Alumni in the Pros Nov. '04

Lenny made 43 of 45 saves last night but lost 2-1. The only offense for Utah came with an extra attacker towards the end of the game. Apparently Murray injuried his hip flexor approx. a week ago, the reason he has been scratched from the lineup. Haven't heard much about Bâby lately or anyone else for that matter. Does anybody know why Higgins was suspended a game, apparently an incident against the Cleveland Barons was the cause(didn't have anything to do with Murray's injury did it?).

Bâby has a goal and an assist and 26 PIM, and is -1 through 8 games with the Chicago Wolves.

During the Hamilton-Cleveland game on 11/2, Higgins took a high-sticking major at the same time Cleveland's Matt Carkner received a 10-minute misconduct, late in the first period. Higgins scored a goal in the second period after drawing a penalty shot on a shorthanded breakaway. Murray did not play in the game. Neither the Barons' website, the Bulldogs' website, nor the AHL website provides any more information about the suspension than essentially what Brian said above.

Underhill got picked up by Mississippi of the ECHL

What's the word on Murray? I haven't seen him in any of the Cleveland boxscores recently. Is he hurt or something?

Solid game from Leneveu tonight. Stopped 36 of 37 in regulation and OT, and then blanked all 5 shooters he faced in the shootout to pick up his (and Utah's)1st win of the season. Lenny is 1-4-0 so far, with a GAA of 2.69 and a SV% of .918. Pelletier is 0-3-1, with a GAA of 4.67 and a SV% of .861. Needless to say, they don't have a very good team in front of them.

[Q]DisplacedCornellian Wrote:
Needless to say, they don't have a very good team in front of them.[/q]Another year like that, eh? It's like '03-'04 with Springfield all over again.

Refer to the original posting!

Ben Wallace Leaves Atlantic City and Signs with Odessa of the Central Hockey League


October 28, 2004

The Jackalopes have had great success bringing Ivy League hockey players to the Permian Basin, perhaps the two most notable being Trevor Allman of Harvard and Mike Rutter (rooter) of Cornell. Today, the Jacks have announced the signing of another “Cornellian,” as defenseman Ben Wallace has agreed to terms and will be in uniform for the club this weekend.

Head Coach & Director of Hockey Operations Don McKee, announcing the signing, indicated the Jacks are looking for the “final pieces to the puzzle” on the blue line.

“Ben is a very solid ‘defensive defenseman’ and is an excellent penalty-killer,” McKee said. “He comes from one of the nation’s most outstanding collegiate programs (Cornell) and we think Ben will bring a great deal to our hockey club.”

Wallace, a native of London, Ontario, joins the Jacks after a 4-year career at Cornell. His first year in Ithaca (2000-2001) came just after Rutter completed his career with the Big Red (1999-2000). Rutter is now in his third season with the Jackalopes, and is the club’s leading scorer over the past two seasons (he led the Jacks in scoring in 2002-2003 with 70 points).

“Players who come from solid college programs are fundamentally very sound,” McKee said. “We expect Ben to adapt to our defensive systems and be able to contribute to the Jacks very quickly.”

Wallace joins defensemen B.J. Adams and R.C. Lyke and goaltender Derek Dolson among the Jacks’ newest members. Adams and Lyke signed just prior to the start of the regular season, and both played in the team’s opening two games. Wallace and Dolson (who signed Monday) will practice with the club this week and will see action this weekend (Dolson will back-up Mike Gorman in goal).

“We felt we had to make some changes, and now is a good point in the early season to accomplish that,” McKee said. “After this weekend, we have only one game over the first 11 days of November, so we’ll have plenty of practice time to solidify our hockey club.”

Wallace opened the season with Atlantic City of East Coast Hockey League (ECHL), but was the victim of a “numbers game.”

“With Atlantic City, Ben felt his playing time would be very sporadic, so he chose to come here,” McKee said. “We had been negotiating with Ben last spring, and we very much wanted to bring him here, so again the negotiations and our patience have paid off.”

To make room on the roster for Wallace, the Jacks have waived forward Shawn Roed (rode). With forward Tom Kotsopoulos sidelined by a wrist injury (and not expected to play until mid-November), the Jackalopes are left with eight (healthy) forwards and seven defensemen on the roster. Jeff Alcombrack is expected to move from defense to a forward line to fill Roed’s spot.

