BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings
HARTFORD, CT – The chase for a championship at all levels of hockey starts with roster selection. The number of signings this week picks up to a breakneck pace.
Ex-Hartford Wolf Pack, Greg Chase, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler, Kelly Chase, signs with the Maine Mariners (ECHL).
Ex-Bridgeport Sound Tiger, Yannick Turcotte, signs a one-year, two-way (AHL-ECHL) deal with the Hershey Bears.
Charles Curti (Yale University) departs the Rapid City Rush (ECHL) to sign back with the Adirondack Thunder (ECHL).
AHL TO EUROPE SIGNINGS
Eight more AHL players sign in Europe this week.
Gregor MacLeod leaves the Grand Rapids Griffins for Nuremberg (Germany-DEL). Tyler Groavac leaves the Manitoba Moose for Dynamo Minsk (Belarus-KHL), becoming the 17th player heading to the KHL.
Then Veini Vehviläinen leaves the Toronto Marlies for Brynas IF (Sweden-SHL). This signing makes seven players going to Sweden.
Jalen Smercek of the Tucson Roadrunners heads to Donbas Donets’k (Ukraine-UHL). He’s the first AHL’er to head to Ukraine. Defenseman Reece Willcox departs the Hershey Bears for HC Val Pusteria (Italy-IceHL), becoming the first player to head to Italy.
Chase Berger of the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins signs with HC Banska Bystrica (Slovakia-SLEL). Nicholas Welsh leaves the Rochester Americans and signs with Nuremberg (Germany-DEL).
Jeremy Roy of the San Diego Gulls signs with HKM Zvolen (Slovakia-SLEL).
56 AHL’ers to date have signed overseas. Additionally, 25 of 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player.
MORE MOVES
Ex-Wolf Pack, Travis Oleksuk, splits from EC Graz (Austria-IceHL) and signs with the Sheffield Steelers (England-EIHL).
Ex-Sound Tiger, Ty Wishart, departs from HC Cszilkscereda (Romania-MOL) and arrives at Unia Oswiecim (Poland-PZIHL) for the 2021-22 season is taking the import spot on the team from another ex-Sound Tiger, Victor Bartley.
Former Yale Bulldog, Denny Keaney, switches French teams from Grenoble to HC Cergy-Pontoise (France-FREL).
Another ex-Sound Tiger, Darren Nowick, who played with Skellefteå AIK (Sweden-SHL), announces his retirement.
Riese Zmolek, the son of former NHL’er Doug Zmolek, finishes at Minnesota State-Mankato (NCHC) signs with the Iowa Wild (AHL). Brandon Schultz of Northern Michigan (WCHA) signs with the Toledo Walleye (ECHL), making 80 Division-I players signing in North America and 113 total college players (Division-I and Division-III) signing pro deals.
The conference breakdown is as follows; Hockey Eart 25, Big 10 has 21, NCHC 15, AHA seven, ECACHL has six, the WCHA now CCHA has four and two from NCAA Division I independent Arizona State.
In NCAA Division III, just three players thus far and 30 skaters have signed in Europe.
EVEN MORE MOVES
Aidan Metcalfe, a defenseman with the NAHL Robertson Cup champion Shreveport (La) Mudbugs, has committed to UCONN (HE) for the fall, the last for the Huskies.
Christian Yersich transfers back home from Colorado College Tigers (NCHC) to the brand-new University of St. Thomas Tommies (CCHA) program.
Zach Pellegrino (Gunnery Prep-Washington) leaves Bentley University (AHA) and transfers to Division-III independent Albertus Magnus College in New Haven who start play this fall, making 66 in-school transfers and 51 grad transfers for 116 college players to move this off season.
A FIRST
In a historic first, the NCAA has granted a major junior player the right to play in the NCAA.
Austen Swankler commits to the Bowling Green University Falcons (CCHA). He played for the Erie Otters (OHL) for two years and didn’t play anywhere last year. He played US junior hockey for the Waterloo Black Hawks (USHL) three years ago.
