Goodbye and Farewell, Hairy Dumbass
July 25, 2006
YES! Everyone’s favorite referee, Harry Dumas, has been canned by the NHL. This guy just plain stunk and I’m glad to see the NHL is smart enough to purge themselves of these terrible refs.
The National Hockey League has sacked five referees after the 2005-06 season.
Blaine Angus of Shawville, Que., is the most high profile to be let go. He has been officiating in the NHL since 1991.
Harry Dumas of Philadelphia, Scott Hoberg of Windsor, Ont., Bob Langdon of Woodstock, Ont. and Jeff Smith of Hamilton were the others. These four split their time between the NHL and American Hockey League.
In remembrance of Dumas’ short-lived career, here are the PIMs from that January 20th game that he reffed so well:
Brad Norton signs with Detroit
July 25, 2006
Former B-Sens Brad Norton has signed with Detroit for the 2006/07 season. Norton was a waiver pickup by Ottawa last season to help a very depleted and ineffective Binghamton blueline. Norton was a great addition providing a much needed physical presence and some solid defensive play, but as the season wore on he suffered from multiple bouts of illness and dehydration that limited his playing time and effectiveness. When Ottawa experienced their own shortage of defensemen due to injury, Norton was called up and participated in the worst hockey fight I’ve ever seen.
Holy Fishsticks Batman!
July 23, 2006
Saw this on Hockeybird and loved it.
Brookbank signs with the Bruins
July 21, 2006
Former Binghamton Senator Wade Brookbank has signed with the Boston Bruins. Brookbank didn’t get a chance to play much in Bingo, injuring his knee in his first season and then getting traded to Vancouver, but he has proven himself to be a tough stay at home defenseman who is not afraid to drop the gloves. He joins former Senator Zdeno Chara on what might be the largest blueline in the league. Notice to the Eastern Conference teams…when visiting Boston this season, bring extra advil.
Here’s a picture of Brookbank fighting the other Bingo Alumni player in the news today, Pete Vandermeer.
Pete Vandermeer sign with Caps
July 21, 2006
Former BC Icemen tough guy, Pete Vandermeer, has signed a contract with the Washington Capitals. A fan favorite in Binghamton back in the 1998/99 season, Vandermeer caught the eye of Rochester Amerks and finished the season in the AHL. Since then he has become a regular in the AHL and has won the season PIM award in three different leagues (UHL, ECHL, AHL). He has yet to get a shot in the NHL, but hopefully he will get that chance next season. Pete’s brother Jim has been in the NHL for a few seasons playing for Philadelphia and Chicago.
Ottawa Signs Three More Prospects
July 18, 2006
The Ottawa Senators announced the signings of three more prospects who will most likely play in Binghamton this season. The Sens signed defenseman Charlie Cook and forwards Andrew Ebbett and Ryan Vesce. All three played NCAA hockey with Cook and Vesce playing at Cornell and Ebbett just finnished his senior year at the University of Michigan. Cook just played his first pro season with the Philadelphia Phantoms and Vesce played for the Springfield Falcons after playing in Europe last season.
COOK, 23, played his first full American Hockey League (AHL) season with the Philadelphia Phantoms in 2005-06. The Port Huron, Mich., native picked up two goals and 13 assists last season. He joined the Phantoms following the completion of his collegiate career at Cornell University (2001-2005) of the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC).
In 129 career games at Cornell, Cook recorded 16 goals, 54 assists and 68 penalty minutes and was named First Team All-Ivy League and Second Team All-Ivy League in 2004-05 and 2003-04 respectively.
EBBETT, 23, completed his collegiate career in 2005-06 with the University of Michigan Wolverines of the Central Collegiate Hockey Association (CCHA). The Vernon, B.C., native captained his squad in his senior year, finishing second in team scoring with career highs in goals (14) and points (42) in 41 games.
In all, Ebbett tallied career totals of 38 goals, 105 assists and 131 penalty minutes in 166 games played, finishing 14th on Michigan’s all-time forward assists list and tied for eighth in games played.
VESCE, 24, played his first professional season with the AHL’s Springfield Falcons. The Lloyd Harbor, N.Y., native led the Falcons in assists (49) and points (67) after signing an AHL contract to join the team on Sept. 7, 2005. Vesce represented Springfield at the 2006 Rbk Hockey AHL All-Star Classic. In 2004-05, Vesce averaged more than a point a game with division 1 Rogle BK of the Swedish League. His collegiate career also saw him evolve at Cornell University, where he led the club in scoring with 19 goals and 26 assists over 36 games in 2002-03. In all, he totalled 46 goals, 82 assists, 128 points and 50 penalty minutes in 131 games in his four-year college career.
Sens Signings
July 14, 2006
The Senators have signed four more players from last seasons team.
Back are favorites Jeff Heerema and Bobby Robins. Heerema started the season slow, but turned it on to the end. I look forward to him picking up where he left off and possibly getting a chance for a call up. Robins was an instand fan favorite with his physical play and tenacity. My only concern is his conditioning as he moves from the lighter college schedules to the heavy AHL.
Also back are two blueliners, Neil Komadoski and Neil Petruic. Both were a little rough around the edges last season, but showed some promise.
Looking ahead at a possible lineup:
Denis Hamel LW
Josh Hennessy C
Jeff Heerema RW
Grant Potulny LW
Cody Bass C
Danny Bois RW
Arttu Luttinen C
Bobby Robins RW
Andy Hedlund D
Michal Barinka D
Neil Komadoski D
Neil Petruic D
New Waiver Rule will ease North American Talent Drain
July 14, 2006
Seems like the NHL came to their senses and changed the $75,000 waiver rule. Under the rule any player making more that $75k in the AHL had to clear waivers when called up or sent down. If claimed, his former team would be on the hook for half his salary. This rule led many veteran AHLers to play in Europe, take a salary cut, or get stuck in either league. This rule helped Christoph Schubert stay in Ottawa when the Sens were afraid they’d lose him, but it also hurt Denis Hamel who was stuck in Bingo all season except for an injury callup (no waivers needed in that case).
The new rule raises the cap to $95k and makes an exemption for AHL veterans.
Under a deal between the NHL, the NHL Players’ Association and the PHPA, the salary threshold for waivers on players recalled next season will increase to $95,000.
As well, players won’t have to clear waivers when they’re recalled if they have played in more than 320 games as a professional (NHL, American Hockey League and East Coast Hockey League), so long as they haven’t spent more than 40 games on an NHL roster over the previous season, or more than 80 games over the previous two seasons.
Aucoin Signs 2 Year Deal with Carolina
July 13, 2006
Former BC Icemen Keith Aucoin has re-signed with the Stanley Cup champion Carolina Hurricanes for two years. Last season Aucoin made his NHL debut and got his first NHL point on an assist of an Erik Cole goal. He also set the Lowell season point record with 85 points on 29 goals and 56 assists. If the NHL sticks to the new rules than you can expect to see the dimunitive Aucoin get another callup.
PPPShow.net is now Podcasting
July 13, 2006
I just discovered that PPPShow.net has a URL to subscribe using iTunes:
http://www.pppshow.net/shows/podcast.xml
If you haven’t heard of the Power Play Post Show it is a talk radio show covering the AHL. One of the contributors is Grady Whittenburg, the radio play by play man for the Binghamton Senators. Give it a listen and add the show to our podcast list so you’ll get the new episodes when the season starts.
