With the ECHL trade deadline approaching on March 7th and the loss this week of three Bulls players, rookie forward Alex Tuckerman and defenceman Martin Lee to Utah, and power forward Rylan Galiardi to Idaho, it seemed an opportune moment to reflect on the player roster. Only twelve players remain of those that opened the season on October 12th in San Francisco, three defencemen, two goalies and seven forwards. Of those that remain, just two forwards Dean Ouellet and Kris Belan have appeared in all 53 games played thus far this season. These twelve players might be the core moving into the playoff season. To start, here is a snapshot of the original Bulls Defensive lineup that are still current.
Captain Scott Langdon
photo: C. Hamann
Scott Langdon made an immediate impact from the moment he stepped on the ice amassing 14 penalty minutes during the exhibition game against Stockton. He has been a consistent presence on the blueline and has emerged as the team’s captain after the departure of Justin Bowers. He leads the team in +/- at 11 and runs near the top of the list in penalty minutes at 107. Langdon takes the big hits and delivers them with flair, his style, a nod to Scott Stevens, evident in his board rattling checks. His playoff experience with the Reading Royals during the 2009-10 season will aid the team as the Bulls push for their first playoff run.
Dylan King
Dylan King is a player who does not immediately stand out until he is missing from the lineup. Granted, he has only missed two games. It is his quiet consistency blocking shots, his grinder mentality in the corners and his shots from the point that are strengths in the defensive zone. He has accumulated 72 penalty minutes over the season, 15 of which came during the Februay 16th game against Stockton when his entire line was ejected from the game during a third period defensive zone brawl. He has experience at the AHL level with the Lake Erie Monsters and played with the Allen Americans in their CHL playoff push during the 2011-12 season.
Mikael Tam
photo: Dinur Blum
Mikael Tam began the season with the Bulls and then spent the majority of it with the Worcester Sharks. He has incredible hockey sense, can go blue line to blue line and grinds it out in the corners. Despite his physicality, he manages to keep out of the penalty box totaling only 16 penalty minutes in his 19 games played with the Bulls. His tenure in the AHL has given him speed and ease in getting the puck out of his zone, a trait that will aid the team as the pressure mounts during the playoff push.
Happy Wednesday everyone, stumbled across this story and thought it was funny- well maybe not the animal abuse part but rest assured it’s fictional. Enjoy!
Two boys are playing hockey on a pond in a park in Toronto, when one is attacked by a rabid Rottweiler. Thinking quickly, the other boy takes his stick, wedges it down the dog’s collar and twists, breaking the dog’s neck.A reporter who was strolling by sees the incident, and rushes over to interview the boy. “Young Leafs Fan Saves Friend From Vicious Animal”, he writes in his notebook.”But I’m not a Leafs fan,” the little hero said.”Sorry, since we’re in Toronto, I just assumed you were.” said the reporter and starts again. “Little Jays Fan Rescues Friend From Horrific Attack!” he continued writing in his notebook.
“I’m not a Jays fan either,” the boy said.
“I assumed everyone in Toronto was either a Leafs or a Jays fan. What team do you root for?” the reporter asked.
“I’m a Montreal Canadiens fan.” the child said.
The reporter starts a new sheet in his notebook and writes, “Little French ******* from Montreal Kills Beloved Family Pet.”
The stars have aligned for Toronto as of late. With goalie Ben Scrivens coming off two consecutive shutouts and their best road start in 72 years it seemed nothing could shake the Leafs. Nothing, that is, except Lightning.
Toronto headed into Tampa looking for an eighth win in their first 10 road games – a feat not accomplished since 34’-35’ season. And, although they put forth a valiant effort in the dying minutes of the third, the Leafs couldn’t push past top-scoring Tampa dropping to the Lightning 4-2.
Maybe three games in four nights was too much for the boys in Blue – Toronto spent most of the match (save the last 57 seconds) sleeping with their skates on. Sloppy clearing and defensive mishaps resulted in Tampa goals. Despite being out-shot 16-10 after the second, the Lightning still held a 2-1 lead and widened the gap in the third. Scrivens was forced to watch the game end from the bench pulled in the last 10 minutes after allowing four goals on 14 shots.
