Alumni In The Playoffs - 2011

[Josh '99]

So, I found myself wondering the Abbotts' season was going in Sweden, and when I looked them up I learned that the SEL playoffs are already underway.  Do you know what this means?  (It means that this damn thing doesn't work at all!)  It means it's time to start a new edition of the Alumni In The Playoffs thread!  Since Cam and Chris were the players who brought this to mind, let's start this with them:

Sweden

After a successful first season at Lulea HF last year (during which they were second and third on the team in scoring), Cam and Chris Abbott stayed there for another season.  Lulea improved from 10th to 4th in the regular season league standings, and Chris was second on the team with 36 points in 55 games; Cam missed some time (I believe I recall hearing due to a concussion), but his 19 points in 32 games were the 4th-highest per-game scoring on the team.  

In the first round of the playoffs, Lulea played sixth-seeded Djurgardens (the SEL has a playoff system in which, in the first round, higher seeds can choose which lower seeds to play, and third-seeded Skelleftea chose to play fifth-seeded Linkopings instead of Lulea), and won in a seven-game series.  Cam had one goal during a series in which he was limited to X games, while Chris had a goal and five assists.  Lulea are now paired with third-seeded Skelleftea in the semifinals, a series that's currently tied at 2-2 with game 5 currently being played in Skelleftea, game 6 to be played in Lulea on Thursday, and game 7 again in Skelleftea on Saturday if necessary.  Over the first four games (which have all gone to overtime), Chris has two assists and Cam has a goal and an assist.  Chris's 8 points so far in the playoffs lead the team and tie him for third among all players.  

Switzerland

Mike Knoepfli played his third season with Fribourg-Gotteron of the Swiss National League A, where his teammates included Mark Mowers (UNH).  Knoepfli had 20 points in 49 regular season games, good for 8th on the team, and Fribourg-Gotteron finished 8th in the regular season, the last team to qualify for the playoffs.  The team was swept in the first round by regular season league champions HC Davos, staying competitive in the first two games before being blown out in the last two.  Knoepfli had no points in the playoffs.

Charlie Cook was something of a wanderer this season, starting the season with MoDo of the SEL before moving to Switzerland, making a short stop at Davos before eventually settling with the Langnau Tigers, which is also where Mike Iggulden spent the 2010-11 season.  Cook had one goal in seven games with Langnau, but had a plus/minus (-11) that seems like it must be a misprint because it's so low.  Iggulden was a standout in his first year in Switzerland, leading Langnau with 40 points in the 50-game regular season.  The team finished sixth in the regular season but, like Fribourg-Gotteron, were swept in the first round of the playoffs, falling to SC Bern in 4 games.  (Cue JTW singing and waving his SCB scarf.)  Cook played in just one of the four games and had no points; Iggulden played in all four and had two assists.

Speaking of Bern, Justin Krueger played for them in 2010-11, scoring a goal and 10 assists in 50 games.  After beating Langnau in the first round of the playoffs, Bern, the defending champions, drew the Kloten Flyers in the semifinals.  Bern fell behind 3-0 in the series but have since come back to tie the series at 3; game 7 is being played now and Bern trail 1-0 in the third period.  Krueger has 2 assists in the 10 playoff games Bern has played so far.

I believe that's it for Europe; the one other Cornellian who played across the pond last year was David LeNeveu, but he's now back in North America.  The CHL playoffs have also started already, and those involve at least David McKee and Joe Scali; I'll look into those later on.

[Jim Hyla]

Thanks.

[Josh '99]

Sweden

Lulea and the Abbotts lost game 5 of their playoff series with Skelleftea and now trail their series 3-2.  As I mentioned earlier, game 6 will be in Lulea on Thursday, and if Lulea are able to even the series then game 7 will be played in Skelleftea on Saturday.

Switzerland

Justin Krueger and SC Bern lost game 7 of their playoff series against Kloten 1-0, and were eliminated from the National League A playoffs.

