#AmarilloBulls

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Man, I love this goalie . . . . #hockey #mites #bullshockey #amarillobulls #goalie #hockeyislife https://www.instagram.com/p/Btrq7esAq0o/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=nh5w6gbffg8v

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Come skate with us now until 9! @amarillohockeyassociation @amarillobulls @bullshockeyamarillo (at Amarillo Civic Center Complex)

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The Amarillo Bulls Playoff video I made. 

I wanted to use The Black Keys but legal issues or something. Oh well. 

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CANTLON'S CORNER: HOCKEY NEWS AND NOTES OFF SEASON VOLUME 12

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The world is slowly approaching normalcy. Sports news is becoming more and more prevalent as ALL sports are moving closer and closer towards returning into the daily lives of its fans. AHL AWARDS The American Hockey League announced that forward Gerry Mayhew of the Iowa Wild has been voted the winner of the Les Cunningham Award as the AHL’s Most Valuable Player for the 2019-20 season. Mayhew scored a league-best 39 goals – the most by an AHL skater since 2011-12 – and finished third with 61 points in 49 games, leading Iowa to the team's best regular-season record in franchise history. 10 of Mayhew’s goals were game-winners and logging 11 multiple-goal performances, including a natural hat trick in a 3-0 win over the San Diego Gulls on Feb. 14. Mayhew tied a franchise mark with a ten-game scoring streak from December 12th to January 10th. Mayhew earned CCM/AHL Player-of-the-Month honors for January after he totaled 12 goals and 19 points in 11 contests. Among Mayhew’s 39 tallies were 13 power-play goals and two shorthanded markers. He also led the Wild in plus/minus rating at plus-16. Iowa was 26-7-1-2 in games when Mayhew registered a point. Mayhew represented Iowa at the 2020 AHL All-Star Classic in Ontario, CA, and was voted a Second Team Left-Wing AHL All-Star for 2019-20. He also made his National Hockey League debut this season, notching two goals in 13 games with Minnesota – including a goal in his first appearance on October 15th in Toronto. 2020-21 SEASON When it starts, where it starts still remains to be seen at the NHL or AHL level. The NHL has agreed-upon a framework to return to play, but several major details are still being worked out. While questions remain how it will all play out, signs point to a resumption of hockey sometime this summer. The AHL season start will not be in October, with the most likely start being some point in November. The October 9th scheduled date for the home opener for the Hartford Wolf Pack is almost certainly going to be rescheduled. One of the many side issues is the pending expiration of player contracts at the end of June but of the contracts of teams' hockey staff at the end of the month. “They’re running out of runway here and a lot of people are in limbo,” one source said. "It isn’t only players, its all the hockey ops people, GM, Assistant GM, Head Coaches, assistants, equipment managers, trainers, and scouts are all sitting around wondering a lot about this. What I’m hearing is the likelihood is that they will slide contracts forward say 60-90 days, then, announce a Draft Day and then a free agency period. The other big issue is, of course, the salary cap and what we're hearing is a freeze on the cap at this year’s level ($82.1M) for the next two-to-three years until the economy recovers. In principle, both sides are happy. They have areas of interest they want to clarify moving forward, but a ten-year extension for the CBA is being bandied about. It's in discussion but nothing's finalized.” The business of hockey is a large and expansive one with many pieces of the financial puzzle still to be resolved. PLAYER MOVEMENT A big coaching opportunity has opened up after the Los Angeles Kings announced on Saturday that they will not renew the contract of Ontario Reign head coach, Mike Stothers, whose contract is set to expire on June 15th. Stothers has led the Kings’ affiliate for the last six seasons, including five with the Reign (2015-20) where he earned the Louis A.R. Pieri Award as the AHL’s outstanding coach and won a Calder Cup championship with the Manchester Monarchs in 2014-15. “We appreciate everything Mike has contributed to the organization,” said Rob Blake, Vice President and General Manager of the Kings in a press release. “He has played an important role in helping develop our players and we want to thank him for his years of service and guiding us to a Calder Cup Championship in 2015." San Diego's Chris Wideman heads to the Torpedo Novgorod (Russia-KHL) and Frank Corrado of the Belleville Senators signs with MODO (Sweden-Allsvenskan). Lukáš Radil, who split the year in San Jose between the AHL Barracuda and the NHL Sharks signs with Spartak Moscow (Russia-KHL) while Carter Camper of the Utica Comets has his eyes on Sweden or perhaps Russia for next year. 23 players have now signed in Europe. 