In trying to figure out why the Steel were so desperately shorthanded this weekend, I finally decided to look on the team's transaction list. Courtesy of the massive brawl in Dubuque on December 15th, four Steel players received two-game suspensions: Defensemen Joel Benson and Sam Piazza, and forwards Thomas Ebbing and Charlie O'Connor.
All four players' suspensions will be over after today (Saturday)'s game in Muskegon. Johnny Wingels didn't get a suspension, and also hasn't skated either game this weekend. No word yet on him, nor why the team felt the need to call up Biagio Lerario just to not skate him.
Saturday, December 22, 2012
Thursday, December 20, 2012
Steel Announce Addition of Eiserman
Today, December 20th, the Steel officially announced their acquisition of Bill Eiserman. The ever-reliable pointstreak has Eiserman listed as a forward for now, though it's well known he's a defenseman.
Both Poinstreak and the Steel's official roster page have Eiserman wearing #24.
No corresponding move has been made yet. Counting Neumann sitting on the IR, the Steel are currently at 25 players. Perhaps things will be made clear by tomorrow night's game in Indiana, where I expect Eiserman to make his debut.
One minor interesting thing of note with Eiserman wearing #24 is that said jersey number will no longer go to a rotating cast of call-ups. This will likely mean affiliate players will wear #22 and #44 for the rest of the season.
Once word of a corresponding roster move is made public, I'll post it with some analysis.
Both Poinstreak and the Steel's official roster page have Eiserman wearing #24.
No corresponding move has been made yet. Counting Neumann sitting on the IR, the Steel are currently at 25 players. Perhaps things will be made clear by tomorrow night's game in Indiana, where I expect Eiserman to make his debut.
One minor interesting thing of note with Eiserman wearing #24 is that said jersey number will no longer go to a rotating cast of call-ups. This will likely mean affiliate players will wear #22 and #44 for the rest of the season.
Once word of a corresponding roster move is made public, I'll post it with some analysis.
Monday, December 17, 2012
Eiserman in, who's out?
As I stated in my notes for today earlier, the Steel have officially acquired Bill Eiserman (formerly referred to as Will). A '92 defenseman, Eiserman would push the Steel's official roster to 24, not counting Christian Neumann on the 25-day IR. Below are the possible roster moves:
- Brian Leblanc released: When the team's at full health, and with the inclusion of Eiserman, Leblanc becomes the team's eighth defenseman. The ability to play some wing could save him, but as the last guy on the depth chart, he seems like the likely guy to go.
- Tobias Ruelykke placed on the IR: With the Steel utilizing the 25-day IR, Ruelykke would only be off the roster until early January. This would at least give the Steel some time to make a decision on D.
- Don't protect Ruelykke until he's healthy: As the Steel benefited from by being able to get Eiserman, the USHL is pretty well filled up on '92 players, specifically D-men. If memory serves, other teams have done this to avoid having to use the 45-day IR
- Place an unexpected player on the IR: For all we know, someone else is hurt, or will get hurt. Danny Fetzer hasn't played since December 1st.
- Trade or release a rostered player: Pretty self-explanatory. Don't know if anyone's fallen out of favor with McConnell, or if there's someone another team would be willing to overpay on.
Steel Updates (12/17/12)
Not too much here, just a couple of tidbits on the now fifth-place Steel:
- Courtesy of Herbst20 over on Finish Your Check, Sam Piazza is apparently no longer committed to Boston University. Probably tied to Thatcher Demko accelerating his studies to get into college a year early. Could lead to him returning next season, or a different scholarship taken.
- Bill Eiserman, who the Steel reportedly had claimed last week, has had his acquisition finalized, as the Tri-City Storm (who owned Eiserman's rights) announced today. With no players able to return to the affiliate list, someone will have to go.
Friday, December 14, 2012
Steel IR Moves (12/14/12)
Retroactive to December 8th, the Steel placed defenseman Christian Neumann on the 25-day IR, and today (12/14) activated left winger Mackenzie MacEachern from the 25-day IR for tonight's game in Green Bay. '96 affiliate forward Christian Dvorak has also been called up for the game in Green Bay.
No word on any moves to clear a spot for Will Eiserman, who was reportedly claimed earlier this week.
No word on any moves to clear a spot for Will Eiserman, who was reportedly claimed earlier this week.
Thursday, December 13, 2012
Steel Claim NCAA Defenseman Eiserman
Yesterday, it was reported that University of Massachusetts-Lowell defenseman Will Eiserman was leaving school to return to the USHL. Today, there are two reports stating that the Steel won the claim to Eiserman, whose rights were owned by the Tri-City Storm.
