Cornell alumni in the pros: April 2004

[Avash]

Not a good start to the month:

Sam Paolini has been released by the Rochester Americans of the AHL. He signed a player tryout contract with them on 3/16, and since then, played in 4 of the team's 8 games, scoring 1 goal. He hasn't shown up on the Atlantic City roster, so I'm wondering where he'll end up now. LOTS of NCAA players, by the way, floating around the transactions pages of the ECHL and AHL.

[Al DeFlorio]

Two goals on two shots for Joe and a 14-4 face-off edge in a 6-0 win for the Leafs at Ottawa.

[Avash]

Lots to talk about (NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL).

Nieuwendyk had 2 goals tonight as Toronto secured home ice for the NHL playoffs. That's been talked about in another thread though, so I'll move on....

Just 2 weeks left in the AHL regular season. Friday night, Jean-Marc Pelletier had 45 saves, but let in 3 goals, as Providence beat Springfield 3-0. Tonight, things went much better for the Falcons as they won 5-3, with Pelletier making 34 saves on 37 shots.

Last night, Stephen Baby had a fighting major, and tonight, scored the first goal of the game. Chicago is currently leading Grand Rapids 2-1 in the 3rd period.

In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.

Also, the Florence Pride, for whom Mark McRae and Matt Underhill play, have changed their name back to the Pee Dee Pride. I don't know why. Anyway, both McRae and Underhill had good games in a 5-1 Pee Dee win over Greensboro Friday night. McRae had 2 assists, and Underhill had 37 saves on 38 shots to earn the win.

And in the CHL, the Conference Finals are underway. Travis Bell had an assist and was +2 in Game 1 of the Northern Conference Finals last night as Bossier-Shreveport beat Wichita 5-3. Game 2 of the best of 7 playoff series is currently in overtime, after Bell scored with just a minute and a half remaining in the third period to tie the game at 1. I'll post the result of that game later.

[Big Red Colonel]

Avash,

Where do you find all of this stuff out?  League webpages?  E-Magazines?  Someplace else?

Great stuff, I really appreciate your reports!

-Mike

[Avash]

So Chicago ended up winning their game against Grand Rapids 2-1, with Baby getting a goal.

And the CHL game turned into quite a classic. Bell's goal late in the third period to send it to OT was the only goal for a while, until Bossier-Shreveport's Jim Sprott finally scored a power play goal 3:43 into the THIRD overtime to win the game 2-1 and take a 2-0 series lead. Bell, who had 19 points in 61 games during the regular season, has 3 points in his first 7 postseason games as a pro.


Mike - Good to know someone actually enjoys these frequent, often lengthy reports :-). As far as where I get the information, yeah I basically just use the league webpages:

For the AHL: http://www.theahl.com/
The menu of Scores, Schedules, Statistics, Standings, and Transactions gives all the pertinent information.

For the ECHL: http://echl.com/
Not the greatest website in the world, but every weekend I just check the Scores and Transactions from the menu on the left.

For the CHL: http://centralhockeyleague.com/scoreboard/


One day hopefully we can use the NHL webpages to look stuff up on some of these guys :-). Which reminds me, here's a cool stat: Nieuwendyk's points-per-game ratio this regular season (.76 points per game) is his highest since the 1998-1999 season when he of course won the Conn Smythe as a Dallas Star (.82 points per game that season and almost 1 point per game in the playoffs).

[billhoward]

[Q]Avash '05 Wrote:

 Lots to talk about (NHL, AHL, ECHL, CHL). Nieuwendyk had 2 goals tonight as Toronto secured home ice for the NHL playoffs. That's been talked about in another thread though, so I'll move on....
   Just 2 weeks left in the AHL regular season. Friday night, Jean-Marc Pelletier had 45 saves, but let in 3 goals, as Providence beat Springfield 3-0. Tonight, things went much better for the Falcons as they won 5-3, with Pelletier making 34 saves on 37 shots.
   Last night, Stephen Bâby had a fighting major, and tonight, scored the first goal of the game. Chicago is currently leading Grand Rapids 2-1 in the 3rd period.
   In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.
   Also, the Florence Pride, for whom Mark McRae and Matt Underhill play, have changed their name back to the Pee Dee Pride. I don't know why. Anyway, both McRae and Underhill had good games in a 5-1 Pee Dee win over Greensboro Friday night. McRae had 2 assists, and Underhill had 37 saves on 38 shots to earn the win.
   And in the CHL, the Conference Finals are underway. Travis Bell had an assist and was +2 in Game 1 of the Northern Conference Finals last night as Bossier-Shreveport beat Wichita 5-3. Game 2 of the best of 7 playoff series is currently in overtime, after Bell scored with just a minute and a half remaining in the third period to tie the game at 1. I'll post the result of that game later.[/q]

If the screen name is correct and you're an undergrad, a) thanks for the trove of information and b) are you getting out a lot, like on dates or going to class? Us older alums would recommend trying at least one of the two.

[Avash]

[Q]billhoward Wrote:


If the screen name is correct and you're an undergrad, a) thanks for the trove of information and b) are you getting out a lot, like on dates or going to class? Us older alums would recommend trying at least one of the two. [/Q]


Yeah I'm an undergrad, and if I AM going on lots of dates, let's not tell my girlfriend about it :-). And class.....yeah I guess I go there sometimes  ::nut::

[Tom Pasniewski 98]

Isn't there that saying about Cornell - friends, classes, extracurriculars - choose two - or something like that.