16 of the 31 AHL teams have lost at least one player to a European signing. Ex-Pack, Kodie Curran, turned down a KHL deal with Avangard Omsk (Russia) to sign a two-year, one-way deal at a $1M/year with the Anaheim Ducks. He will likely be in San Diego to start the season. He played with Rogle BK (Sweden-SHL) last year earning high marks as the top defenseman in the SHL and the Golden Helmet Award as the regular season MVP. Nice story on Curran in the Calgary Herald. Read it HERE. A pair of ex-Wolf Pack players were swapped for one another in a two-for-one deal in Russia. Defenseman, Alexei Bereglazov, winner of two Gagarin Cup titles, and forward, Ilya Kablukov, depart Mettallurg Magnitogorsk (Russia-KHL) for Avangard Omsk. Going back the other way in the deal is right-wing, Taylor Beck, an ex-Sound Tiger. Ryan Verbeek, the nephew of former Hartford Whaler and New York Ranger, and current Detroit Red Wing Assistant GM, Pat Verbeek, returns to France to play with Elite Magnus League HC Briancon next season. He split this season with Pensacola and Huntsville of the SPHL. Calvon Boots of the American International College (AHA) leaves the Springfield, MA school for the Rochester Institute of Technology (AHA) in the fall. AIC goalie, Zacharias Skog completes his four years and signs a pro deal back home with Vasterviks IK (Sweden-SHL). His movement makes 31 college players signing in Europe. Goalie, Ryan Edquist, after just 21 games in four years with the Boston College Eagles (HE) has grad transferred back home to the Minnesota State-Mankato Mavericks (NCHC). He will be the backup to next season's likely Hobey Baker finalist, Dryden McKay, who had a 1.31 GAA, tops in the nation in his sophomore year. He is the son of one-time Whaler, Ross McKay. Edquist's transfer makes for 16 Division I grads moving to new schools. Andrew Mancini, (Canterbury Prep-New Milford) drafted as the first-ever draft pick by the Danbury Jr. Hat Tricks in the NAHL Supplemental Draft has opted to sign with the P.A.L. Islanders (NCDC) which is closer to his Long Island home for next season. Cam MacDonald (Selects Academy of South Kent Prep) who was a Boston College (HE) commit for 2022-23 has elected to head home and signed with the Saint John Sea Dogs (QMJHL). He spent last season with the Sioux Falls Stampede (USHL). Max Coyle becomes the fourth University of Alabama-Huntsville (WCHA) player to transfer from the program that was slated to be eliminated. He heads to Bowling Green (NCHC). Read that story, next. TALBOT, A SAVE AND A BEAUTY The University Alabama-Huntsville Chargers were on the verge of extinction until a former Wolf Pack goaltender got involved. In just ten days' time, the Chargers' program received an astounding $500K in donations allowing the University to continue to have their team play in the WCHA conference. The conference formally reinstated the program on Wednesday. The conference is losing seven schools after the 2020-21 season as they form the new CCHA conference. UAH may apply so they have a more travel-friendly schedule according to now-former head coach Mike Corbett, who stepped down on Wednesday, along with Assistant Coach, and long time AHL player, Gavin Morgan. The other assistant coach Lance West was named Interim Head Coach. West played at UA-H in the early 1990s, three-of-the-four years at Division II. He was an assistant coach for ten years after graduating before spending the next eleven seasons at the University of Alaska-Fairbanks Nanooks (WCHA), the first ten of them as an assistant coach. He returned to the program two years ago. A fundraising campaign to support the continuation of the Alabama-Huntsville hockey program was successful in raising the critical monetary gifts from numerous individual donors, according to UA-H Athletic Director, Cade Smith in a story on AL.com. The dollars were matched by two separate gifts of $125,000 each. The gifts came from long-time hockey supporters, Taso Sofikitis, and Sheldon Wolitski, who played on the school’s Division II national championship team. The total amount of more than $750,000 in private