Toronto will try to get their groove back at home Thursday hosting the Sabres.
The last time the LA Kings and the Edmonton Oilers came face to face, Nail Yakopov’s rather zealous celebration had everyone in the hockey world talking. Once again the rookie sent the hockey world reeling, wondering how exactly the LA Kings would react come game time and what their revenge would entail. As the saying goes, the best revenge is success.
After a quiet first period, the Kings took a one nothing lead early on in the second with a goal by former Oiler Colin Wilson. The Edmonton Oilers tied it back up with a wrist shot from Sam Gagner after a series of penalties later in the period. Goals late in the third by Jeff Carter and another former Oiler Jarret Stoll solidified the King’s 3-1 win.
Taylor Hall – who’s tallied a point in 12 of the Oilers 15 games this season – put up nearly 22 minutes of ice time against the Kings, scoring an assist on the Oilers lone goal, and as the Kings put it “fumbled” a breakaway in what was undoubtedly the Oilers best missed chance of the night.
The Oilers had their own version of the event, but a positive spin doesn’t change the outcome. The Edmonton Oilers hit the road look for redemption when they take on Zach Parise and the Minnesota Wild at 6:30pm PST Thursday.
By now, months later, everyone is familiar with the tragedy that occurred at Sandy Hook Elementary school in Newtown, CT. Yesterday members of the Boston Bruins took the day to visit with families and members of the community affected by the tragedy. We don’t often just link straight to the NHL Bruins site, but today comes an exception. Rink side reporter Caryn Switaj wrote a reflective piece on the day and it’s certainly worth the read: Coach & B’s Visit Newtown, CT
The start of the 2012-2013 hockey season placed a lot of focus on the talent in the AHL while the NHL was locked out. Now that the NHL has been back for a month, the AHL players are even more eager to show off their talent. The Manchester Monarchs, affiliate of the 2012 Stanley Cup winning LA Kings, are a team lead by a lot of young talent. One such example is Linden Vey. The 21-year-old out of Wakaw, Saskatchewan is in his second year with the Manchester Monarchs. Currently leading the team in points and assists, he is searching for his first NHL call up and is sure to impress when he gets the chance. Vey recently took some time to answer some questions for us here at the Pink Puck.
Pink Puck: You were the leading scorer your last two seasons with Medicine Hat and are now leading the Monarchs. What has been the biggest key to that success?
Linden Vey: My last few years in Medicine Hat and then now with Manchester is consistency. Something the coaching staff here in Manchester told me I needed to work on after last season was being consistent. So that’s something this season I’ve been trying to work on game in and game out.
Pink Puck: Now being in your second professional season, has anything gotten easier from last season when you were a rookie?
LV: I don’t the game ever gets easier. You just start to know what to expect. My first year in the league, I had never watched an American League game. When I came to Manchester, I didn’t know a whole lot about what to expect about the coaching staff, the guys or the league. Coming back this year, I have a full year under my belt, had some success in the playoffs, and I had some good learning experiences that helped me coming into this year.
While driving with a friend this evening, I fired up the shuffle on my phone and was pleasantly surprised when it landed on The Tragically Hip, a band that I had tragically forgotten. For some of our readers the band name might not light the lamp in your mind; but perhaps a good portion of Pink Puckers will recognize the band, as they’re more popular in Canada. Of course, you’re probably wondering what they have to do with hockey… well a good chunk of their songs are about the sport we all love. Any band that loves hockey the way we do, is worth a listen.
Wear pink and rock the rink with a little Tragically Hip.
My favorites: “Hockey Song” and “The Lonely End of the Rink”,
Winter
[tubepress video=”7QV5x9y_TRQ”]
This week the team look of the week is for the Edmonton Oilers. This look add elements of comfort and style all wrapped up into one; you might even be able to call this look comfy chic. There is a I just threw this outfit together look about this that adds to the chicness of this outfit. Although working with this colour pallet might be viewed as tricky for some just go with it. If you enjoy how it looks on the jersey do not shy away from the orange blue combination. Rock it like Taylor Hall.
