All Things AHL Part V

[Falco Lombardi]

Is it even confirmed yet that the Blues will send players to San Antonio?

 

[bleedblue1223]

Is it even confirmed yet that the Blues will send players to San Antonio?

Husso is pretty much confirmed, Army was the one who said it I believe. We just have no idea about the other prospects or what AHL teams will have more of our players.

 

[Robb_K]

Husso is pretty much confirmed, Army was the one who said it I believe. We just have no idea about the other prospects or what AHL teams will have more of our players.

Yes, D. Armstrong stated that some Blues' system players will play at San Antonio this season, and intimated that there will be AT LEAST a handful of them. So, I assume that Husso and 4-5 skaters will play there, and so, I assume that 3-4 Blues-owned skaters and one goalie will play with The Wolves, and possibly one goalie, and 2-4 skaters will play in The ECHL. Then, with good luck, Colorado will start their new AHL franchise, and abort their agreement with San Antonio for 2018-19, and The Blues will have a full AHL working agreement with San Antonio, starting that same season.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I don't think there has been any confirmation of anything yet. There has been a ton of innuendo, but unless I missed something big, everything is still just speculation at this point.

August is right around the corner (freaking how?), so I would imagine we'll hear more news around then.

 

[Robb_K]

I don't think there has been any confirmation of anything yet. There has been a ton of innuendo, but unless I missed something big, everything is still just speculation at this point.

August is right around the corner (freaking how?), so I would imagine we'll hear more news around then.

It seems to me that Armstrong "guaranteed" that The Blues will send players to San Antonio. The only unknown is how many at each position. We know that the total is AT LEAST PLURAL (so, at the absolute very least TWO). But, from what he said, I got the idea that there WILL be AHL room for 2 goalies (e.g. ONE will probably play for San Antonio), and the total of that goalie and skaters would be "roughly a handful". So, I'd guess the number of skaters should range from 3 to 4.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

It seems to me that Armstrong "guaranteed" that The Blues will send players to San Antonio. The only unknown is how many at each position. We know that the total is AT LEAST PLURAL (so, at the absolute very least TWO). But, from what he said, I got the idea that there WILL be AHL room for 2 goalies (e.g. ONE will probably play for San Antonio), and the total of that goalie and skaters would be "roughly a handful". So, I'd guess the number of skaters should range from 3 to 4.

Interesting. Do you have a source? I must have missed that one.

 

[STL fan in MN]

Yeah, I don't recall Army saying anything official either. I don't even recall him saying Husso would go to SA. What I've seen is JR suggest it in his chat and say it on the radio but the last I've seen of anything is JR saying in his chat 2 weeks ago that he thinks something official should be announced "soon" and it sounded like perhaps there were still some details to iron out. I have not seen that announcement though.

 

[cgf]

We've heard about Husso from SA as well; although I dunno if that's their media piggybacking off what your guy said or if they have a separate source on that.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

Is it even confirmed yet that the Blues will send players to San Antonio?

Yes, but I don't think its been publicly announced that the team will affiliate with them next year. JR has pretty much said so, without saying so (since he apparently agreed not to scoop the official announcement).

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Yeah, I don't recall Army saying anything official either. I don't even recall him saying Husso would go to SA. What I've seen is JR suggest it in his chat and say it on the radio but the last I've seen of anything is JR saying in his chat 2 weeks ago that he thinks something official should be announced "soon" and it sounded like perhaps there were still some details to iron out. I have not seen that announcement though.

The AHL announced that they've ID'd the 31st franchise, but that certain arrangements needed to be hammered out before anything was announced. That was several weeks ago. There hasn't been any movement one way or the other since then.

Similarly, the Adirondack Thunder, who the Flames bailed on to join up with the Kansas City Mavs, promised affiliation announcements around the same time as that change occurred, and no movement has gone down there either. As far as I can tell, the Tulsa Oilers are unaffiliated with any AHL or NHL franchise at the moment as well. Eh, maybe it's easier to do it this way...

ECHL team, no AHL or NHL affiliates: Fort Wayne Komets, Adirondack Thunder, Tulsa Oilers

AHL team, no ECHL affiliate: Cleveland Monsters, Springfield Thunderbirds, Tucson Roadrunners, Utica Comets, Belleville Senators, Binghamton Devils

NHL team, no affiliates: St. Louis Blues

I'm sure the ECHL teams, with maybe the exception of FWK, would like to be affiliating with one of those AHL teams if at all possible, as it helps them sell tickets to be linked to an NHL team. All of those agreements, if they are forthcoming, need to be sifted through before any big announcements start coming down the pipeline I'm sure.

 

[BlueDream]

It seems to me that Armstrong "guaranteed" that The Blues will send players to San Antonio. The only unknown is how many at each position. We know that the total is AT LEAST PLURAL (so, at the absolute very least TWO). But, from what he said, I got the idea that there WILL be AHL room for 2 goalies (e.g. ONE will probably play for San Antonio), and the total of that goalie and skaters would be "roughly a handful". So, I'd guess the number of skaters should range from 3 to 4.

This didn't happen.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

This didn't happen.

I seem to remember an Armstrong quote about Husso specifically maybe going to San Antonio, but not other players.