dollars will allow the Chargers to continue to compete at the Division I level during the 2020-21 season. This total philanthropic contribution is the largest athletic campaign contribution in the history of UA-H. One of the school's biggest program supporters and who helped spearhead the drive was its most famous former Charger, and current Calgary Flames and ex-Wolf Pack netminder, Cam Talbot. He took to his own Twitter page to express why people should donate to the cause. “This program gave me a chance that nobody else would. Without my time spent @UAHuntsville, I would not have got the opportunity to be where I am today. I want those opportunities to continue for more young players for years to come!” Talbot was named to the advisory board. In addition to the private dollars, UAH president, Darren Dawson, committed money from the university to cover the balance of the hockey team’s operational costs during the upcoming season. “We are thankful from the loyal support that has been demonstrated this week by the fans and alumni of Charger hockey,” said Dawson in a press release statement. “We are hopeful that this support will translate into a sustainable funding model that will allow the UAH hockey program to rise again to high levels of success,” “The university is fully committed to the upcoming season,” Smith added. “The university will work with the supporters of the UAH hockey program and a newly formed hockey advisory board to develop a plan that will allow the Chargers to thrive in the 2020-21 season and beyond. UAH is committed to building a world-class Division I hockey program with a permanent conference home that will allow the Chargers to continue past the 2020-21 season.” The school has already allocated money and cleared space for a brand-new, on-campus arena before the pandemic hit looking to take the Chargers from the larger, off-campus site, the Van Braun Center, which is the home of the local SPHL team, the Huntsville Havoc, to a more manageable facility. The WCHA conference will be strengthened and could become the first fully functioning West-Coast-based Conference as they are likely to add Arizona State, whose brand new on-campus arena is expected to be ready in 2021. The two Alaska schools in Fairbanks and Anchorage are likely to merge in the near future because of state budget cuts. The conference will likely then add other major West Coast Division I colleges and universities such as Los Angeles-based USC, and UCLA, Colorado-based, Air Force, who will likely switch from the AHA conference, and perhaps UNLV, and Utah, who are currently ACHA Division I club programs. Despite the good financial news, the Chargers program lost another player to transfer when Bailey Newton announced he will leave after his sophomore season and head back to Canada and the University of Western Ontario Mustangs (OUAA) QMJHL The last Canadian major junior Draft is this weekend. The QMJHL Draft will be done remotely for the first time with the first round scheduled for Friday on the league’s YouTube channel. Rounds 2-14 will be on Saturday starting at 9 am with selection results on the league website. The QMJHL U.S. Draft will be held on Monday, June 8th with results on the league's website. The states with eligible players in the US Draft are from are; Connecticut, Maine, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, Rhode Island, and Vermont. A strong rumor is that the QMJHL will start it's 2020-21 season on October 1st, regardless of what the other two major junior leagues, the OHL and WHL, do. In part, it will be because they have no US-based franchises. The only issue will be European players' participation based on provincial and directives from Ottawa regarding COVID-19 and the US border for American players which of course by mutual consent is still closed. “The feeling is they want to get back to a regular order of business starting a month later is OK, but they want to get back on track,” commented a reliable hockey source with knowledge of the situation. Having fans in the buildings are necessary for franchises to survive, but Health Canada will have the final say on when the puck is dropped. The NAHL has pushed its Draft Day to July 21st. The CHL Import Draft that normally takes place after the NHL Draft and no date has been set for either. COLLEGE HOCKEY The Dartmouth head coaching opening was filled with a familiar name to followers of Connecticut college hockey as Reid Cashman, who spent four years as a defenseman with the Quinnipiac Bobcats (ECACHL) in their rise to national prominence, was named the new head coach for the