Keeping Eiserman's rights and adding him to their roster would prove a fruitless endeavor. As an overager, there weren't too many options for Eisterman in the USHL. The Steel, with a sudden shortage of defenseman with Tobias Ruelykke dinged up, and Christian Neumann possibly out with a concussion, had a need for a defenseman right now. With Ali Thomas traded earlier (who would ironically give Neumann his injury opening the spot on D), the Steel only had three overagers: Ruelykke, Joel Benson, and Danny McNamara.
The addition of Eiserman, a defensive defenseman with a left shot, gives the Steel a very experienced defensive corps. Three 92's, an NHL draft pick (Jaccob Slavin), a former 1st round futures draft pick (Tim Davison), being rounded out by one of the top players in +/- this season (Neumann), the younger brother of an NHL player (Johnny Wingels, brother of the San Jose Sharks' Tommy Wingels). And finally, there's Brian Leblanc, who, to me, looks more natural on wing than D. Still, can't ask too much out of a guy who is presumably the team's ninth defenseman.
Where Eiserman specifically fits into the Steel's lineup remains to be seen. If Ruelykke isn't hurt too badly, the Steel could theoretically run their defense in a way that there's a '92 out there on D every second of the game. I'm personally a big fan of this. The Steel's top six (again, this is all on the assumption that Neumann's hurt for a while) could look something like Ruelykke - Slavin, Benson - Davison, and Wingels - Eiserman.
Since this was just a waiver claim, I see it as a great move. Adding a player with NCAA experience can help mentor the younger kids, and get them past some bumps in the road with knowledge that only comes with time and experience.
Keeping Eiserman's rights and adding him to their roster would prove a fruitless endeavor. As an overager, there weren't too many options for Eisterman in the USHL. The Steel, with a sudden shortage of defenseman with Tobias Ruelykke dinged up, and Christian Neumann possibly out with a concussion, had a need for a defenseman right now. With Ali Thomas traded earlier (who would ironically give Neumann his injury opening the spot on D), the Steel only had three overagers: Ruelykke, Joel Benson, and Danny McNamara.
The addition of Eiserman, a defensive defenseman with a left shot, gives the Steel a very experienced defensive corps. Three 92's, an NHL draft pick (Jaccob Slavin), a former 1st round futures draft pick (Tim Davison), being rounded out by one of the top players in +/- this season (Neumann), the younger brother of an NHL player (Johnny Wingels, brother of the San Jose Sharks' Tommy Wingels). And finally, there's Brian Leblanc, who, to me, looks more natural on wing than D. Still, can't ask too much out of a guy who is presumably the team's ninth defenseman.
Where Eiserman specifically fits into the Steel's lineup remains to be seen. If Ruelykke isn't hurt too badly, the Steel could theoretically run their defense in a way that there's a '92 out there on D every second of the game. I'm personally a big fan of this. The Steel's top six (again, this is all on the assumption that Neumann's hurt for a while) could look something like Ruelykke - Slavin, Benson - Davison, and Wingels - Eiserman.
Since this was just a waiver claim, I see it as a great move. Adding a player with NCAA experience can help mentor the younger kids, and get them past some bumps in the road with knowledge that only comes with time and experience.
Wednesday, December 12, 2012
USHL Rulebook link
Not much to post here, but this is the full thing. I may print up the pages regarding penalties at some point.
Monday, December 10, 2012
Chicago Steel Weekend Recap (12/8/12-12/9/12)
As I stated in my weekend preview, there was no reason the Steel couldn't come out of this weekend with four points. Des Moines was coming off a blowout in Green Bay, and Youngstown played Friday and Saturday night in Dubuque.
However, this is a Chicago sports team we're talking about, so Murphy's Law took over, and things did go wrong simply because they could. By the time the final buzzer sounded on Sunday afternoon, the Steel had been outscored 7-2 on the weekend and had nothing to show for the weekend, save a couple of potentially big injuries.
With Tyler Hill back at Hotchkiss to finish up his high school season there, Mackenzie MacEachern still on the IR, and Tobias Ruelykke presumably dinged, the Steel were already at a disadvantage heading into the weekend. It's December, at they STILL haven't had a fully healthy team for one game this season.
Saturday night saw third-year defenseman and second-year captain Joel Benson return from suspension, due to a major brawl against the USNTDP on November 17th. Benson was in the starting lineup, paired with fellow captain and third-year D-man Jaccob Slavin. Chris Nell started in net. The Steel only dressed 19 players on Saturday. Murphy was the ref, with Petterle and Spohn the linesmen.
