OT: Orlando Solar Bears Thread - Baby I'm ready to go!
- Thread starter CommunistDayKare
- Start date
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
For some reason, I feel compelled to barf out every former Solar Bear coaching, but I won't. This feels like very short notice, but a reality of minor league hockey.
The obvious way I could see it go is Vince Williams or even non-Bear Todd Fedoruk. Coaches of the now defunct Trenton Titans. Williams played 4 games for the IHL Bears.
Jason Herter is asst. w/UMD. Gary Shuchuk is asst. w/Wisconsin.
My favorite, Dave Smith literally just signed an extension with Canisus through 2016-17, so that's probably out.
Mark Ferner is the recently fired coach of the Everett Silvertips.
Brad Tapper is Everblades assistant coach, although I don't like the way they play. One level up, Geordie Kinnear is assistant w/Charlotte, but Berehowsky was asst. with Peoria directly before becoming OSB head coach, so we can't rule that possibility out.
Jeff Bes and Kevin Kaminski are both head coaching in the SPHL, but neither has achieved tremendous success with their teams.
and Jarrod Skalde is the ECHL coach of the year, but I don't see what exactly would lure him to Orlando.
update: Skalde just signed a multi-year extension w/CIN
What I don't want though is for the Solar Bears to become the Oilers of the ECHL, sticking to the family and not moving on from past success to the detriment of the present. Berehowsky was outside that, and that's fine. I want a guy who will win, but there's so many directions this could go.
What's Guy doing?
update 6/17: hows abouts Kurt Kleinendorst? Coached Binghampton to the Calder Cup in 2011, and resigned as coach of Alabama-Huntsville last month to get back into the pro ranks. http://whnt.com/2013/05/30/kleinendorst-explains-leaving-uah/
Something from the article that could be an issue is that his interest is in coaching, as it was with Berehowsky, and that might mean he isn't as keen on doing the recruiting.
The obvious way I could see it go is Vince Williams or even non-Bear Todd Fedoruk. Coaches of the now defunct Trenton Titans. Williams played 4 games for the IHL Bears.
Jason Herter is asst. w/UMD. Gary Shuchuk is asst. w/Wisconsin.
My favorite, Dave Smith literally just signed an extension with Canisus through 2016-17, so that's probably out.
Mark Ferner is the recently fired coach of the Everett Silvertips.
Brad Tapper is Everblades assistant coach, although I don't like the way they play. One level up, Geordie Kinnear is assistant w/Charlotte, but Berehowsky was asst. with Peoria directly before becoming OSB head coach, so we can't rule that possibility out.
Jeff Bes and Kevin Kaminski are both head coaching in the SPHL, but neither has achieved tremendous success with their teams.
and Jarrod Skalde is the ECHL coach of the year, but I don't see what exactly would lure him to Orlando.
update: Skalde just signed a multi-year extension w/CIN
What I don't want though is for the Solar Bears to become the Oilers of the ECHL, sticking to the family and not moving on from past success to the detriment of the present. Berehowsky was outside that, and that's fine. I want a guy who will win, but there's so many directions this could go.
What's Guy doing?
update 6/17: hows abouts Kurt Kleinendorst? Coached Binghampton to the Calder Cup in 2011, and resigned as coach of Alabama-Huntsville last month to get back into the pro ranks. http://whnt.com/2013/05/30/kleinendorst-explains-leaving-uah/
Something from the article that could be an issue is that his interest is in coaching, as it was with Berehowsky, and that might mean he isn't as keen on doing the recruiting.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
The Ryan Ginand trade has been completed with Orlando adding Ryan Donald, Tristian Llewellyn, and Tyler Murovich. Not sure what happened with Evansville. I think they owed Orlando a guy as well.
