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.

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 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.

Rowena comes in stands in front of my office door today just after 1:00 with a letter. "Where is Tom? I need to get this signed."

"He was supposed to leave at 2:00 to go to a game, but he left around 11:30. I don't think he's coming back."

"He WHAT?"

"You know, a football game." He did this last year for New Years too, now that I think about it.

"He's on my ass to get this done, the Client's on my ass to get this done, and he went to a GAME?"

"That's about typical," I said. "You'll get used to it. What do you need signed?"

There were several items, including the engagement letter. Couldn't help her out there.

"What am I supposed to tell the client?"

"Tell him he went to a Bowl-Game."

"It's a GAME? What's so important about that?"

I shrug. "You should have been over the summer, when he and this one," I point at Oliver's office, "were leaving at two to go watch the world cup of soccer. On TELEVISION."

Of course, we all kind of liked that.

"I mean, if I'd known it was kosher to leave at two for sporting events, I sure would have been taking advantage of that."

"But it's a GAME," she wails.

"He's a guy. There are only two things in the world important to guys. Sex and sports."

"Those things aren't important to me."

I look at her for a moment. "YOU are NOT a GUY."

Neither am I, but I did take advantage of the 2:00 out time to go to the NCAA tournament this afternoon. Not only did we have the four participating colleges, but quite a few area Junior Travel teams as well.

Dawn was working at the souvenir booth. "Oh," I said. "I was kind of hoping you'd be working at the pro-shop tonight."

"Why?"

"Because I want to get a goalie necklace, but I don't want to buy it from the dweebs that are working in there."

"Did you check out the ones the guy's got in the hallway." There was a guy with a nice selection of jewelry, including a catcher's pendant, but I'm thinking I REALLY don't need to advertise that. The boys give me enough trouble about picking favorites just because they're catchers as it is now.

"Yeah," I tell her, "But the ones in the pro-shop are nicer."

"I'll be working there tomorrow." Cool.

Someone comes by looking for patches. "We don't sell those," Dawn tells her. "We like to have control over that we put our logo on."

"Yeah, or weird people like me could end up wearing one."

"It's okay since you bought that jersey."

"No I didn't," I tell her. "I WON it."

"Well, you purchased a ticket, which is pretty much the same thing. I can't believe you bought tickets from those kids."

I didn't have a choice in the matter?

"The Midget Majors were selling tickets Saturday night," I tell her. "They looked like a bunch of thugs walking around here. Buy my tickets or I'll punch you!"

"They ARE a bunch of thugs. You should see the way they act when they are in the pro-shop."

"Midget Majors weren't thuggish when Jamie was playing."

"No, they weren't smart enough to be thugs then." Ouch. Okay...she has a point.

Anyway. The early game was Western Michigan University vs. the University of Maine. Western Michigan is Rob's alma mater, although I will generally cheer for anything Michigan. It was also helpful that Vince Bellissimo's brother Dan is a goaltender for the Broncos. (Vince, although not a goaltender, is in fact my favorite Everblade this year.)

Unfortunately, none of this helped as the Broncos lost, 8-4 to the Black Bears. Riley Gill got the start in net for the Broncos. Hopefully, Bellissimo will get the nod tomorrow. Or Trevor Hefferman.

I mean, I admit to being a goalie slut, but...when I walk out at the end of the game and say "OKay, they can sign any of the kids on the ice except THAT goalie," that should tell you something. I did rather like Chris Frank and Steve Silver, both defensemen on the Bronco squad, as well as their captain, Jeff LoVecchio, who is a winger.

I walked out after warm ups and tell Dawn that Vince's brother is "pretty". He is. Quite the bench ornament. She just rolled her eyes. For whatever it's worth, none of their goalies are rocket scientists either.

Bret Tyler had a near hat trick for the Bears, his two goals coming within 1:37 of each other in a span that saw Maine knock three past Gill to pretty much put the game out of Michigan's reach. Tyler's third goal later changed to credit Mike Hamilton, who supposedly tipped it in.

Mark Letestu, Brian Bicek, Jeff Pierce and LoVecchio scored Western Michigan's goals. Gill made 35 saves in the game.

