Ryan VanBuskirk

The Florida Everblades skated past the CHL Mississippi Riverkings Friday in a preseason game at Germain Arena. Justin Peters turned back 27 shots, while the Blades buried 4 of their 32 chances to pick up the win.

Matt Melanson opened the scoring for the Blades on the power play. Melanson picked up a rebound of a Frank MacDonald shot and put it past Mississippi goaltender Larry Stirling for the early lead. Big Ernie Hartlieb added some insurance when he discovered a loose puck by the side of the net and banged it home. Newcomers Kyle McAllister and J. F. Bittner picked up the assists on that tally. They also added helpers on Jarrett Lukin's even strength goal just 1:23 seconds later. Lukin took a centering feed from Bittner and slipped it into the net for what would prove to be the game winning goal.

The Riverkings spent 12 minutes in the penalty box in the first period which worked in the Everblades favor as they put 22 shots on Sterling while the RiverKings could only muster 4.

Mississippi would put one on the board through late in the first when Ryan Campbell picked up a Dan Riedel pass from behind the net and muscled it by Peters with just over 2 minutes remaining in the perid.

The shot advantage would go to the Riverkings in the second period though 13-4, but Peters was up to the challenge. While there was no scoring in the second, Frank MacDonald squared off with Steve Makway to give the hometown crowd of 4,300+ a rush. The CHL crew spent an additional 8 minutes in the box prior the 2nd period fireworks, but the Blades could not get the power play working for them in the middle stanza.

Adam Taylor changed that in the 3rd through, making it 4-1 Blades as he worked the man advantage when he wristed a shot past Sterling. Hartlieb and defenseman Brandon Roach were credited with the assists on the play.

Jason Lawmaster would dance with Brad Herauf just under 7 and a half minutes into the final period and Ryan Van Buskirk tangled with Brian Mullally just past the 12 minute mark to add some fisticuff action to the scoring. Mississippi would manage to cut the score in half when Campbell picked up his 2nd tally of the night, when he rebounded a deflected blue line shot into the net with the man advantage.

Hartlieb picked up the 3rd star of the game for Florida, while Campbell's pair of tallies earned him 2nd Star of the game for the Riverkings. Taylor's goal and an assist for the winning team got him first star of the game.

The teams rematch Saturday night for the second of two exhibition games. The Everblades regular season begins Friday, October 19th as Florida hosts the Mississippi Sea Wolves for a 7:30 contest at Germain Arena. Tickets to both games are available that the Everblades box office and at all Ticketmaster locations.

Frank MacDonald

The Florida Panthers made some expected moves Monday, sending goaltender Tyler Plante and defensemen Frank MacDonald and Jordan Henry to the Florida Everblades. The reinforcements had not made it to Estero, Florida, in time for the opening of camp today, so former Everblades goalie Cam McCormick was helping out for the first practice of training camp.

The Blades also added forwards Derek Damon, Rick Ferroni and Adam Taylor to the roster. Damon joned the team after attending Islanders training camp and failing to make the roster for the AHL Bridgeport Sound Tigers. The 26-year-old University of Maine product recorded 48 points (20 goals and 28 assists) in 56 regular season games for the Everblades in the 2006-07 season. He also appeared in 16 Kelly Cup playoff games for the Blades, netting 5 goals and assisting on 2 others during Florida's post season run.

The 23-year-old Taylor returns to Blades having scored 41 points (21 goals, 20 assits) in 37 regular season contests for the Blades. He added 12 points (3 goals, 9 assists) in the playoff run for Florida as well.

Ferroni is a 25-year-old native of Stoney Creek, Ontario, who is joining the team on a tryout basis. He played 22 games last season with the Arizona State University men's ice hockey team.

Veteran Ryan Van Buskirk was also added to the Blades roster today. Van Buskirk appeared in 29 games for the Blades last season, scoring 1 goal and adding 12 assists, while spending 74 minutes in the penalty box. The 27-year-old defenseman adds a good deal of grit to Florida's blueline.

MacDonld joins Florida for his second Everblades season. He tallied 24 points (4g, 20a) last season and added an additional six points (1g, 5a) in the playoffs. Henry joins the Blades having finished up his junior career with the Red Deer Rebels of the Western Hockey League. The 21-year-old recorded 32 points (7 goals, 25 assists) and 162 penalty minutes in 72 junior major games. Henry signed by the Panthers as a minor league free agent.

Goaltender Tyler Plante is also in his first professional season. A 2nd round pick by the Panthers in 2005, he completed his junior major career with a record of 30-14-9 and a 2.71 GAA in 54 games with Brandon Wheat Kings of the WHL.

Former Blade goalie Justin Peters was also formally added to the roster today, despite being assigned down to the Blades last week by Albany.

Rumors from training camp say that defenseman Martin Tuma will not be reporting the Blades. The Most, Czech Republic, native was expected to start his 3rd season with the Blades having split the previous 2 seasons between Florida and Rochester of the AHL. Tuma had 9 assists and 77 penalty minutes in 32 regular season games for the 2006-07 Everblades. He also appeared in 23 games with Rochester, recording 33 penalty minutes.

Sadly, it has also been reported that Ryan Brindley has decided to follow Reggie Berg in to retirement. The Everblades captain appeared in 48 regular season contests for the Blades, gathering 2 goals and 23 assists, while logging 63 penalty minutes. Brindly as appeared in 159 Everblades games over 4 season from 2003 to 2007.

Everblades training camp will run through Oct. 18, the day before the opening of the regular season. Camp consists of an on-ice practice at 10 a.m. followed by an off-ice workout session each day except Sunday, which the players will have off. The Blades will play a pair of preseason games Friday and Saturday against the Central Hockey League's Mississippi RiverKings to get ready for the regular season. Tickets to the preseason contests, as well as opening night, are available at all ticketmaster locations and at the Germain Arena Box Office.

