Showing posts with label Oklahoma City Blazers. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Oklahoma City Blazers. Show all posts

Saturday, September 18, 2010

OJ/OFH Weekly Round Up

Eberle, Hall, and Paajarvi(Courtsey of EdmontonOilers.com)

This week Oil fans got their 1st taste of the future of the organization. The "Baby" Oilers won 2 of the 3 tournament games, and saw the renewal of "The Battle of Alberta". The Oilers put the Canucks down with a 4-1 win, as Mangus Paajarvi had two goals in the game. And showed why he was an excellent pick for the Oilers, with his presence in front of the net paid off. Jordan Eberle got his 1st goal as an Oiler, with an assist from Taylor Hall late in the 2nd period. And 2010 pick Tyler Pitlick put the nail in the coffin, as he scored a empty net goal in the 3rd Olivier Roy showed why he could be the future netminder for the Oilers. He stopped 28 of 29 shots, and he made some spectacular saves. Vande Velde and Hartikainen made their presence known by crashing the net several times, even though they didn't score any goals.

Game 2 was especially fierce as the Oilers took on Flames, and there was no love loss between the two teams. The lack of Hall, Eberle, and Paajarvi in the lineup, didn't slow things down. As the Oilers put literally put the smackdown on Flames in a 5-3 win. And several good scraps during the game, including Cameron Abney v. Chris Breen(video below of the fight). 5th Round draft pick Tyler Bunz was put in net, and didn't disappoint anyone that night. Even though He let 3 goals slip by him, but he stopped an onslaught put on by the flames. Future OKC Baron Chris Vande Velde got his first goal at the 9:21 mark in the 2nd period. With assists coming from Kristians Pelss and James Livingston. The Oilers hung on to win by getting an empty netter from Alex Plante.




Game Three was the complete opposite of the two previous games. Even though that the Big 3 were put back into the lineup. The coaching staff decided to experiment by moving Hall into the Center position. From what I saw of the game on the internet. Hall looked out of place being at center, and couldn't get the offense going against the Sharks. Sharks prospect Michael Sgarbossa came out of the game with a hat trick, and also getting an assist too. But Oiler fans had some reason to celebrate as Taylor Hall scored his 1st goal as an Oiler. But it just wasn't enough as the Sharks chewed up and spit out the Oilers. And Oilers goaltender Bryan Pitton showed why he isn't going to be resigned after this season. Cause he got lit up like a christmas tree, but there just wasn't any flow to the game for the oilers. At least Cameron Abney sure tried motivating his teammates, by taking a tilt with Samuel Finn.




Oilers GM Steve Tambellini told reporters that disgruntled player Sheldon Souray was "Persona Non-Grata" at Oilers Training Camp. This came after what seemed like that Souray had a change of heart, that he was excited with the renewed enthusiasm in the locker room. This mess with Souray has taken more turns then a roller coaster at an amusement park. There are several assumptions of what could happen to Souray, including sending him down to the Barons. But given the fact that Tambellini doesn't want Souray to be a distraction. Hopefully that Souray is just told that his services are no longer needed, like former Canadiens' player Geogre Laraque.

In Oklahoma City this week, the rink was painted, logos laid out, and the ice was formed this week. Also the Barons' Mascot has been out at the State Fair of Oklahoma. And our own Eric Rodgers(@AHLBarons) was able to capture the 1st picture of Derrick the Mountain Lion. The Barons' also announced that former Blazers' play by play broadcaster Jim Byers is going to be the play by play broadcaster for the Barons. Former RoadRunner and Oil King assistant Rocky Thompson was hired to be an assistant coach for the Barons.

Barons' Mascot: Derrick the Mountain Lion(Courtsey of Eric Rodgers)

 


The Oil Terminal podcast will return next week with a full recap of what has gone on with the Penticton Tournament. And we'll look at who looked good at the Oilers main camp. And get you up to date on the latest news from the Barons. So Stay Tuned to OilersJambalaya.com and OilFieldHockey.com. We are your Number 1 source on news and opinions on the Oilers, Barons, and the Stockton Thunder. We would like to thank Shawn McMann (@bulletacdotcom) for all the tweets from the Penticton Tournament.