Dartmouth Big Green (ECACHL) on Monday. He becomes the 22nd coach in school history and replaces the all-time winningest coach, Bob Gaudet, who stepped down after 23 years year in the top spot. “I feel like I have been given the opportunity of a lifetime to be the head coach of the Dartmouth men’s hockey program,” Cashman said in a press release statement. “For 114 years, Dartmouth has competed at the highest level and has produced Olympians, All-Americans, and NHL players. Along with the great history on the ice, Dartmouth College has been one of the finest institutions in the world for more than 250 years. It is truly an honor to be given this prestigious opportunity.” Cashman has been on a fast track professionally. He was an assistant coach for two years with the Hershey Bears (AHL) and has spent the last two seasons as an assistant coach with the Washington Capitals, with his portfolio being the Caps powerplay and defense. He also coordinated their development camps and participation in the Traverse City, MI annual prospects tournament. He won’t start this new position until the NHL playoffs for the Capitals concludes, whenever that may be. Cashman played 151 games for the Hamden-based university. In 151 career games, Cashman tallied 23 goals and still holds the school record of 125 assists for 242 total points. He was an NCAA (East First-Team, All-American in his senior year in 2006-07. He was a second-team honoree in his junior in 2003-2004. In Quinnipiac’s last season in the AHA conference, he was named to the First Team and led the conference in scoring. He was named Player of the Year. In addition, Cashman was a Hobey Baker Top 10 finalist before the Bobcats were elevated to the ECACHL conference. Cashman played five years of minor professional hockey with his last year in North America winning an ECHL Kelly Cup championship with the Cincinnati Cyclones in 2010. Cashman’s last pro year was spent in Austria skating for EHC Linz in Erste Bank Eishockey League (EBEL). The Red Wing, MN native was undrafted but played in the AHL for Toronto, Wilkes Barre/Scranton, and Milwaukee. In the ECHL, he played for Columbia, Wheeling, and Cincinnati After retiring from active playing, he returned to Quinnipiac and became an assistant coach to Rand Pecknold for five years (2011-2016) and went to two Frozen Four Finals. Quinnipiac lost to first to their conference, and in-state rival, Yale University, in a 4-0 shutout in 2013 and again in 2016 losing 5-1 to North Dakota. Thomas Maia is another Division I player heading to the Canadian Junior A ranks while still retaining his NCAA eligibility. Maia, who suffered a broken fibula without playing a game for R.I.T. (AHA), heads to the Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL) after he was traded from the Oakville Blades (OJHL). Speaking of Yale University, they announced its 2020 freshmen class of seven which includes head coach Keith Allain's son, Nik (North Branford/Taft Prep) from Boston (NCDC). He was a UCONN commit at one point. Ryan Stevens joins his brother Luke who is already with the Bulldogs. The boys' father is Kevin Stevens, the former NHL'er with the New York Rangers. Stevens, the elder, won two Stanley Cups with the Pittsburgh Penguins. The other announced players include Reilly Connors (Madison/Loomis Chaffe), and goalie Nathan Reid, from Sioux Falls (USHL). LIU named its first head coach last week, and this week their first batch of LIU Sharks recruits with the first-ever recruit signed being Jordan DiCicco of the Brooks Bandits (AJHL). He was followed by nine others including, Connor Szmul, from the Chippewa (WI) Steel (NAHL), Daine Dubois of the Bonnyville Pontiacs (AJHL), Robert McCollum Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL), no relation to ex-Wolf Pack Tom McCollum. Also, Nolan McElhaney, who missed all of last year with an ACL injury, transfers from the University of New Hampshire Wildcats (HE), and a second Division I transfer, Mitch Meek, from Michigan Tech (WCHA). Madoka Suzuki of the Kemptville 73’s (CCHL), Marty Westhaver of the Victoria Grizzlies (BCHL), Aaron White of the Amarillo Bulls (NAHL), and Gustav Muller of the Madison Capitols (USHL). TRIVIA What was Wayne Gretzky's last non-99 uniform number? He wore number 26 for three games with the Peterborough Petes. Last month was the 25th anniversary of the Quebec Nordiques' last game. It was at MSG against the Rangers in the Stanley Cup playoffs. The Rangers won the series in six games with the last goal in Nordiques history was scored by Peter Forsberg. The Nordiques were the first WHA team that merged with the NHL that was moved. Read the full article