The 2007-08 Florida Everblades opened training camp today, still missing pieces of the team that will eventually take the ice for opening night. Most notably, the Blades are missing their second goaltender, who is to be assigned by the Florida Panthers.

David Shantz, the Panthers contribution to the Everblades netminding staff last season is still with the Rochester Americans as is newcome Tyler Plante. Shantz played last night for the Amerks, facing 21 shots, but falling in overtime 3-2 to the Hamilton Bulldogs. Plante has yet to see regular season action for the Amerks as Sabres prospect Adam Dennis took the start in Saturday's game against the Toronto Marlies. Dennis will likely see the bulk of time in net for the Amerks irregardless of which of the Panthers prospects coach Ranny Cunnyworth decides to retain.

Another former Blade who has yet to see ice time and who may be re-assigned down to the Blades is defenseman Frank MacDonald. The Amerks have 9 defenseman on the roster, and Cunnyworth has played the same six for the first two games of the Amerks regular season. Peter Aston, the Panthers sixth round pick in the 2006 draft and Jordan Henry, a Panthers free agent signee, also joined MacDonald on the bench for the first two games.

Meanwhile the prospects that are currently with the Blades are young. The Everblades, who were moving veterans on and off the roster last year, only have one veteran, Ernie Hartlieb, signed for the current season. That may change if Ryan Brindley decides to return to the Blades. An announcement is expected today.

The Blades lost a lot of firepower over the summer with Vince Bellissimo and Dustin Johner off to Europe, and Reggie Berg and Brent McDonald deciding to pursue other careers this season. Some of that fire power was made up earlier this week when the Blades reached an agreement with the Stockton Thunder for forward Mathieu Melanson. The 22-year-old son of former NHL goalie Rollie Melanson netting 14 goals and 12 assists in just 17 games with the Thunder last season. The terms of the deal, which includes financial and future considerations, were not announced.

The Panthers could help on the firepower end as well, as Mike Duco has also sat out the first two Amerks game. A free agent signee, Duco had 20 goals and 20 assists in 54 games during his final year of Junior Major hockey with the Kitcher Rangers.

Currently in camp, the Blades have forward J.B. Bittner, Brad Zancanaro, Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, Brad Herauf, Derek Damon, Jonathan Lehun, Kyle McAllister and Jarret Lukin. Zancanaro, Damon, Lehun and Lukin are all returnees and are familiar faces for Blades fans. The others are fairly steady scorers, but none promise to replace the scoring ability that was lost in front of the net over the offseason.

Steve Czech, Martin Tuma, Brett Peterson, and Bret Nasby will all be back on the blue line for the Blades, and they are welcoming in Brandon Roach and Steve Ward to their number.

While coach Gerry Fleming laments the loss of experience, he feels that he's got a good blend of skill and grit going with the Blades right now. If the Panthers assign only one or two players down, that will leave room for some of the free agents that were invited to Everblades camp to earn roster spots. The names of those players have not yet been released to the public.

Training camp will run through Oct. 18, the day before the opening of the regular season. Camp consists of an on-ice practice at 10 a.m. followed by an off-ice workout session each day except Sunday, which the players will have off. The Blades will play a pair of preseason games Friday and Saturday against the Central Hockey League's Mississippi RiverKings to get ready for the regular season. Tickets to the preseason constests, as well as opening night, are available at all ticketmaster locations and that the Germain Arena Box Office.

Affiliate News: The Albany River Rats won their regular season opener 3-1 Saturday night over the Binghamton Senators despite area problems that produced fog on the ice that interrupted play 25 times. Former Everblade Mike Angelidis tallied for the Rats and while Keith Aucion record an assist. The parent Carolina Hurricanes are off to a 1-1-1 start this season after they lost their last game 2-0 to the Washington Capitals on Saturday.

The Panthers meanwhile are 0-2-0 to start while the Rochester Americans are 0-1-1. The Panthers assigned Kamil Kreps to Rochester on Sunday, but he had not arrived in time to play in the game against Hamilton. 

Part of the Florida Everblades goaltending puzzle fell into place Wednesday, when the Albany River Rats assigned netminder Justin Peters to the ECHL. Albany decided to retain former Blade Kevin Nastiuk as their backup goaltender.

"We felt Kevin Nastiuk deserved to be the No. 2 guys," coach Tom Rowe was quoted as saying in an Albany Times Union article. "He has paid his dues the last two years in the East Coast league. The competition was set up to see who was going to perform the best. Kevin won the job, fair and square."

"As disappointed as Justin was at being sent to Florida," Rowe was quoted as saying in the same article, "we felt for his development we didn't want him sitting on the bench again and not getting a whole lot of playing time. The point of him going down was making sure he played and played a lot so we could get him developed."

Peters is considered one of the best athletes in the Carolina system. He played as a forward up untilt he time he was 12 years old, and still plays forward when he participates in summer roller hockey.

The Canes 2nd round pick in the 2004 draft, Peters was considered the Canes top prospect after defenseman Jack Johnson going into the 2006 season. But he played in a secondard position in Albany last year behind goalie Tyler Weiman, a Colorado prospect, who took the bulk of the starts in net. This season, Carolina signed free agent Michael Leighton to be the main man for the River Rats.

Hockeysfuture.com still lists Peters as the the Canes #2 prospect, this time behind center Brandon Sutter. Goalie Daniel Manzato was listed in the 10th spot, and Nastiuk in the 13th spot.

Peters posted a 3.26 GAA in 24 games played with a 10-18-0 record. He is not quite a stranger to the Everblades, playing one game for the last season.

The 6'1", 213 lb goalie slit his final year of Junior Major hockey between the St. Michael's (Toronto) and Plymouth. Plymouth is, of course, the junior team owned by Peter Karmanos, who is also a part owner of the Everblades.

