Hershey (AHL) and South Carolina (ECHL) 2016-17 Season

[Corby78]

4 more years! That announcement made my day. Finally can put a dagger in those penguins rumors. Go Caps and Go Bears!

nice, continuity with a farm team is a good thing.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Adding Galiev into the mix on the wing will be a tremendous help and should help jump start the PP assuming he can develop chemistry with Bourque or be the key guy on the 2nd unit.

Potential forward lineup without Sill:

Bourque-Boyd-Galiev
Vrana-Stephenson-Carey
Ry Bourque-Walker-Barber
O'Brien-Malone-Mitchell

Scratches: Gazely, Monardo, Margonari

The top 6 is interchangeable based on who plays well together.

 

[Langway]

Plus Thomas somewhere in there. Hershey should have three pretty legit scoring lines. There's bound to be some rotation with that numbers game and, like I said in the acquisitions thread, maybe an opportunity to move someone for a LD to help offset the loss of Siegenthaler.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Completely forgot about Thomas. The wing is completely stacked. Center is definitely another area of question. We have to wait and see if Boyd steps up and keeps progressing and if Stephenson can improve his point total and play more of a offensive game.

I could definitely see a wing for LD type deal in the future. As of right now, Simone who played a lot of minutes last year will be sitting and some sort of rotation will probably be in place

 

[Hivemind]

Who's more likely to be a typical scratch, R. Bourque or LOB?

 

[hb12xchamps]

Who's more likely to be a typical scratch, R. Bourque or LOB?

That's a tough one. If Vogel's story about the organization wanting to be more actively involved with development, I would say the more typical scratch would be Ryan Bourque. He is only on an AHL deal while O'Brien has limited NHL experience and is still a prospect. The thing that hurts O'Brien though is that the Bears have Malone and Sill to play his role and Ryan Bourque is a very good PKer and adds a ton of speed.

My guess is there will be a bit of a rotation based upon matchups and who has the hot hand. They want to balance the development of the young guys with the winning culture the fans still expect so I wouldn't be surprised to see prospects scratched (especially in 3 in 3's) if they aren't playing well.

 

[4thTierSport]

That's a tough one. If Vogel's story about the organization wanting to be more actively involved with development, I would say the more typical scratch would be Ryan Bourque. He is only on an AHL deal while O'Brien has limited NHL experience and is still a prospect. The thing that hurts O'Brien though is that the Bears have Malone and Sill to play his role and Ryan Bourque is a very good PKer and adds a ton of speed.

My guess is there will be a bit of a rotation based upon matchups and who has the hot hand. They want to balance the development of the young guys with the winning culture the fans still expect so I wouldn't be surprised to see prospects scratched (especially in 3 in 3's) if they aren't playing well.

I really wonder how much of a prospect Washington seems him as.

 

[hb12xchamps]

I really wonder how much of a prospect Washington seems him as.

I see your point but they were high enough on him a few seasons ago to sign him to an ELC and play him in a few games. Plus it's not like anyone has truly jumped above him over the past few seasons in terms of being called up. In all honesty, I can't remember a "prospect" being called up last season.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Tonight's lineup:
C. Bourque-Boyd-Vrana
Carey-Stephenson-Galiev
Walker-Malone-Barber
R. Bourque-Sill-Thomas

Bears Defense:
Ness-Lewington
Djoos-Dietz
Labrie-Bowey

Joe Cannata

Interesting lineup there with LOB and Mitchell both scratched

 

[hb12xchamps]

Bears lose their season opener 5-4. Vrana had two goals. I didn't get to watch the game but it looks like goaltending might be a weak spot. I'm assuming Vanacek gets the goal tomorrow night

 

[Chockey Hockey]

When you give up 5 goals on only 12 shots, goaltending definitely is an issue.

 

[Vilica]

Highlight guy not good at keeping plays together with replays.

Bowey assist ~300 initial, replays 330-415

Walker getting boarded/goal scored by Malone ~520, replays 550-605, 810-825, 838-850

Vrana first goal (PPG) ~720, replays 740-810

Vrana second goal ~1015, replays to almost the end

Hard to tell whether Vrana's goals were from Ullmark not being great at closing holes or if shot/release good enough to get through before holes closed.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Hershey loses 3-0 to Binghamton tonight. LOB and Mitchell were in the lineup for Thomas and Ryan Bourque

 

[HecticGlow]

Tonight's lineup:
C. Bourque-Boyd-Vrana
Carey-Stephenson-Galiev
Walker-Malone-Barber
R. Bourque-Sill-Thomas

Bears Defense:
Ness-Lewington
Djoos-Dietz
Labrie-Bowey

Joe Cannata

Interesting lineup there with LOB and Mitchell both scratched

Is Bowey on the third D pairing, or is the ice time/assignments pretty even?