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CANTLON'S CORNER: WOLF PACK OFF SEASON REPORT - VOLUME 7

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The ECHL's Kelly Cup has been won. The AHL's Calder Cup winner was decided. On Wednesday night, the top award in professional hockey, the Stanley Cup will be awarded to either the St. Louis Blues or the hosting Boston Bruins. While that might be the top talk of the sport right now, it's not all that's going on in what was once again another busy week in the off-season. PACK UPDATE When JD speaketh people listen. In his first interview since taking over the Presidency of the New York Rangers, John Davidson spoke about the direction of the organization he now commands will be taking. The first topic he spoke about was here in Hartford and the dysfunction that has been the Wolf Pack over the past five years which is how long it's been since their last playoff appearance. Not only have they not made the playoffs, but the Wolf Pack have been languishing at or near the bottom of the entire AHL over that span. It's been one season worse than the next with no winning, no player development, and no fan happiness. Read about it HERE. LARRY PLEAU FEATURE Larry Pleau is one of the true Hartford Whaler legends. In his early career, the Lynn, MA native played for the 1963-64 Memorial Cup finalists Montreal N.D.G. (Notre Dame de Grace) Monarchs with future NHL’ers Carol Vadnais and Rogie Vachon, and the head coach was a very young, Scotty Bowman. He played in the AHL just before the WHA emerged. He played for the first Montreal-based team AHL team, the Voyageurs. They finished tops in a nine-team AHL but lost a second-round, three-team round-robin series to Buffalo and Springfield. He played for Montreal in 1971-72, after starting with the AHL team that moved to Nova Scotia, that lost to the Rangers in six games. Pleau jumped to the renegade WHA the following year. He played for the New England Whalers in their first season in Boston where they won the WHA Avco Cup. Pleau played all in seven New England Whaler WHA seasons, finishing as the second all-time leading scorer with 372 points to Tom Webster’s 425. He was tops in assists with 215 and second in games played with his 468 to Rick Ley’s 478. Brad Selwood was third with 431. When the Hartford Whalers were born, Pleau was with the team in its early NHL days. After retiring as a player, he worked behind the bench. Pleau as an assistant for two seasons (1979-1981) before being elevated to the head coach where he replaced Don Blackburn in 1981, Pleau was a head coach until 1983 before he making a second foray into the AHL, but as a coach. He was the head coach in Binghamton, who, at the time, was the Whalers' top affiliate, from 1984-1988. He won the AHL Coach of the Year (Louis A. Pieri Award) in 1985-86. He was brought back as a Whalers' head coach once again in 1987 as a mid-season replacement to Jack Evans where he stayed until 1989. Pleau hooked-up for a long association with the Rangers. He was there from 1989-1997 as their assistant GM, and Director of Player Development. He was also the last General Manager for the Rangers' Binghamton affiliate from 1995-1997 before the Rangers moved their farm team to Hartford. He moved on to become the GM of the St. Louis Blues from 1997-2010 and is still in a Senior Advisor role with the Blues. Read a fabulous piece on his relationship with the Blues HERE. CALDER CUP FINALS The high-speed hockey train called the Charlotte Checkers won their first Calder Cup title. Trailing by a 3-1 score on Thursday night, the Checkers dominated the second half of the game and scored four unanswered goals for a 5-3 win over the Chicago Wolves. They then went on to clinch their first title Saturday night in Chicago with another 5-3 win. In the deciding game, Morgan Geekie had a goal and two points, Andrew Poturalski scored twice and Alex Nedeljkovic stopped 26 of the 29 shots to have AHL Commissioner, Dave Andrews, come down and present the team with the Calder Cup. In Game 4, Nicolas Roy scored two goals, Martin Necas also chipped in with two points and ex-Wolf Pack, Dustin Tokarski, picked up his sixth win in the AHL post-season without a loss. Tokarski finished the campaign with a 13-0 record since being reassigned to Charlotte by the Rangers on February 28th in a swap that sent defenseman Josh Wesley to Hartford. The last Wolf Pack playoff win was on May 15, 2015, in a 6-3 win over the Hershey Bears. The Pack was led by Marek Hrvik, who had a hat trick. The Pack has had 56 franchise hat tricks during the regular season, but only four in the playoffs. The record for goals in a playoff game is held by Chris Kenady. He had four goals on April 20, 2000, against Springfield. Also that year, the Manchester Monarchs, in their last AHL season, swept the Pack en route to the Calder Cup. They scored the game’s first goal in 15 of the 19 playoffs games that year winning all 15 games. Charlotte’s performance is the only team that has come close to that level of perfection, During this playoff season, the Checkers scored first eight times, but in three of their wins, the opponent scored first.  