Peters will join Martin Tuma and Bret Nasby, two former Blades who rejoined the team yesterday after being assigned to the Blades by the Florida Panthers.

Tuma appeared in 32 games last year for the Blades, recording 9 assists and 77 penalty minutes on the blue line. Fellow defenseman Nasby had 1 goal and 3 assists, plus 19 penalty minutes, in 31 games for the Blades.

The moves gives the Blades 15 players on their roster going into training camp, which opens Monday at Germain Arena. Rochester has 27 players on their roster, and has yet to make a decision on which netminder they are planning on keeping. A recent article in the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle said that no moves were planned this week.

The AHL starts their season tonight, the Amerks play their first game Friday against the Syracuse Crunch. Albany does not play their first game until Saturday.

The Everblades affiliated Florida Panthers play their season opener tonight at 7:00 PM in New York against the Rangers. The game is available on Fox Sports Florida. The Carolina Hurricanes host the Pittsburgh Penguins to kick their season off on Friday night.

The Everblades play a pair of preseason games against the CHL Mississippi RiverKings on Friday, October 12, and Saturday, October 13. It is the first time that the Blades have played a team outside their league, although not the first time interleague play has occured in the ECHL. Tickets to the game are available at the Germain Arena boxoffice and at all Ticketmaster locations.

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Join Jason and his crew Halloween night for Terror on 20th!!!

This October 31st, head over to 2812 SW 20th Ave, it's the 1st left after Chiquita from Veterans, on the Cape and explore something really scarey!!!

This Cape Coral tradition drew in over 600 people last year. You can view pictures from last year's haunting HERE.

Terror on 20th is free and they are give out candy for the kids!!!

The Florida Everblades had five players assigned down from the Albany River Rats, but the local papers are only making fuss about two.

Grant Goeckner-Zoeller, Brad Herauf and returning Everblade Brett Peterson were all on the Blades roster previously but were attending Rats camp. They came down along with a pair of new defenseman, Brandon Roach and Steve Ward.

No decision has been made of yet on the netminding situation although goalie Danny Manzato can be ruled out as he is starting the season with a sprained MCL and will remain in Albany while he is rehabbing. This leave the Rats trying to decide between Justin Peters and Kevin Nastiuk.

Meanwhile Rochester has not made a decision between David Shantz and Tyler Plante. Plante made 18 saves in Rochesters 4-3 loss to Syracuse in the Amerk's final exhibition game on Sunday. Shantz suffered the loss on Saturday in overtime to the Hamilton Bulldogs.

Peters and Nastiuk spilt wins for the River Rats over the Crunch in preseason.

Both Peterson and Goeckner-Zoeller had assists in Saturday's 5-3 win.

As for the new defensemen, Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming had the following to say:

"Both players have good puck sense and are coming off solid junior careers.

"Both of them are defensemen that move the puck well and skate well, and they are two players that we will utilize on the power play."

The two rookies will be making their professional debuts this season, with Roach joining the Blades out of college having played with Acadia University in Nova Scotia last season. Ward is coming in after spliting time with the Sarnia Sting and the Plymouth Whalers of the Ontario Hockey League, finishing up five years of Junior Major hockey.

Blades get 2 prospects from Albany
Pair assigned to Blades
Blades get two players assigned from Albany

On a side note, the Everblades have left Stevie Tomatoes in favor of Don Haney's Smokehouse for the coach's show for the upcoming season. "Blade's Talk" is also moving to Tuesday night at 7 PM. The first show will be Tuesday, October 16, and it will be held at the Daniels Parkway location. As always the show will be aired on SportsRadio 770 ESPN and on the internet via www.abc-7.com.

The Everblades play a pair of preseason games against the CHL Mississippi RiverKings on Friday, October 12, and Saturday, October 13. It is the first time that the Blades have played a team outside their league, although not the first time interleague play has occured in the ECHL. Tickets to the game are available at the Germain Arena boxoffice and at all Ticketmaster locations.

---

Join Jason and his crew Halloween night for Terror on 20th!!!

This October 31st, head over to 2812 SW 20th Ave, it's the 1st left after Chiquita from Veterans, on the Cape and explore something really scarey!!!

This Cape Coral tradition drew in over 600 people last year. You can view pictures from last year's haunting HERE.

Terror on 20th is free and they are give out candy for the kids!!! 

After this morning - with Diamond breaking my crystal vase followed by what I consider to be a time wasting staff meeting, all I really want to do is go home and hide out.

You know...it's just one of those days. Besides I really want to unload about the staff meeting, however...

I have tickets to tonight's Florida Everblades game against the Gwinnett Gladiators. Erf...

In minor league hockey, a Valentine's Day game usually means something unusual. In this case, they're wearing special jerseys which will be auctioned off afterwards to benefit the Heart Association.

My initial thought was green and pink -- ugh -- but I saw the draft and they actually don't look too hideous, nor do they look terribly Christmasy, which was my other concern.

I did ask Sean if he had special music lined up for the game and he said "Yeah, I guess I need to do that." Jeez, I can just imagine it will be a lack-luster effort, but that's part of the problem the Blades have been having. Lack up updated effort.

Swampee comes out, skates around before the start of the game with an American Flag. Then he throws T-Shirts to the crowd. Then we introduce the team and sing the national anthem. Then....it goes on and on.

I had gone to a Valentine's Day game in 2001, the Florida Panthers vs. the Phoenix Coyotes, a game I remember fondly, not because the Yotes won. They didn't, they lost 4-3. But more because they did play Valentine's day music and make an effort at working it into the holiday.

Travis Green had gone to the box at one point, to the tune of "Lonely...I'm Mister Lonely...I have nobody...to call my own..." When he realized they had him on the Jumbotron, he looked up, got a shit eating grin on his face and waggled his eyebrows. It was HYSTERICAL!