The ECHL has released the End of Season rosters. Let's see who's gone.
http://www.echl.com/echl-announces-season-ending-rosters-p184564
still there: John Curry, Joe Marciano, Mark Nemec, Ryan Blair, Tristin Llewellyn, Ryan Donald, Michael Wilson, Mike Liambas, C.J. Severyn, Ryan Berard, Scott Tanski, Nick McParland, Justin Levac, Kyle Beattie, Michael Neal, Dan Dries, Mathew Sisca, Rob Mignardi, Dan Gendur and Tyler Murovich
gone: Bryce Merriam, Hannu Toivonen, Jason Cohen, Alain Goulet, Jesse Dudas, Derick Martin, Bryce Lampman, Dale Mahovsky, Brett Hartung, Chris Lawrence and Ryan Cruthers.
Cruthers absence can be explained as him retiring.
Looking at the rest of the league, Alaska don't have the rights for Sean Curry anymore. I haven't seen him play, but he's presumably the bro of the team's #1 goalie. Either way, he's a 6'5 defenseman who put up 18 pts for AK last season and a lot of past history playing in the AHL.
I also see Tyler Butler, and for that matter, Scott Kishel have been left off Ft. Wayne's list. I'm more keen on Butler, but Kishel was his d-partner the two games I saw them and being able to get an existing starting pair of defensemen from another team is worth consideration.
The ECHL has released the End of Season rosters. Let's see who's gone.
http://www.echl.com/echl-announces-season-ending-rosters-p184564
still there: John Curry, Joe Marciano, Mark Nemec, Ryan Blair, Tristin Llewellyn, Ryan Donald, Michael Wilson, Mike Liambas, C.J. Severyn, Ryan Berard, Scott Tanski, Nick McParland, Justin Levac, Kyle Beattie, Michael Neal, Dan Dries, Mathew Sisca, Rob Mignardi, Dan Gendur and Tyler Murovich
gone: Bryce Merriam, Hannu Toivonen, Jason Cohen, Alain Goulet, Jesse Dudas, Derick Martin, Bryce Lampman, Dale Mahovsky, Brett Hartung, Chris Lawrence and Ryan Cruthers.
Cruthers absence can be explained as him retiring.
Looking at the rest of the league, Alaska don't have the rights for Sean Curry anymore. I haven't seen him play, but he's presumably the bro of the team's #1 goalie. Either way, he's a 6'5 defenseman who put up 18 pts for AK last season and a lot of past history playing in the AHL.
I also see Tyler Butler, and for that matter, Scott Kishel have been left off Ft. Wayne's list. I'm more keen on Butler, but Kishel was his d-partner the two games I saw them and being able to get an existing starting pair of defensemen from another team is worth consideration.
Last edited:
Fel 96
JFC
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
I don't know what other options were available, but Williams is a safe, if not tremendously ambitious choice.
The lack of success on the ice for Trenton concerns me, but NJ and PHI are good organizations and I still think Orlando still needs a machine like theirs set up where it doesn't matter who gets called up or injured, as every replacement will be awesome and the team will always compete and hopefully his time working with those organizations will give him the know-how to implement one. Which, with all due respect to Drake Berehowsky, was not the feeling I got with him in a management capacity.
This was a situation where I think having a GM or even an interim coach to give hockey ops some depth would have helped as it would have taken pressure off of needing to get a guy right now. Or at least eased my mind about it.
I give it like a 'B' or something, but I've still got to read up on him.
The lack of success on the ice for Trenton concerns me, but NJ and PHI are good organizations and I still think Orlando still needs a machine like theirs set up where it doesn't matter who gets called up or injured, as every replacement will be awesome and the team will always compete and hopefully his time working with those organizations will give him the know-how to implement one. Which, with all due respect to Drake Berehowsky, was not the feeling I got with him in a management capacity.
This was a situation where I think having a GM or even an interim coach to give hockey ops some depth would have helped as it would have taken pressure off of needing to get a guy right now. Or at least eased my mind about it.
