Friday Links

We're slowly inching closer and closer to hockey season.

- Of course the Blades announced a player signing right after I give up waiting. Of course.

- The Blades also announced a charity golf tourney. Unfortunately, FEMA has banned me from any sport that includes equipment that can go flying into crowds of spectators after a minor debacle that involved a bat and a crowd just trying to enjoy a nice day of rec league softball. I'm sure you guys will have fun though.

-  You'd have to be living under a rock to have missed the issues the NHL and PHPA are currently dealing with when it comes to a new CBA. Luckily, the ECHL and PHPA don't have to worry about that until next season (yay?). If you are interested, you can check out the highlights of the ECHL CBA (or pay for the full document if that's what floats your boat).

- Which makes this week's Wikipedia hockey page an easy choice- "NHL Collective Bargaining Agreement"

- I love this hockey cake so much! The owner of the photo has turned off my ability to share, but it's certainly worth the click.

- Finding this Matheiu Roy card on eBay almost gave me a heart attack. Then I realized it was the slightly older AHL journeyman that everyone always confuses with our wonderful captain.

- It's always interesting to see how cheap hockey jerseys can be on etsy. This vintage Rangers jersey is no exception

- Kitty time!

Friday Links

Slowly but surely we're getting through the off season. There was some pretty great Everblades news this week and the Jr Blades are starting to get things rolling as well. We're almost there guys.

- Another season of great hair behind the Blades bench? Aces.

- There's a lot of news coming out of Solar Bears land, hidden in all those words is a blurb about the Bears' plan to award a trophy named after former Bear Dan Snyder. Pretty cool of them.

- On a related note, how hilarious is it that the Solar Bears Photoshop the same chest in a jersey onto all of their players roster photos?

- This cake is the cutest thing ever


- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Street Hockey"

- This scarf is pretty cool, for something bearing the Red Wings logo that is.

- Kitty time!

Friday Links

Another Friday, another serving of fresh links.

- Four games between the Solar Bears and Everblades were rescheduled.

- Up to 12 returnees from  last season squad? Yes, please.

- This jersey is so spectacularly hideous that I love it.

- Al Larson, the Blades official photographer, has an amazing photo book for sale that commemorates the Blades Kelly Cup season.

- Gummy bears playing hockey in an outdoor arena. In cake form! So amazing.



- Your Wikipedia hockey page for today- "Victoria Cup"

- It looks like Jaroslav Janus will be playing in Europe next season.

- This has nothing to do with hockey, but I love lists of weird holidays. Here's everything you can celebrate in August. Personally, I'm looking forward to National Bad Poetry Day. Mostly because that's the only kind I'm capable of.

- The Solar Bears are going to honor the IHL Solar Bear's Turner Cup and raise a banner. Pretty cool of them to respect Orlando hockey history.

- It wouldn't be a Friday around here without a kitty.

YouTube Tuesday

Maybe it's wrong that I'm still watching videos of the Everblades overtime goal, but you know what? If watching these videos is wrong, I don't want to be right.

I just found this one, and it's as fantastic as all the others.



In other news, qualifying offers were announced and Coach Poss decided to come back for another season!

News and Notes

Why don't we just jump into it, eh?

-  The team announced their protected list. As usual, it takes four or five reads through to figure out the rules behind these things.

- The Lee County Board of Commissioners recognized the Everblades at a recent meeting.

- The Everblades renewed their affiliation with the Tampa Bay Lightning. We will have a new AHL affiliate, the Syracuse Crunch, due to the Bolts choosing not to continue their affiliation with the Norfolk Admirals.

- We had our first player sign overseas. Mike Ratchuck is off to play in the Austrian hockey league with the Slovenian team Olimpija Ljubljana.

- The ECHL gave the Blades an award for ticket department of the year. Yay!

- On top of the Bolt's vs. Canes preseason game in Orlando, the Panthers and Bolts will be playing a preseason game... at Germain! I'm ridiculously excited about this.

Hopefully, the team starts announcing signing soon. Things are going to get a little boring around here if they don't.

News and Notes

The Everblades didn't do too well on their road trip. Two points out of six? Not ideal obviously. Luckily our two home games this weak will be against the perpetually struggling Trenton Titans. They're currently sitting in eighth in the conference. That's a little hard to swallow when you consider we won the Brabham Cup three seasons ago.

- Links to the game re-caps if you haven't seen them yet- loss to the Gladiators, loss to the Road Warriors, win in the shoot-out against the Road Warriors.