Pavel Bure scored a hat trick - something which he seemed to do every time I showed up for game. Unfortunately, I wasn't going to enough games that season, and so he wasn't scoring enough hat tricks, make it worth the Panthers while.

Kevyn Adams had the game winning goal. The problem I had, was that Brad May had the hook on him, and he didn't take it.

"You should have set the hook," I told him after the game. Sunrise doesn't like the fans to hang out after the game, but he likes to talk to his fans, and knew I was there, so we waited back the fence to the loading dock and he came out. I knew he would. He was, if nothing else, happy to see me.

"I would have gotten thrown in the penalty box."

"Like you've never been in one before?"

"Coach would have gotten mad. They would have given him a penalty shot."

"Esche would have stopped it." Goalies always have the advantage on penalty shots and shoot outs.

"But what if he didn't?"

"Then you would have lost, which you did anyway. At least this way, you would have had a chance to preserve the tie!"

Never argue hockey with a hockey player.

After missing most of the season following reconstructive shoulder surgery, May returned to the Colorado line up in time for the 6-3 loss to Atlanta Thursday, a game in which he was -1 with four shots on goal and four penalty minutes.

He did have an assist Sunday against the Dallas Stars (another loss) and was pretty much a non-factor in last night's win over the (no longer Mighty) Ducks.

I know that many of the Colorado fans still have a problem with him, but he really is a great guy to meet on a one-to-one level.

As for the Blades, I will have pictures up, hopefully by this weekend. The shots from Friday night's game against the Ice Pilots are available here. After tonight, Florida is off for three games on the road. While I'm going to the mid-week games for the next two weeks, this is pretty much going to be my last "free" weekend, as Spring Training starts and next weekend, I'll be down at the ballpark, having a look around.

We're also getting into a work crunch where I'll have to start putting in Saturday time as well as tax season is really starting to kick into gear. Ah well, I need the money. No rest for the weary and all of that. I wouldn't mind it so much if we weren't spending time in time wasting staff meetings!

The Florida Everblades had come in off a six game winning streak on the road and ran smack dab into a hot Davis Parley who posted a shut out to take a 2-1 win for the Stingrays on the Blades home ice. So, needless to say, I felt the need to go and observe this paragon of goaltending virtue first hand.

Saturday night was a different story however, as it was Craig Kowalski who posted the shut out, giving the Blades a 4-0 victory.

Local SW Florida resident Jason Provino provided EBUG services for the Rays, who were without Daren Machesney.

The game had progressed well into the third period, when Martin Tuma and Ryan Bennett got into a spat. Somehow, the Blades got out of that alright, only to have Brett Peterson take a stupid game misconduct with just under 4 minutes left to play.

Still, K-Wal hung on to get the win.

The Rays new jerseys did nothing for me, I still miss the old Sabres Lite sweaters, but I'm probably the only one who does, and I'm biased.

I had started putting this series up on NHL Connect, but there is no way to caption the photos, so it makes it kind of hard to know who you're looking at if you don't have a roster or know the players.

The full series is available here:

December 23, 2006 vs. South Carolina Stingrays

Former Tiger Shark Kirk DeWaele is now with the Charlotte Checkers, so in part, going and playing a round of "Where's Wally?" was a large part of attending. He did not react at all to my Tiger Sharks jersey. How soon they all forget. ::sigh::

This game, played on January 9, 2007, feature a fight between Florida's Bill Kinkel and Charlotte's Hugh Jessiman, right off the opening face off, and a really palty preformance by the Blades for the first part of the game.

Florida managed only six shots on goal during the first period and only had 2 shots on goal during a full 5-minute power play with Ryan Constant off for boarding - an action that took Brent McDonald off the ice for a while. I was pretty sure we'd lost him for the game, but he did return in the third period.

That finally put us into the double digits in shots, with the Blades managing only 11 to Charlotte's 27 through two.

Thank God for David Shantz or the Blades never would have been in this game. As it was, the scored twice in the third to tie the game up and take it into overtime.

Shantz is nearly unbeatable in the shootout, and he denied five Charlotte tries. Chris Lee tallied on Chris Holt to give the Blades the shoot-out win.



All the action, including fight shots can be found in my Yahoo Photo Album.

Enjoy!

"What color is Turple?"

"Turple?"

"Yeah. Is that like a cross between Turquoise..."

"No, Teal. Teal and Purple."

"Ah. Well, now I know."



"Why are you wearing a Maple Leafs jersey. That's like so Un-American."

"Yeah, it is very un-American. But I'm feeling kind of Canadian tonight, eh?"



"Is that a Swampee in that box?"

"No, Chad."

"Chad?"

"Yeah, Chad LaRose, he used to play for us."

"Wasn't he taller than that?"

"He was, but he shrunk going through the drier."



"The game against the Stingrays, I kept saying 'Who is that wearing #15, is that a new guy?'"

"Well, it's not like we've seen a lot of him lately, and he was only out there for one period."

"They should give the C to Ernie Hartlieb. As least we SEE more of him."



The rest of the pictures from last night's game between the Everblades and the Gladiators are available on Yahoo. I forgot to change the ASA until after after the start the first, so the better pictures are later in the game. I'd been out shooting the stadium....

:P

Former Tallahassee Tiger Shark center Ben Guite was called up to the Colorado Avalanche yesterday. He played 68 games with the ECHL Tiger Sharks in the 2000-01 season, the Sharks final season before the relocation to Macon.

After spending last season with the Bruins organization, the 28-year old native of Montreal, Quebec, signed as a free agent with the Avalanche in July.

Guite played one game with the NHL Bruins last season. He has spent most of his career in the AHL, playing with Bridgeport, Cincinnati and Providence.