6'7" Ben Bishop handled the netminding duties for Maine, kicking out 26 Bronco shots. Wes Clark had two goals for Maine, including that one was waived off but then awarded to the team after video review.

Billy Ryan, Keith Johnson and Teddy Purcell also tallied for the Black Bears.

The game ended with quite a scrum and a number of penalties called against Western Michigan. Already down by four there was just no way to come back.

Cornell took on University of New Hampshire in the second game and brought their own band with them. I think all of the colleges should be encouraged to bring bands so we can have band wars. In any case...

Raymond Sawada scored twice for the Cornell, including knocking the first shot on goal past Kevin Regan for the first goal of the game. Regan was not bad, but the New Hampshire team looked very overmatched against Cornell. Sawada had two goals on the night, and Blake Gallagher added three assists in route to the 5-2 win. Mitch Carefoot, Colin Greening and Tony Romano added goals for the Big Red, while both Romano and Greening both added an assist. Troy Davenport picked up the victory in goal, his eighth of the season, while making 17 saves.

New Hampshire only managed 2 shots on goal in the first period.

So, Western Michigan will play the University of New Hampshire in the consolation game, while Maine and Cornell will pair off for the championship game, which is the way the powers that like to see it at the Florida Winter Classic.

In other action, the ECHL Florida Everblades downed the Texas Wildcatters 1-0 in a shoot out. The Blades dropped last night's game, 4-1 in Texas. The teams rematch tomorrow for the Blades final game of 2006. They will begin 2007 at home against the Charlotte Checkers.

Rochester defeated Binghamton, 5-3. The River Rats fell to Hershey, 4-2.

I will have some shots forthcoming form the College Tournament, but it's well past my bed time now, so...

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.

Given the newspaper coverage from the Albany Times Union, one would think that the Albany River Rats didn't play at all this weekend.

The Rats were on the road though, and downed the Providence Bruins 5-2 on Saturday, the only game they have played this week.

Shane Willis tallied twice in the opening minutes of the game, getting the Rats onto the board just 49 seconds after the initial drop of the puck. It was the 100th Career AHL goal for the Hurricane prospect, who also has 31 NHL goals and 43 assists in 174 appearances with the Hurricanes.

Willis came back for number 101, just over two minutes later on the power play with assists to Kyle Cumiskey and Jeff Finger to make it 2-0.

Not to be outdone, Scott Kelman found the back of the net for the Rats, unassisted at 8:11 of the same period, and Cuminskey would net his own goal at 9:27 to put the Rats up 4-0.

Despite a goal by the Bruins T.J. Travelyan, Providence had allowed themselves to dig a great big hole that was going to be tough to climb out of.

"We made poor decisions," Providence coach Scott Gordon was quotes as saying in the Providence Journal. "You can't throw the puck rink wide. You can't throw the puck up the middle twice in one shift -- that leads to a penalty and gives them a power play...When we had the puck on the stick, we made poor decisions."

Colorado prospect Ben Guite earned an assist on Matt Murley's goal with just two seconds left to play in the middle stanza, extending his point streak to six games, matching a career-high which he set last season while playing with the team he was faceing off against.

Rookie Justin Peters turned back 24 shots to make the big lead stick, and improve his record to 6-9-0.

"Even when the game was out of hand, [Peters] kept making some pretty good saves," Gordon said in the same article. "He's had three good games against us and we have not been able to solve him."

The Rats lost captain Keith Aucoin to a call up by the Carolina Hurricanes. It is his second call up of the season. Aucoin will fill Andrew Ladd's spot on the roster after Ladd underwent an emergency appendectomy on Thursday.

A former Everblade, Aucoin leads Albany in five different categories including points, goals and game-winning goals.

The Rats return home to host the defending Calder Cup champion Hershey Bears Wednesday, December 20, at 7 p.m. at Pepsi Arena.

Game Summary
Game Report
Boxscore

This will be the last year that the Hurricanes share an affiliate with the Avalanche. Colordo announced they have signed a long-term affiliation agreement with the new American Hockey League franchise in Cleveland, Ohio. The as of yet unnamed team is set to begin play in the 2007-08 season.

