adn_aces's blog

Rookie goaltender Jordan Pearce is headed to the ECHL's Toledo Walleye after being assigned to the club by the Grand Rapids Griffins of the American Hockey League.

Pearce turned pro, signing with NHL Detroit, after finishing his college career at Notre Dame last spring, and made his pro debut with Grand Rapids. He was among the nation's best goalies his last two years in college.

There's still bodies to be shed in Alaska Aces training camp, but the ranks got a little thinner today when the ECHL club released three players.

Gone are forward Alexandre Gagne and defensemen Richard Kellington and Mike McKenna.

That still leaves the Aces with 28 players, by my count -- 15 forwards, 10 defensemen and three goaltenders -- entering Wednesday and Thursday night exhibition games against visiting Kalamazoo.

Aces first-year coach Brent Thompson has said he ideally wants to start the season with 23 players -- 12 forwards, eight D and three goalies -- so expect five more cu

Look, it's just a three-game snapshot at the start of the NHL season, but so far there's not much missing from the performance of New York Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky of Anchorage.

He didn't get on the score sheet tonight in a 3-2 win at New Jersey, but he clocked 23:37 of ice time to lead the Rangers, went +1, fired one shot and won 12 of 19 face-offs -- all while centering wingers Marian Gaborik and Vinny Prospal on the first line.

After three games, Dubinsky is tied for the team lead in goals, assists and points with 2-2--4 totals, and leads the club with a +5 rating. His average ice time of 23:08 is the most among Rangers forwards, dwarfs his average last season (as a second-year guy) of 16:38, and is second-most on the club, trailing only defenseman Marc Staal.

Nice beginning to a college career for Providence forward Jessica Cohen of Anchorage.

Cohen, 18, was named Hockey East's Rookie of the Week after assisting on the game-tying goal in her college debut (Friday's 2-1 win over Maine) and scoring the game-winning goal and adding an assist in Saturday's 4-0 win over Maine.

Cohen played high school hockey at Shattuck-St. Mary's in Minnesota, where she helped win three USA Hockey national titles.

Must have a big brain, too. She's majoring in chemistry.

The American Hockey League kicked off its season over the weekend and, in a completely unsurprising development, former Alaska Aces sniper Chris Minard lit it up. (Um, the sun also rose today.)

Minard, who has dominated that circuit the last three seasons and also dabbled in the NHL in each of the last two seasons, opened the campaign for the Springfield Falcons (Edmonton's affiliate) with a goal and a helper Saturday in a 5-2 win over Portland, and a goal today in a 6-2 loss at Providence.

In the last three-plus AHL seasons, all Minard has managed is 93 goals in 177 regular-season games, better than a goal every other game.

Former UAA center Paul Crowder bagged his first pro goal tonight, scoring in Hartford's 5-3 American Hockey League loss at Binghamton.

Crowder's first goal came in his 12th regular-season game as a pro -- he signed with the New York Rangers last spring following his junior season with the Seawolves and earned three assists in 11 games with Hartford. He went five playoff games without a point.

Crowder turned pro after leading the Seawolves in scoring with 14-19--33 totals in 35 games. He also tied for the team lead at +11.

Just the other day I was wondering where in the world was Charlie Kronschnabel, the former UAA center.

His pal and former Seawolves teammate Justin Bourne, winger turned blogger, gave me the heads-up he signed with ECHL Reading Royals and they made it official -- Chuck's back with the club, where he started his pro career just after his senior year and played his first full season in the pay-for-play game.

Last season, Kronschnabel skated in the American Hockey League, earning 2-5--7 totals and a -5 rating in 44 games for the Iowa Chops. In Reading in 2007-08, he earned 13-22--35 totals and a -1 rating.

Alaskans shined in the NHL on Saturday, pretty much to a man.