Currently ranking second in scoring with the Albany River Rats, Guite has 25 points (8 g, 17 a) in 33 games played. He has registered points in 12 of his last 13 games, and ran his career-best point streak to 8 games in December.

Guite played four season with the University of Maine, including winning a Frozen Four championship in 1999 with the team. He served as an assistant captain last year win Providence and has been serving as co-captain this season on the Rats with former Everblade Keith Aucoin on call ups to Carolina.

In a related move, the Avalanche reassigned forward Brad Richardson to Albany. Richardson had 9 points (5 g, 4a) in 36 games with Colorado this season.

The Avalanche take on Tampa Bay at the Pepsi Center tomorrow night. Colorado is fourth (19-18-2, 40 points) in the Northwest Division while Tampa Bay is fourth (18-20-2, 38 points) in the Southeast Division. Colorado broke a three-game losing streak Monday with a 5-3 win on the road over the Nashville Predators.

In moves elsewhere, the Phoenix Coyotes acquired 23-year-old centerman Alexei Kaigorodov from the Ottawa Senators in exchange for Mike Comrie. Ottawa's second choice (47th overall) in the 2002 NHL Entry Draft, Kaigorodov made his NHL debut on October 14. He has 1 assists in six games with the Sens this season. He appeared in 12 games with Magnitogorski, in Russia earlier this season, netting 5 points (1g, 4a).

Comrie had 20 points (7g, 13a) in 24 games with the Coyotes this season. He was one of several unrestricted free agents (along with Ladislav Nagy and Shane Doan) that the Coyotes were considering trades on following the lifting of the holiday roster freeze.

Meanwhile the ECHL Florida Everblades traded defenseman Niko Tuomi to the Pensacola Ice Pilots for forward Adam Taylor. Taylor, a Florida Panthers prospect is on his third ECHL team this season, having been traded from the Victoria Salmon Kings to Pensacola earlier in the year.

“Adam is a player that will make an immediate impact on our club.” Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming said in a press release. “He's a solid player that we feel will contribute right away for us. At the same time it was tough having to move Niko. He’s a good player that played hard every night and we wish him nothing but the best.”

“Adam was somebody we tried to sign at the beginning of the year but we couldn't work something out with Victoria. I think his heart was not with Victoria or Pensacola so the Ice Pilots agreed to trade his rights,” said team president Craig Brush in a Naples Daily News article. The Everblades are the Panthers ECHL affiliate, so the move makes good sense for Taylor, who will now be working within the Panthers developmental program.

The Everblades loaned defenseman Chris Lee to the Bridgeport Sound Tigers of the AHL, and received forward Jonathan Lehun from Rochester. He'd been called up to the Americans over the Christmas break.

The Florida Everblades dropped two of three games to the Texas Wildcatters at the Ford Arena in Beaumont, Texas this weekend. The Blades now fall to second place in the South Division standings, 2 points in front of the Gwinnett Gladiators with one game in hand on that team.

Thursday night, Texas grabbed an early 2-0 lead, scoring a pair of goals within 26 seconds of each other, midway through the first period. Jason Beeman's wrist shot was the first past Blades netminder David Shantz. Alex Leavitt scored his initial goal in a Texas uniform right off the face off.

Reggie Berg tallied on the power play with just over five seconds remaining in the period to make it a 2-1 game, going into the locker room. It was Berg's 12th of the season, a deflection of a Frank MacDonld shot.

In the second stanza, Jonathan Paiement's short handed attempted bounced off an Everblades defender and into the net to make it 3-1 Wildcatters. Paul Albers finished off the scoring on the power play, at 3:11 of the third. Shantz turned away 31 Texas shots, dropping his record to 9-4-0, while Miroslav Kopriva picked up the win for the lone star state squad. Boxscore.

Craig Kowalski earned a shut out win against the Stingrays on Saturday the 23rd. This next start in net six days later, would also prove to be a shut out. But the Wildcatters' Matt Yeats was no slouch either, as both goalies denied all shooters in regulation, and overtime, sending the 0-0 game to a shoot out.

Vince Bellissimo, Brent McDonald and Chris Lee all got past Yeats in the shoot out, while Mike Bayrack would sneak one by Kowalski. That was all Texas would get through, as the Blades took the win; they gave up one point in the standings to Texas however, due to the tie. Boxscore.

Kowalski, who picked up the MVP award in the 2001 Florida College Hockey Classic with Northern Michigan University, could not carry his win streak into the new year. Bayrack picked up his team leading 16th goal just under four minutes into the contest to stake the Wildcatters to an early 1-0 lead. Jason Beeman tallied with just over four minutes left to play in the period to make it 2-0 Texas going into the locker room.

Much like Thursday night's performance, Reggie Berg netted the Blades solo goal to make it 2-1 Catters late in the third. Florida tried hard to tie the game, pulling Kowalski for the extra attacker, but the strategy backfired, not once, but twice, as Olivier Proulx and Leon Hayward both recorded empty netters to seal the win for Texas.

Yeats kicked out 46 saves for the Texas victory, while Kowalski made 22 saves in the losing effort. Boxscore.

The Blades finally get a break from their familiar nemesis, not facing Texas again until March. Returning to Florida, the Everblades kick off a five game homestand, taking on the Charlotte Checkers on Friday, Saturday and Tuesday and the South Carolina Stingrays the following weekend.

Mike Angelidis has been having a great rookie season for the Florida Everblades. Angelidis netted two goals for the Blades in Sunday's 5-2 win over the Columbia Inferno, shortly after he found out he was being called up to the American Hockey League.

Angelidis will fill Keith Aucoin's spot on the Albany River Rats roster.

The 21 year old native of Woodbridge, Ontario, also recorded an assist in Friday's 6-5 win over the Augusta Lynx, and tallied in the Saturday's nights 3-1 win over the South Carolina Stingrays. But it was the call up that really capped the right wing's weekend.