KELLY CUP FINALS In their first ECHL season, the Newfound Growlers captured the championship in six games. They won the decisive championship game 4-3 over the Toledo Walleye at Mile One Centre in St. John’s. They became the first, first-year team to win the title since the Greensboro Monarchs in 1990, who were then coached by former Whaler, Jeff Brubaker. Former QU Bobcat goalie Michael Garteig played in 19 playoff contests for the championship squad. Five members of the team were from St. John’s, starting with playoff MVP, Zach O’Brien (16 goals and 29 points), and including captain James Melindy, Marcus Power, and Adam Pardy (Bonavista), a former NHL defenseman rounded out the playing quartet. After the game, Pardy announced he was retiring after giving his nephew a championship to see in person. The fifth Newfie was former New Haven Nighthawk, and Rangers assistant coach, and Mt. Pearl native, Darryl Williams, who is in his second coaching stint in his native province. The first was with the St. John’s Fog Devils (QMJHL) where, for three seasons, he was an assistant coach. He was hired temporarily in December with the medical absence taken by head coach and ex-Ranger, Ryane Clowe. He was formally added to the staff at the end of January. Williams is a St. John’s resident. Williams was a rough and tumble player during his skating days. He had 495 PIM in 136 AHL games along with 29 goals and 56 points. They all came during his time with New Haven, "Willy," as he was known, played and racked up 1,906 PIM in 540 IHL games along with 98 goals and 224 points. He played with Phoenix, Long Beach, and Detroit. He played in only two NHL games in 1992-’83 and had 10 PIM. Ex-Pack, Matt Register, played for the runner-up, Toledo Walleye. He climbed the statistical ECH playoff ladder with 124 playoff games played and 14 assists in the Kelly Cup Finals. UCONN 2019-20 SCHEDULE RELEASED The Huskies hit the XL Center for the first time on November 11th and 13th. It's a Friday and Saturday night with two non-conference games against Army (WCHA) for the home opener and then RPI from ECACHL conference the following night. The first Hockey East game will be against Merrimack on November 1st. They then will mark their visit ever from Miami (OH) (NCHC) on November 29-30, a week after Thanksgiving. The first-ever Connecticut Ice tourney with all four CT Division I college teams is from January 25th and 26th at the Webster Bank Arena in Bridgeport. The schedule is HERE. NAHL DRAFT One of the last two major North American drafts was held last Tuesday when the US Tier II junior circuit-the North American Hockey league. Here are the CT connected draftees. Matt Crasa (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was selected in the second round (31st overall) by the Amarillo (TX) Bulls. Crasa is a Sacred Heart University (AHA) commit for 2020-21. He was drafted by the Sioux City Stampede (USHL) this spring and by Windsor Spitfires (OHL) in 2017 Cooper Swift, (West Hartford/Choate Prep) also went in the second round (35th overall) by the Jamestown Rebels. He was selected by the Fargo Force (USHL) in their draft earlier in the spring. Corey Clifton was drafted in the third round (55th overall) by the Corpus Christi (TX) IceRays. He will become the third Clifton from his Matawan, NJ family to play at Quinnipiac University (ECACHL) in 2020-21. He played this season with the Surrey Eagles (BCHL) and was just traded this week to the Trail Smoke Eaters to play next season. He was drafted by Muskegon Lumberjacks (USHL) in 2017 and previously by the Aston Rebels (NAHL) in 2017. His brother, Connor Clifton, is competing for the Stanley Cup with the Bruins while his oldest brother, Tim Clifton, is with the San Jose Barracuda (AHL). Ian Pierce of Kent Prep went in the third round (60th overall) to the St. Cloud Blizzard. He is a Dartmouth (ECACHL) commit for 2020-21. Kennedy O’Connor (Loomis Chaffee) also went in round three (67th overall) to the