Rome brothers Tim and Tom Sestito have been skating through an up and down season for their respective hockey franchises, with both spending time in both the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
The younger of the two brothers, Tom, was recalled up to the big league level by the Philadelphia Flyers on Dec. 19 and has played in 14 games since then. He recorded his third career NHL assist on Jan. 24 in the Flyers’ 3-2 overtime win at Florida and has served a total of 83 penalty minutes, as well.
But the 24-year-old left winger’s NHL run hit a bump in the road on Feb. 19 when he was placed on the club’s Long Term Injured Reserve list after having surgery on Feb. 21 to repair a torn groin muscle. He will be out of action for 6-8 weeks.
His last appearance for the Flyers came on Feb. 16 in the team’s 7-2 victory over the Buffalo Sabres. He skated for 3 minutes, 9 seconds and received a five-minute fighting penalty along the way.
As Tom continues to heal his injury, older brother Tim has been a key contributor for the New Jersey Devils’ AHL affiliate, the Albany Devils.
Tim has scored six goals and made eight assists for 14 points in 28 games this season for Albany and has served 73 penalty minutes. In his AHL career, Tim has scored 41 goals and made 46 assists in 249 games.
The 27-year-old center was also called up to the big league club on Nov. 23 and played for 18 games for New Jersey before being sent back down to Albany after clearing waivers in January.
That’s because he’s all too familiar with being the backup.
“It’s been funny,” Climie said. “Honestly, every team I’ve been on since I was IN Pee-Wee, I’ve always gone in as the underdog role. Nothing’s been easy for me. Nothing’s really been given to me. Ever.”
When he played junior hockey for the Kimberley Dynamiters in British Columbia, he wasn’t even the best Climie on the team. His older brother, Chris, was the team’s primary goaltender. Oh, by the way, their team went bankrupt and folded – during the playoffs.
Matt found work the following season with the Bonnyville Pontiacs, but the job stability didn’t get much better. He was traded for $500 shortly before his second season started, so he had to steer his aging Pontiac Sunfire 2,950 miles across Canada (from Alberta to Nova Scotia) in order to report to his new team.
After enjoying two seasons in Nova Scotia and exhausting his junior-league eligibility, Climie signed with Bemidji State University at the age of 20. He wasn’t exactly a hot recruit. “I was pretty much a walk-on,” he said. “I was slated as a third goalie going in. Not much scholarship money at all. Probably the smallest scholarship on the team.”
Sensing a pattern here? Climie certainly did.
That’s why, fearing he’d never earn a professional contract after playing for Bemidji State, Climie wrapped up his college degree in three-and-a-half years and earned his teacher’s license in 2008.
“I student-taught Grade 6,” Climie said. “I was teaching everything. Math, Science, Social Studies. That was my career path. I wanted to get into the whole administration thing. Teach for a couple years, then get my master’s. Principal, vice-principal, one of those. Maybe even athletic director.”
Though Climie has long since outgrown the need to teach in order to make a living – he ranks among the American Hockey League’s top goaltenders this year and rests just one step away from a spot in the National Hockey League – the 29-year-old carries two backup options into this upcoming offseason.
“I’m actually starting my own goalie school in my hometown (Leduc, Alberta),” Climie said. “I want to get into coaching and running hockey schools in the summertime. At the same time, I’m probably going to go back and get my firefighting license. I’d have that to fall back on if I want to go in that direction.”
Climie has buddies who are firefighters, but that’s not what inspires his desire to join their ranks.
“Being a firefighter, it’s kind of like a hockey team,” Climie said. “You’re working together as a team. You’re hanging out a lot. The job in general just kind of fits me. It’s competitive and you’ve got to be in shape.”
The word “competitive” or its variations invariably are used to describe the 6-foot-3, 197-pound Climie – whose perpetual smile contradicts his persistent nature.
“I see a high degree of competitiveness,” said Wolves head coach Craig MacTavish. “He’s a real competitor in the games. He’s a patient, experienced, competitive goalie. He gives us a chance virtually every night. He won us some games early, as did Eddie (Lack), that our team would not or should not have won without their goaltending being at that level.”
Some goalies would have noticed the 23-year-old Lack’s name on the depth chart (he’s the Vancouver Canucks’ top goalie prospect) and opted to sign with another National Hockey League team. Climie noted Lack’s presence on the roster – as well as the Chicago Wolves commitment to winning – and thought it was the ideal opportunity.