Then it was alluded by JR that the Blues would send other players there, and that there would be an AHL affiliation announced (for next season). He basically spelled it out that the team was San Antonio, but wouldn't say it straight out since it had not been officially announced yet.

I'm not sure what the objective of our conversation is exactly, but I do think its pretty clear that there WILL be some Blues players at San Antonio this year. We just don't know how many or who. Unless some negotiation breaks down somewhere.

I think the Blues announcement is a domino waiting for the new AHL affiliate to be announced.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Chicago's bench grows deeper:

 

[Robb_K]

Remember when folks thought Bleackley had a good shot of making the Blues out of camp? Good times.

I didn't have high hopes for Bleackley but I did expect him to be able to hold down a 3rd line AHL job. 2 goals in 44 games for the Wolves? Yikes. I know points aren't everything but the few Wolves games I've seen he's looked slow and behind the play a bit.

3 assists in his 1 ECHL game so far so that's good at least but I think that knee injury he had a couple years ago completely derailed his career.

This is it, exactly. His skating has never recovered. He'll never skate well enough to play in The NHL. I'm surprised he wasn't dropped completely by The Blues, even if they'd have to eat his salary.

 

[joshyhockey26]

This is it, exactly. His skating has never recovered. He'll never skate well enough to play in The NHL. I'm surprised he wasn't dropped completely by The Blues, even if they'd have to eat his salary.

He's minor league depth.

 

[2 Minute Minor]

I remember more than one poster actually projected Bleackley onto the 12 man forward line-up last year, in the pre-season.

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

I remember more than one poster actually projected Bleackley onto the 12 man forward line-up last year, in the pre-season.

I don't think I went that far, but I did have higher hopes for him than most others. His performance in Kansas City... that's what I expected out of him.

Still a very slim sliver of hope that he can turn it around, but it's looking less and less likely. Still not a bad use of a 5th round draft pick. I'm remembering his highlight reels from his draft year... man alive, the kid was good.

 

[joshyhockey26]

I don't think I went that far, but I did have higher hopes for him than most others. His performance in Kansas City... that's what I expected out of him.

Still a very slim sliver of hope that he can turn it around, but it's looking less and less likely. Still not a bad use of a 5th round draft pick. I'm remembering his highlight reels from his draft year... man alive, the kid was good.

Crazy thing is when you look back on any draft, there's always a few players like Bleackley. You just never know.

 

[Robb_K]

Crazy thing is when you look back on any draft, there's always a few players like Bleackley. You just never know.

Some players recover fully from those severe injuries, and others don't. I guess it depends on the type of injury and the seriousness of it. It behooves the team's pro scouting staff to know as much about the player's current health status as possible. Clearly, The Blues' staff didn't know enough, but, given that they only used a 5th Round choice on him, they figured he was worth the gamble, only knowing what most other teams knew (that sometimes players which such an injury recover). And despite not knowing exactly how severe the injury was, and even not knowing exactly where he was in the recovery process.

 

[cgf]

Bleackley also had motivation and ego issues, on top of drama in his personal life, during those crucial developmental years. He was still worth a roll of the dice that late in the draft; but it was more than just the injuries that kept him from making good on his talent.

 

[Vincenzo Arelliti]

Bleackley also had motivation and ego issues, on top of drama in his personal life, during those crucial developmental years. He was still worth a roll of the dice that late in the draft; but it was more than just the injuries that kept him from making good on his talent.

Details?

 

[cgf]

I don't remember all of the details or have any articles bookmarked; but if you search tigervixxxen & henchman24's posts about Bleackley on our board, that'll point you in the right direction.

 

[joshyhockey26]

Wolves sign a depth defenseman, Kenny Morrison. All positions continue to be crowded. Hello San Antonio

 

[MortiestOfMortys]

Wolves sign a depth defenseman, Kenny Morrison. All positions continue to be crowded. Hello San Antonio

Yeah that essentially pushes one of Butler or Lindbohm out of their lineup. They've signed two defensemen in the last week (Vaughan and now Morrison), making their depth chart look something like:

Bischoff-Hunt
Reinhart-Morrison
Vaughan-Casto

With Sbisa, Stoner and Merrill still riding pine or eating chicken wings in the Vegas pressbox.

They'll certainly need extra defensemen (i.e. a 7th and 8th guy), but I'll be pissed if that means Lindbohm and Butler are rotating in and out. I wonder what the terms of our agreement are, like if we have to send them anyone. If our guys are going to be riding pine anyways, I'd rather have them doing it in San Antonio or literally anywhere else. I'm so over Chicago.

 

[JoshFromMO]

Yeah that essentially pushes one of Butler or Lindbohm out of their lineup. They've signed two defensemen in the last week (Vaughan and now Morrison), making their depth chart look something like:

Bischoff-Hunt
Reinhart-Morrison
Vaughan-Casto

With Sbisa, Stoner and Merrill still riding pine or eating chicken wings in the Vegas pressbox.

They'll certainly need extra defensemen (i.e. a 7th and 8th guy), but I'll be pissed if that means Lindbohm and Butler are rotating in and out. I wonder what the terms of our agreement are, like if we have to send them anyone. If our guys are going to be riding pine anyways, I'd rather have them doing it in San Antonio or literally anywhere else. I'm so over Chicago.

Would Butler really sit, cause isn't he the Captain?