"It has always been this organization's goal to have our own independent farm team where we could develop prospects with our philosophy," said Avalanche executive vice president and general manager Francois Giguere in a recent press release. "This organization in Cleveland is committed to building a strong hockey team and we're looking forward to being a part of that effort.

"We'll have most of our prospects on the same team, which should help their development as well as their understanding of our culture and philosophy."

The new Cleveland franchise was purchased by a group led by Dan Gilbert, owner of the NBA's Cleveland Cavaliers, in May. Gilbert is also chairman and founder of the nation's largest online home mortgage lender, Quicken Loans, Inc. The team will play out the Quicken Loan Arena.

Don't forget to help vote your favorite Rat to the AHL All-Star game. Vote today and register to win a team-signed authentic 2007 AHL All-Star jersey. Voting takes place online at theahl.com.

Let's hear it for Elmira's ironman goaltender Kris Tebbs. The Calgary, Alberta, native has played 21 games so far, the most of any United Hockey League goaltender. He's faced 736 shots, also the most of any UHL netminder and turned back 670 of them. He's posted an 11-9-0 record for the Jackals with a 3.37 goals against average and a .910 save percentage.

And he's in the middle of playing four games in five days.

Unfortunately, last night's game didn't go for so well him, as the Flags captured a 4-2 victory on home ice in front of an announced crowd of 1,725.

A non-drafted free agent out of the university of Nebraska-Omaha, he played 21 games for the Adirondack Frostbite in the 2004-05 season and 39 in the 2005-06 season. Barring an injury, he's going very much surpass those totals this season.

Tebbs robbed Port Huron's Ryan Markham on a breakaway in the first period last night, but Steve Hildenbrand picked up the rebound and scored to put the Flags up 1-0. Elmira answered back when rookie Derek Miller scored his first career professional goal. A natural defenseman, Miller was playing on a forward line for the game, as the Jackals were shorthanded due to suspensions earlier this week.

Taking a cross ice pass from David Morelli, his slap shot from the top of the right circle beat Flags' goalie Noah Ruden. Port Huron bounced back on a failing clearing attempt. Bobby Kukulka nabbed the puck just inside the offensive blue line and made it is 3rd goal in the last two games, all coming against Elmira.

Port Huron defenseman Craig Mahon tallied what would prove to be the game winning goal, again on rebound after Tebbs denied his inital one-timer.

Yevgeny Lazarev netted his 11th goal of the season, the only other puck that Elmira would be able to put in the net.

Tebbs stopped 33 of 37 shots, nine more attmepts than his Port Huron counterpart would face. Neither team could convert on the power play.

The Jackals fell to 13-11-0 this season.

Tebbs and his teammates will face the Flint Generals tonight at Perani's Arena at 7:30, and then take on the Kalamazoo Wings Sunday.

Gamesheet
Boxscore
Jackals lose again to Port Huron
Flags earn second straight win

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.

Both the East Valley Tribune and the Arizona Republic are featuring articles today on the impending retirement of Jeremy Roenick.

"End of the (NHL) year, absolutely (I'll retire)," Roenick is quoted as saying in the Tribune.

The question may be more if Roenick makes it to the end of the year. Roenick left Tuesday's game at the General Motors Place early after learning he was scratched from the line up due to back spasms.

While there is no NHL rule to prohibit a player from leaving early, there is a non-written Wayne Gretzky rule to that effect. Roenick says he was unaware of such a thing.

He also says news of the so called blow up is overstated.

"I was there, I was ready to play and I wished all my guys luck," Roenick said in today's Arizona Republic. "I was in the locker room with them. I said, 'Let's go, let's get 'em'...I was a rah-rah again, like I've been all year. I don't think people should chastise me because I went to have dinner...It bothers me how the media is trying to create a stir or a controversy over nothing."

Evidently, it's not "nothing" at least to Gretzky, who will hold him out of tonight's game in favor of Mike Recci.

"I think reality is (Tuesday) night he made a mistake," said Gretzky said in the Tribune.

"I'm not disappointed with him because J.R. is a very emotional young man, and he's a good person, but what he did last night wasn't right."