New York Rangers center Brandon Dubinsky of Anchorage absolutely rocked in a 5-2 win over Ottawa, delivering two goals, an assist, a +3 rating, four shots on goal, three hits and 11 wins in 23 face-offs in a cracking 22:36 of ice time. Sure, it's just one game, but bet ain't no Blueshirts fans whining about his $1.7 million salary for the moment (give 'em time, say the next time he goes three games without a point).

Philadelphia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage was no slouch, either. He bagged a goal and a helper in a 5-2 win at New Jersey, and was +3 with two shots in 24:04 of ice.

Not a big surprise, since he was at Peoria's AHL camp and ECHL Alaska is Peoria's affiliate, but the Aces today added left winger Jason Ryznar of Anchorage, the former NHLer, to their roster before training camp starts this afternoon at Ben Boeke Arena.

Ryznar, 26, is entering his fifth year as a pro -- he played eight games for the New Jersey Devils in 2005-06. All his other pro games came in the AHL, including last season, when he earned 4-2--6 totals in 77 games with Houston.

Ryznar has been gone from home a long time -- he spent his last two seasons of high school playing in USA Hockey's National Team Development Program, played four seasons at Michigan, then four pro seasons Outside. This is his first taste of the ECHL, two steps below the NHL.

The ECHL released training-camp rosters today, and while they are far from complete -- Trenton listed a whole three guys, appropos for a club affiliated with the New Jersey Devils, who are tight with info -- we found a baker's dozen of Alaska connections (besides the Aces, of course).

Cincinnati Cyclones -- Former UAF defenseman Dwayne Zinger.

Elmira Jackals -- Former Aces goaltender Chris Holt and former UAA defenseman Mat Robinson.

Florida Everblades -- Former Aces defenseman Peter Metcalf and former UAF forward Ryan Lang.

Johnstown Chiefs -- Former Aces defenseman/winger Erik Felde of Anchorage and former Aces winger Matt Robinson.

OK, sort of.

Brandon Dubinsky, the New York Rangers center from Anchorage, and his teammates read the Top 10 list on the "Late Show with David Letterman'' on Wednesday night -- "Top 10 Things Never Before Spoken By A Hockey Player.''

You can check out the clip here, though you have to sit through a commercial.

Dubinsky chimed in at No. 7: "I really wish these fans would watch their language.''

My favorites: Enforcer Donald Brashear at No. 10: "Instead of fighting, why don't we work things out over brunch.'' And Chris Higgins at No.

Matt Robinson and Mat Robinson are no longer in Alaska, but they continue to be mistaken for each other -- to clarify, Matt is the former Alaska Aces left winger and Mat is the former UAA Seawolves defenseman and captain.

We relay the info because the Star-Gazette of Elmira. N.Y. mixed them up. The paper reported the Binghamton Senators -- Man, I bet I've mis-typed "Binghampton" too many times to count -- assigned Mat Robinson to the ECHL Elmira Jackals. Only problem, the paper later assigned him Matt Robinson's statistics from last season with the ECHL Johnstown Chiefs.

UAA's presumed goaltender of the future is enjoying a pretty fantastic present.

Rob Gunderson of the Alberta Junior Hockey League's Brooks Bandits -- you hardcore Seawolves fans may remember that's where UAA plucked former Seawolf and current NHLer Curtis Glencross -- is a mere 7-0-0 with a 2.14 goals-against average and .942 save percentage. Damn, not only that, but the kid has kicked in a helper, too.

Brooks leads the South Division with a 7-1-0 record. The Spruce Grove Saints, home to two UAA recruits, are rocking a 7-1-0 mark to lead the North Division. Both teams have averaged 4.80 goals per game. The Saints, meanwhile, have surrendered just nine goals in eight games.

Man, preseason polls are flying all over the place, and the latest folks to check in with prognostications are coaches and media in the Central Collegiate Hockey Association.