- Maybe the Blades struggles of late can be contributed to the Jr. Blades stealing all the winning mojo from the Germain atmosphere. They cleaned up at the Palm Beach Showcase they attended over the weekend going a perfect 4-0 during the tournament. That makes their record 22-0-1-0. Congratulations guys!

- You guys know I adore the Third String Goalie blog. Well, they were kind enough to to feature the weirdest (and my favorite) jersey in my extremely weird collection. As you can imagine, having a jersey from my collection featured on a blog I read religiously made my day.

- I've talked about this before and Woody over at the Blades' Blog agrees. If you're not using Twitter an following the Blades players and other blades fans, you're missing out.

- I've started a list of current and former Everblades players on Twitter to help you out. I have not included players who have set their accounts to private. I'm creepy, but not creepy enough to invade their privacy.

- If you do decide to join Twitter (and are kind enough to follow me), make sure you tweet me that you're an Everblades fan, that way I can follow you back and let other Blades fans know you just joined. I'll make it super easy copy this- @swamphockey I'm an Everblades fan that just joined Twitter! - and paste it into the little box and press the tweet button. Easy as can be, and a fun way to meet new Blades fans. If you already follow me and I haven't followed you back, let me know (I can be a little oblivious sometimes).

News and Notes

It's a little funny that signing immediately bring me out of a terrible writing funk. I'm not going to complain though, it's always fun to see a new player in action, especially when it can mean good things for the Blades.

- We may have lost Justin Shugg, but we signed a forward with a Kelly Cup Championship ring in his place. Kory Falite won last season with the Alaska Aces, and was playing in Norway. Now he's all ours. His stats:



- The Lightning have sent us defenseman Charles Landry. His stats:



- Some bad news: Alex Hutchings was moved to the 21 day IR list. Not good at all.

- I didn't take that many pictures at the Teddy Bear toss because all the seats in my favorite section were bought before I could get to the arena (and then NO ONE SAT IN THEM, grrrr). This is my favorite though. Pat Nagle chilling with his new bestie.



- I'm super proud that I've had one of my photos appear in an actual magazine! It was included with a story on how amazing the Jr. Blades have been playing this season (if you still haven't been to a game, you suck). Skip to page 15 for the story (and my photo).

- The Blades start a three game in three days road series tonight in Gwinnett. They're eighth in the conference and last in the division. Losing is not an option at this point.

- Must mean it's time for a doggie picture then, eh?


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News and Notes

Quite a few bits and pieces of news going on in Everblades land.

- First up, Mike McKenzie. Looks like he was able to secure a deal with our old friends, the Houston Aeros. The Checkers were kind enough to release him from his deal. Considering the Checkers are drowning in forwards, it's a nice move to let McKenzie get the AHL time he deserves.

- John Muse was called up to back-up former Everblades Justin Peters in Charlotte. Peters' goaltending partner, Mike Murphy, was called up to the Hurricanes (and actually got his first NHL minutes in relief of Cam ward last night). I'm assuming either Brian Markowicz or Scott Darling will be making an appearance on the bench as back-up for Pat Nagle.

- The Blades made some moves recently to patch up our gutted roster. Last week we traded away Robby Dee for defenceman Jimmy Martin, his stats:



They also signed Augusta Riverhawks forward Lucas LaBelle. You may remember him from the try-outs at the beginning of the season. His stats:



An unofficial signing I've heard about that the Blades haven't announced yet is forward Todd Pocoke. He's an intern with Athletic Republic that works with the team and the Jr. Blades. His stats (I'm hoping these are his stats): Turns out I was wrong. No signing to see here, move along.




- One to file under the maybe Byng is crazy and reading way too much into Tweets from players:

This was directed at a forward named Kerry Bowman. His stats just because:



- OK, done with the roster stuff. $2 beer, wine and hot dogs tonight. Consider this your warning, if you don't show up early I can't guarantee I won't have sucked down all the wine by the time you get there.

- More importantly, Friday Toys for Tots will be collecting unwrapped toys. You get a buy one get one ticket voucher and a kid in need gets an awesome toy. Nobody loses.

- Last but not least, since the puppies have been working:


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Friday Links

I know things haven't been going well in Blades land. Lucky for you guys I'm here to keep your minds off of it with some spectacular links.

- I do have to mention this bad news. Remember that boarding call (and the awesome penalty kill that resulted) on Dominic D'Amour? He was fined and suspended for three games. That means the Blades won't have his services for tonight or tomorrows games and the first home game against Wheeling. Super.

- Good thing I found an awesome cake that can cheer you up!