 

[hb12xchamps]

Is Bowey on the third D pairing, or is the ice time/assignments pretty even?

I didn't watch either game, but typically ice time is pretty even unless a pair is having a terrible game

 

[hb12xchamps]

Joey Leach recalled from SC. Haven't heard anything injury related from Hershey so have to wonder if Mann wasn't happy with how the D played over the weekend

 

[hb12xchamps]

I updated the opening post to reflect Hershey and South Carolina's opening night/current rosters. Tim McGauley isn't listed on either roster but I believe he is still injured. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong about that

 

[Marshall]

I updated the opening post to reflect Hershey and South Carolina's opening night/current rosters. Tim McGauley isn't listed on either roster but I believe he is still injured. Someone can correct me if I'm wrong about that

He's listed as injured on eliteprospects.com, FWIW.

 

[John Price]

Only one really interesting giveaway this year at Giant Center. Last year they were giving out Chris Bourque gnomes and Matt Moore and Doug Yingst bobbleheads. This year just a snow globe

 

[hb12xchamps]

He's listed as injured on eliteprospects.com, FWIW.

I did see that. Anyone know if he participated at all in training camp?

Only one really interesting giveaway this year at Giant Center. Last year they were giving out Chris Bourque gnomes and Matt Moore and Doug Yingst bobbleheads. This year just a snow globe

Agreed. They have been status quo on their giveaways for a few years now. They really need to step up their game in that regard

 

[4thTierSport]

Only one really interesting giveaway this year at Giant Center. Last year they were giving out Chris Bourque gnomes and Matt Moore and Doug Yingst bobbleheads. This year just a snow globe

Don't forget the Recker bobble fists.

 

[hb12xchamps]

Couple of quick notes on tonight's 5-2 win over Bridgeport

-McGauley was announced by the Bears during their pregame ceremony so he must still be injured.
-Gazely, Thomas, Leach, and Ryan Bourque were healthy scratches. Djoos has a lower body injury.
-Williams played his first game and had an assist on Walkers goal for his first pro point. I was impressed by his play for it being his first game. He didn't seem out of place.
-Bowey had two assists and had PP and PK time.
-Ness was very very good. I can't believe the Islanders organization and their dumpster fire of a blue line that they had back then never gave Ness more than a few games.
-Galiev's body language was kind of negative IMO and he was slow out of the gates. He had a nice PP assist but I wasn't over impressed with his performance. He looked disinterested and turned the puck over a bit.
-Vrana, Boyd, and Walker were on a line and were okay. They really seemed to be the line with the least amount of ice time. Vrana didn't really stand out so much.
-O'Brien, Sill, and Mitchell shut down a Bridgeport line that featured Dal Colle and Ho-Sang who weren't all that impressive and struggled against Hershey's toughest line.
-Malone looked like a lot more than a goon and had a fight and a nice goal. He centered the top line with Bourque and Barber

 

[hb12xchamps]

Vrana and Walker two healthy scratches tonight. Galiev added to the injured list with Djoos. Ryan Bourque, Gazely, and Thomas are in. Vanecek gets the start

 

[4thTierSport]

So the defense looked way better than I was expecting after seeing the scores on the first two games. Cannata on the other hand… How does a 5 or so year professional look this disoriented in the crease? He has very little fluidity to his movement and seems to have issues with just normal movements.

Vanecek looked pretty good on the other hand. First goal on Sunday looked like it either bounced off something right in front or off the top of his pad and in. Decently screened point shot. Never should have faced that penalty shot though. Shooter got a stick slap on his top hand arm and still got off a quality shot. Gotta love the refs adding gas to the dumpster fire that is 3v3.

 

[Hivemind]

What are the early feelings regarding goaltending in Hershey? Is Cannata so bad that they're going to need to add another piece? Is Vanecek enough to carry them for most of the season?

It's going to be really interesting in the coming months as teams prepare for the expansion draft. Even more so if Grubauer gets picked, as the pipeline will be pretty barren at that point. Wonder if the Capitals will make a depth move this season or next.