AHL WEEKEND: Ups and downs in Syracuse
Friday nights in the AHL mean the start of a busy weekend. EP Rinkside has this look around the 31-team league to set you up for this weekend’s slate.
INGRAM OUT
One of the more surprising developments of the AHL season happened earlier this week with the Syracuse Crunch.
The parent Tampa Bay Lightning demoted Syracuse goaltender Connor Ingram to the Orlando Solar Bears, the organization’s ECHL affiliate, this past Wednesday.
Ingram, taken in the third round of the 2016 NHL Draft by the Lightning, had emerged as one of the AHL’s top goaltenders in his second pro season while working in a pairing with veteran Eddie Pasquale. The 21-year-old Ingram went 14-7-0 | 2.26 (second in the AHL) | .922 (also second in the AHL) in 22 games for the Crunch and also received a brief recall to the Lightning at the end of November. He still holds the AHL lead with six shutouts and was one of Syracuse’s representatives at the AHL All-Star Classic in January.
Lightning vice president and general manager told Lindsay Kramer of the Syracuse Post-Standard that the situation was an “internal matter.” Kramer also wrote, “Ingram said he is not unhappy with the organization, did not request a trade, did not break any team rules, and did not miss any practices.”
Ingram had not dressed in six of Syracuse’s seven games before he was shipped out to Orlando, including all three games last weekend. Pasquale has taken seven of the past eight starts, and Ingram’s most recent start came back on February 18th in a 5-3 defeat at Toronto. He played in relief of Pasquale on February 26th as well. An injury on December 21st kept him out of the Syracuse line-up for five weeks, but he had taken on a healthy workload after his return. He played seven times in a stretch of 10 games for the Crunch through the game at Toronto.
Syracuse has gone on a 6-1-1-0 run since that loss to the Marlies.
Ingram tweeted “Keep your head up in adversity and down in success” the afternoon of his assignment to Orlando. The Solar Bears start a road series at the Newfoundland Growlers this weekend.
https://twitter.com/CBIngram1/
Pasquale is 20-10-5 | 2.52. | .911 in 35 games for the Crunch. At one point during Ingram’s injury, he made 12 consecutive starts for the Crunch.
With Ingram out in Syracuse, at least for the time-being, Tampa Bay re-assigned goaltender Martin Ouellette from the Solar Bears to the Crunch. The 27-year-old Ouellette has played only three games for the Crunch, going 2-0-0 | 0.87 | .966. In 27 games for Orlando, he had a 18-7-2 | 2.98 | .908 mark. Last season while in the Carolina Hurricanes organization, he went to the Kelly Cup final with the Florida Everblades. Ouellette made one start for Syracuse in January as Ingram recovered and also took a start this past weekend, a 4-1 road win against the Rochester Americans.
The 36-17-3-2 Crunch are tied with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers at 77 points, second-most in the AHL, and within six points of the league-leading Charlotte Checkers.
Ingram will join a number of 2016 draft peers in the ECHL.
Evan Fitzpatrick, a St. Louis Blues second-round selection, has been with the Tulsa Oilers for most of the season. Evan Cormier was not signed by the New Jersey Devils after they chose him in the fourth round, went to training camp with the Florida Panthers, and then headed to the University of Guelph. He then departed there for an opportunity with the Binghamton Devils, where he subsequently earned an AHL contract followed by a new three-year entry-level deal with New Jersey. He has divided his time between Binghamton and the Adirondack Thunder. Jeremy Helvig went to Carolina in the fifth round and had a strong finish to his OHL career with the Kingston Frontenacs, but he has spent most of his season with the Everblades. Stockton Heat back-up Tyler Parsons, taken by the Calgary Flames as a 2016 second-rounder, played last season in the ECHL as a rookie.
A year after Ingram’s draft class, Stuart Skinner went in the third round to the Edmonton Oilers in 2017 and is backing up Shane Starrett with the Bakersfield Condors.
AROUND THE A
AHL leading scorer Daniel Carr of the Chicago Wolves did not participate in practice on Thursday. Carr took a heavy hit from San Antonio Rampage forward Jordan Nolan at his own blue line while bringing the puck up-ice in a 2-1 shootout loss this past Tuesday. Carr, an offseason signing by the parent Vegas Golden Knights from the Montreal Canadiens, has gone 30-41-71 in 52 games for the Wolves. Carr won the CCM/AHL Player of the Month award for February after he a 8-9-17 performance in 11 games.
On Thursday the AHL levied a two-game suspension on Nolan. He will miss San Antonio’s home-and-home series with the Texas Stars this weekend. Nolan is 15-12-27 in 46 games for San Antonio and also has 49 penalty minutes.
The Wolves, who play a 3-in-3 weekend, recalled forward Brady Shaw from the Fort Wayne Komets, their ECHL affiliate. Shaw, 26, took part in training camp with Syracuse before going to Orlando. A December trade brought him to the Komets, and he has 21-29-50 in 54 ECHL games.
For the second time in the past week, a lengthy AHL streak has been halted. The Belleville Senators’ 17-game point streak (12-0-1-4) reached its end with a 2-1 road loss to the Cleveland Monsters. Last week the Iowa Wild stopped Bakersfield’s 17-game winning streak, the second-longest in AHL history. The Sound Tigers will take their seven consecutive wins on a two-game weekend road trip that opens Friday at Rochester.