The game started out somewhat slow and sloppy, with players on both ends falling constantly, as if each team was somehow playing their third road game in their third city in three days.
Nothing of note happened until current Buccaneer and former Steel forward Ali Thomas threw a nasty elbow to the head of Chicago defenseman Christian Neumann at the 8:17 mark in the first period, leading to a five minute powerplay, and Thomas being ejected from the game. It came at a price, though, as the Steel would play the remaining 171:43 of the weekend with only five defensemen, as Brian Leblanc was playing wing on the fourth line both games. Neumann would not return to the bench for the second or third periods of the game.
With fifty seconds left on the major penalty to Ali Thomas, Des Moines' Eric Martinsson got called for tripping, handing the Steel just under a full minute of five-on-three play, and a total of 6:10 of consecutive power play time. In proper fashion, the Steel managed to have nothing to show for nearly a full third of the period with a non-stop man advantage.
At the 16:10 mark in the first, Chicago's Johnny Wingels got a call that taught me something about the game of hockey: Apparently you don't actually have to make contact with someone to get a tripping call, so long as they fall in your general vicinity. The Steel couldn't kill the penalty, as the Bucs' Michael Marnell fired the puck past Nell on a beautiful one-time setup by Axel Wemmenborn, making the score 1-0 at the 17:09 mark in the first. This would conclude the action in the first period, with the score 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
Early in the second period, Des Moines had a great offensive push, which eventually lead to their second goal at the 1:48 mark by Ryan Galt. The Bucs had the puck right in on Nell who, despite making saves, couldn't seem to control the puck. Finally, on what appeared to be about a fourth chance opportunity, Galt got appeared to squeeze the puck between Nell's blocker and the pipe, making the score 2-0 in the favor of the Bucs.
A second Johnny Wingels penalty - this time a check from behind - would again lead to a Bucs powerplay goal. Wemmenborn fired a shot from the blue line which Martinsson tipped in at the 5:01 mark to make the game 3-0 Des Moines.
Following said goal, Chicago called a time out, and replaced Nell with Alex Sakellaropolous. Nell finished the game (and weekend) making 11 of 14 saves and surrendering those three goals in only 25:01, leading to a rough .786 save percentage and 7.20 goals against average on the game for Nell. I felt all along he probably should have started Sunday afternoon and Sak Saturday night, but, it is what it is. He'll be fine.
The move worked, as the Steel seemed rather fired up upon Sak going in net. To the point that, at the 6:52 mark in the second, Bucs head coach Jon Rogger called for his time out.
13:26 into the second period, Des Moines' Jack Jenkins got called for tripping. Only twenty seconds into the power play, Jeff Kubiak just missed a goal, with half the net open, as Des Moines' Billy Christopolous was stretched the opposite way.
Later in the same power play, this time at the 15:19 mark, it appeared as if Alex Roos had a goal. Christopolous appeared to have pulled the puck back after it had crossed the goal line, but the refs apparently didn't see this - or argued he was reaching for his stick, which he never grabbed. This lead to a small confrontation, as Charlie O'Connor and Garret Cockerill got offsetting delay of game minors. James Roll also got a roughing in the brawl, giving the Steel another small window of 5-on-3 play.
Again, they failed to capitalize, and the second period ended with Des Moines leading 3-0, looking to get their first road shutout since about 1927.
The third period didn't have much action one way or another. Some scoring chances on each end, but nothing too spectacular. With 1:05 left, Scott McConnell pulled Sak and sent out Joseph Widmar as his extra attacker. At about the 19:14 mark, a Des Moines shot at the empty net missed by no more than six inches, and lead to an icing call. The Steel tried to break the shutout, sending out Landon Smith, Jeff Kubiak, Patrick Polino, Charlie O'Connor, Tim Davison, and Jaccob Slavin for what would wind up being the final shift. They couldn't deliver, and Billy Christopolous got a shutout, making all 30 saves.
LINES:
Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos
Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor
Polino - Widmar - Dodero
Leblanc - (see below) - McNamara
Slavin - Benson
Davison - Neumann
Piazza - Wingels
PP Units: Roos - Ebbing - Pigozzi - Slavin - Wingels; Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor - Piazza - Benson; Polino - Kubiak - O'Connor - Davison - Benson
PK Units: Ebbing - O'Connor - Piazza - Benson; Ebbing - Pigozzi - Slavin - Piazza; Ebbing - O'Connor - Davison - Slavin; Smith - Pigozzi - Benson - Piazza
The fourth line center rotated, as the Steel only dressed 11 forwards. Polino, Smith, and Kubiak all saw time there. The defense started getting rolled when Neumann went down.