Thursday, July 22, 2010

OKC Blazers Had The Attendance, Did They Have The Players?

After Wade Brookbank signed with Rockford, I got to thinking just how many former OKC Blazers players actually played in the AHL/IHL or NHL. The Blazers were consistently in the top 5-10 minor league hockey franchises in average attendance, but did they have the players? So I went to find out for myself. After a night of going through HockeyDB, here’s what I found.

Keep in mind that I’m only counting players who played in the AHL/IHL or NHL either while playing for the Blazers or AFTER playing for the Blazers. Listed on HockeyDB, there were 316 players that suited up for a game with the Blazers. Of those 316, there were 28* who played in at least the AHL or IHL after or while playing for the Blazers.

*Technically 29, but it didn’t feel right to include Brenden Morrow in that count for the argument that he would not have even touched a Blazers jersey had it not been for the lockout.

To take it a little bit further, I went ahead and separated the players by those who played for the Blazers before the 2000-01 season, and those who played in the 2000-01 season and beyond. Those that overlapped that line will be counted in the second group.

Those that played before the 2000-01 season:

Garrett Burnett - Played 3 games for the Blazers in the 1995-96 season. Went on to play in 261 IHL games and 39 NHL games.

Eric Dubois - Played 25 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Went on to play in 324 games in the IHL.

Sean Gorman - Played 122 games for the Blazers in three seasons from 1992-96. Played in 60 AHL and IHL games within that same period.

Jamie Hearn - Played 59 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Played in 2 IHL games with the Phoenix RoadRunners in 1996-97.

Victor Ignatjev - Played 47 games for the Blazers in the 1994-95 season. Went on to play 249 games in the IHL and 11 in the NHL.

Craig Johnson - Played 183 games for the Blazers in five seasons from 1992-99. Played in 38 games in the IHL within that span.

Chris Johnston - Played 84 games for the Blazers from 1996-99. Played in 1 IHL game for the Houston Aeros in 1998-99 season.

Paul Krake - Played 17 games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 season. Played 52 games in the AHL and IHL from 1992-97.

 Sylvain Mayer - Played 2 playoff games for the Blazers in the 1992-93 playoffs. Played 3 games in the AHL with the Cornwall Aces in 1995-96.

Steven Moore - Played 241 games for the Blazers from 1995-99. Played in 1 IHL game with the Kansas City Blades in 1999-00.

Sergei Naumov - Played 28 games for the Blazers in the 1994-95 season. Went on to play 16 IHL games.

Simon Olivier - Played 210 games for the Blazers from 1995-00. Went on to play 41 games from 1999-01.

Alan Perry - Played 112 games for the Blazers from 1992-95. Played 3 games in the IHL with the Houston Aeros in 1994-95.

Cam Severson - Played 15 games for the Blazers in 1998-99. Went on to play in 331 AHL games and 38 NHL games.

Bruce Shoebottom - Played 43 games for the Blazers in 1993-94. Played in 1 game for the Rochester Americans in 1994-95.

Steve Simoni - Played 301 games for the Blazers from 1992-98. Played in 18 in the IHL for the Houston Aeros in 1996-97.

Sergei Tkachenko - Played 16 games for the Blazers in the 1995-96 season. Played 14 games for the Syracuse Crunch in the 1995-96 season.

Those that played in 2000-01 and after:

Gregor Baumgartner - Played 6 games for the Blazers in the 2000-01 season. Went on to play 65 games in the IHL and AHL.

Wade Brookbank - Played 114 games for the Blazers from 1999-2001. Has gone on to play in 352 games in the IHL and AHL and has played in 127 NHL games.

Sebastien Centomo - Played 52 games for the Blazers from 2005-07. Played 12 AHL games with the Manitoba Moose in the 2005-06 season.

Justin Chwedoruk - Played 54 games for the Blazers in the 2005-06 season. Went on to play 3 games with the Springfield Falcons in the 2007-08 season.