In a release, it was stated Swankler petitioned the NCAA directly before making his commit. Usually, one second of play in a major junior regular season game wiped out any chance of playing NCAA hockey. The NCAA has historically considered major junior as a professional league.
This crack in the door likely means petitions will be handled on a case-by-case basis and not lead to a flood of applications.
BACK TO TRANSACTIONS
Sam Anderson of the Philadelphia Hockey Team (NCDC) and the Tim Manning Valley Jr. Warriors (EHL) commits to the Albertus Magnus (New Haven) College Falcons.
After five seasons at Lake Superior State (CCHA), ex-Hartford Wolf Pack and New York Ranger Michael York signs a multi-year extension along with fellow assistant Zack Cisek. Both were given promotions of the title Associate Head Coach.
The Holy Cross Invitational tournament scheduled for October 8-9 to kick off the college hockey season in the Northeast has been moved to the DCU Center in Worcester, MA, from the 1,600-seat renovated Hart Center Arena on the campus of Holy Cross. The Crusaders, the Northeastern Huskies, the Quinnipiac University Bobcats, and Boston College Eagles are slated to participate.
The 56th annual Christmas Holiday Great Lakes tournament between Michigan, Michigan Tech, Michigan State, and Western Michigan will be held at the campus arenas of Michigan (Yost Arena) and Michigan St. (Munn Arena) on December 29-30. The Yost Arena will likely undergo a name change in the fall after an internal review found legendary football coach Ned Yost conducted unfair conduct against black athletes during his tenure as AD.
Munn Arena just received a $1.5 million donation for arena upgrades.
BLANCHETTE RETURNS
Adam Blanchette (Berlin/CT Clippers-MetJHL/Danbury Whalers-FPHL) returns from overseas to become the new assistant coach with the Danbury Hat Tricks (FPHL).
Blanchette spent four years in New Zealand playing and then coaching the Sky City (Queenstown) Stampede (formerly Southern Stampede) of the New Zealand Ice Hockey League (NZIHL).
The team won three consecutive Birgel Cup titles (2015-2017) in the short-season league. He was also an assistant coach for the New Zealand National Team that took home silver at the IIHF Division 2 Group B Championships held in Grenada, Spain, in 2017.
He also played two years in the Netherlands, a year in Australia, four years in the defunct Central Hockey League with the Rio Grande Valley (TX) Killer Bees, Tulsa Oilers, and New Mexico Scorpions. He also played major junior hockey for the Quebec Remparts, Moncton Wildcats and Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL.
CONNECTICUT CONNECTED PLAYERS
Matt Graham, a former Danbury Titans (FPHL) player, was named the new Head Coach/GM of the Port Huron (MI) Prowlers (FPHL) and had been a playing assistant coach the last three seasons.
Former New Haven Senators Harijs Vitolins was named by the Latvia Hockey Federation (LHF) as the Head Coach for the Latvian National Team a month before their IIHF Group E Olympic qualifying tournament games at the Arena Riga August 27-29.
The teams in that group vying to get an invite to the Beijing Games in February 2022 are France, Italy, Hungary, and Latvia.
Latvia is seeking its sixth Olympic appearance. They took part in the 1936 Games and were then annexed by Nazi Germany and then by the Soviet Union. They made it in their first year back as an independent nation in 2002 and then in 2006, 2010, and 2014.
They missed out on the 2018 Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Vitolins replaces former NHL coach Bob Hartley, who was with the team for the last five years. He is now the head coach of the defending KHL Gagarin Cup champs Avangard Omsk team. In addition, Vitolins has been an assistant coach with Spartak Moscow (Russia-KHL) for the last two years.
PACIFIC RIM
The ALIH (Asia League Ice Hockey), because of the COVID-19 outbreak over in the Pacific Rim region to decide to move the start of their 2021-22 season to December from September.