Angelidis has 18 points (10 g, 8a) as well as 54 penalty minutes and one suspension on the ECHL season to date. A free agent signee of the Carolina Hurricanes, Angelidis has been biding his time looking for the trip to Albany.

A product of the Ontario Hockey League system, Angelidis started skating when he was four years old. He followed his fathers advice to get into the Junior Major system at the age of 16, leaving his family for the small town of Owen Sound.

His first three year, were perhaps, nothing to write home about as he recorded a total of 54 points (25 goals) in 172 games. It was his outstanding fourth year which earned him a look at the NHL, and a contract by the Hurricanes.

His 53 goals, 78 points also got him named a first team All-star at the end of the season. But Angelidis' efforts extended past the rink as well.

Angelids became involved with the Disabled Learning Units of Grey and Bruce Counties and struck up a strong friendship with a particular student, T.J. Walton from Beavercreat School Disabled Learning Unit. Angelidis and Walton organized and co-hosted the first ever Owen South Attack - Bells Skills Competition and raised for than $5,500 for the Disabled Learning Units. He received an Award from the Bluewater and District School Board for his efforts.

But it didn't end there. His efforts came the attention of the Canadian Hockey League, and in May, Angelidis was presented with the Home Hardware Humanitarian Award for 2006.

Angelidis said he "packed medium" for his trip to the AHL, as he has no idea how long he'll be up, but the Rats have upcoming games on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday.

Meanwhile, the Blades will be without one of their mainstays on their top two lines.

"He earned it, really. He deserves the opportunity to play at the next level and hopefully he does well," Everblades head coach Gerry Fleming stated in today's Naples Daily News "We'll proceed under the assumption that he won't be with us this weekend."

Florida's three wins this weekend finished off a six game road trip in which the Blades took home victories in all six contests. Their win streak will be on the line Friday and Saturday as the Blades face off for a two-game homestand against the Carolina Stingrays.

Tied for first in the American Confrence's South Division with the Texas Wildcatters, the Blades will need to make every game count. Texas has a game in hand on the Everblades, and Florida will be traveling down to Beaumont, Texas, for games on the January 29th and 30th against the same team.

This weekend's match up will see the Stingrays look for some revenge for Saturday night's defeat.

Angelidis put the Everblades on the board in that contest, midway through the first stanza, a lead that stood up until the third period, when Reggie Berg forced a turn over behind the South Carolina net then passed the puck to Florida Panthers' prosect Dustin Johner, who one timed it past Stingrays goalie Darren MacChesney for the eventual game winning goal. Berg picked up an insurance marker on an empty net with one second left to play.

The ECHL takes a break from Christmas from December 24th through December 27th.

A season high four hat tricks were scored on December 15th. One of the hat tricks was by Augusta forward Shane Hynes during the Lynx's 6-5 loss to the Everblades. The ECHL record for the most hat tricks in one day is six, set on October 23, 1993 and tied on three other days, the last time happened on Valentines Day in 2004.

The Florida Winter College Hockey Classic moves into Germain Arena on December 29th and the 30th. The University of Maine, Cornell University, the University of New Hampshire and Western Michigan University will compete for the seventh annual Ned Harkness Championship. Maine and Cornell have each won the Championship twice, with Cornell taking home the honors in last year's tournament.

The Florida Everblades embark this weekend on a three game road trip to Augusta, Georgia, Charleston, South Carolina, and Columbia, also in South Carolina. The trip kicks off tonight with a game against the Lynx where the Blades will face their old bench boss, Bob Ferguson.

Ferguson's crew is sixth in the South Division, trailing the Everblades and the Gwinnett Gladiators by six points. The Blades also have three games in hand against the Lynx. Augusta is 4-6 over their last 10 games, suffering in part from mental mistakes, especially on their home ice at the Augusta-Richmond County Civic Center, currently known as the James Brown Arena.

"I can't explain it. I think we're a better team than that," Ferguson was quoted as saying in an article in the Augusta Chronicle. "The only thing we can do to get the energy up is to win some more games.

"Because of the last two weeks, I think you could say we've underachieved to this point. I wouldn't have said that two weeks ago. Sitting here (now), to be 12-13, we're disappointed with that because I think we're a better team than that."

The Lynx are under new ownership this season and also signed an affiliation agreement with the Anaheim Mighty Ducks. It was the Chicago Blackhawks though, who helped the team out this week, assigning goaltender Mike Brodeur to the team. The 23-year-old Brodeur was drafted in the seventh round, 211th overall, by the Blackhawks in the 2003 NHL Entry Draft. He appeared in 24 games with the ECHL's Greenville Grrrowl last season, posting a 14-8-2 record, .916 save percentage, and a 2.58 goals against average.

Brodeur has not yet played this season.

Meanwhile the Lynx send goaltender Brett Jaeger to the Long Beach Ice Dogs in exchange for cash considerations. Jaeger had a 4.24 goals against average with a .870 save percentage.

Rookie Dave McKee has been the mainstay in the Lynx net, appearing in 18 games this season. He has a 10-5-0 record, a 3.70 GAA ad a .893 save percentage.

Pointwise, Ryan Lang, Jamie Johnson and J.B. Bittner are the offensive threats for the Lynx with 26 points each. Lang his the goal getter with 12 goals (14 assists) while Johnson as 9 goals, 17 assists on the year and Bittner with 8 goals, 18 assists. Veteran Louis Goulet is next on the squad with 10 goals, 12 assists. Nick Kuiper leads the team in +/- with a +3.

Former Blade defenseman Sean Blanchard is currently with the Lynx. The Sudbury, Ontario, native has 15 points on the season (6 g, 9a) and is a -7 on the season.

The Lynx rank 24th in the power play at home, and also 24th in the penalty kill, something the Blades are hoping to take advantage of.