Gretzky also felt he was justified in scratching the 36 year old Roenick who barely made it through Monday night's game. Roenick has had only 1 goal and 5 assists on the season, and is currently a -9.

Roenick said with the exception of his production and with the team's record, he's been happy with his performance this season and has no plans to retire in the middle of the year. Gretzky has stated he will not nudge Roenick towards retirement like he did with Brett Hull last seeason.

"I'm never going to tell him to do anything (regarding his career)," Gretzky said in the Tribune. "I have too much respect for what he's done for the game and how much he loves the game."

A number of fans have felt that Gretzky is out of line in regards to Roenick and call this just another misadventure of the coach. They feel that Roenick is the team's heart and soul.

This is in direct contrast to the many fans who felt he was out of line with his "Don't come to game" comment following the lock out season.

"Don't come. We don't want you in the rink. We don't want you in the stadium. We don't want you to watch hockey. Period."

Roenick later recanted the statement, saying his comments were taken out of context. But Roenick evidently buys into his own quote, as he didn't stay around for the game.

It is any wonder the 'Yotes were flat on Tuesday when the team's heart and soul was out to dinner?

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

Former Buffalo Sabre and current Vancouver Cannuck defenseman Rory Fitzpatrick gained and lost some ground in the All-Star voting in the results released on Monday.

Fitzpatrick fell to sixth overall in the standings, but picked up a big gain in overall votes. He now trails Nicklas Lidstrom of the Detroit Red Wings by 101,989 for the second and final starting spot for the January 24th All-Star game in Dallas.

The gap was closed by over 70K votes this last week.

Hockey fan's All-Star campaign snowballs
Fitzpatrick gains ground in votes for All-Star roster

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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 second.

The Pensacola fans were feeling a bit beaten down by referee Jonathan Peterson, but on the whole the game was called fairly evenly with Pensacola gaining 12 power play opportunities to the Blades 11. The diffence was the Blades were making the man advantage work for them, converting on 5 of their advantage situations.

The two teams traded goals in the third, with Adam Taylor scoring for the Pilots and Johner for the Blades.

Panthers second round draft pick David Shantz turned back 35 Pilots shots, to run his record to 7-2-0, while Ayers made 37 saves in the losing effort.

Blades outscore Ice Pilots, 7-5
Everblades edge Ice Pilots, 7-5; teams set for rematch tonight
Game Summary
Game Sheet
Boxscore

Pensacola would come out gunning on Saturday night, looking for a spot of revenge. Wrill got the only tally in the opening period on a wrist shot off the face off circle.

The Blades would tally three times in the second period, with Michael Angelidis tying up the game with an assist to Brent McDonald. Franklin MacDonald blasted a shot past Ayers from the top of the right face off circle to give the Blades their first lead of the night. It was MacDonald's second goal of the season since being demoted from the AHL Rochester Americans.

Travis Lisabeth pushed a goal past Carolina's Craig Kowalski to tie the game again, Wrill assisted on the goal. Chris Dyment took the lead back for the Blades going into the locker room for the break going into the third.

There would be no rest for the Blades though as Pensacola came back to tie the game with Rob Rankin netting his seventh goal of the season. Brad Zancanaro answered right back though, scoring the game winner by banking a shot off Ayers and into the goal.

Kowalski made 27 saves on the night, improving his record to 7-5-0, while Ayers made 31 saves, to drop to 2-5-1 on the season in the Pilots net.

The Blades now make a road swing up to Gwinett for an afternoon game against the Galdiators, a team considered by most to the Everblades biggest rivals.

The Gladiator are 13-6-4 on the season with 30 points, good for second place in the South Division. The Blades trail them by two points with two games in hand.

Everblades win second straight in 4-3 effort over Pensacola
Game Summary
Game Report
Boxscore

Trenton Titans left wing Mike Pandolfo is the In Glas Co ECHL Player of the Week for Nov. 27-Dec. 3, 2006. Pandolfo netted his first professional hat trick in a 4-3 shoot out loss at Johnston and then tallied short handed and convered on his shoot out attempt the following night for a win over the Toledo Storm.