“Really, I feel that competition is good,” Climie said. “It’s good to have and obviously Eddie’s a great goalie. I just feel that competition makes you a better individual. It just develops you. I feel I play that much better when I have to earn my ice time. I don’t want to be given anything.”
Lack handled seven of the Wolves first 10 games this season. But after Climie held strong for a 2-1 victory on Nov. 4 at Peoria, he was rewarded with four consecutive starts and he repaid the Wolves with four consecutive wins.
His spree ended because the Canucks called him up for one game due to an injury to Vancouver starter Roberto Luongo. Climie didn’t appear in that game (backup Cory Schneider handled the net), but it wasn’t like he missed out on his first opportunity to appear in a NHL game. Contrary to his traditional career trajectory, Climie reached the NHL with unexpected swiftness after graduating from Bemidji State.
Less than 13 months after playing his final game for Bemidji State, Climie won his NHL debut for the Dallas Stars on April 4, 2009. He leaped straight from Dallas’ East Coast Hockey League affiliate because the Stars didn’t have an AHL team at the time. He stayed for three games and posted two wins.
“It doesn’t happen too often where a guy goes from the East Coast to the NHL,” Climie said. “Such a good experience. I got my puck and obviously the gear that I used in those games. I’ve still got all my equipment.”
But then it was back to fighting for anything he could get in the minors. After his ECHL team was swept in the first round of the playoffs, the AHL’s Houston Aeros picked him up and Climie became part of a four-goalie rotation for a team that reached the 2009 Western Conference Finals.
“It was kind of a crazy deal, but I just took it for what it was and enjoyed the process,” Climie said.
Climie moved to the Texas Stars in 2010 and sparked them to the Calder Cup Finals (he helped knock out the Wolves in the West Division Finals) before posting 26 wins and a 2.64 goals against average last season with the San Antonio Rampage.
In each of those seasons, Climie appeared in one NHL game. Like everyone else wearing a Wolves uniform, he’d like to move to the NHL to stay – and he has done nothing but improve his chances while with the Wolves.
“I knew Matt was a really good goalie, especially because he single-handedly defeated us in that series a couple years ago,” said Wolves general manager Wendell Young. “But even with all that said and how confident I was in him when he signed this year, he has exceeded expectations even above that.
“He is a student of the game. He is a competitor. Since I started watching him in the American League, his positioning is way better. He’s a lot more under control.”
Through the games of Feb. 15, Climie owned a 15-7-0 record with a 2.39 GAA and a .927 save percentage. The latter number ranks third in the AHL. His success presents a bit of a dilemma for the Wolves. Climie has a two-way contract with Vancouver this season, but a one-way deal with the Wolves next year. That means he’ll return to Chicago in 2012-13 unless he gets a one-way deal with an NHL team.
Young jokes that he wants Climie to be really good, but not THAT good, before turning serious.
“No, we want our guys to succeed,” Young said. “That’s what we want. We’re excited as an organization that they go up. It speaks well of our organization. If players keep going up to the NHL, it speaks to what we’ve done. If he can succeed somewhere else next year, then we did our job.”
Thursday afternoon, the Kings acquired Jeff Carter from the Columbus Blue Jackets, who was fresh off of a Tuesday night hat trick against the San Jose Sharks. With trade rumors swirling around Dustin Brown, it was only fitting that the Los Angeles Kings captain would score a hat trick of his own in a 4-0 victory over the Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center.
Brown played as if it was his last game in the National Hockey League, much less what could have been his last game as a King. His two first period goals set the tone for the Kings, who were never threatened by the Jonthan Toews-less Blackhawks, as Jonathan Quick tied Henrik Lundquist for the league lead in shutouts, with his seventh of the season.
Dustin Brown skated faster on Saturday night, and seemed to hit harder. He was in the right place at the right time, even when Anze Kopitar slipped a pass in front of the goal crease in the middle of the second period before Ray Emery stopped what nearly was a fourth goal of the night for the Kings’ captain.
The night easily could have felt like a funeral, with the rumors of Brown being tied to the Toronto Maple Leafs, but unlike Pau Gasol and the Kings’ tenants, the Lakers, Brown clearly used the trade deadline stress as motivation to make a statement on the ice, just as captains are supposed to do. And yet, if indeed Dustin Brown is shipped out of Los Angeles before Monday’s trade deadline, the fans of Los Angeles can at least live to have seen what could end up being the perfect goodbye and greatest game of Brown’s career.