“Jeff is very comfortable on the wing,” McKee said. “That’s where he had played most of his career before moving to the blue line.” Alcombrack enters Friday’s game among the Jacks’ top point-producers, with 3 assists in 2 games.

The Jacks (1-1-0) open their home schedule Friday night, hosting the San Angelo Saints in a Southwest Division match-up, and a
re-match of last Saturday’s game in San Angelo, when the Saints rallied from a 2-0 deficit to defeat the Jacks, 4-2. Saturday’s opponent is the winningest club in CHL history, the Oklahoma City Blazers, who make their only visit to West Texas this season.

[Q]mgl11 Wrote:

Underhill got picked up by Mississippi of the ECHL[/q]

Cool. They're the ones that play in Gulfport, right? I may have to drive up there and see him play sometime.

Ryan Vesce ranks 8th in the Swedish Elite League (Tier II) scoring with 20 points (6G, 14A). He plays on the top line with former NHLer and WHL superstar Byron Ritchie and Swede Henrik Eriksson. Eriksson is ranked 24th in the league with 16 points (11G, 5A) and Ritchie is tied with Vesce for 8th with 20 points (9 G, 11A). It seems as if Vesce is up to his old playmaking self again. I'm sure this should get the attention of some Scouts. Don't be surprised is he get's signed to minor league contract by an NHL team next year (if there is an NHL next year).

[www.eliteprospects.com]

And Ritchie was signed by the Flames this summer. Maybe he'll put in a word for Vesce with Flames management.

Head Coach Don McKee?

Hmmmm. Any relation to goalie David?

Did you see what Dustin Brown has been doing?

[www.theahl.com]

[Q]Brian Wrote:

Did you see what Dustin Brown has been doing?

[/q]

From the same article:

[q]Other nominees for CCM Vector/AHL Player of the Week include Albany goaltender Ari Ahonen, Binghamton center Jason Spezza, Bridgeport center Sean Bergenheim, Chicago left wing Karl Stewart, Edmonton right wing Brad Winchester, Hamilton center Tomas Plekanec, Hartford goaltender Jason LaBarbera, Hershey left wing Mathieu Darche, Houston goaltender Josh Harding, Lowell center Eric Staal, Milwaukee left wing Simon Gamache, Norfolk goaltender Craig Anderson, Philadelphia center Patrick Sharp, Portland center Brooks Laich, Rochester center Chris Taylor, San Antonio goaltender Travis Scott, Springfield right wing Shane Willis, St. John’s left wing Harold Druken, Syracuse defenseman Francois Beauchemin, Utah goaltender David LeNeveu and Worcester left wing Peter Sejna. [/q]

Oops, I missed him. Just not used to looking at UTAH

Just got back from the Baron's game against Edmonton out in San Jose. Yes, weird combination. Murray was out after having hip surgery last week. He thinks he'll be back in a week or so. He took time to chat with a bunch of Cornell alum who came to the game. He visited between the 2nd and 3rd period as well as a meet an greet after the game. I just want to say thanks to him and all the people who set it up. It's great to have players who still appreciate their fans and make time for them. And, man, the Barons looked lost without their assistant captain.... 0-2 and it wasn't pretty....

-John

I am heading out to Cleveland for Murray bobblhead night, what are the chances we could meet Murray after the game? I just hope we actually get to see him play!

Yeah, the Barons game last night was ugly. I would've tried to stop by the meet-and-greet but I had no idea where it was and the friend I came with had two kids waiting at hime, so he didn't want to loiter.

I agree with Keith and John, ugly game last night. However, it was nice to be able to see live hockey! It's probably the only game I'll get to see this year, so I'm not going to complain too much. Having said that, the power play was terrible (my friend and I agreed they were better off at full strength) and they really need to learn how to play against the boards. Regardless, it was great to meet Murray and get my jersey signed.

Brian, I'm guessing there's a place where fans can get autographs as the players leave the arena if you want to meet Murray. In San Jose, it's behind the arena outside the gated players parking lot.

Greg Hornby was picked up by the Florida Everblades and played his first professional game last night...the Everblades lost to Idaho, 3-2, and Hornby was -1 with 2 SOG...but more importantly, he picked up a pair of fighting majors...nice to see he hasn't skipped a beat.

[Q]jmh30 Wrote:

DisplacedCornellian Wrote:
Needless to say, they don't have a very good team in front of them.[/Q]
Another year like that, eh? It's like '03-'04 with Springfield all over again. [/q]

Oh sure, take what I was gonna say, why don'tcha...