Luckily Cornell solves the aforementioned dilemna of classes, dating and hockey by mandating you get physical education while on the hill  ::nut::

To bring your minds back out of the gutter and contribute to this thread, thanks for these pro updates.  It wasn't until after graduation and Nieuwy's 98-99 season with Dallas that I started to appreciate pro hockey and the contributions of former Cornell players.  The info may all be out there but I like one condensed source.

[Josh '99]

[Q]Avash '05 Wrote:

In the ECHL, Sam Paolini made his return to Atlantic City this weekend after being released by the playoff-bound Rochester Americans of the AHL. He had an assist in a 7-0 win over Toledo on Friday night, and tonight (THIS IS GREAT), he scored his 18th goal of the season, and also had an assist, in a 4-3 win over Wheeling. The goaltender for Wheeling? Nick Boucher! And he was pulled in favor of...Joe Exter.[/q]This is somewhat off-topic, but if I'm not mistaken, that is Exter's 15th game this season, and if so, that would trigger an automatic contract extension for next year.  Just another step in an incredible comeback for X.

[Avash]

Doug Murray with a goal in a 4-2 loss to Syracuse tonight. The assists on his goal went to Grant Stevenson and Shane Joseph, both of whom you'll recall played for Mankato when we beat them in the NCAA first round last year. It was his 10th goal of the season.

ECHL regular season is over, and the playoffs are underway. Atlantic City is among the teams in the playoffs, so Sam Paolini's season is continuing (as is Ryan Moynihan's, who is apparently on the Atlantic City roster, but I don't think he plays much). Shane Palahicky is also experiencing some playoff action at the pro level, as the Alaska Aces are in the playoffs. Unfortunately, Underhill's and Mark McRae's seasons are over, as Pee Dee failed to make the playoffs. More on the postseason in both the ECHL and the CHL in a few days :-).

[Avash]

ECHL playoffs underway; Sam Paolini with an assist as Atlantic City beat Peoria 3-2 in Game 1 of the best-of-5 ECHL Division Semifinals.

Rough night for LeNeveu; 37 saves on 43 shots as Manchester beats Springfield 6-1 in AHL action.

Not a great night for Travis Bell and the Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs either. In a 5-2 loss to the Wichita Thunder, Bell was -3. The Mudbugs best-of-7 series lead is now 2-1.

[Avash]

Friday night, J-M Pelletier had 36 saves in a 3-0 loss to Providence. Former (Vermont, I think?) goalie Tim Thomas was in net for the Providence Bruins. This is the final weekend of the regular season in the AHL, but Baby's and Murray's seasons will continue, as both Chicago and Cleveland have clinched playoff berths.

Speaking of the playoffs, the Kelly Cup Playoffs of the ECHL are underway. The Alaska Aces, for whom Shane Palahicky plays, swept the #1 overall team 3-0 in their best of 5 first round matchup. Sam Paolini had a PP goal last night, but Atlantic City lost 6-3, and their series with Peoria is tied 1-1. Here's the bracket: http://www.echl.com/upload_images/2004KellyCupBracket.pdf

Also, in the CHL, Travis Bell had an assist and was +1 last night in a 4-1 Bossier-Shreveport win over Wichita. The Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs now lead the best-of-7 series 3-1, and are one win away from the Northern Conference Championship and advancing to the Presidents Cup Finals. Game 5 is tonight.

[Avash]

Pelletier rebounded from last night's loss by making 31 saves in a 2-1 victory tonight. The Falcons finish up their season tomorrow at Portland.

Travis Bell and the Mudbugs wrapped up the Northern Championship for themselves, with a 4-0 shutout of Wichita, winning the series 4-1. They advance to the CHL best-of-7 finals, and will play either Laredo or Amarillo (Laredo leads the series with Amarillo 3-2, I believe). The Laredo Bucks were the #1 overall team in the regular season, with an amazing 48-8-8 record.

So, during the next week, there will be 7 Cornell alums playing playoff hockey, at various levels (Nieuwendyk - NHL; Murray, Baby - AHL; Paolini, Moynihan?, Palahicky - ECHL, Bell - CHL).

Obviously the 2002-2003 class has been quite successful this year, as a group. Hopefully they continue it next season and don't start to disappear from their team rosters, even though that tends to happen frequently at the minor league level.

[mgl11]

Moynihan is no longer with the Bullies -- he was only signed for a weekend and then dropped. Don't know why they haven't updated the page roster though.

[Avash]

The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies were upset in the first round of the ECHL playoffs, beaten 3-1 in a best of 5 series by Peoria, who won games 3 and 4 both 2-1 in overtime. Paolini had an assist in game 3 on a goal late in the 3rd period to send that game to OT. Looks like the Peoria goaltender is the main reason they won the series (41 saves in game 3, 50 in game 4). Similar to what Vokoun is doing to the Red Wings these days :-O

AHL playoffs start today; Cleveland and Chicago play their first games tomorrow (the 15th). The AHL has a really bizarre playoff bracket (that involves what could be called best of 3 play-in series to get to the division semifinals). Rather than explaining it, here it is: http://www.theahl.com/AHL/04CalderCup/home.html

Chicago plays Grand Rapids in the first round, while Cleveland hosts Toronto in a best of 3 play-in series, the winner of which moves on to play Hamilton in the first round.