Sure, Brown’s goals are a loud statement from the player, seemingly demanding to remain with the Kings. But, as the business of hockey tends to work, Dustin Brown’s trade stock just went up a bit, as pointed out by The Score’s Chris Lund. Because of this, there’s two possible scenarios for the Kings after the tremendous offensive night.
Obviously, the first scenario is that Brown just re-played his way into Dean Lombardi’s core. For the longest time, the Kings core consisted of Dustin Brown, Anze Kopitar, Drew Doughty and Jack Johnson. When the Kings tried to trade for Ilya Kovalchuk two years ago, the Atlanta Thrashers wanted Brown, Johnson and Wayne Simmonds, which at the time seemed as if it was asking for the world from the Kings. Ironically, come Monday, all three of those players could be known as former Kings, and all playing for separate teams as Simmonds was traded to Philadelphia last June, and Johnson is busy getting his feet wet in Columbus.
Going back to the notion of the Kings’ core, you’d have to think that it now consists of Anze Kopitar, Mike Richards, Drew Doughty, Jonathan Quick and Jeff Carter, with Dustin Brown rejoining the group should Dean Lombardi refuse to deal him. Brown remaining with the Kings not only reaffirms his core status for at least the next two months, but given Lombardi’s track record with acquiring offensive talent at the deadline(we’re looking at you, Dustin Penner), there’s no guarantee the Kings could replace Brown’s scoring. He’s not having a career by any stretch of the imagination, but with Brown, you at least know what you’re going to get.
Now, for the second scenario, you have consider that with Brown’s hat trick increasing his asking price, the Kings cannot lose on Deadline Day. The Kings are now in a position to possibly sit back and wait for Toronto’s Brian Burke to offer the world for Brown, or allow Dean Lombardi to begin conjuring up bigger, grander things. What’s a bigger, grander thing you ask? Well, for starters, you could include Brown in a package with Jonathan Bernier and a Thomas Hickey or Jake Muzzin, and absolutely go for broke and go try to grab someone like Zach Parise, but not necessarily him per se. The Devils are going to be extremely reluctant to get rid of Parise given that they’re in the thick of the playoff race in the Eastern Conference. But, considering that Parise is an unrestricted free agent come July 1st, the prospects of adding long term solutions on the defensive side of things has to be intriguing for Lou Lamoriello. Martin Brodeur isn’t getting younger anytime soon, you know. But let’s not get too buried in Zach Parise, because we all know that Kings fans have wanted Parise for years now, and it’s always been considered a pipe dream.
The reality is just that Dustin Brown did wonders for the Kings on Saturday night, because if he stays, the Kings keep their captain and suddenly hot forward. Yet, if goes, it will likely be for more than originally intended, assuming that Brown sweetened his own pot. Leverage is key, and Brown just gave the Kings three goals worth. It’s going to be a fun 30 hours, won’t it?
What do you think will happen? Vote in our poll and leave a comment below.
The Kings’ captain battled a case of flu, heard Coach Darryl Sutter say he had become stale offensively, and found himself the subject of persistent trade rumors.
He responded Saturday night with a commanding performance that should make him and Sutter feel a lot better and quiet some of the rampant speculation.
Brown scored the Kings’ first three goals against Chicago for a natural hat trick, the third hat trick of his career, and assisted on their final goal in a 4-0 rout of the surprisingly listless Chicago Blackhawks at Staples Center.
Brown and Jarret Stoll (three assists) each matched their career-high marks as the Kings won for the first time in five games and only the second time in eight games. Goaltender Jonathan Quick stopped 19 shots for his seventh shutout this season.
New acquisition Jeff Carter played more than 17 minutes in his Kings debut, mostly on right wing alongside Mike Richards and Dwight King, and did not figure in the scoring. Defenseman Slava Voynov, recalled after Jack Johnson was sent to Columbus in the Carter trade, played capably in his return.
Brown’s first goal, at 10 minutes 48 seconds of the first period, was made possible on a terrific rush by Stoll starting in the Kings’ end. Stoll carried the puck up the right side, crossed to the middle and cut to the left without resistance before dropping the puck back to Brown. As a right-handed shooter on the left side, Brown had a good angle to whip a shot that appeared to glance off Corey Crawford’s glove before getting past the goalie.
The Kings killed a five-on-three disadvantage and capitalized on a power play late in the period for a 2-0 lead.