The media figure the UAF Nanooks will take sixth place in the 12-team league and the coaches reckon the club will finish seventh. Of interest also to UAA fans is that both media and coaches tabbed Michigan to win the league -- the Wolverines are here next week for UAA's Kendall Hockey Classic at Sullivan Arena. UAF's in the tournament, too, but doesn't play UAA.

To check out the full CCHA predictions from coaches and media, click here to peruse the CCHA’s press release.

Philadephia Flyers defenseman Matt Carle has been logging big-time ice time in the preseason, and you can get the reasons why by reading this recent Philadelphia Daily News story.

Hint: Some dude named Chris Pronger, who is apparently pretty good.

The NHL's most storied hockey franchise, the Montreal Canadiens, have yet to name a captain with the season only about 48 hours away, and center Scott Gomez of Anchorage is one of the names being bandied about.

Gomez is in his first season with the club after an off-season trade from the New York Rangers. He's a two-time Stanley Cup winner and a 29-year-old veteran.

Anyhow, he's one of the names presumably under consideration, at least by the media. You can check out a TSN.com story here that puts Gomez's name out there.

Depth keeps piling up on the Alaska Aces blueline -- the ECHL club today will announce the signings of returning defensemen Tyson Marsh and Ryan Turek, plus the return of center Alexandre Imbeault, who flourished in the Kelly Cup playoffs last spring.

Marsh, acquired by then-coach Keith McCambridge late last regular season, finished his regular-season campaign in the American Hockey League, then joined the Aces for the playoff run. He scored one goal in 19 Cup games and was -1, and he plays with an edge.

Turek joined the Aces in midseason after leaving Michigan State and teamed with Derick Martin to form Alaska's shutdown pairing on the back end. He went 3-3--6 and +7 in 35 regular-season games, then 1-6--7 and +9 in 19 playoff matches.

For what it's worth -- mostly just something to talk about because these things usually are a bit off the mark -- both coaches and media around the Western Collegiate Hockey Association have picked Denver to win the league and UAA to finish ninth on the 10-team circuit.

Actually, both groups picked the same top 6 -- Denver, North Dakota, Wisconsin, Minnesota, St. Cloud State and Minnesota-Duluth. And both picked the same two teams for Nos. 9 and 10 -- UAA and Michigan Tech.

The only difference -- the coaches picked Mankato No. 7 and Colorado College No. 8, and the media flip-flopped those two clubs.

The American Hockey League's Peoria Rivermen made their training-camp cuts over the weekend, and that means a load of guys are likely headed to the ECHL Alaska Aces, who open training camp Saturday.

The Rivermen unloaded nine forwards, three defensemen and a goaltender, according to Dave Eminian of the Peoria Journal Star, who pretty much nails these things. Check out Dave’s story here.

The forwards include Anchorage native Jason Ryznar, the former NHLer; John Lammers, who bagged 27 goals in just 36 ECHL games for Idaho two seasons ago; Aces returner Brett Hemingway, already under contract; returner Jordan Foreman, who showed promise as a rookie last season; former Ace Tomas Kana; rookie Nick Mazzolini of Anchorage; rookie Jack Combs, who scored 74 goals in his last two seasons in the Ontario Hockey League; small but scrappy Chris Morehouse; and Pat Brosnihan, a rookie out of Yale.

Another Alaska-connected guy left the NHL today -- the Atlanta Thrashers sent winger Joey Crabb to Chicago of the American Hockey League. Crabb, who last season made his NHL debut, helped the Wolves to a Calder Cup two seasons ago.

Elsewhere, the Philadelphia Flyers continue to bag-skate defenseman Matt Carle of Anchorage during exhibition games. Carle logged 29:38 of ice time and earned an even rating tonight in a 1-0 loss at New Jersey.

In stunning news -- well, stunning if it hadn't already happened a few hundred times -- Montreal Canadiens center Scott Gomez provided a handy helper. He dished an assist in the third period to help produce the game-winning goal in a 3-2 win over Buffalo.