AHL Training Camps Set To Begin

Eurohockey.com

As the clock ticks to midnight Saturday and the pending NHL lockout of the players, the AHL is presently receiving its first influx of players for training camps that are slated to begin Monday September 28th.

Today, the Columbus Blue Jackets assigned 20 players to the AHL Springfield Falcons including Swedish rearguard Tim Erixon who played against the Falcons when he was with the Connecticut Whale last season. Joining him is a teammate from last year who signed with Columbus in the off season Canadian Jonathan Audy-Marchessault and Columbus top young forward prospect Cam Atkinson.

This is a part of a procedural step to assign players to their AHL teams or Canadian junior clubs as they are contractually allowed to play at those levels. The first NHL team to start this was the Florida Panthers two days ago and more are expected in the next 48 hours to execute this step.

The European regular season has begun throughout the continent with the KHL, DEL and SEL among several countries who are skating and scoring for keeps. Since we last reported on the influx of players signing in Europe there have been 23 more AHL players that have signed with European teams for a total of 92 players elected to head to European continent for the 2012-2013 season.

Last years captain of the Lake Erie Monsters defenseman David Liffiton went to Italy and HC Milano Rossoblu in the LIHG A League. Jordan Hendry who split last season with Abbotsford and Chicago signed with Sodertalje in the Swedish Elite League, Bridgeport Sound Tiger defenseman Russian Anton Klymenteyev will lace them up for Lokomotiv Yaroslavl second team that competes in the Russian Vysshaya League (VHL).

Maxime Lacroix who split time with Hershey and South Carolina (ECHL) went to  Denmark and the Odense Bulldogs. Left winger Brodie Dupont went to Italy to play for HC Valpellice in LIHG A-League and will see fellow Milwaukee Admiral teammate Ryan Flynn who recently signed with HC Bolzano.

Three goalies have changed their addresses in Justin Pogge of the Portland Prates will be snaring wrist shots  SV Ritten/Renon in Italy, Finnish netminder Antero Niittymaki returned home after splitting time with Syracuse and Worcester to stop pucks for TPS Turku in the Finnish Elite League and Jason Bacashichua from the Adirondack Phantoms will be in goal for EHC Straubing of the German Elite League (DEL). 

Dan Spang of the Texas Stars also went to the Finnish Elite League to skate with HPK Hameenlina and forward Ryan O’ Marra who did a lot of travel last year with two AHL teams in Syracuse and Oklahoma City and two NHL teams Anaheim and Edmonton will be with Pelicans Lahti. Bridgeport’s Tony Romano who would seem to be a natural to go to Italy will be skating for the Vienna Capitals in the Austrian Elite League.

Notes: Former AHL player Vladimir Vorobiev has hung up his skates to become an assistant coach with Severstal Cherepovets in the KHL. He started his North American portion of his pro career with the AHL Hartford Wolf Pack…One time German League defenseman Marty Wilford will stay as an assistant coach for the Anaheim AHL team just switching cities going from Syracuse to Norfolk …Belarussian defenseman Oleg Mikulchik who started his North American career as one of the first émigrés from the former USSR back in 1991 with the defunct New Haven Nighthawks will be a head coach with Donbass Donest’k in the Ukraine Professional Hockey League.

*Writers note:Players who played either near or at 20 games or more were considered to be counted.

 

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