A crush of injuries has disrupted Cleveland for much of the second half, but the Monsters have won four of their past six games after defeating Belleville. That win put them four points behind the North Division playoff line going into the second game of their home series with the Senators. Leading scorer Zac Dalpe has missed 14 consecutive games, depriving the Cleveland line-up of his offensive production (21-17-38 in 39 games) and leadership. Columbus Blue Jackets prospect Sonny Milano, who has 10 goals in 24 games this season, has been out of action since January 26th. Captain Nathan Gerbe has not played since February 1st, and veteran forward Alex Broadhurst has been out since February 12th. After hosting the Sens on Friday night, the Monsters will take a break from Eastern Conference competition next week with a four-game trip to the Central Division that starts Wednesday night against the Milwaukee Admirals.
Another North Division team, the Laval Rocket, got a bit of good health news when forward Antoine Waked returned for their 4-3 overtime home loss to the Toronto Marlies this past Wednesday. He had been out since January 25th. Injuries, trades, and recalls ravaged what had looked like a promising team at the start of the season. Among the longer-term injuries: top defensive prospect Noah Juulsen has not played for the Rocket since December 27th while he deals with a vision-related issue. Forward Hunter Shinkaruk, the return piece in the offseason deal that sent forward Kerby Rychel to the Calgary Flames organization, has been out since February 9th. Gustav Oloffson had shoulder surgery earlier in the season. Amid a critical season for 2013 first-rounder Michael McCarron, he had season-ending left-shoulder surgery in February. The Rocket sit seventh in the North Division, nine points out of a playoff spot.
A run of five 3-in-3 weekends in a row will come to an end for the Providence Bruins on Sunday afternoon when they host the Springfield Thunderbirds. Before that contest, the Hershey Bears visit on Friday and Saturday nights. Providence has gone 5-5-1-1 in those four weekends so far.
San Diego Gulls rookie defenseman Simon Benoît has converted an AHL opportunity into a new three-year NHL entry-level contract with the Anaheim Ducks that will begin next season. The Gulls had signed the undrafted 20-year-old out of the QMJHL before the season, and he has turned in a steady performance in San Diego. He is 2-10-12 in 51 games for San Diego.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
In the Atlantic Division, the Lehigh Valley Phantoms have pushed ahead to within three points of the playoff line, but they face a significant hurdle this weekend when the Checkers visit for two games.
The Marlies have moved four points north of the North Division playoff line. Three teams are chasing fourth-place, and the Belleville-Cleveland game on Friday night could further complicate that picture.
The Central Division race boils down to two clusters. One point separates the top three teams in the division. Third-place Iowa is then ahead by nine points on the three-way 63-point club of the Rockford IceHogs, Milwaukee, and Texas. Right behind that trio are San Antonio (60 points) and the Manitoba Moose (59 points). Along with the San Antonio-Texas home-and-home series, the Moose also welcome the IceHogs to Winnipeg for two games this weekend.
In the Pacific Division race, the Condors could put further distance between themselves and the rest of the West Coast pack. San Diego and the San Jose Barracuda are seven points behind division-leading Bakersfield, and the Condors visit San Jose on Saturday night again. They leveled an 8-4 loss on the Barracuda at SAP Center this past Wednesday. San Diego has a two-game home series with the Colorado Eagles, another team trying to take a tighter hold on a playoff spot.
WITH HONORS
Colorado veteran puck-stopper Pavel Francouz won the CCM/AHL Player of the Week award after he went 4-0-0 | 1.48 | .959 in four games for the Eagles.
IN THE LEAD
POINTS – 71
DANIEL CARR – CHICAGO
GOALS – 30
DANIEL CARR – CHICAGO
ASSISTS – 43
JEREMY BRACCO – TORONTO
PENALTY MINUTES – 147
KURTIS MACDERMID – ONTARIO
GAMES (GOALTENDERS) – 41
JEAN-FRANÇOIS BÉRUBÉ – CLEVELAND
MINUTES – 2,355
ERIC COMRIE – MANITOBA
WINS – 27
ALEX NEDELJKOVIC – CHARLOTTE
GAA – 2.25
SHANE STARRETT – BAKERSFIELD
SAVE PERCENTAGE – .923
ALEX LYON – LEHIGH VALLEY
SHUTOUTS – 6
CONNOR INGRAM – SYRACUSE
QUOTEBOOK
“Good vibes right now.”
–Bridgeport forward Michael Dal Colle (since recalled to the New York Islanders) on the team’s play that now has them owning seven consecutive wins.
THIS WEEKEND
Friday – Bridgeport at Rochester: The Sound Tigers will test their streak against the Amerks, who rank third in the AHL at 75 points. Rochester has taken the first three meetings between the teams.
Saturday – Rockford at Manitoba: The Moose are not in must-win territory. But given the Central Division race, they are in a “it-would-behoove-them-to-win” stage.
Sunday – San Antonio at Texas: By the end of this weekend, the Stars may have dealt their in-state rival a serious blow. But taking this home-and-home series could put the Rampage even further into the Central Division playoff crowd.
ON THE MOVE
Sound Tigers goaltender Christopher Gibson remains with the Islanders on emergency recall….Through Thursday, 92 AHL players have made their NHL debuts this season.