Attila Umbrus

If there’s one thing Rutherford and Alvin probably know how to do is how to fill depth roles with affordable talent that can grow into more…I mean they had Crosby, Malkin, Letang, and Fleury to pay for at one point in time and still had to cap wise build a team around those big salaries. I was always impressed how Pittsburgh would find these value guys who would work well on Crosby and Malkins wings…only to find out most these guys were groomed on the farm and had been moulded for years before getting to the NHL. It seems like we are seeing some of that philosophy at work here in Abby. They keep saying they want to get the farm team younger. I can see a point where if you draft correctly you can have a stable flow of young pro level prospects always knocking at the door for bigger opportunities. Add on top their willingness to nab guys from overseas and college I really can see this being sustainable. You never know what diamond in the rough you will unearth with this kind of model. Kinda exciting.

I think on top of that. We have some good young guys who look like they could fill “niche” roles for the big club. Quick call up guys who can fill in for injuries and play a solid pro game and keep their head above water. Lots of young guys on the team this year really committed to a defence first mindset. Bains and Wouters on the PK could be something we see at 4th line call ups in the future. Plus have room to grow. Yes the Wranglers beat us 3-1 in the series…but every game these young guys pushed them. Every game was a 1 goal game. And to he honest the guys I was least impressed with were AHL vets. I did not like Guitarri or Rau personally. Dowling was definitely the best out if the bunch. I actually feel Gutarri brought Wolanins game way down. And I feel that if Wolanin were paired with Woo again we would have seen a different series. They were great this year as a pair but were split up when Wolanin got called up.

It was a nice surprise for a change in this thread. Last season it was quiet in here. But there are a good few that come in and always post game updates. In Utica days we had some good discussions with a lot of people from Utica themselves. Who signed up solely to chat about the Utica club. They had some great points of view because they would go to the game and live post and give updates. It’s great to see discussion on our AHL squad in here again. I’ve been loving everyones insights to what they see. Or update live from the games. We got a good thing brewing here in Abby!

That was absolute BS. That right there changed the game. And it should not have been icing. Refs decided this series. It was so uneven. The first period was great. Then 2nd on and the refs start calling everything… I had to take the night to cool down lol. I honestly feel like that we were robbed of a win. But is what it is. Still proud of this season. And this team is taking good steps in the right direction development wise. Cheers to all who cheered our boys on.

Nothing that i’ve heard. It’s hard to find injury updates for the AHL unfortunately.

Totally true, there is so much that can happen between now and then. New drafted players come in and are given favour…ie: DiPietro. I really thought he was going to be something special. But covid and mis management happened and now it’s gonna be tough for him to get a sniff at the nhl anymore. So many things/life get in the way of development.

You’re just not drinking enough of the cool-aid my friend…my best advice, go talk to @Alflives. His cool-aid is the BEST All jokes aside, it’s hard to see where these guys end up. I’ve watched so many come and go over the years. I think x guy or y guy is gonna make it only to never get a sniff…the one main difference tho now is we finally have a management group that wants to build from within and give young players shots with the big club. So for any young guy on this current team I think there is now a higher chance than ever before in actually getting a shot in the NHL if they deserve it. It used to be that way when we had the Manitoba moose. Lots of depth players come from that team back then. Abby reminds me of that.

I agree, he deserves to be in if he’s ready to go. His goal in Calgary was just pure snipe. Loved it. He’s got a good hard shot, I wanna see him use it more.

I think Raty comes back in…but coach was very vague why he hasn’t been in the lineup lately. He made it sound like he was sick or something, so him being out sounded temporary. Podz sounds close but they aren’t giving up much info on him. After all the Pearson hand injury fiasco I doubt they wanna start another with Podz lol

He’s keeping his head above water. Which is a great sign. I did notice he was having a hard time with some of the bigger bodied forwards, keeping them away from the net front. But Adam Klepka is like 6’8”…sooo he’s a lot to handle lol. Honestly tho, it’s too early to tell with him. He admitted the other day it’s a huge adjustment going from the big ice to the small ice, so his timing is off.

I was very surprised by his defensive play tonight. It will be exciting to see if he keeps this up. Maybe things are sinking in for him! Great game tonight, 2 damn posts in a row lol. A bit unlucky but he was buzzing all night.

You have to keep going now! Tell your loved ones and your co-workers you be back when this is all over…it’s for the greater good.

This may be too rosey but there will be a lot of these young guys getting games in with the big club. Whether just a couple cups of coffee or full time. There are a lot of names that I think will make it. Bains Wouters Klimovich Woo Nielsen Karlsson Sasson I think all have good pro upside. Maybe not by next season but the following.

I think part of it is nerves too. Lots of young guys on this team. They look across the ice and see a heavy team like Calgary has and it's intimidating. If they get a win and stave off elimination it may get them to loosen up a bit out there and get some confidence back.