I give it like a 'B' or something, but I've still got to read up on him.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
There's not as much stuff as I would have liked on Williams and why the Titans itself ended up failing, so the questions I'd want answered by him are:
What made the 2001 Solar Bears playoff run, and the organization itself special? (I'll admit this is more for my own curiosity)
Organizational philosophies, style of play, influences, etc.
What's going to be different for the Solar Bears? What's going to be the same? Where do existing players stand?
What are the strengths and the possible strengths of the organization (geographic location, affiliations, geographic location of affiliations, etc.), and how can the particulars of Orlando be maximized?
Where are the Bears going to draw their players from? (basically to establish that a pipeline of some form exists and what that is.) Where will the players come from in the case of a short bench?
and the big question: How and more importantly, why will Orlando be different than Trenton?
6/26
Orlando gets the 2015 ECHL All-Star game. January 21, 2015 which falls on a Wednesday, naturally.
I don't know who Orlando was competing against for 2015, but looking at the league map, I could only realistically see Las Vegas with the potential to edge them out if they went head-to-head.
What made the 2001 Solar Bears playoff run, and the organization itself special? (I'll admit this is more for my own curiosity)
Organizational philosophies, style of play, influences, etc.
What's going to be different for the Solar Bears? What's going to be the same? Where do existing players stand?
What are the strengths and the possible strengths of the organization (geographic location, affiliations, geographic location of affiliations, etc.), and how can the particulars of Orlando be maximized?
Where are the Bears going to draw their players from? (basically to establish that a pipeline of some form exists and what that is.) Where will the players come from in the case of a short bench?
and the big question: How and more importantly, why will Orlando be different than Trenton?
6/26
Orlando gets the 2015 ECHL All-Star game. January 21, 2015 which falls on a Wednesday, naturally.
I don't know who Orlando was competing against for 2015, but looking at the league map, I could only realistically see Las Vegas with the potential to edge them out if they went head-to-head.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
so Orlando's supposed to be gaining a second affiliate next week.
Based on recent ECHL releases it would not be: Edmonton, NYR, Dallas, Winnipeg, Florida, or Nashville. Carolina would be out of the picture due to the Canes and Everblades having the same owner.
Minnesota is the current affiliate.
The Flyers could be it as their affiliate in Trenton just folded and the coach of that team is now coaching the Bears.
Phoenix could make sense actually.
There's no need to say what team would be most convenient for me, but I'd be happy with any affiliation. I've found that I've learned about a wider breadth of prospects with teams that I wouldn't normally follow due to the Minnesota affiliation.
Based on recent ECHL releases it would not be: Edmonton, NYR, Dallas, Winnipeg, Florida, or Nashville. Carolina would be out of the picture due to the Canes and Everblades having the same owner.
Minnesota is the current affiliate.
The Flyers could be it as their affiliate in Trenton just folded and the coach of that team is now coaching the Bears.
Phoenix could make sense actually.
There's no need to say what team would be most convenient for me, but I'd be happy with any affiliation. I've found that I've learned about a wider breadth of prospects with teams that I wouldn't normally follow due to the Minnesota affiliation.
Last edited:
Pointerspoint
socktaper
Could we have TB please? I'd be willing to trade our MN affiliation and whoever else they have in mind to the Everblades for TB.
Stammer Time*
Sons of Pirates
I doubt the Lightning are switching affiliates but I'd love to affiliate with Orlando just so I can get some Solar Bear stuff.
Pointerspoint
socktaper
Oh I'm sure they're not, but I'm going to enjoy the tiny little hope for a few days that this nonsensical thing might happen.
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
I don't know if there's interest in discussing the Bears roster, but they've signed 8 guys: defensemen Ryan Blair and Joe Marciano; forwards Kyle Beattie, Tyler Murovich, Michael Neal, CJ Severyn, Ian Slater, and Mike Ullrich.
They handed out their 8 QO's to defensemen Ryan Donald, Mark Nemec, and Mike Liambas; forwards Scott Tanski, Mathew Sisca, Rob Mignardi, and Nick McParland; as well as goalie John Curry.