The Everblades however are not looking for an easy time from the Lynx.

"We've got three tough ones coming up here, three games in three different cities, that's going to be tough," veteran defenseman Ryan Van Buskirk was quoted as saying in today's Naples Daily News.

Following the Lynx, the Blades will hop on the bus for a trip over to Charleston, South Carolina where they will face the Stingrays, the team tied with the Lynx in the South Division standings, but with 2 games in hand on their Georgia rivals. South Carolina is 4-5-1 over their last ten games, and are 6-7-2 on the season on home ice.

Conversely, the Blades are 8-2-0 on the road.

The Rays are fourth in the league though in power plays at home, but 22nd over all in penalty kills. Florida is 6th in the league on penalty kill on the road, with 11 goals against in 77 opportunities. They are also 6th in the league in power plays, converting on 16 of 84 tries with the man advantage.

Veteran Brent McDonald who was nominated for ECHL Player of the Week honors has been on a hot streak for the Everblades. He leads the team in scoring with 24 points (11 goals, 13 assists) and is followed up by Panther prospect Dustin Johner, who has 22 points on the season with 9 goals, and 13 assists. Carolina Hurricanes prospect vince Bellissimo has 21 points for Florida, with 7 goals, and 14 assists.

The Stingrays, a Washington Capitals affiliate, are lead by Cail MacLean, with 24 points on the year (7g, 17a) and Chris Chaput with 22 points (12g, 10a).

David Parley has played the vast majority of games for the Rays in net, posting a 10-6-2 record with a 3.52 GAA and a .894 save percentage.

The Blades will face the Stingrays at home for a two game series next weekend, Saturday's game being the popular Everblades Calendar give-away.

Florida finishes up its road trip on Sunday with an afternoon game against the Columbia Inferno.

A former Everblade was involved in a goalie switch in Las Vegas as netminder Marc Magliarditi was assigned to the team by the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, while Wranglers goalie Mike McKenna was signed by the AHL Milwaukee Admirals. Magliarditi with share the Wranglers net with former Blade and current Carolina Hurricane prospect Kevin Nastiuk.

Suspensions have been handed down by both the UHL and the ECHL following last weekend's games.

Most notably, the Elmira Jackals were heavily penalized by the United Hockey League following a two-game series against the Fort Wayne Komets.

Jackals rookie Milan Maslonka took the biggest penalty, a 10-game stint plus a fine after taking Match Penalty for Cross Checking. He will not eligable to play again until the January 5th game against the Flint Generals.

Right wing Curtis Tidball received a six game penalty for his actions during an altercation and teammate Chanse Fitzpatrick was suspended for two games for his actions in the same altercation. Both were also fined undisclosed amounts.

Komet Bruce Richardson was fined, but not suspended for his participation in the same altercation.

Jackals General Manager Robbie S. Nichols, never one to meekly sit back and watch, was fined 3 games for being in a restricted area off the ice. Nichols was behind the bench with his coaches for both games of the series. Jackals Head Coach Kris Waltze and and Komets Head Coach Pat Bingham were both fined for failing to maintain control of their teams.

(Funny, and I was just thinking the other night about how we never seem to have interesting melees in hockey anymore.)

Both organizations were additionally fined under Rule 29, Supplementary Discipline.

"The United Hockey League has handed down some very stiff suspensions to the Elmira Jackals organization," Nichols was quoted as saying a press release. "We support the decisions made by the UHL. The Elmira Jackals will continue to be a physical team that stands up for themselves, but like the UHL we will not tolerate any hooliganism."

(It should be noted that Nichols has a track record for being involved in "hooliganisms", dating back to his first year as head coach for Flint in then Colonial Hockey League.)

"Things that happened at the end of the second period Friday, we don't condone," Nichols was quoted as saying in the Elmira Star Gazette. "At the end of Saturday, what Maslonka did, we don't condone."

The ECHL fined the Pensacola Pilots an undisclosed amount under Rule 71 - Video/DVD procedures. Pensacola failed to turn in a tape of the altercation that happened following Saturday night's game between the Ice Pilots and the Florida Everblades. Additionally, Pensacola captain Colin Hemingway was suspended for one game for instigation, receiving a major penalty and a game misconduct under Rule 47, Fighting. Hemingway sat out Pensacola's game against the Charlotte Checkers last night, a game the Ice Pilots lost 5-2.

The Naple Daily News also reported that Everblades netminder Craig Kowalski was suspended for his actions in the fight. He was penalized for leaving the crease and slashing at the end of the game. He sat out Sunday's game against the Gwinnett Gladiators. (NDN erroneously reported the fight as happening on Friday night.)

Wheeling Nailers forward Joe Guenther was fined an undisclosed amount for a major spearing penalty for his actions at the conclusion of Friday night's game against the Toledo Storm.

In an unrelated move, the Jackals signed Doug Teskey as an Emergency Backup Goaltender after David Lemanowicz as placed on the 7-Day injured reserve with pneumonia. Lemanowicz has been told to avoid physical activity for the next ten days. Teskey works for the Jackals front office in the sales department, and has not played a professional game since the 2004-05 season.

The Jackals host the Port Huron Flags at 7:00 pm on Wednesday at First Arena and then will head out on the road for three games in Michigan over the weekend. Friday Elmira is in Port Huron, Saturday the Jackals head to Flint, then Sunday they will play a long anticipated rematch with the Kalamazoo Wings.

Defenseman Wes Blevins and forward Dan Veenema were activated from the IR, and are both available for tonight's game.

Komets handed fines for fracas in Elmira

Meanwhile the Florida Everblades announced the 8th annual Teddy Bear Toss was the most successful in team history with 5,528 stuff toys collected, which will go to various charities in the Southwest Florida area. United Way, Toys for Tots, the Salvation Army, Barbara’s Friends, and the Children's Hospital at Healthpark were just some of the organizations that benefited from the event.