- I got so excited when I found this website that details how to build and maintain a hockey rink in your backyard... then I remembered I live in Florida. Not cool.

- Sadly, that makes this Zamboni for sale pretty useless. Unless... are Zamboni street legal?

- Great story about the Jr. Everblades (not to be confused with the Jr. Blades) bringing another banner to add with all the others.

- This 05 Blades season ticket holder jersey is pretty neat. The price is nice as well.

- I squealed like a little girl when I saw how adorable this little guy is. How freaking cute can he be?!

- I'm really pumped about the new franchise in Orlando. Icethetics found out (scroll down to the last story) that the chances of the old IHL Solar Bears name being used again are pretty much for sure since it appears that the ECHL now owns the Solar Bears logo and trademark. Awesome.

- By the way, your Wikipedia hockey page of the day? Easy- "Orlando Solar Bears"

- It occurs to me that sometimes, when you're in a funk, it's best to mix things up. Therefore, I've decided to post a puppy picture, rather than a kitty picture, to inspire the Blades. Also, come on, that face! Look at that face! I just want to baby talk that jowly little face!


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News Round-Up

- First up, the Everblades have now released every single player they had under try-out. Considering how the play in last Friday's game looked, that might not have been a terrible idea. The Blades also traded away Evan Stephens to Chicago (I'm sure that won't bite us in the butt later or anything) and released Greger Hanson.

- The Blades then went and traded with Elmira (I still get an immediate reaction of "icky" to that name) and received Dominic D'Amour in return for future considerations. I'm happy with this move by the way. Any move to bring back any member of the 08-09 roster is automatically approved.

- Yeah... Scott Pitt and DJ Rutherford are on the IR list already.

- Here's your updated roster!



- The Jr. Blades continue to dominate their league. Their next two games are in town on the 29th and 30th (the Skatium for the former and Germain for the latter date). You really should check them out. I've enjoyed every game I've been to.
- This gave me an intense case of the happys: An ECHL team in Orlando! Road trips! Instant Rivalry! Road trips with built in trips to Disney/Universal/Sea World and maybe a stop in Tampa for good measure! Awesome. I hope this goes down. I can't wait to invade their arena and be the most obnoxious visiting fan on Earth.

News and Notes

Here's a quick serving of some random bits and pieces for you.

- Oh, hey, look what I found! Photos from the College Classic staring Josh Van Dyk:





- The Chicago Express now have two former Everblades on their roster.

- I tweeted this yesterday, but I'll post this article again. It looks like the Bakersfield Condors are going to go without an NHL or AHL affiliate.

- I shot my first hockey game of the season! It was great to see the Florida Jr. Blades hand the Tampa Bay Juniors a stomping. Here's a handy dandy sideshow for your enjoyment:



- I really do recommend checking out one of their games if you can. It's amazing how skilled such young guys can be. Take a look at their schedule and maybe head on over. They only charge around $5 and they're a ton of fun to watch.

News and Notes

I promised a re-cap of the Blades news from the last two weeks and here it is.

- The Blades signed  forward David Rutherford (you can find him on twitter here). This video  of him in action is pretty spectacular.



Anyone want to wager on when he gets poached by an AHL team? I give it two months into the season.

- Maybe it's just my hatred of change, but yay! Tyler Helfrich is back!



- Other good news: Mike McKenzie and Matt Beca have re-signed with the Checkers. I find it hard to believe that McKenzie will be back, but I'm pretty pumped at the prospect of seeing Matt Beca in action again.

- Possibly not good news (depends on how you feel I guess): Trevor Hendrikx and Brad Good are headed to the CHL. Brad Snetsinger is headed to play in Europe with an Italian team.

- The team announced Kevin Reiter's replacement. We get... the Nailers broadcaster? OK... I guess it's at least a weather upgrade for him. I can't make any judgments on his style as I rarely had to listen to the other teams broadcaster. So, uh, yay!

- The team announced the preseason games this season will be against one of the two new... or maybe three, do the Titans formerly known as the devils count? Either way, we play the Chicago Express. I love that we get an early introduction to one of the newest teams in the league.

- Last, but not least, all the Everblades related blog stuff is updated. The roster, calendar, map, affiliations and league chart are all current. Remember, the calendar has the games and players birthdays and will have the special promotions when those dates are announced.

Blades Make Qualifying Offers

The Everblades made their qualifying offers to players last Thursday. They were only able to make these offers to players that had been on the season ending roster.