Christian Heil came off suspension Sunday, only for Neumann to be sitting, so again the Steel were short a skater. Brian Leblanc again lined up on the fourth line wing (this time on the left side), and Chicago rolled their defense for the second game in a row. Sak started in net. Sunday was a two-ref game, with Fernandez and everyone's favorite, Steve Thompson as refs. O'Conner and Spohn were the linsemen.
The Steel came out for about the first five minutes looking strong, dumping the puck and going to work on the forecheck, hoping to take advantage of what had to be assumed to be bus legs for Youngstown. However, things seemed to fall apart after this part for the Steel, as Youngstown started wanting the puck and win more.
6:22 into the first period, Sam Anas flipped a backhander high on Sak, who couldn't block it, with the scoring again opening for the visitors this weekend.
Around the 14:45 mark, Tim Davison found himself unable to corral a pass from inside the zone, which squirted all the way to the Steel's defensive end. Davison and Slavin found themselves caught out and seemingly a bit tired. Youngtown pressured, and Slavin eventually wound up taking a tripping call at the 14:13 mark. The Phantoms made the best of it, as Austin Cangelosi got in and got a shot off, which Sak made a great first save on, diving to his side. However, Sam Anas struck again, making the score 2-0 Youngstown at the 15:03 mark.
Again, some scoring chances back and forth, but nothing much, and the period ended with the Phantoms holding a 2-0 lead, and the Steel on a five-period run in which they'd been shut out, dating back to the third period of their win in Waterloo on December 1st.
The second period didn't start much better than the first. A Steel turnover on their first possession lead to the puck winding up on Cangelosi's stick, who fired a wrister glove side past Sak only thirteen seconds into the period, pushing the Phantom lead to 3-0.
At the 7:14 mark, Chicago's Danny McNamara slashed a Phantom to the point that their stick broke, and found his way to the box. After 1:20 of penalty killing, Sam Piazza joined McNamara in the box with a slashing call of his own, giving Youngstown forty seconds of 5-on-3 time, and then another 1:20 of 5-on-4. The Steel somehow managed to kill the penalty off, and clearly stole the momentum from Anthony Noreen's club.
Around the 14:15 mark, Youngstown turned over the puck on offense, which lead to a 3-on-1 rush by the Steel. Wingers Landon Smith and Charlie O'Connor made crisp passes, and their centerman Christian Heil scored, breaking the shutout, cutting the Phantom lead to 3-1.
16:00 saw Josh Nendal get penalized for a high stick to the face of Tim Davison. The only thing of interest from this was a scrum 58 seconds into the powerplay, which lead to Thomas Ebbing and Eric Sweetman heading to the box with offsetting minor penalties. This would end any notable action in the second period, with the Phantoms up 3-1.
An early Josh Nendal slashing call (2:06) didn't lead to much, but not long after the powerplay was over, Ray Pigozzi flicked a shin-high rebound from an Alex Roos shot, bringing the Steel within one.
In a case in which we are reminded that the USHL is a developmental league for refs as well, the play was whistled dead 8:31 into the third, as it was presumed Sean Romeo had the puck. He didn't, and before everyone could react to the whistle being blown, the puck squirted out, and Alex Roos got the puck in the net. Since the play was whistled dead, it didn't count, and the Steel didn't tie the game.
14:36 saw Markus McCrea of Youngstown take a slashing call. Noreen took exception, and argued with the ref to the point of making a 5-on-4 into a 5-on-3 as he racked up an abuse of officials bench minor. The Steel found themselves without anything positive to show for this.
The dying seconds of that power play did include something that could wind up being a very big negative, however. Heil, the Steel's leading goal scorer (12 goals in 15 games, Roos is second with 10 goals in 21 games), took a nasty, uncalled slash to the wrist at about the 16:40 mark. Heil, coming off a six-game suspension, skated back to the bench doubled over, holding his wrist. The obvious hope is that it's just a contusion or possible bone bruise, but a broken wrist is a realistic possibility. Heil didn't return, and the Steel again found themselves down to 16skaters for the second time in two games.
The Steel killed a checking from behind penalty by Thomas Ebbing (15:09), and time was clearly running out on the team getting at least one point on the weekend. At the 19:22 mark, McConnell called for his time out, and sent out six skaters: Roos - Ebbing - O'Connor - Pigozzi - Slavin - Davison. Fifteen seconds after the puck was dropped after said timeout, Nendal got an empty net goal, pushing the game to a 4-2 Youngstown advantage with onl 25 seconds left. The lead held, and Sean Romeo somehow managed to win while playing his third game in three days.
Sak blocked 28/31 Sunday, which when combined with his 13/13 in 33:54 on Saturday, were good for a .932 SV% and a 1.92 GAA on the weekend.