Pandolfo was a 3rd round draft pick of the Buffalo Sabres in the 1998 entry draft, but is currently playing in the Devils system under contract to Lowell of the American Hockey League. Pandolfo has a four-game goal streak (7g) and a 10-game scoring streak (9g-6a) and has had three multiple-goal games and six multiple-point games. He leads the Titans and is fifth in the ECHL with 13 goals while his team-leading 23 points in 16 games ties him for 17th in the league.

Las Vegas Wranglers netminder Kevin McKenna is the RBK ECHL Goaltender of the Week. He becomes the first two-time winner having captured the award for Nov. 13-19 and was runner-up for the award last week. A sixth round draft pick of the Nashville Predators in 2002, McKenna when 2-0-0 and stopped 83 shots while helping Las Vegas sweep a three-game series at West Division leading Idaho, allowing the Wranglers to remain atop the ECHL with 31 points (12-1-7). He has won his last six starts to help Las Vegas extend its ECHL season-high winning streak to eight games and its league season-high road winning streak to seven games.

McKenna is 8-1-1 and tied for the league lead with two shutouts while his .925 save percentage ties him for fourth and his 2.36 goals-against average is fifth.

Two Texas Wildcatters carried off the Monthly honors. Kevin Baker was named the CCM TACKS ECHL Player of the Month for November. The 27-year-old led the ECHL last month with 12 goals and seven power-play goals and was second in scoring with 21 points. He scored in each of his 12 games in November to extend his scoring streak to a league-high 16 games which through the first six weeks of the season was every game he played for the Wildcatters.

Matt Yeats was named the RBC Financial Group ECHL Saver of the Month for November. He won his last five starts to finish the month at 8-1-2 with a goals-against average of 3.16 and a save percentage of .918, helping the record-setting start that has the Wildcatters sitting in first place in both the South Division and the American Conference.

He begins December with a 10-2-2 record and goals-against average of 3.05 and a save percentage of .908, tied for the league lead in wins while ranking fifth with 788 saves.

Reading forward James Hiebert was finded an undisclosed amount as a result of his actions at the conclusion of ECHL Game #237 against Cincinnati on Dec. 6. After the game had ended, Hiebert was assessed a major penalty and a Game Misconduct under Rule 61 – Slashing. Hiebert is fined under Rule 29 – Supplementary Discipline.

Idaho's Marty Flichel was suspended for two games as a result of his actions in ECHL Game #236 on Dec. 6 against Phoenix. Flichel was assessed a major penalty and a Game Misconduct under Rule 50 – Kneeing. He missed Saturday's game Phoenix (Dec. 9) and will sit out Wednesday's game at Utah (Dec. 13).

Former Everblades netminder Marc Magliarditi signed a contract with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights of the American Hockey League on Thursday. Magliarditi, the ECHL's all-time leader in shutouts, had been on the 30-day injured reserve with the ECHL's Las Vegas Wranglers and was activated then loaned to Omaha, leaving Carolina's Kevin Nastiuk and McKenna as the Wranglers' two goalies.

The Rochester Americans kick off a six-game homestand tonight against the Syracuse Crunch at the Blue Cross Arena.

The Amerks remain without Daniel Paille, who remains in Buffalo, as well as Drew Larman and Rob Globke, who are with the Florida Panthers. The Panthers also re-assigned goaltender Jean-Marc Pelletier to Adler Mannheim of the German Elite League last week.

Clarke MacArthur remains the Amerks leading scorer with 25 points (10g, 15a) in 23 games. Mark Mancari jumps to second place with 19 points (9 goals, 10 assists). The Amerks Brandon Smith and Florida's Martin Lojek are both +13 on the season.

The Amerks are 1-1 against Syracuse this season, suffering a 5-0 shut out at the Onodaga County War Memorial at Oncenter, but rebounding the following night at home for 2-1 win. The Amerks won both preseason games against the Crunch earlier this season.

Joe Motzko leades the Crunch in scoring with 20 points (6 g, 14 a). The fifth year player has appeared in 4 NHL games with the Columbus Blue Jackets since signing with the team out of St. Cloud State University. Center Goeff Platt, who appeared in three games with Columbus earlier this year, has 15 points on the season (11 g, 4 a).