From what I understand, the deal with the offer is that a non-veteran player has until August 1st to accept the offer. If he does not the team can either sign him for whatever they want or decide not to pursue anything further. Either way, the players ECHL rights are owned by the team.

Veteran players, on the other hand, are a little different. After the August 1st the player become a restricted free agent. This allows other teams to make an offer to the player. The team who held his rights then has7 days to match the offer. If that player receives no offer by the 31st he becomes an unrestricted free agent and anyone can sign him.

The Everblades made offers to these players:
- Brad Snetsinger
- Eric Olimb
- Bobby Raymond
- David Fischer
- Ross Carlson
- Dusty Collins
- Scott Pitt
- Ryan Zapolski

The interesting part of all of this was a little tidbit from Greg Poss in the NDN story on the offers being made (the full story, with some great quotes from Poss, is here).

"Second-year Blades coach Greg Poss said the team has already agreed to contracts with some of the players from the season-ending roster who did not receive offers Friday."

 You may be wondering who was on the season ending roster. Good thing I'm here for you.

I've put a line through the players who have signed in Europe and highlighted the players who have received qualifying offers.

- Mathieu Roy
- Drew Larman
- Ross Carlson
- Alex Imbeault
- Brad Snetsinger
- Scott Pitt
- Tyler Helfrich
- Dusty Collins
- Mike Kennedy
- Nick Tarnasky
- Bobby Raymond
- David Fischer
- Brad Good
- Eric Olimb
- Evan Stephens
- Deron Cousens
- Mike Egener
- Trevor Hendrikx
- Mike Zacharias
- Ryan Zapolski.

It's pretty interesting to see who is left, isn't it? If  what he said was true, some of the players on the season ending roster who were not given offers are already signed. It's interesting right? Mathieu Roy and Drew Larman, two players I said I wanted back in a post at the end of the season, might be signed already.

I think the only reason Olimb was given an offer when he all ready has a contract in Europe was to ensure we maintain his rights. I'm also pretty sure that Alex Imbeault was serious about retiring.

Obviously, the possibility of certain players re-signing is exciting. Of course the Blades will probably pull their usual once a week signing announcement on Thursday between noon and two (you think I'm joking don't you? I'm not, just wait), and make us all wait and wonder. Jerks.

The ECHL Expands Again

Only a matter of minutes ago (right after I pushed publish on the last post in fact), the Colorado Eagle announced they were leaving the CHL to join the ECHL. Obviously, this is great news for the league. The Eagles have, over the course of 8 seasons won the CHL's President's Cup twice, three regular season titles, five conference titles and six division titles. Frankly, they were one of the best teams in CHL and having them decide to jump on board with the ECHL is a huge vote of confidence.

The Eagles will basically be replacing the the now defunct Victoria Salmon Kings. You may remember they called it quits at the end of their season because their ownership decided to field a team in the WHL. Of course the Western Conference will continue to be unbalanced compared to the East (especially when you remember Chicago will be playing their first ECHL season in 11-12). It is a step in the right direction. The rumors that the Rapid City Rush are planning to join the ECHL would be an even better step.


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Overall, I can't think of this as anything but really great news. It says great things about the league to have teams willing to leave their league to join us. I do worry a bit for the fans though. It will be hard for them to see some of their favorites leave, and some players will have to leave. Whether because of the ECHLs tighter roster restrictions or because former players might not be up to keep up with the playing style. Obviously, that part will suck, but seeing prospects from their NHL and AHL affiliates will be more than worth it.

Of course that will lead to the bane of every ECHL fans existence: constant, poorly timed, call-ups (good lord I hate those).

News and Notes

I have to apologize for the disappearing act. I really didn't know what to say when the Blades were eliminated. Though the elimination didn't come as a surprise (it just didn't feel like they were going anywhere). It still made me sad, and lets be honest, I'm not an on the ball blogger when they're doing well, so losing and having the season end was the perfect excuse to slack (or spend the time normally reserved for blogging reading trashy romance novels, whatever).


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It doesn't matter though, I'm back on the blogging horse now.

I'll let you have a second to dance around with glee and do your best Miss America happy cry...

Done? Good. Time to do a round up of everything you may have missed.

- Since I have nothing to say about the icky end to the season, enjoy this read.

- I know a lot of you adored Alex Imbeault, and I know I never hid the fact that I wasn't on board the Imby train, In fact I think it appeared I was pulling a Snidely Whiplash and tying him to the tracks (oh lord, Imbeault in a Nell wig is the best mental picture ever). Still, it is a little sad that, according to Woody, he's thinking about retirement if he can't find a team in Europe. Good lord, who will I irrationally dislike if this happens?