The faceoff was in the Blackhawks’ zone after Viktor Stalberg was sent off for boarding at 17:43, and Stoll won the draw from Marian Hossa. Stoll slipped the puck back to defenseman Alec Martinez, whose shot was stopped. But Brown was perfectly positioned to go to his backhand and lift the rebound past Crawford for his 16th goal this season. He had gone 11 games without a goal before he scored at Phoenix on Tuesday.
Brown completed the natural hat trick at 4:56 of the second period on a shorthanded goal, set up nicely by Willie Mitchell. That was the last shot seen by Crawford, who was replaced by Ray Emery.
The Kings, who began the game averaging a league-low 2.05 goals per game, nearly doubled that at 6:49 of the second period. Stoll, matching a career high with his third assist, rode Nick Leddy off the puck and got it to Brown, who passed back to the point to Mitchell. The defenseman’s blast — with Brown standing in front — got past Emery for Mitchell’s fourth goal this season.
Winnipeg Jets defensive prospect Zach Redmond has been quietly racking up some hefty accolades. He is a mobile offensive defenceman, who has shown himself as an excellent skater that moves the puck well. He makes good decisions, and he is poised and patient with the puck. When required, Redmond jumps into the play, and possesses a powerful and accurate shot when needed.
Raised in Traverse City, Michigan (about 2 ½ hours north of Grand Rapids), Redmond began his hockey career at age 17 with the USHL’s Sioux Falls Stampede. After spending two years in Sioux Falls, Zach began to turn heads when he made the move to Ferris State University in 2007.
In his freshman year with the Ferris State Bulldogs Redmond racked up 19 points (6 goals, 13 assists) in 37 games. That was enough to get the blueliner noticed by the Atlanta Thrashers who selected him in the seventh round, #184 overall at the 2008 NHL Entry Draft.
Redmond went on to complete his four-year career with the Bulldogs, earning a degree in Marketing from Ferris State. Zach served as captain of the Bulldogs in his senior year, notching 20 points (7 goals, 13 assists) in 26 games played. In that 2010-11 season, Redmond was a finalist for the Hobey Baker Award.
Zach made the jump to the professional ranks this season, first captaining Jets rookies at the Young Stars Tournament held in Penticton. Following an impressive pre-season campaign, Redmond was assigned to the St. John’s IceCaps to further his development. One quarter of the way through the AHL season, Redmond leads the team in plus/minus and is just beginning to show his potential.
Frisco, TX – The Dallas Stars announced today that the club has recalled forward Ryan Garbutt from the Texas Stars, Dallas’ primary affiliate in the American Hockey League (AHL).
Garbutt, 26, has played in 50 games for Texas this season, scoring 16 goals and 17 assists totaling 33 points. He ranks fourth in overall scoring for Texas and first with 96 penalty minutes. The 6-1, 195-pound forward from Winnipeg, MB was signed by Dallas as a free agent on Sept. 18, 2009.
The Dallas Stars will play against the Phoenix Coyotes Saturday night at Jobing.com Arena at 7 p.m. CT (TV: TXA-21; Radio: 1310 The Ticket).
PRINCETON, N.J. – Former Gwinnett Gladiators center Ryan Garbutt became the 486th player to play in the National Hockey League after the ECHL when he made his debut with the Dallas Stars in a 2-1 overtime loss against the Phoenix Coyotes on Saturday.
The 26-year-old had three shots on goal in 5:41of ice time for the Stars, whose line-up also included former ECHL players Vernon Fiddler, Adam Pardy, Michael Ryder and Tom Wandell. Former Las Vegas Wranglers head coach, and 2006 ECHL Coach of the Year Glen Gulutzan is head coach of the Stars. Former ECHL goaltender Mike Valley is the Stars’ goaltending coach.
The Idaho Steelheads are the ECHL affiliate of the Stars and the Texas Stars of the American Hockey League. Former ECHL coach Jeff Pyle is the head coach of Texas.
Garbutt had 17 points (10g-7a) in 10 games with Gwinnett during the 2010-11 season. He was leading the ECHL in goals, and was tied for second in points, when he was loaned to the American Hockey League’s Chicago Wolves on Nov. 10. He tallied 37 points (19g-18a) in 65 games with Chicago last season, and had 33 points (16g-17a) in 50 games with Texas this season, prior to his recall to Dallas on Friday.
