Alumni in the Pros - September 2008

[Rich S]

[quote Josh '99][quote Al DeFlorio][quote Rich S][quote Al DeFlorio][quote RichH]Even further down, there's an ad for a Canadian chain called "Boston Pizza."  Because if there's one thing that Boston is famous for...it's pizza??[/quote]
I suppose no one in Canada would have a clue if it were called New Haven Pizza.[/quote]

been there, done that...over rated.[/quote]
Exactly what one would expect from someone who thinks green and yellow uniforms are in the slightest attractive.[/quote]Ooh, we haven't had an AlD-RichS flame war in a while.  ::popcorn::[/quote]

Yes he's starting early...almost in mid season "form."

[LaJollaRed]

There's a pizza / sub / burger place near Union's rink that makes some of the best sandwiches I've ever had in my life...It's a little hole-in-the-wall place owned by an Indian family...Near a gas station about three blocks south east of their rink.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?

[RichH]

[quote LaJollaRed]There's a pizza / sub / burger place near Union's rink that makes some of the best sandwiches I've ever had in my life...It's a little hole-in-the-wall place owned by an Indian family...Near a gas station about three blocks south east of their rink.

Anyone know what I'm talking about?[/quote]

I usually run screaming from Schenectady at the fastest possible pace after having to go to games there.

[RichH]

[quote Rich S]Yes he's starting early...almost in mid season "form."[/quote]

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com

Oh, and personally, since I've lived in Los Angeles and Southern VA, I know how bad pizza can get.  I'm now in CT and can appreciate the quality of New Haven pizza, so I'm not complaining.

[Trotsky]

[quote RichH][quote Rich S]Yes he's starting early...almost in mid season "form."[/quote]

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com

Oh, and personally, since I've lived in Los Angeles and Southern VA, I know how bad pizza can get.[/quote]Oregon.  Picture, if you will, sprouts and no tomato sauce on sourdough.

[Luke 05]

In the Traverse City prospects tourney, Ray Sawada has been playing for the Stars team and has 1 pt through 2 games:

http://pointstreak.com/prostats/playerpage.html?playerid=2244674&seasonid=3327

Traverse City thoughts
Monday, September 15, 2008-9:52:am
I watched the replay of the Stars-Blues game from Traverse City last night. I saw most of these guys at development camp in July but there were a few I was looking forward to seeing for the first time or the first time in a while. Anyway, I had a few observations.

First, it looks more like a scrimmage than a game, which is basically what I expected. There's not much structure out there.

Second, the guys I expected to stand out did stand out.

Among the big names, I thought James Neal looked very good. He appears to have an edge to his game right now and that's good to see with camp less than a week away. Jamie Benn, who I thought was a little lackluster at the development camp in July, was very sharp as well. I thought Ray Sawada looked pretty good. I liked what I saw out of Sergei Korostin and Ivan Vishnevskiy as well. Guys like Korostin and Vishnevskiy are still in the development stage, but you can see the skill level in both.

Some of the other players I noticed: I thought Matt Climie was solid after a shaky start. Climie is a guy to watch since he is No.3 on the goaltending depth chart right now. I think Colton Sceviour is a good prospect. Aaron Gagnon looks like he's made some strides. I've liked Trevor Ludwig each and every time I've seen the kid play.

As far as Fabian Brunnstrom, I am not reading too much into anything I see at this point. I'll watch tonight's replay and see how he progresses from the first game to the second and see where he is at the end of the tournament and then were he is this weekend when the real training camp begins. He's a work in progress as he adjusts to like and hockey in North America.

If you get a chance to watch these games keep in mind that these guys are playing against players at their own development level. The real test for guys like Neal and Sawada will come in Frisco and during preseason games. That's when they are going to have to shine to have a shot at making the opening night roster. Nobody's making the Stars based on Traverse City.

http://www.andrewsstarspage.com/index.php/ADSPBlog/index.php

[ugarte]

[quote Trotsky][quote RichH][quote Rich S]Yes he's starting early...almost in mid season "form."[/quote]

http://quotation-marks.blogspot.com

Oh, and personally, since I've lived in Los Angeles and Southern VA, I know how bad pizza can get.[/quote]Oregon.  Picture, if you will, sprouts and no tomato sauce on sourdough.[/quote]
Done. I also just pictured myself spray painting the words "hippie flatbread sandwich" over the word "pizza" on the storefront.

[TimV]

1007 Van Antwerp Road - just around the corner from Union Street.  Used to be Homestyle Pizza which moved up to Union Street (and is still very good.)  Check it out on Google maps and see if that's the one.

[ithacat]

Topher's returning to Elmira.

http://www.oursportscentral.com/services/releases/?id=3718408

Sorry, if this has been posted -- I may have missed it trying to digest all the pizza chatter.

[profudge]

The Bakersfield Condors announced:

The rights to McKee, 24, have been acquired from the Checkers in exchange for future considerations. He spent the majority of the 2007-08 season with the Phoenix RoadRunners in the ECHL, while also appearing with Augusta (ECHL) and the Iowa Stars (American Hockey League). He went 6-11-4 with a 3.92 GAA and a .894 save percentage in the ECHL last season.

[amerks127]

From Colgate Red Raiders to playing top line in Ottawa.  Wow is all I can say.

http://tsn.ca/nhl/story/?id=249820&lid=headline&lpos=secStory_main

[pfibiger]

It looks like even though it's a Bakersfield signing, the Ducks are involved at some level:

http://www.bakersfield.com/136/story/554501.html

He's described as the "fifth goaltender" in the Ducks system, and LeNeveu is the 3rd or 4th. They could easily end up sharing time for the Iowa Chops (what kind of team name is that?) if McKee plays well or there's some kind of injury.

[AnneDVM]

A nice interview from last weekend with Doug Krantz about his invitation to Bruins rookie camp and preparing to begin the pro season.

http://hammersdogs.blogspot.com/
Go to the September 18th entry.

In the same entry, there is also a link to an interview with Chris Moulson, who was named an assistant captain for the Alberni Valley Bulldogs earlier this month.

[sah67]

Ray Sawada was captain of the Dallas Stars prospect team which won the championship of the Traverse City Prospects Tournament with an 8-3 victory over Atlanta on Wednesday night.  Ray was a +2 with 1 goal in the championship game.

There's a nice photo of Ray accepting the trophy on nhl.com here.

Also, here's a nice little article from the 9/17 edition of the Dallas Morning News:
http://www.dallasnews.com/sharedcontent/dws/spt/stories/091708dnspostarslede.1aea20d.html

[Cactus12]

Watching the Rangers vs. Ottawa preseason game... Winchester's actually not playing bad (and getting quite a bit of ice time). Then again, if I played with Spezza and Heatley, I could probably get a few assists as well.