- WE WILL FINALLY BE JOINING THIS CENTURY! VIDEO BOARD! YESSSSS! Honest to god, I've complained about that stupid dot matrix thing since my second ever Everblades game, and I'm not alone. Good riddance to outdated technology.

- Three former Everblades are in the Stanley Cup playoffs. Way to go boys!

- If anyone went to the Jersey auction last night, I'd love to hear how it went and how much each jersey went for.

- Stadium Journey, a website that reviews different stadium and arena experiences, recently featured Germain. I have to say, I think they were generous in some places, but very spot on in others.

That's it for know. Tomorrow will be a post that might make you hate me. I apologize in advance.

News and Notes

I'm working on a post on the K-Wings for later this afternoon. Until then, here's a round-up of all the latest Everblades bits and pieces.

- Pictures from Friday's game:



- If you are interested, I've also posted all of the pictures I took at the Penguins/Lightning game. You guys think I overdo the Everblades photos? You ain't seen nothing.

- Another day another Everblades post on Puck Daddy. This time Tim Spencer is featured for that insane bout he had on Friday.

- We signed another Mercyhurst player. This time, it's goalie Ryan Zapolski. His stats:



- The ECHL announced the schedule for the conference quarterfinals. The match-ups in the East:

• Greenville vs. Elmira
• Reading vs. Cincinnati
• Kalamazoo vs. Florida
• Wheeling vs. South Carolina

- I'm predicting Greenville, Cincinnati, Florida and Wheeling make it to the next round. How about you guys?

News and Notes

Let's get right to it.

- The Blades clinched a playoff spot thanks to the Cyclones beating the Walleye last night. I guess it works for them that they didn't have to put any effort in to earn it. The upcoming series against the Stingrays simply decides playoff position and home ice advantage.

- The team hasn't made an anoouncement yet (they'll probably wait until I hit the publish button), but the ECHL transactions is showing the team signed defenseman Evan Stephens. His stats:



- The Blades made Puck Daddy again this weekend. Not for jerseys or line brawls though, it's finally for something good. Big congrats to Drew Larman for being an awesome dude and having it recognized.

- The pictures from Friday are up you can head over to the stream or enjoy a neat feature I just discovered from Flickr. Slideshow!



- The video of the shoot-out is also up. Enjoy. You may want to turn down the volume first.



-

News and Notes

Well, late afternoon is almost the same thing as early evening right? Either way, here's a quick round up of all the fun that's been happening:

- Both Bobby Goepfert and Jaroslav Janus were called up to the AHL, meaning we have neither of our top goalies.

- At least our wonderful Checkers Friends have sent me a picture from warm-ups before tonight's game of Bobby Goepfert. Look at him in his grown up jersey! Thanks Lisa!

- The team did sign Mike Zacharias, the goalie we picked up from waivers last week.

- The Lightning announced the signing of a new goalie. There is the possibility that we will either him or Janus. Not a garantee of course, but it would be great for us (and his development).

- Dusty Collins is back from Oklahoma City. Wonder which AHL team will try to poach him next.

- Tony Mosey was released from the team. Poor guy can't catch break.

- Woody over at the Blades' Blog had a sneak peek at the special jerseys the Blades will be wearing for their series. My opinion: They could be worse...

News and Notes

With all that's been going on lately, it's definitely time for a round-up of all the news.

- Hockey Broad has an interview with Bobby Goepfert and it's awesome.

- I tweeted that Chris Beckford-Tseu was released from the Salmon Kings (yesterdayish?) as well as Ed Snetsinger. Well, today the Greenville Road Warriors picked CBT up.



I mentioned this to someone earlier on Twitter, how much would you look forward to CBT in net for Greenville in the playoffs.

- The Tampa Bay Lightning have released Mitch Fadden. Reports are slowly leaking out that there are some issues going on, including a possible DUI.

- Some roster news: Evgeny Timkin was released (consider me not surprised),the big reason for Timmy being dropped. Roster room had to be made for new forward Scott Pitt.



- Dusty Collins was signed by another AHL team. Although I wish him luck, I still hate seeing our roster get raided by non-affiliates.


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Bits and Pieces

Lets get the bad news out of the way first.

- Blades lost Sunday. Booo.

Now for the fun stuff.

- I finally got the photos from Pink in the Rink up on Flickr. At some point the Bolts practice will be up. No idea when that will be.

- Love this story from the Pink in the Rink jersey auction. I'm proud to love the same team as that amazing couple.

- I think this is the blogs new motto:


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