The Blades begin a three game road trip on Friday against the Augusta Lynx. The teams will meet at the James Brown Arena at 7:35. Saturday the Blades take on the South Carolina Stingrays at 7:05 and will play a Sunday game against the Columbia Inferno at 5:05 pm. All times are eastern standard. This also the weekend for the annual Everblades fans road trip, which will take in the games at Augusta and South Carolina as part of the package deal.

The curse of the Teddy Bear Toss?
Veterans provide solid foundation for Blades

Ronnie Francis is not quite done with the Hurricanes. While he's no longer an on-ice presence for the Carolina team, he continues to work behind the scenes as Director of Player Development.

Francis retired after 23 seasons, 549 goals, 1,249 assists and 1,798 points, yet when he stepped onto the ice Thursday, he still very much looked like a guy that could play the game at the highest level.

"I was comfortable moving on," Francis was quoted in saying in an article in the Albany Times Union. "I have no desire to go out there and play."

Francis now resides in Raleigh, North Carolina and is happy with the change. "I can walk in the rink in Raleigh or here and enjoy a game as a fan."

His visit to the Rats was to dispense advice and suggestions, not just to the Canes prospects, but also the Colorado Avalanche prospects who share the Cane's AHL farm team.

"This is great for our guys to have him here," Rats head coach Tom Rowe said in the same article. "When you have a Hall of Famer in your midst, you definitely want to take advantage of it."

The Rats responded with two wins this weekend, shutting out the Springfield Falcons 4-0 on Friday, and downing the Providence Bruins 2-1 on Saturday.

Strangely, it was largely the 'Lanche kids who responded in Friday's game as Johnny Boychuk, Jeff Finger, and Cody McCormick all scored with Mark Flood, Ben Guite, and McCormick all picking up assists. Pat Dwyer was the only Hurricanes prospect to tally in that game, while Kevin Estrada, a Carolina third round draft pick in 2001, added an assist.

Canes prospect Justin Peters made 24 saves, improving his record to 4-9-0.

Guite, a free agent prospect for Colorado, also tallied on Saturday night, while Scott Kelman, a Hurricanes free agent prospect, netted the game winning goal at 14:42 of the second period. Peters turned way 29 shots in the win.

Francis will make several more trips to Albany during the course of the season, and will stop down in Southwest Florida to check on the Carolina prospects playing with the Everblades.

"He knows what it takes to be in the NHL," said Rats captain Keith Aucoin, who has spent some time with the NHL Carolina Hurricanes. "We have to use this as an advantage and ask him questions. We all want to get to the next level. He's been there."

Friday
Game Summary
Game Report
Boxscore

Saturday
Game Summary
Game Report
Boxscore

Vince Bellissimo, a Panthers 6th round draft pick in the 2002 draft that is now playing in the Hurricanes system, had a goal and an assist in the Florida Everblades 6-5 win over the Gwinnett Gladiators on Sunday afternoon. Bellissimo's wrist shot from the slot was his 7th goal of the season, and opened a 4-2 lead for the Florida crew.

Mike Vigilante opened the scoring for Gwinnett at 1:41 of the first, but the Blades answered back on Steve Czech's first professional goal, and Reggie Berg's 300th career point on his 134th goal. The Gladiators tied the game at two for finish off the first, on vigilante's second goal of the night.

The Blades talled four goals in the third with Brent McDonald, Niko Tuomi, Brett Peterson and Bellissimo all finding the back of the net.

Panthers propsect Dustin Johner had a three point night, all on assists, as did veteran forward Reggie Berg, with a goal and two assist. Tuomi and Bellissimo each had two point nights with goals and assists each.

Goalie David Shantz made 41 saves to hang on to the win through the third period as the Blades, exhausted from their previous two games against the Pilots, let Gwinnett chip away at their lead in the third. It raised Shantz's record to 8-2-0, however, the ten goals he gave up over the weekend raised his GAA to 3.15 and his save percentage droped to .900.

The Blades get the week off, traveling to Augusta on Friday to face the Anaheim affiliated Lynx for a 7:35 PM game.

Blades explode past Gladiators
Outburst in second lifts Blades to win
Game Summary
Game Recap
Boxscore

Canes prospect Kevin Nastiuk allowed 6 goals in a 6-2 Las Vegas loss to Stockton Saturday night. Nastiuk made 29 saves in the game, dropping his record to 3-1-2. Nastiuk was a Canes 4th round draft pick in 2003.

The fast skating Florida Everblades took a pair of games from the Pensacola Ice Pilots on the road Friday and Saturday night at the Pensacola Civic Center.

Friday night was a bit of a barn burner, with 12 goals being scored for the announced crowd of 4,335, with the Blades coming out on top 7-5.

Pensacola took the early lead when Dallas Steward score shorthanded at 9:16 of the first. The Blades answered back with two power play goals, both off the stick of Brent McDonald with assists going to Ryan Van Buskirk and Chris Lee.

For Van Buskirk, his first game back in a Blades uniform would prove to be very productive as picked up four assists on the night.

Brent Peterson made it 3-1 Blades, again on the power play with Mario Joly in the box on a high sticking major. Mike Wrill got an even strength goal to end the first period, getting the Pilots back in the game.

Pensacola tied it up just 41 seconds into the second stanza, their first power play tally of the night, coming off the stick of DWayne Hay. Blades captain Ryan Brindly was in the box, sitting out an interferance infraction from the end of the first period.

The Blades took the lead back on a shorthander by Panther prospect Dustin Johner, but Pensacola again tied the score, Rob Rankin putting the puck in the net. Netminder Michael Ayers picked up an assist on that goal.

Franklin MacDonald, also a Panther prospect, put the Blades up by one, again on the power play, while McDonald netted an even strength goal to finish off the