni Update, General, Media Coverage

When former head coach Derek Laxdal announced he was leaving the Idaho Steelheads to take a job with the Edmonton Oil Kings of the Western Hockey League, we heard a lot of questions, asking why the reigning ECHL Coach of the Year would leave his post to take a job in major-junior hockey.

Why he would leave the professional ranks to coach teenagers. It must, many reasoned, be a step backwards for him professionally.

Here's some perspective, courtesy of the Dallas Morning News, on why it is not a step backwards for him at all.

(For those who don't have time to read the link, the NHL's Dallas Stars have added Willie Desjardins to their coaching staff. Desjardins spent last season ... you guessed it ... coaching in the Western Hockey League.)

Just some food for thought. In Edmonton, Laxdal will be sharing a facility with the NHL's Edmonton Oilers. His office is literally next door to the head coach of the Oilers. If he does well, it won't take very long for him to get noticed by people at the highest level of professional hockey.

Anyway ... moving on. The Steelheads continue to prune the tree of coaching candidates to replace Laxdal. We're hoping to have some news to report to you on that front very soon.

Meanwhile, more players who starred in the ECHL last season are headed overseas for their next paycheck (don't be alarmed, this isn't uncommon at all), including former Steelheads goaltender Frank Doyle. Doyle, who still holds the team record for best goals-against average in a season (2.16 in 2004-2005), signed with Italy's HC Fassa after almost single-handedly reviving the reeling Alaska Aces last winter. After a series of brilliant starts, Doyle was called up to the American Hockey League from Alaska and the Aces proceed to slide back down the hill, getting KO'd quickly from the ECHL playoffs by Stockton.

Forward Tyson Marsh, also most-recently of the Alaska Aces, will be joining Doyle in Italy, albeit for a different team, HC Alleghe.

Another player venturing elsewhere is point-a-game forward TJ Fox. Fox scored 60 points in 64 games for the Wheeling Nailers this past season and also has two seasons of AHL experience under his belt. Fox, a college teammate of Steelheads defenseman Brendan Milnamow, has signed with a team in Germany. Utah's James Sixsmith - arguably the Grizzlies' best player last season - has also reportedly signed with a team in Germany.

Defenseman Cleve Kinley (Stockton, 2008-2009) is headed to Norway. Aaron Brocklehurst (Victoria, 2008-2009), a college teammate of John Swanson and former 'Heads Michael Olson and Matt Stephenson, is headed to France.

Have you purchased your ticket plan for this coming season? Opening night is October 15 and full-season plans start at just $275 per seat. Contact me (whoenike@idahosteelheads.com) for more information.

Labels: Alumni Update, Media Coverage, Player Movement

Trying to get your fill of hockey information as the offseason wears on? Well, myself and Doug Plagens (perhaps I should refer to him with more reverence after he was named the ECHL Broadcaster of the Year) will do our best to keep you up to date on what's going on, especially things that are connected to the Idaho Steelheads.

You can check out Doug's latest blog here about the latest Hockey Hall of Fame inductions. No Steelheads on the list, but he does mention Adam Oates ... who shares a last name with former Steelhead Matt Oates (they're not related), so we'll call that your Steelhead connection on that one.

So, without further adieu, here are a few other tidbits:

First, Mike Heika from the Dallas Morning News wonders aloud what would happen if Stars forward James Neal, a restricted free agent, were to sign an offer sheet with another team. The Stars, as you know, are Idaho's NHL affiliate and his younger brother, Michael Neal, played for the Steelheads last season.

While we're talking NHL free agency, let's mention former 'Head Dan Ellis. The 2004 ECHL Kelly Cup Playoffs MVP will become an unrestricted free agent on July 1. Since Ellis arrived in Nashville, he has seemed to perpetually knock on stardom's door but, for one reason or another, it hasn't quite happened yet. He nearly led the eighth-seeded Predators to a first-round playoff upset over Detroit a couple years ago and now he's basically been relegated to backup duties behind Pekka Rinne for the Preds. He thinks he can be a number one goaltender so he'll look around, but Nashville seems open to bringing him back.

Greg Wyshynski of Yahoo Sports puts Ellis fifth on a list of goaltenders available via free agency, saying the following: "should garner significant interest as part of a goaltending solution, but not the lone solution."

(Writer's Note: About three hours after posting this blog on Tuesday, Ellis was traded by Nashville to the Montreal Canadiens. However, he can still opt for free agency on July 1.)

Let's move a little ways down the ladder to the ECHL. Free agency is an annual thing and it is in full swing. It makes it imperative that the team find a replacement for the departed Derek Laxdal - quickly - before too much valuable recruiting time is lost. Qualifying offers have been sent to players (we can announce to whom later in the week) and, should those players opt to accept the offers, the new coach will have a nice base to build from.