It's funny how these big contracts age with certain players. Some guys can handle the heat and the big contract. Lots of guys i'd say most never live up to it. Like the summer of Lucic, Eriksson, Neal, Okposo, Ladd (all sign long 6 M 6 year plus contracts and pretty much none live up to it)... I use that one free agent summer as an example, but every summer there are guys who cash in and never ever live up to their contract. I wish the best for Bo, don't like to wish ill will...but he's in that category. He got greedy and he knows it. We all know it. I honestly hate that this happens in the NHL. In the NBA and NFL if you don't live up to your contract it can be terminated. We need that in the NHL. It would cut this BS out and it would help the league wide cap situation out.

...One bite at a time!?... Hope you're right Bouds, I wanna see a big push back game, show them we won't roll over and continue on from there. We've taken the best team in the AHL to OT twice in a row, there are positives to build from on this. If our guys get some confidence back on the PP we can win some games.

Now that would be something! Sign me up

Lehtinen and Madden were awesome. Those teams don't win those stanley cups without them. I was so excited when we drafted Maddens son..but that's another story lol... I love that about this award more than the rest, I think these are the guys you win stanley cups with. Not every cup winning team has a McDavid or Crosby. They win by committee/team effort. I look at how driven Petey and Hughes are and both are very capable of winning the Selke and Norris one day. Heck maybe even in the same year! I do think if Petey was stronger at faceoffs he would really make some noise this year. But he is improving in that department. To be fair to him, this was his first year ever where HE ran his own line, took his own faceoffs and was matched against the big boys on on teams...and he thrived this season. Pretty exciting to even think about what he can build on over the off season. Selke could be his as early as next year if he can average 50 % FO's and continue to be mr Everything for this team.

Was really hoping for a better outcome in Calgary. We needed a win there. I guess small steps in the right direction is still a good thing to see this season with our farm team. We didn't get past the first series last year. This year...it's tough, Calgary was so dominant all year. The baby Nucks were up against it from the beginning. I was hoping they could squeeze out a win with a sleepy Calgary team...they ain't so sleepy it turns out lol. I think we're close, it's just too bad we didn't have some better game breakers on our team to make a difference. I think Podz would make this a fairer fight if he were in the line up. I feel like he would have popped one in on the PP by now...our PP has been the difference in a bad way this series. I'm glad we get a game at home at least. Will be good to see the fans out and cheering loud one more time this season. Hopefully we can extend this series and make Calgary work a bit harder. It's been a good season prospect development wise. Lots of our kids took some big steps forward this year. That's so encouraging to see. Overall I still label our farm teams year as a success no matter what happens. One bite at a time right...lol

Well damn, that was a close game. We gave them a good run for their money. Wolf is a beast but we’ve solved him in the past. Keeper has had a great rebound year from injury. I think he comes back in. Or at the very least Johanssen. Might help to get some offensive pop on that power play (yuck). Main reason we lost tonight. I’m also dying to see Podz back in the line up. Sure hope he’s close. We need him. I think our top lines need some size to get in front of Wolf. Anyways to sum it up…eff Calgary. Get them next game. Not happy we lost lol.

I just found out too that the Wranglers had the choice on the 2-3 format. Either they start at home for 2 games, or get the last 3 games at home. They picked to have the first 2 games at home. I didn't realize that's how it was done. They obviously think they can take us out early. They may be the better team, but with all our vets back we have a good team to go up against them. I think we can get a W in Calgary and sneak back home with the series tied 1-1. They may be a bit slow the first game with the bye week, so i'm looking for Abby to come out firing on all cylinders tonight. Take them by surprise.

The Jets hadn’t moved home yet. The Moose were the only game in town back then…the crowds were frickin awesome for our young players. edit. Geez never mind I should have read kootneys reply. Sorry lol

A little different tho. Winnipeg moved home and they took over the Manitoba Moose franchise. We were forced to look for our own franchise. Chicago is not owned by any NHL club so they switched to them temporarily. The. Peoria Rivermen come available and Aqua man pulled the trigger and bought the club and moved them to Utica because Calgary had put their farm club in Abby. But at least we finally owned our own farm team. Calgary on the other hand signs a 10 year agreement with Abbotsford and pulls the team out early because of financial issues. They weren’t forced there, they friggin chose Abby lol.

It sure didn’t. Not really sure what were the logistics behind that decision lol. But in the long run, what a great story to add to hopefully a long term rival. Utica had some great rivalries out east. It made those games a lot more special to watch. The intensity was always higher.

There is definitely a lot of heat in those games (no pun intended lol). Rivals in every sense, lots of animosity between the two clubs already! Plus you add in the BS from Calgary plunking their AHL franchise in Abby years ago just adds a nice layer of salt to the whole mix.