Germany

I didn't realize it earlier today, but Mark McCutcheon and Sasha Pokulok spent 2010-11 with the DEG Metro Stars of the DEL (which is the top-level league in Germany).  Pokulok had 15 points (4 G, 11 A) in 52 regular season games, and McCutcheon had 8 points (3 G, 5 A) in 33.  The Metro Stars finished second in the DEL with 93 points.  In the second round of the playoffs (the top six teams get a first-round bye), the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1 (the third game was just earlier today), and they will start another best-of-three series against the Berlin Eisbaren (cue JTW to put on his other scarf), who finished third in the regular season, on Sunday, SUNDAY SUNDAY!

CHL

Joe Scali spent the season with the Laredo Bucks of the CHL; his teammates there included Chad Morin (Harvard).  Scali appeared in 33 of the Bucks' 66 games, registering 4 goals and 9 assists.  The Bucks, however, narrowly lost out on the last Berry (southern) Conference playoff spot to the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees (the CHL has some great team names) on a tiebreaker.

Dave McKee is with the Odessa Jackalopes, where he appears to be part of a three-goalie rotation with Mike Mole and Joel Martin.  Martin, however, has spent some time with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (the Jackalopes' AHL affiliate) and would seem the most likely choice to play in the playoffs.  The Jackalopes finished fifth in the Berry Conference and will meet the fourth-place Texas Brahmas in the best-of-five first round.  The series starts with two games at the Brahmas Thursday and Saturday.  Incidentally, for the past four seasons the head coach of the Jackalopes has been one Dan Wildfong, who may be remembered for his playing career at Colgate from 1995-99 or for the inclusion of his name in Michigan's penalty cheer.

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?  He's been with the Fort Wayne Komets (formerly of the IHL, now part of the CHL following the two leagues' merger last summer) for the past four seasons and, at 36 years old, was the team's leading scorer this season with 44 points (14 G, 30 A) in 61 games.  The Komets finished in sixth place in the CHL's Turner (northern) Conference and will face the third-place Bloomington PrairieThunder (yes, one word) in the first playoff round, which starts with two games in Bloomington on Saturday and Sunday.  The Komets' starting goalie in the playoffs may very well be Nick Boucher (Dartmouth).

Still to come:  NHL, AHL and ECHL playoffs.

[redice]

the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1

Is Lance Nethery still affiliated with that team?   I believe he was their coach for a while.

[Josh '99]

the Metro Stars won a best-of-three series against Adler Mannheim 2-1

Is Lance Nethery still affiliated with that team?   I believe he was their coach for a while.

Thank you for reminding me!  Nethery is, in fact, the GM of the Metro Stars.  I wonder whether we might see a few more Cornell alumni playing in Dusseldorf in the future as a result.

[Roy 82]

BTW, this is the same Adler Mannheim team that tied (not counting the shootout) the SJ Sharks in an exhibition game at the beginning of the season.
I am not saying that they would be competitive in the NHL, but the level of play is obviously not too far below.

[RichH]

Incidentally, for the past four seasons the head coach of the Jackalopes has been one Dan Wildfong

You just blew my mind.

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?

Yes, because 1996 will never die. I can't wait for that episode of the VH-1 series "I Love the Cornell Hockey Teams of the '90s"

[RatushnyFan]

Looks like Dan Ratushny is leaving Olten for the Straubing Tigers of the DEL.  Using iGoogle's German to English translator, a recent article mentioned the following (note that Olten made the playoffs, so this is technically relevant to the thread):

"Ratushny changes to the Straubing Tigers, who missed in the German Ice Hockey League with rank 13 in the past qualifying the playoffs. Olten failed this season with Ratushny in the playoff semi-final of the National League B in Lausanne."

From another article:
"The Straubing Tigers go with a new coach for next season: Dan Ratushny takes over the table last season and the twelfth heir to predecessors Dean Fedorchuk. The contract of the 40-year-old Canadian run for a year with club side option. "Ratushny has convinced a consistent and clear concept, " said Tigers manager Jürgen Pfundtner."

Sounds like a step up.  I think Dan will be a good coach, very intense and smart, and he obviously can't get hockey out of his system!  I know the feeling.

Straubing has a number of North American players, including several former college hockey players.  2010-11 Straubing Tigers

[Josh '99]

BTW, this is the same Adler Mannheim team that tied (not counting the shootout) the SJ Sharks in an exhibition game at the beginning of the season.
I am not saying that they would be competitive in the NHL, but the level of play is obviously not too far below.