Shawn Germain - Played 55 games for the Blazers in the 2005-06 season. Played one game with the Hershey Bears in 2006-07.

Jason Goulet - Played 108 games for the Blazers from 2004-06. Played in 8 games with Bridgeport in 2006-07.

Brad Herauf - Played 79 games for the Blazers from 2003-05. Has played in 91 AHL games with the Albany River Rats the last two seasons.

Brant Nicklin - Played 19 games for the Blazers in the 2000-01 season. Played one game with the Milwaukee Admirals in 2002-03.

Reagan Rome - Played in 1 playoff game for the Blazers in the 2001-02 season. Played in 42 AHL games from 2004-07.

Hardy Sauter - Played 590 games for the Blazers from 1996-05. Played in 1 IHL game with the Houston Aeros in 1996-97.

Marty Standish - Played 445 games for the Blazers from 2000-09. Played in 18 AHL games in the 2000-01 and 2001-02 seasons.

Random Stats: 11 of the 28 players played in less than 10 AHL/IHL games. Bump it up to 20 games and the number is 16 of the 28.-- There were only 11 players that played for the team after the turn of the century. Standish is the only one that played for the Blazers after 2007, but it has been 8 years since he played in the AHL. -- The four players that have played in the NHL combined for 251 games played, 10 goals, and 6 assists.

This goes to show just how much of a higher level of hockey is coming to Oklahoma City.

-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Tuesday, July 20, 2010

Former OKC Blazer will play in OKC


But not for the Barons. The Rockford IceHogs announced today that they have signed Wade Brookbank to an AHL deal. Wade used to play for the Blazers from 99-01 before moving up to play for the Orlando Sun Bears in the old IHL. Wade has bounced around the AHL for most of his career since then but has been called up to the NHL a few times, racking up a total of 127 games, 6 goal, 3 assists and 345 PIM.

Wade played 68 games for the Wilkes-Barre Scranton Penguins last year, netting 3 goals and 4 assists while spending 168 minutes in the penalty box. It'll make for a nice homecoming when Rockford comes to play as Brookbank could be considered a bit of a hockey hero in OKC, being one of very few Blazers players to see the AHL or NHL consistently.
-Written by Eric Rodgers-

Friday, July 16, 2010

Doug Sauter As Ambassador Of The OKC Barons?

Last night after the OKC Barons press conference, I started to think about Doug Sauter and where he stands with the new Barons team and their respective fans. As far as I understand, when the Blazers folded, so did Sauter's association with the club. To the best of my knowledge, Doug Sauter is not presently employed by the Oklahoma City Barons. I could be wrong.

From what I can tell and what I have been told, the fans and the city really liked Doug as the coach of their hometown hockey team. He came in and built a fan base for Oklahoma City and won the respect of those who came to the rink and watched the Blazers. It wasn't just the moustache that made him famous, he won two championships in his time there as coach and won the CHL Commissioner's Trophy in 1995-96 (Awarded to the Coach of the Year as selected by his coaching peers). The man is practically a legend in OKC.

Before the coaches announcement yesterday, fans (message boards and the Barons facebook page) still wanted Sauter back as head coach and some were quite upset that he wasn't chosen. I can now see why there is always so much talk about him. He was good at what he did and the fans loved him for it.

Hearing/reading all this, gave me an idea about what his possibilities are with the Barons for the future since coaching is not an option. 

It only makes sense that Sauter continues on with the "new chapter" of OKC hockey right? So I thought why not? Why not make Doug Sauter the Ambassador of the OKC Barons?

He's for the majority of OKC fans, the fan favorite. I think he could represent the team to the fans well. He could be involved in the community on behalf of the Barons and he could be there in the stands and the concourse on game days to be involved with the fans. He could easily do a lot of things that would appease the Barons fans. That instant fan base he already has gives him a head start over any other person.

Clearly, if this position is to be created, Doug Sauter is the guy I'd hire. He'd be excellent as an ambassador and I think the fans would eat it up even though he's not part of the coaching staff. I think this would make everyone happy. Including Doug.

-Written by Smokin' Ray-

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