Former Panther prospect Filip Novak has 12 points on the season for the Crunch, most coming on assists (11) for the defenseman. Novak was returned to the Crunch yesterday after a stint with Columbus.

The Crunch are in last place in the North Division and trail the Rochester Americans by 24 points. They have lost 6 of their last 10 games, but defeated the Toronto Marlies in their last outing.

Ty Conklin and rookie Tomas Popperle have been splitting the netmind chores for Syracus, Conklin has a 3.51 GAA and a .901 save percentage in 13 goals with a 2-9-1 record, while Popperle has a 4-6-0 record, has a 3.72 GAA and a .865 save percentage in 10 games.

The Amerks have their Toys for Tots campaign underway. Bring a new, unwrapped toy with you to Blue Cross arena and receive a free $16 ticket.

Amerks host Cruch tonight
Amerks return to Rochester in high spirits

The ECHL Florida Everblades take on the Ice Pilots in Pensacola tonight and tomorrow, both teams receiving a bit of a makeover from their last meeting.

Florida acquired help on the blue line, receiving Franklin MacDonald from the Amerks (in exchange for Jeremy Swanson) and re-signing Ryan Van Buskirk, who played with the Blades in the 2003-04 season.

Pensacola shipped brothers Derek and Jordan Krestanovich off to the Victoria Salmon Kings in exchange for forwards Adam Taylor and David Wrigley.

The Blades did catch a bit of a break though, as Pensacola will be without netminder Mike Mole, who was recalled to Bridgeport of the AHL Thursday.

Florida is short on forwards, so head coach Gerry Fleming will be looking for defenseman Chris Lee and Brett Peterson to swing some two way shifts on a checking line for this weekend's games.

Veteran Brent McDonald leads the Blades in scoring with 18 points (7 g, 11 a); Florida prospect Dustin Johner has 16 points (7 g, 9a) in 15 games.

Carolina's Craig Kowalski leades the Everblades netminding duo with a 6-5-0 record, a 2.27 GAA and a .929 save percentage in 11 games. Rookie David Shantz, a second round draft pick by the Florida Panthers, is 6-2-1 on the season with a 2.72 goals against average and a .905 save percentage.

Mike Wirll leads the Pilots gunners with 19 points (11 g, 8a), 10 of which (5g/5a) he has recorded with Pensacola. Colin Hemingway has 18 points (12 goals, 6 assists) in 19 Pilot games this season.

Mike Ayers will likely handle the Pilots net with weekend, he is 2-3-1 in six games this seson with a 3.17 GAA and a .912 save percentage.

The season is 1-1 between these two teams, with Pensacola winning the last meeting on the road at Germain Arena.

Ice Pilots hot, host cool Blades
Pilots goaltender Mole recalled to Bridgeport Sound Tigers of AHL

The Carolina/Colorado affiliated Albany River Rats take on the Tampa Bay affilated Springfield Falcons tonight in Albany. The Rats are in fifth place in the East division with an 11-11-2 record, good for 24 points. The Falcons are in fifth in the Atlantic Division with a 13-11-0 record. They are 7-3-0 in their last ten, but dropped their last game.

The Grand Rapid Griffins host the Toronto Marlies, Hartford visits Worcester, Norfolk is at Binghamton, the Chicago Wolves invade Philadelphia, Portland tangles with the Baby Bruins in Providence, the Penguins are at Hamilton, Peoria takes on the Moose at the MTS center and Lowell and Manchester tangle at the Verizon Wireless Arena.

When the bears rained down to the ice at the end of the second period Saturday night at Germain Arena, it was not in response to an Everblades' goal.

Indeed, the Blades did not score at all Saturday night, suffering a 3-0 blanking by the Texas Wildcatters.

"You want to get that goal early," Blades forward Ernie Hartlieb was quoted as saying in the Naples Daily News. "You want to let the fans throw the bears."

Instead it was Texas' Mike Bayrack who started the scoring off at 14:33 of the first period, and who ended it, at 15:48 of the third. ECHL player of the week, Olivier Proulx, also tallied for the Wildcatters.

"Our intent