Based on who they have, or have made QO's to, they seem tougher up front, and with better depth.
Marciano and Nemec only have a handful of games between them so while the defensive situation gives me hope, I haven't seen enough of them to really come to any conclusion.
The team at this point needs veteran presence. Michael Neal has the most games played professionally on the team (besides John Curry), and he's only 24, and won't pass the technical 'veteran' threshold until next year. (assuming he plays more than like 25% of the games this season)
Teams in both the AHL and ECHL tend to have a guy in his 30's or at least late their 20's on both the blueline and upfront for the leadership group. Ryan Donald could be one of those guys as he tends to find himself wearing a letter wherever he goes, but I don't see the package of skill, temperament, and experience among the forwards now that Cruthers is retired.
Orlando should be immensely attractive to veteran players, but I get why they wouldn't be on the team just yet.
Agree? Disagree?
They handed out their 8 QO's to defensemen Ryan Donald, Mark Nemec, and Mike Liambas; forwards Scott Tanski, Mathew Sisca, Rob Mignardi, and Nick McParland; as well as goalie John Curry.
Based on who they have, or have made QO's to, they seem tougher up front, and with better depth.
Marciano and Nemec only have a handful of games between them so while the defensive situation gives me hope, I haven't seen enough of them to really come to any conclusion.
The team at this point needs veteran presence. Michael Neal has the most games played professionally on the team (besides John Curry), and he's only 24, and won't pass the technical 'veteran' threshold until next year. (assuming he plays more than like 25% of the games this season)
Teams in both the AHL and ECHL tend to have a guy in his 30's or at least late their 20's on both the blueline and upfront for the leadership group. Ryan Donald could be one of those guys as he tends to find himself wearing a letter wherever he goes, but I don't see the package of skill, temperament, and experience among the forwards now that Cruthers is retired.
Orlando should be immensely attractive to veteran players, but I get why they wouldn't be on the team just yet.
Agree? Disagree?
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
fwiw, I see the St. Louis Blues aren't listed on the ECHL or Evansville Icemen site, and given that this is the second time in 3-years the Blues are poking around Orlando with a pre-season game...
+Anaheim/Norfolk
edit: on STL, their AHL affiliate, Chicago, renewed it's own affiliation with the CHL Missouri Mavericks. That would presumably be a limiting factor, if it's them.
For the record, I still haven't seen any sort of official announcement on another affiliation myself. It was posted on their facebook wall (I know) but the members discussing it have a clue.
+Anaheim/Norfolk
edit: on STL, their AHL affiliate, Chicago, renewed it's own affiliation with the CHL Missouri Mavericks. That would presumably be a limiting factor, if it's them.
For the record, I still haven't seen any sort of official announcement on another affiliation myself. It was posted on their facebook wall (I know) but the members discussing it have a clue.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
It's Toronto.
Thanks to those of you playing along at home.
I tweeted at the team that I wanted goalie races during intermissions, using an example of what the Leafs do. Guess they got carried away, but Carlton is somebody who can be a positive influence on Shades. Somebody in the big league he can model himself after. As good as Nordy is, they don't share body type. Or species.
Thanks to those of you playing along at home.
I tweeted at the team that I wanted goalie races during intermissions, using an example of what the Leafs do. Guess they got carried away, but Carlton is somebody who can be a positive influence on Shades. Somebody in the big league he can model himself after. As good as Nordy is, they don't share body type. Or species.
Last edited:
Pointerspoint
socktaper
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
Well, they're an Atlantic division team that's name consists of 3 words and whose location begins with the letter 'T'; who wear blue and white; was home to Cory Cross, Darcy Tucker, and Wendel Clark; had one surprising season and playoff run the past few years; more recently dealt with the longest serving member of the team, a popular big name center and captain leaving to play for a rival; has had an ECHL affiliate in the state of Florida before; possibly now have their goaltending sorted out after stretch of years lacking in the area, and will apparently go with a young, promising tandem of goalies; and had problems filling the lower bowl prior to T. Leiweke being named team president by new ownership.
missed it by that much.