Shreveport (LA) Mudbugs. He is a UMASS-Amherst (HE) commit for 2021-22. The Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) took him in their draft in April. Carter Primo Self, (Selects Academy at South Kent Prep) was taken in the fifth round (127th overall) by the Amarillo Bulls and is a Miami (OH) (NCHC) commit for 2020-21. Matt Iasenza of Canterbury Prep (New Milford) went in the sixth round (144th overall) to the New Jersey Titans and has no college commit at this time. Philip Ekberg of the CT Jr, Rangers (USPHL) was taken in the ninth round (212th overall) by the Maryland Black Bears and also in uncommitted at this time. Logan Martinson, the son of former Nighthawk, Steve Martinson, the current coach of Allen (ECHL), was taken in the tenth round (236th overall) by the New Mexico Ice Wolves. He was selected by Langley (BCHL) in their 2018 Draft and in 2017 by Tri-City (USHL). The another CT Jr. Ranger was taken. Maxim Kuznetsov went in the tenth round (260th overall) by the Johnstown. Tomahawks. The last amateur draft before the NHL Draft in Vancouver in two weeks will be the QMJHL (Quebec Major Junior Hockey League) in Quebec City on Saturday at the Videotron Centre. PLAYER & COACHING MOVEMENT Ex-Sound Tiger head coach Jack Capuano was hired as an associate head coach for the Ottawa Senators. Five more AHL’ers leaves for Europe. Josh Jooris, the ex-Ranger, leaves the Toronto Marlies and heads to HC Lausanne (Switzerland-LNA) on a rare three-year deal. Jooris holds Swiss citizenship. When his father Mark Jooris, a Vancouver scout and Junior A coach, played for Lausanne in the 1990s, he also played some junior hockey there before they returning to Canada. Libor Sulak leaves Grand Rapids for Severstal Cherepovets (Russia-KHL). Braden Christoffer goes from Bakersfield to Sterjen (Norway-NEL). Travis Murphy and Andrej Suster both go from San Diego to Kunlun (China-KHL) on two-year deals. These exits make 36 AHL’ers to sign in Europe. 21 of the league's 31 teams have now lost at least one player to Europe. Ex-Sound Tiger defenseman Mathieu Gagnon Brampton (ECHL) signs with Manchester (England-EIHL). Kevin Morris, (Salisbury Prep), the son of ex-Nighthawk, Mark Morris, announces his retirement after playing with Coventry (England-EIHL) this past season. He completed his MBA and heads off to the working world. Alex Barron (Quinnipiac University) signs with HK Dukla Michalovce (Slovakia-SLEL) after splitting last season with EHC Freiburg (Germany DEL-2) and HK SKP Propad (Slovakia-SLEL). Mitch Ferguson of Division III SUNY-Geneseo (SUNYAC) signs with GHC Bordeaux (France-FREL) next season. That raises the number of college players signing in Europe to 33 and the total number of collegians to have signed pro deals art 218. Ex-Sound Tiger, Peter Mannino, who was let go at the University Miami (OH) (NCHC) as their associate head coach, doesn't stay unemployed long. He lands with the Des Moines Buccaneers (USHL) as their new head coach. The Sioux Falls Stampede are the new USHL Clark Cup champions. They completed a three-game sweep in their best-of-five final over the Chicago Steel by the score of 5-1. Leading the way for Sioux Falls was goaltender Jaxson Stauber, the son of former Wolf Pack and Nighthawk goalie, Robb Stauber. The younger Stauber head to the University Minnesota-Mankato (NCHC) in the fall. Chicago was led by their head coach, the former Wolf Pack captain, and Sound Tiger, Greg Moore. THE CRAZY WORLD OF BILLY TIBBETTS The following link is of ex-Pack, Ranger, and Danbury Whaler, Billy Tibbetts. He actually ran for the Scituate, MA city council and lost. It’s a tour de force performance of classic Tibbetts and his riding high, riding low. It's unfiltered, raw, and unbridled. WARNING: For those sensitive to foul language, there are swear-words in some of these series of one and two-minute video clips. Tibbets is a lot of things, boring isn't one of them. HERE Read the full article

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CANTLON: COLLEGE HOCKEY SIGNINGS AS OF MARCH 20TH