Nineteen ECHL players have made their NHL debuts this season: former Florida Everblades center Mike Angelidis (Tampa Bay on Jan. 24), former Victoria Salmon Kings defenseman Jordie Benn (Dallas on Jan. 3), former Bakersfield Condors and Elmira Jackals defenseman Stu Bickel (New York Rangers on Dec. 20), former Greenville Road Warriors defenseman Marc-Andre Bourdon (Philadelphia on Nov. 21), former South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Joe Finley (Buffalo on Dec. 2), Cincinnati Cyclones goaltender Brian Foster (Florida on Feb. 4), former Victoria Salmon Kings defenseman Kris Fredheim (Minnesota on Nov. 17), former Gwinnett Gladiators center Ryan Garbutt (Dallas on Feb. 18), former Elmira Jackals center Mike Hoffman (Ottawa on Dec. 23), former Victoria Salmon Kings goaltender Leland Irving (Calgary on Dec. 16), former Toledo and Reading center Bracken Kearns (Florida on Oct. 20), Stockton Thunder center Milan Kytnar (Edmonton on Jan. 11), former Bakersfield center Maxime Macenauer (Anaheim on Oct. 7), former Ontario Reign center Jordan Nolan (Los Angeles on Feb. 11), former Idaho Steelheads center and two-time ECHL All-Star Greg Rallo (Florida on Dec. 18), former Cincinnati Cyclones center Ryan Russell (Columbus on Jan. 7), former Reading Royals goaltender Ben Scrivens (Toronto on Nov. 3), former Cincinnati Cyclones defenseman Frederic St. Denis (Montreal on Nov. 16) and former Ontario Reign defenseman Colten Teubert (Edmonton on Nov. 3).
Four players have played in the ECHL and NHL in 2011-12: Brian Foster with Cincinnati and Florida, Milan Kytnar with Stockton and Edmonton, Peter Mannino with Chicago and Winnipeg and Allen York with Chicago and Columbus.
The ECHL had a record 81 players on NHL opening-day rosters, surpassing the 79 from a year ago and marking the ninth year in a row that there have been over 50 former ECHL players on opening-day rosters. The ECHL has affiliations with 26 of the 30 NHL teams, marking the 15th consecutive season that the league has had affiliations with at least 20 teams in the NHL.
There have been 486 players who have played in the NHL after playing in the ECHL including 23 in 2010-11. The ECHL has had 294 players reach the NHL since 2002-03 when it changed its focus to become the primary developmental league for the NHL and the AHL. The ECHL had 97 players reach the NHL in its first 10 seasons and 215 in the first 15 years. There have been 230 ECHL players who have played their first game in the last seven seasons for an average of more than 32 per year.
There are 30 coaches with an ECHL background working behind the benches of teams in the NHL including including Anaheim Ducks head coach Bruce Boudreau, Pittsburgh Penguins head coach and 2011 Jack Adams Award winner Dan Bylsma, New York Islanders head coach Jack Capuano, Dallas Stars head coach Glen Gulutzan, Philadelphia Flyers head coach Peter Laviolette and Winnipeg Jets head coach Claude Noel. It is the seventh consecutive season that there have been 11 or more coaches with an ECHL background working in the NHL. Boudreau, who coached Mississippi for three seasons winning the Kelly Cup championship in 1999, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2007-08 becoming the first former ECHL coach to receive the award. Bylsma, who played in the ECHL with Greensboro from 1992-94, was named NHL Coach of the Year in 2010-11.
There are 22 former ECHL officials scheduled to work as part of the NHL officiating team in 2011-12 with referees David Banfield, Francis Charron, Ghislain Hebert, Jean Hebert, Marc Joannette, Mike Leggo, Wes McCauley, Dean Morton, Dan O’Rourke, Brian Pochmara, Kevin Pollock, Kyle Rehman, Chris Rooney, Justin St. Pierre, Graham Skilliter and Ian Walsh, and linesmen Steve Barton, Brian Mach, Matt MacPherson, Tim Nowak, Bryan Pancich and Jay Sharrers.
The ECHL was represented for the 11th year in a row on the Stanley Cup champion with Boston Bruins assistant coach Geoff Ward, players Rich Peverley, Michael Ryder and Tim Thomas, radio broadcaster Dave Goucher and scout Tom McVie. Thomas is the first former ECHL player to win the Conn Smythe Trophy as Most Valuable Player of the Stanley Cup Playoffs. There were 34 former players and 19 coaches on the 16 teams competing in the National Hockey League’s Stanley Cup Playoffs, marking the sixth year in a row that there have been at least 30 former ECHL players and the eighth consecutive season that over 25 players with ECHL experience have competed in the NHL postseason.
