Prospect Info: Hershey Bears/South Carolina Stingrays 2020-2021 Vol. 1

[Hivemind]

The new Calder Cup playoff bracket is certainly.... uhhh.... a choice

 

[hockeykicker]

 

[hb12xchamps]

Brings some more offense to the blueline. Good puck mover at the AHL level. This pretty much ensures that Alexeyev plays primarily at LD next season. The whole right side of the defense is completely revamped with Subban, Franson, and McIlrath signed. Plus they brought back Graber (who can play forward as well) and Erkamps as depth.

 

[hb12xchamps]

 

[usiel]

Brings some more offense to the blueline. Good puck mover at the AHL level. This pretty much ensures that Alexeyev plays primarily at LD next season. The whole right side of the defense is completely revamped with Subban, Franson, and McIlrath signed. Plus they brought back Graber (who can play forward as well) and Erkamps as depth.

How does the mock D pairing look so far minus Fever at Hershey.

 

[Langway]

Speaks from experience with two seasons together and then another couple starts on a third AHL team.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

a name….neat.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Brings some more offense to the blueline. Good puck mover at the AHL level. This pretty much ensures that Alexeyev plays primarily at LD next season. The whole right side of the defense is completely revamped with Subban, Franson, and McIlrath signed. Plus they brought back Graber (who can play forward as well) and Erkamps as depth.

love those moves….completely revamped is right….

 

[Langway]

More McKenna:

I mentioned Scott Allen – Scott Allen I had as a coach in three different cities. I had him with the Omaha Ak-Sar-Ben Knights, the Peoria Rivermen and the Portland Pirates. He was probably the best coach that I ever had.

 

[hb12xchamps]

How does the mock D pairing look so far minus Fever at Hershey.

Just spitballing since chemistry as a d pair is usually important. I’d say something like:

Alexeyev-Franson
Nardella-McIlrath
LuJo-Subban/Graber
Wittchow
Erkamps

 

[hb12xchamps]

I swear he recently gave an interview saying he’d be in NA this upcoming year. I don’t think this is wise for his development

 

[Hivemind]

I swear he recently gave an interview saying he’d be in NA this upcoming year. I don’t think this is wise for his development

I think his lackluster season last year was kinda it for his development, at least as an NHL prospect. If he had come over to North America sooner, he might have been able to survive a rough transition year and still have runway left to figure things out. But at 24, he probably wasn't going to have time to put it all together and get more North American contracts. This is the last year of his deal, and I wouldn't expect him to be qualified.

I can also imagine that COVID might have been a factor in this decision (although I have nothing to back that up other than speculation).

 

[hb12xchamps]

I think his lackluster season last year was kinda it for his development, at least as an NHL prospect. If he had come over to North America sooner, he might have been able to survive a rough transition year and still have runway left to figure things out. But at 24, he probably wasn't going to have time to put it all together and get more North American contracts. This is the last year of his deal, and I wouldn't expect him to be qualified.

I can also imagine that COVID might have been a factor in this decision (although I have nothing to back that up other than speculation).

I could buy that if the season wasn’t shortened and the playoffs cancelled. It was a weird year all around. Giving it one more go for a full season, with actual crowds and a full slate of playoffs would make more sense IMO. Gives him one more year in NA and then he could jump back to Switzerland if he has another bad year. Switzerland will always be an option for him.

 

[Marshall]

Is it me or did the Bears ice a pretty damned big defensive corps tonight?

 

[Corby78]

Just realized we got Axel back. Nice for us, feel bad for him though

 

[Marshall]

https://www.watchtheahl.com/#/play/game/949977

Game 2, hosting Phantoms. Start of the 2nd period.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

Terrible stream for me….choppy.

 

[Holtbyisms]

Another win, AJF the offensive star tonight with an assist and a game winning goal. Fucale was in net and looked pretty damn good. Hershey could be really strong this year especially when they add McMichael to the mix. Can't see him sitting in the press box in DC all season in case of injury as a smart move.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

They tried to give that one away at the end….phew…

 

[hb12xchamps]

Hershey looked really, really solid other than a few defensive breakdowns. The PPs were 7 to 2 in favor of Lehigh Valley and Fucale and the PK units all were extremely solid, especially the 6 on 3 at the end.

Kempny had a decent game. He got rocked in the third period and I held my breath but he got right back up and didn’t miss a beat. Alexeyev was playing RD with LuJo. That pair moved the puck and skated very well as expected. I was very surprised by how much Geisser’s game has grown. He looked more poised with the puck, wasn’t getting tossed around everywhere and was active in the offensive zone. McIlrath was very unimpressive outside of his physical presence on the ice, but that will be needed as they continue to battle teams within their division. Easily the worst of their 6 D last night.

PK unit was comprised of Malenstyn, AJF, Gersich, Clark, Pinho and Leason. Pretty much all the D got PK minutes.

Second PP unit had the majority of the prospects. I think it had Leason, Protas, Pilon, Snively and Alexeyev. I could be off slightly on that considering they didn’t get a ton of time with only two PP opportunities.

Once Nardella gets back there will be a defense problem. Too many guys that deserve playing time. I wouldn’t be shocked to see a trade and the most likely candidates would be Kempny and LuJo in my opinion.

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

AHLTV is pissing me off. Every single game is choppy and unwatchable so far this season.

 

[Strawberry Fields]

AHLTV is pissing me off. Every single game is choppy and unwatchable so far this season.

The video feed has worked alright for me, although I've only watched two games on it so far. My big gripe is that the game clock seems to stay frozen a lot.

 

[Strawberry Fields]

They came out buzzing last night with a 2-0 lead and kind of took their feet off the gas the last two periods, I thought. IIRC they were outshooting SYR 18-14 after the first period and ended the game outshot 39-31. A bit of a discipline problem, and of course both Syracuse goals were on the poweplay after Zack Fisch opened his big mouth about how great Hershey's kill has been this year, lol. Franson got called for a BS slashing penalty towards the end of regulation hustling back to break up a play, doubt it made much of a difference though. Copley was sharp after a shaky first couple games. Miftkahov (SYR goalie) made a couple huge stops in OT just before the Crunch's winner, including robbing Sgarbossa on a breakway.

AJF looks awesome imo. He's developed a long way since his rookie stint three years ago and is playing pretty complete hockey. I think he deserves to be on an NHL roster. Geisser looks pretty good this year after being pretty invisible his first few stints with the team. And I've been really liking Protas since the end of last season when he came over, love how he uses his size to shield the puck and keep possession.

Looking forward to seeing Saturday's game in person. Second of 12 games on the season ticket package this year.

 

[marcel snapshot]

How does Kempny look? Has he smoothed out some of the kinks in his game that were pretty evident in pre-season

 

[CapitalsCupReality]

The video feed has worked alright for me, although I've only watched two games on it so far. My big gripe is that the game clock seems to stay frozen a lot.

i was using safari, ended up working it out…..AHL tv app worked ok.