BY: Gerry Cantlon, Howlings HARTFORD, CT - The first Yale University player to sign is the swift-skating Joe Snively. He signs with the Washington Capitals. He also signed an ATO deal to play with the Hershey Bears (AHL). The Bears play in Hartford on April 12, the Wolf Pack’s regular season home finale. Snively received a two-year, two-way deal paying $925K for play in the NHL and $70K in the AHL. He is an undrafted player, so according to the current CBA, he could be a Group 6 unrestricted free agent if he doesn’t play 80 NHL games by the time he turns 25. He was born on New Years Day in 1996 which helps him contract-wise. With the lockout/work stoppage season expected in two years, nobody knows what the new CBA will look like. The first player to sign from the 50th state this year is Nikolas Koberstein, who heads from Alaska-Fairbanks to Kansas City (ECHL).  Johnny Kovacevic departs Merrimack (HE) for the Winnipeg Jets and signs an ATO deal to play in Manitoba. Nick Boca left Michigan (Big 10) and signed with Iowa (AHL). Adam Dauda leaves Colgate (ECACHL) for Newfoundland (ECHL). Joining him in the trek to St. John’s is Josh Lammon from Mercyhurst (AHA). Ryan Walker of Union College (ECACHL) signs with Binghamton. Besides Hartford signing of Ryan Dmowski, UMASS-Lowell (HE) sees Nick Masters sign with the Maine Mariners, the Wolf Pack's ECHL affiliate. Johnny Coughlin of Holy Cross (AHA) also signs with Maine (ECHL). Matthew Whittaker heads from Mercyhurst (AHA) to Florida (ECHL). Drew Callin of Bentley University (AHA) has a short ride to Worcester (ECHL), and Felix Chamberlain of Canisius College (AHA) heads to Toledo (ECHL). Five players from the University of Maine Black Bears (HE) signed professional deals. Chase Pearson inks an ATO deal with Grand Rapids. Brady Keeper puts his name to contract with Florida and Sam Becker with Reading (ECHL). Rob Michel signs with Lehigh Valley and Brendan Robbins also will join Maine (ECHL). Matt Robson doesn’t have to go far after leaving the University of Minnesota (Big 10) and signs with the Minnesota Wild. Fellow Golden Gophers Tommy Novak heads to Milwaukee and Eric Schierhorn to Adirondack (ECHL). Troy Loggins of Northern Michigan (NCHC) heads to Grand Rapids while his teammate, Adam Rockwood, goes to Springfield (AHL). Jordan Uhelski of Miami (OH) and (NCHC) signs with Norfolk (ECHL) and teammate Grant Hutton signs an ATO deal with Bridgeport. Hayden Shaw of North Dakota (NCHC) heads to Jacksonville (ECHL). Ryan Galt of Nebraska-Omaha (NCHC) goes to Utah (ECHL) and Peter Tischke Wisconsin (Big 10) signs with Colorado (AHL). Dallas signed a slew of players including Joe Ceconnis (Michigan-Big 10), Rhett Gardner (North Dakota-NCHC), Josh Melnick, Miami (OH) (NCHC) and Diego Cuglietta (Lake Superior St.-NCHC). All were assigned to Texas (AHL) on ATO deals. Three players from the Division III ranks have signed contracts. Mitch Hall of Hamline University (MIAC) signs with Norfolk (ECHL). Tyler Andrews of St. Norbert (NCHA) inks with Atlanta (ECHL) and joining him there is Brady Fluerent from the University of New England (CCC). The total is now 65 Division I players who have signed pro deals and including eight Division III players and one player to Europe. It's a total of 74 players who have signed pro deals after their collegiate seasons have ended so far. The first coaching dismissal has occurred as the Miami (OH) RedHawks (NCHC) relieved head coach, Enrico Blasi. He leaves the RedHawks after 20 years at his alma mater. His career record was 398-311-76 and includes five CCHA conference titles, 10 NCAA tournaments, and one Frozen Four appearances. Since they went into a new conference and developed the NCHC six years ago, they have won just one conference title and not been making NCAA’s and that was cited as one of the reasons for his dismissal. The school said a national search for a new head coach will commence immediately. The UCONN Huskies got their first in-state recruit as a Hockey East program. Tabor Heaslip of Ft. Worth, TX, of Avon Old Farms, makes an oral commit, to the Huskies for 2020-21. He is part of an ever-large growing list of Texas-born and trained players playing at the junior and collegiate level in North America. Heaslip, also came through the Dallas Stars junior program. He had made the Amarillo Bulls (NAHL) back in summer training camp but elected to return to to the Winged Beavers program. His twin sister Teagan also plays hockey in Texas. She is heading to Brown University (ECACHL-W) in two years. Heaslip’s teammate, John Turner of Avon Old Farms (CTPREP), makes a commit to the University of New Hampshire (HE) in 2021-22. Ex-Pack, Akim Aliu, has been loaned from Orlando (ECHL) to Tucson making it the 29th city of his junior and pro career. Ex-Sound Tiger, Dyson Steven Stevenson, is loaned to Utica by Wichita (ECHL). Read the full article

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My best buddy Nate tried out goalie tonight for practice. He'll be ready for game day on Thursday 🤩🏒🥅💯 . . . . #amarillobulls #hockey #goalie #sports https://www.instagram.com/p/Bq_ZDiegoZm/?utm_source=ig_tumblr_share&igshid=1uf9n88p3toey