Last edited:
ThunderAlleyNomad
Registered User
- Aug 24, 2009
- 6,042
- 228
Pointerspoint
socktaper
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
The Bears could find themselves in an interesting situation this season with goaltending. Toronto signed Chris Gibson, who is a Finn, and therefore required by his country to serve in the military. If Antero Niittymaki is a comparable, Gibson would potentially be coming over in January.
That would leave the Leafs with five goaltenders once he joins. Minnesota only has four. In the meantime, the Bears would have games to play and the looming prospect of the Leafs sending a guy down. (either Gibson to get his legs back, or Garret Sparks, the other goalie on an ELC.)
The thing is to fill that other goalie spot until then, and how do you sell a player on signing there if one of the spots are going to be gone midway through the season?
Well, I looked at CapGeek and identified possible loans from NHL teams with 5 (or more) goalies and no current ECHL affiliate.
Anaheim - Igor Bobkov
-this could change if Anaheim moves one of their goalies, (or gets an affiliation of course) but as a loan, it keeps Anaheim's possibilities open until then to see if they can work out a deal.
New Jersey - Scott Wedgewood or Maxime Clermont
-The most likely course of action if the loan route it taken. Both spent time in the ECHL last season and Wedgewood played for Williams in Trenton.
Colorado - Kieran Millan or Kent Patterson
- COL actually is affiliated with CHL Denver, but also has 6 goalies under contract. Partly for posterity I'm noting it, but I'm having a hard time justifying to myself why they'd loan a guy other than them being so well stocked in net and wanting to give one guy more time in Denver, or seeing how well one could do against ECHL competition.
Buffalo - Nathan Lieuwen or Connor Knapp
- Also a team with 6 goalies. update: NYR/Hartford has 6, enough to stock all three levels. Buffalo has to put their guys somewhere else. They had been sending them to NYR's affiliate in Greenville.
St. Louis - Niklas Lundstrom or Jordan Binnington
I was going to mention the Blues, seeing that Jake Allen was RFA, and tabled it for research later. It slipped off, but Allen got re-signed a few hours later. Niklas Lundstrom would seem to be their ECHL guy as Allen is not on his ELC but Jordan Binnington projects higher. The objective for the Blues could be to get Binnington less bench time, or Lundstrom time to transition to NA ice and that could mean assignment to the coast for either of them. This would appear to be a situation needed to be sorted out by a training camp.
I'll admit that getting a non-affiliated loan hurts the chances of John Curry returning.
Also, former Solar Bear Ben Simon named Cincinnati Cyclones head coach.
edit: 8/6. Taking into account which NHL/AHL teams don't have a coast affiliate, but between them are enough goalies under contract to still need to send someone down, Philly fits the description and Carsen Chubak is the one under AHL contract.
Emery/Mason 2
Heeter 3 (entry level)
Stolarz will slide
Yann Danis 4
and AHL Carsen Chubak 5
8/7
Utah seems to no longer be Calgary's affiliate, and they've got 5 goalies, figuring that Joni Ortio comes back to NA.
That would leave the Leafs with five goaltenders once he joins. Minnesota only has four. In the meantime, the Bears would have games to play and the looming prospect of the Leafs sending a guy down. (either Gibson to get his legs back, or Garret Sparks, the other goalie on an ELC.)
The thing is to fill that other goalie spot until then, and how do you sell a player on signing there if one of the spots are going to be gone midway through the season?
Well, I looked at CapGeek and identified possible loans from NHL teams with 5 (or more) goalies and no current ECHL affiliate.
-this could change if Anaheim moves one of their goalies, (or gets an affiliation of course) but as a loan, it keeps Anaheim's possibilities open until then to see if they can work out a deal.
New Jersey - Scott Wedgewood or Maxime Clermont
-The most likely course of action if the loan route it taken. Both spent time in the ECHL last season and Wedgewood played for Williams in Trenton.