Meanwhile, a few more familiar names have decided to head overseas to continue their playing careers: Stockton's JF Caudron (Italy), Cincinnati's Reid Cashman (Germany), and Victoria's Dirk Southern (Denmark).

Do you have your ticket plan for next season yet? If not, drop me a line (whoenike@idahosteelheads.com) and we'll get you set up! Opening night is October 15.

Labels: Alumni Update, Media Coverage, Player Movement

'Tis the season in the hockey world for lists and today is a fairly important one as the Idaho Steelheads have announced their season-ending roster from the 2009-2010 season.

Like the last list to come out, the protected list, only players on ECHL contracts are eligible. No Richard Bachman, no Brendan Milnamow, no Kevin DeVergilio. Reason is simple - Idaho never had the rights to those players to begin with, they were assigned to Idaho by other teams.

This one starts the whittle-down process, however. Of the 18 players on Idaho's list, a maximum of eight players can be given qualifying offers for the 2010-2011 season. If the player signs his qualifying offer, he's Idaho's property for the upcoming campaign. We'll find out who Derek Laxdal extended qualifying offers to in the next couple of weeks.

Click here to see the season-ending rosters from all of the ECHL teams.

Now ... back to Richard Bachman. He spent the past month with the AHL's Texas Stars, backing up former 'Head Matt Climie as the Stars reached the Calder Cup Finals. Both he and Climie are under contract with the Dallas Stars organization and the team's beat writer for the Dallas Morning News, Mike Heika, offers this breakdown on the Stars' goaltending situation. Here's a line that caught my eye:

"Krahn, 28, has been signed as a potential backup, and Stars GM Joe Nieuwendyk said he would like to sign Krahn's goaltending partner with the Texas Stars, Matt Climie, as a player who will battle with Krahn for the NHL spot (backing up Kari Lehtonen) and also still be able to anchor the Texas Stars. Stars draft picks Richard Bachman and Tyler Beskorowany ... would then fight to split time with the Texas Stars or with the Idaho Steelheads (ECHL)."

An e-mail from Climie's agent quoted in the entry suggests Climie is receiving plenty of interest from the KHL - the Kontinental Hockey League in Russia - and no sure thing to remain with the Stars organization, though he would like to.

It creates an interesting quandry. Both Climie and Krahn played well enough to be considered for a promotion in the Stars system. Without question, so did Bachman ... and I think it's logical to assume Bachman, assuming both AHL goalies are re-signed, would split time with one of them in Texas with Beskorowany heading to Boise.

However, let's say you're Nieuwendyk. You've got a starting goaltender in Dallas who isn't exactly known for his durability (Lehtonen), you've got an AHL goaltender who isn't exactly known for his durability (Krahn), and another AHL goaltender who, though he has played in the NHL, isn't exactly a seasoned veteran. Would you consider signing a free-agent goaltender, like former Steelhead Dan Ellis, to give your team a bona-fide backup at the NHL level? Again ... it's logical. I would want to at least keep that door open if I was running the parent club.

If all those dominos fall, what becomes of Bachman? Traded to make room for Beskorowany? In the AHL with either Krahn or Climie traded? Back in Idaho? Some other scenario? After being second-team All-ECHL, runner-up for ECHL Rookie of the Year, and runner-up for ECHL Goaltender of the Year, being told to repeat the AA level by the Stars could be a tough pill to swallow.

For Steelheads fans, a best-case scenario would probably be Climie in Dallas backing Lehtonen, Bachman teamed with Krahn in Texas, and Beskorowany assigned here to Idaho, hopefully to follow in the footsteps of Bachman and Climie - each of whom was arguably the best netminder in the ECHL during their time with Idaho.

I'm simply speculating here. Not operating on insider information. But it does make for some interesting conversations among Stars (and Steelheads) fans for the next couple of months.

Heika's blog follows the Stars very well. Those of you who are big hockey fans ... if you're reading this blog, I'm guessing you are ... should bookmark it.

Labels: Alumni Update, ECHL News, General, Media Coverage

We can officially put the 2009-2010 hockey season to bed in North America as the Hershey Bears won the American Hockey League's Calder Cup Monday night, defeating the Texas Stars, 4-0, to win the best-of-seven series in six games.

Former Steelhead Jay Beagle gets his third professional championship ring - 2007 here in Idaho, 2009 and 2010 in Hershey - and Ashton Rome is in line to get some jewelry as well after being signed by Hershey just before the playoffs began.

Texas, Idaho's AHL affiliate, won the first two games of the series before dropping four straight to lose the series. Monday's clincher was played in front of more than 11,000 fans in central Pennsylvania.

Labels: Alumni Update, General