I would be inclined to speculate that the level of play in the top European leagues is probably somewhere between the AHL and the ECHL.  Maybe teams in the SEL and KHL are even at a slightly higher level of play than the AHL, when you figure that top players from those leagues come over and contribute in the NHL right away.

[Josh '99]

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?

Yes, because 1996 will never die. I can't wait for that episode of the VH-1 series "I Love the Cornell Hockey Teams of the '90s"

I think of PC as like the Crash Davis of hockey, telling the kids about the few days he spent in the show back in 1997.  I'm pretty surprised he didn't at least stick in the AHL; as a kid he was probably able to play at a higher level than the ECHL (in 1997-98 at 23 he was one of the top scorers on a Charlotte Checkers team that had a few guys who went on to decent NHL careers); he must've had AHL contract offers if he was a free agent, and it seems odd to me that he'd choose to go play in the UK instead.  To each his own, though.

[Trotsky]

I hope the presence of Cornell alumni in Europe can be translated into future Cornell recruiting from Europe.

[Jim Hyla]

Speaking of the '90s, would you believe that PC Drouin is keeping on keeping on?  He's been with the Fort Wayne Komets (formerly of the IHL, now part of the CHL following the two leagues' merger last summer) for the past four seasons and, at 36 years old, was the team's leading scorer this season with 44 points (14 G, 30 A) in 61 games.

So, bring his name up, and he get's some ink.

[Josh '99]

Well, I guess I got this started a couple weeks ago and then didn't follow up.  Time to remedy that!   I think I got everybody, but, as always, please feel free to tell me where I screwed up.

NHL

Douglas Murray and the San Jose Sharks finished second in the Western Conference and have home ice advantage in their first-round series against the Los Angeles Kings (captained by Ithaca native Dustin Brown).  The series starts in San Jose tonight at 10pm EDT, and game 1 will be televised on Vs.

Ryan O'Byrne and the Colorado Avalanche finished 14th in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

Byron Bitz spent the 2010-11 season on injured reserve; his Florida Panthers finished last in the Eastern Conference and missed the playoffs.

Joe Nieuwendyk, general manager of the Dallas Stars, fired head coach Marc Crawford after the Stars finished ninth in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

Raymond Sawada, who was injured while playing for the NHL Dallas Stars earlier in the season, is back with the AHL Texas Stars for their playoff run, which starts tonight.  The Stars, who finished fourth in the AHL's West Division, head into the playoffs having lost five of their last six games and will hope to reverse that trend against the West Conference top seed Milwaukee Admirals.

Riley Nash had 32 points (14 G, 18 A) in his first professional season for the new Charlotte Checkers (the relocated Albany River Rats, not the defunct ECHL franchise), and the Checkers finished third in the AHL's East division.  They will meet the defending champion Hershey Bears, who finished second in the division, in the first round of the playoffs starting tonight.

After spending much of the season shuttling between the NHL and the AHL, Colin Greening is back with the Binghamton Senators for the playoffs.  The B-Sens finished fifth in the AHL's East Division, and will face the Manchester Monarchs, who finished second in the Atlantic Division, in the first round starting tonight in Manchester.  (The Senators qualified for the playoffs instead of the Worcester Sharks, who finished fourth in the Atlantic Division, by virtue of their better record, but are bracketed with the Atlantic Division teams as the last qualifier from the East Division.  This is probably good for them, as the East Division appears to have been the AHL's toughest this season with five teams with over 90 points; the Anlantic, for comparison, only had two.)

Brendon Nash had a cup of coffee with the Canadiens earlier in the year, as discussed in a previous Alumni In The Pros thread, but will be with the Hamilton Bulldogs for their run in the AHL playoffs.  The Bulldogs finished first in the North Division, and will meet the Oklahoma City Barons, who finished fifth in the West Division, in the first round starting tonight in Hamilton.  (The Barons, like the Senators, are bracketed with the teams from the North Division as the fifth-place team in the West Division.)

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

David LeNeveu and the Springfield Falcons finished sixth in the Atlantic Division and missed the playoffs.