Just like always if you don’t have something here don’t sweat just use what you have, this look is just a guideline. If you love this look and aren’t an Oilers fan just swap out the Oilers stuff to fit your team colours and logo. Hope you enjoyed it.
For any hockey player, travel is part of the game experience. Long bus rides build camaraderie among players. At the NHL level, a private plane charter is the preferred mode of transport. For minor league hockey, it’s an unheard of luxury. On the San Francisco Bulls’ most recent sojourn to Alaska to meet the Aces for a three game series, the team traveled commercial, taking a circuitous route to Anchorage. The flight back was even more grueling, with weather delays putting the team’s total travel time over the eighteen-hour mark. They came home winning two out of their three match-ups with the Aces. They lost their next game against the Stockton Thunder a couple days following the plane marathon; it doesn’t take a genius to suggest that travel exhaustion may have contributed to the boys not being on top of their game.
The next big road trip was to Idaho, to face the 3rd place Steelheads. A bus ride would prove the less expensive option and the Bulls team traveled over the Sierra Nevadas and through eastern Oregon to Boise, 14 hours of travel time. The Bulls split the series, boarding the bus right after scoring five unanswered goals for the win, putting a smile on Coach Curcio’s face and the bus rocking to music courtesy of their new Captain, defenceman Scott Langdon. They were going home one player short though, Marek Viedensky, on loan from the Worcester Sharks, got the call-up and caught a flight to the East Coast.
Mikael Tam against the Las Vegas Wranglers
photo courtesy of Dinur Blum
Mikael Tam with Jason Lockhart at SF Bulls Weekly
Less than twelve hours later, the SF Bulls Weekly radio show on KNBR.com with the “Voice of the Bulls” Jason Lockhart, brought in D-man Mikael Tam for a chat. Lockhart had tried to have him on the show earlier in the season but Tam has spent most of his time away from the San Francisco Bulls, having been a frequent call-up to the Worcester Sharks. He has appeared in 20 games in his first season in the AHL, and his most recent stint involved traveling to St Johns, Newfoundland where the Sharks swept the IceCaps in a two game series. Tam says he is getting used to all the cross- country travel, having gone from San Francisco to Worcester four times already this season. Traveling coast to coast is not easy, it means a lot of living out of your bags and as soon as you get to know your roommate, you move on.
Tam also has had to adjust to the level of play at the ECHL, which moves at a much different pace. The AHL is faster, the guys bigger and more physical in their play. Tam says that as a D-Man he has to move the puck faster in the AHL, there is just not as much space. With all of the call-ups to Worcester it’s become easier and more comfortable as a result to play at the ECHL level with the Bulls.
As the Bulls begin yet another road trip back to Idaho, this time flying there and busing back, let’s hope that some of that ease with which Tam works the blueline carries to his linemates, before he gets the call back cross-country. Go Bulls Go!
Hockey hockey everywhere and that’s the way we like it! Today kicked off ‘Hockey Weekend Across America’ in the States bringing the greatest sport on earth to center ice.
What’s on the deck for the weekend?
Friday: Wear your jersey, show your support.
Saturday: A personal favorite here at The Pink Puck, give hockey a try. Plenty of free clinics, learn to skate, learn to play etc, if you’re near one of these locations- be sure to take full advantage of the opportunity! If you don’t, take advantage on your own and find a public skate or a safe frozen pond and lace up.
Sunday: Hockey day in America, with games facing off around the league, Sunday will have a full schedule of games to watch.
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With the ECHL trade deadline approaching on March 7th and the loss this week of three Bulls players, rookie forward Alex Tuckerman and defenceman Martin Lee to Utah, and power forward Rylan Galiardi to Idaho, it seemed an opportune moment to reflect on the player roster. Only twelve players remain of those that opened the season on October 12th in San Francisco, three defencemen, two goalies and seven forwards. Of those that remain, just two forwards Dean Ouellet and Kris Belan have appeared in all 53 games played thus far this season. These twelve players might be the core moving into the playoff season. To start, here is a snapshot of the original Bulls Defensive lineup that are still current.