Colorado - Kieran Millan or Kent Patterson
- COL actually is affiliated with CHL Denver, but also has 6 goalies under contract. Partly for posterity I'm noting it, but I'm having a hard time justifying to myself why they'd loan a guy other than them being so well stocked in net and wanting to give one guy more time in Denver, or seeing how well one could do against ECHL competition.
Buffalo - Nathan Lieuwen or Connor Knapp
- Also a team with 6 goalies. update: NYR/Hartford has 6, enough to stock all three levels. Buffalo has to put their guys somewhere else. They had been sending them to NYR's affiliate in Greenville.
St. Louis - Niklas Lundstrom or Jordan Binnington
I was going to mention the Blues, seeing that Jake Allen was RFA, and tabled it for research later. It slipped off, but Allen got re-signed a few hours later. Niklas Lundstrom would seem to be their ECHL guy as Allen is not on his ELC but Jordan Binnington projects higher. The objective for the Blues could be to get Binnington less bench time, or Lundstrom time to transition to NA ice and that could mean assignment to the coast for either of them. This would appear to be a situation needed to be sorted out by a training camp.
I'll admit that getting a non-affiliated loan hurts the chances of John Curry returning.
Also, former Solar Bear Ben Simon named Cincinnati Cyclones head coach.
edit: 8/6. Taking into account which NHL/AHL teams don't have a coast affiliate, but between them are enough goalies under contract to still need to send someone down, Philly fits the description and Carsen Chubak is the one under AHL contract.
Emery/Mason 2
Heeter 3 (entry level)
Stolarz will slide
Yann Danis 4
and AHL Carsen Chubak 5
8/7
Utah seems to no longer be Calgary's affiliate, and they've got 5 goalies, figuring that Joni Ortio comes back to NA.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
The Bears keep constructing things to bump this thread, but former Bear Brad Tapper has been tapped for assistant coach. He had been with the Everblades the past three seasons.
He played 45 regular season games for the 01' team and 2 playoff games.
Something hopefully Tapper can bring to the Bears is the Blades ability to get the top guys coming out of junior and college.
Interesting backstory on him too.
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=2897#.UgK7r23iTvg
8/19: The Bears swiped David Rutherford from Florida and signed defenseman Jake Areshenko. I'm still researching the two of them, although I had Rutherford figured as a possible acquisition (seriously, I have been killing it this offseason in figuring who the team would go after).
Areshenko's favorite player is Mattias Ohlund. Just leaving that out there.
He played 45 regular season games for the 01' team and 2 playoff games.
Something hopefully Tapper can bring to the Bears is the Blades ability to get the top guys coming out of junior and college.
Interesting backstory on him too.
http://www.hockeybuzz.com/blog.php?post_id=2897#.UgK7r23iTvg
8/19: The Bears swiped David Rutherford from Florida and signed defenseman Jake Areshenko. I'm still researching the two of them, although I had Rutherford figured as a possible acquisition (seriously, I have been killing it this offseason in figuring who the team would go after).
Areshenko's favorite player is Mattias Ohlund. Just leaving that out there.
Last edited:
Felonious Python
Minor League Degenerate
- Aug 20, 2004
- 30,613
- 8,770
Solar Bears agree to terms with Orlando native, defenseman Myles Harvey.
http://www.orlandosolarbearshockey.com/news/100113-harvey.php
Harvey played his youth hockey for the Jr. Lightning and Tampa Bay Raiders.
personally, the club can't even handle me right now.
http://www.orlandosolarbearshockey.com/news/100113-harvey.php
Harvey played his youth hockey for the Jr. Lightning and Tampa Bay Raiders.
personally, the club can't even handle me right now.
Last edited:
Ad
Upcoming events
-
Pinguins Bremerhaven @ Eisbaren Berlin - Eisbaren Berlin leads series 2-1Wagers: 4Staked: $500.00Event closes- Updated:
-
-
-
-