ECHL

Blake Gallagher and the Las Vegas Wranglers finished fourth in the ECHL's Western Conference; Gallagher was seventh on the team with 29 points (12 G, 17 A) in 61 games.  Evan Barlow and the Idaho Steelheads finished fifth in the ECHL's Western Conference; Barlow was third on the team with 54 points (18 G, 36 A) despite being limited to 39 of the team's 72 regular season games.  The Wranglers and Steelheads met in the first round of the playoffs, which the Steelheads won three games to two.  The Steelheads will take on the Alaska Aces in the second round starting tomorrow night; the Aces won the Brabham Cup as the ECHL's best team in the regular season.  Barlow led the Steelheads with six points (2 G, 4 A) in the first round of the playoffs, while Gallagher had two assists.

Mike Kennedy spent 2010-11 with the Florida Everblades, but missed most of the season, I assume due to injury; he played in only 12 games and is listed on the team's website as inactive.  The Everblades were eliminated 3-1 by the Kalamazoo Wings in the first round of the playoffs.

Doug Krantz started the season with the Cincinnati Cyclones, where he played all of last season, before moving to the Toledo Walleye and eventually the Ontario Reign, all of the ECHL.  The Reign finished last in the Western Conference and missed the playoffs.

CHL

David McKee and the Odessa Jackalopes won their first-round playoff series against the Texas Brahmas, three games to one.  McKee has yet to appear for the Jackalopes in the playoffs.  Joel Martin was solid in all three of the Jackalopes' wins; Mike Mole allowed five goals in the Jackalopes' lone loss in the first round, which may open the door for McKee to see some game time if Martin needs a rest in the second round.  The Jackalopes will take on the Allen Americans (McKee's team in late 2009-10) in the Berry Conference semifinal, which starts tonight.

PC Drouin's Fort Wayne Komets won their first round playoff series in a three-game sweep over the Dayton Gems; Drouin scored two goals in the series.  The Komets will take on the Rapid City Rush, the Turner Conference's top seed, in the conference semifinals starting tomorrow night.

Sweden

Lulea HF and the Abbotts lost to Skelleftea AIK 4-2 in the SEL semifinals; in the last game of the series, Cam had an assist and Chris had two, but Cam was -1 and Chris was -2.  Skelleftea would go on to lose the finals 4-1 to Farjestads BK.  

Germany

Mark McCutcheon and Sasha Pokulok's DEG Metro Stars held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 in their best-of-five series against Eisbaren Berlin (which I had previously incorrectly said was a best-of-three series), but lost the last two games and were eliminated from the DEL playoffs.  Over nine total playoff games, Pokulok had two goals and was -2; McCutcheon was scoreless and -3.  The Eisbaren will take on the Wolfsburg Grizzly Adams (yes, that's actually their name) for the DEL championship.

Russia

Ryan Vesce spent the 2010-11 season with Torpedo Nizhny Novgorod of the KHL, where he was second on the team with 48 points in 51 games.  Torpedo finished ninth in the KHL's Western Conference, missing the playoffs by one point.

United Kingdom

Jon Gleed played for the EIHL's Belfast Giants in 2010-11, where he was the top-scoring defenseman with 39 points in 57 games; the Giants finished third in the ten-team league, one point back of the first-place Sheffield Steelers.  The Giants beat the Coventry Blaze in the first round of the playoffs, but were eliminated by the Cardiff Devils in the semifinals.  By the way, if you've ever wanted to buy yourself an ugly replica jersey for a Cornell alumnus playing in Europe, you really owe it to yourself to pay a visit to the Giants' online store; those things are hideous.  This is Gleed celebrating a goal in their home jersey; the road ones are ALL teal.

http://www.belfasttelegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/00485/GIANTS_30_485065a.jpg

[Ronald '09]

AHL

Shockingly, Matt Moulson and the Islanders did not qualify for the playoffs.

So you count the Islanders under AHL and the Panthers under NHL?  I'm pretty sure the fishsticks have been in the playoffs 3 times in the last decade to Florida's zero, and have won four cups to Florida's zero overall.  Am I missing how the Panthers are so much more deserving to be under the NHL heading?

And I'm not even an Islanders fan.

[redice]

Ben Scrivens and the Toronto Marlies finished fifth in the North Division and missed the playoffs.

In the past couple of days, Ben was sent down to the Reading Royals of the ECHL...Since Reading is still playing, I'm guessing that's to get him some more ice time...