The first ECHL player to play in the NHL was Johnstown Chiefs goaltender and current Toronto Maple Leafs assistant coach Scott Gordon, who played his first game with the Quebec Nordiques against Buffalo on Jan. 30, 1990. The 100th player honor is shared by Jean Sebastien Aubin and Manny Legace, who both made their debut on Oct. 21, 1998 with the Pittsburgh Penguins and the Los Angeles Kings, respectively. The 200th player was Brett McLean with the Chicago Blackhawks on Dec. 10, 2002 while the 300th was David Liffiton with the New York Rangers on Apr. 11, 2006 and the 400th was Phil Oreskovic on Mar. 9, 2009 with the Toronto Maple Leafs.
Former ECHL broadcasters working in the National Hockey League include John Ahlers and Steve Carroll of the Anaheim Ducks, Tom Callahan of the Nashville Predators, Dave Goucher of the Boston Bruins, Chris Kerber of the St. Louis Blues, Jack Michaels of the Edmonton Oilers, Dave Mishkin of the Tampa Bay Lightning and Bob McElligott of the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Ryan Stanzel and Jeremy Zager, who were both recipients of the ECHL Media Relations Director of the Year award, are working in the communications department for the Minnesota Wild and the Los Angeles Kings, respectively. Former ECHL assistant director of communications Joe Siville and Kelly Murray are now with the Philadelphia Flyers and the Washington Capitals, respectively, while former ECHL director of communications Jason Rothwell is the creative director for the Columbus Blue Jackets.
Premier ‘AA’ Hockey League Fast Facts
• Watch games live on America One, the “Official Broadband & Mobile Broadcaster” of the ECHL.
• The ECHL celebrated its 20th Anniversary in 2007-08 and is the third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League.
• ECHL began in 1988-89 with five teams in four states and has grown to be a coast-to-coast league with 20 teams in 16 states in 2010-11.
• The league officially changed its name from East Coast Hockey League to ECHL on May 19, 2003.
• ECHL has affiliations with 24 of the 30 teams in the American Hockey League and for the past 22 years there has been an ECHL player on the Calder Cup Champion.
• In the last seven seasons the ECHL has had more call-ups to the AHL than all other professional leagues combined with over 3,000 call-ups involving more than 1,500 players and in 2010-11 there were 10 times as many call-ups from the ECHL to the AHL than all other professional leagues.
• The ECHL averaged 4,339 fans per game in 2010-11, marking the seventh consecutive season and the 19th time in the last 21 years that the ECHL has averaged over 4,000 fans.
• Further information on the ECHL is available from its website at ECHL.com as well as on Facebook and Twitter.
A former IceRays player hasn’t made it up to the NHL until tonight, so excuse us if we devote another blog post to Ryan Garbutt.
He made his NHL debut tonight for Dallas at Phoenix, and you can read about what he did here. And you can check out these clips of a couple of his scoring chances tonight (he had three shots in a little more than five minutes of ice time).
Of course, those of us who saw Garbutt from his first training camp aren’t necessarily surprised. He always had the air of a guy who was going places. I had to work tonight, so I didn’t see any of the game, but received texts from people watching who said Garbutt looked good. Hopefully he’ll be in the lineup for Sunday’s game against Nashville that will be on Fox Southwest.
So, for the longtime IceRays fans, is this the coolest story surrounding the team in years or what?
Elsewhere:
We had some history in the CHL tonight, as Texas rookie Mark Guggenberger broke the league’s consecutive shutout minutes record in the Brahmas’ 3-1 victory over Rio Grande Valley (which is in a free fall with a six-game winless streak). Interesting thing about the four guys below Guggenberger on the list: Only two of them won a playoff series the year they went on those monster streaks. [CHL]
Wild interconference heavyweight game between Allen and Fort Wayne on Komets ice. [Journal Gazette]
Speaking of Fort Wayne, circle the Komets’ March 4 game against Wichita on your calendar after this tweet that Thunder goalie Adam Russo sent out Saturday about Komets counterpart Nick Boucher and his role in that imbroglio against Bloomington Friday. I screen-captured it, albeit with some blacking out of a naughty word, to make sure you see the tweet before it and the follow-up tweets inevitably are deleted. [Twitter]