LINES:
Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos
Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor
Dodero - Heil - Polino
McNamara - Widmar - Leblanc
The defense was rolled with no consistent pairings, and about midway through the second period, McConnell flipped Heil and Kubiak.
PP Units: Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos - Slavin - Wingels; Polino - Kubiak - Heil - Benson - Davison
PK Units: Ebbing - O'Connor - Benson - Wingels; Smith - Pigozzi - Piazza - Davison; Ebbing - O'Connor - Wingels - Slavin; Heil - Pigozzi - Benson - Piazza; Smith - Pigozzi - Benson - Wingels
3-man PK: O'Connor - Wingels - Slavin
4v3: Pigozzi - Roos - Wingels - Slavin; Kubiak - Heil - Polino - Davison
Grading explanations can be found here.
However, this is a Chicago sports team we're talking about, so Murphy's Law took over, and things did go wrong simply because they could. By the time the final buzzer sounded on Sunday afternoon, the Steel had been outscored 7-2 on the weekend and had nothing to show for the weekend, save a couple of potentially big injuries.
With Tyler Hill back at Hotchkiss to finish up his high school season there, Mackenzie MacEachern still on the IR, and Tobias Ruelykke presumably dinged, the Steel were already at a disadvantage heading into the weekend. It's December, at they STILL haven't had a fully healthy team for one game this season.
SATURDAY VS. DES MOINES
Saturday night saw third-year defenseman and second-year captain Joel Benson return from suspension, due to a major brawl against the USNTDP on November 17th. Benson was in the starting lineup, paired with fellow captain and third-year D-man Jaccob Slavin. Chris Nell started in net. The Steel only dressed 19 players on Saturday. Murphy was the ref, with Petterle and Spohn the linesmen.
The game started out somewhat slow and sloppy, with players on both ends falling constantly, as if each team was somehow playing their third road game in their third city in three days.
Nothing of note happened until current Buccaneer and former Steel forward Ali Thomas threw a nasty elbow to the head of Chicago defenseman Christian Neumann at the 8:17 mark in the first period, leading to a five minute powerplay, and Thomas being ejected from the game. It came at a price, though, as the Steel would play the remaining 171:43 of the weekend with only five defensemen, as Brian Leblanc was playing wing on the fourth line both games. Neumann would not return to the bench for the second or third periods of the game.
With fifty seconds left on the major penalty to Ali Thomas, Des Moines' Eric Martinsson got called for tripping, handing the Steel just under a full minute of five-on-three play, and a total of 6:10 of consecutive power play time. In proper fashion, the Steel managed to have nothing to show for nearly a full third of the period with a non-stop man advantage.
At the 16:10 mark in the first, Chicago's Johnny Wingels got a call that taught me something about the game of hockey: Apparently you don't actually have to make contact with someone to get a tripping call, so long as they fall in your general vicinity. The Steel couldn't kill the penalty, as the Bucs' Michael Marnell fired the puck past Nell on a beautiful one-time setup by Axel Wemmenborn, making the score 1-0 at the 17:09 mark in the first. This would conclude the action in the first period, with the score 1-0 heading into the first intermission.
Early in the second period, Des Moines had a great offensive push, which eventually lead to their second goal at the 1:48 mark by Ryan Galt. The Bucs had the puck right in on Nell who, despite making saves, couldn't seem to control the puck. Finally, on what appeared to be about a fourth chance opportunity, Galt got appeared to squeeze the puck between Nell's blocker and the pipe, making the score 2-0 in the favor of the Bucs.
A second Johnny Wingels penalty - this time a check from behind - would again lead to a Bucs powerplay goal. Wemmenborn fired a shot from the blue line which Martinsson tipped in at the 5:01 mark to make the game 3-0 Des Moines.
Following said goal, Chicago called a time out, and replaced Nell with Alex Sakellaropolous. Nell finished the game (and weekend) making 11 of 14 saves and surrendering those three goals in only 25:01, leading to a rough .786 save percentage and 7.20 goals against average on the game for Nell. I felt all along he probably should have started Sunday afternoon and Sak Saturday night, but, it is what it is. He'll be fine.
The move worked, as the Steel seemed rather fired up upon Sak going in net. To the point that, at the 6:52 mark in the second, Bucs head coach Jon Rogger called for his time out.
13:26 into the second period, Des Moines' Jack Jenkins got called for tripping. Only twenty seconds into the power play, Jeff Kubiak just missed a goal, with half the net open, as Des Moines' Billy Christopolous was stretched the opposite way.
Later in the same power play, this time at the 15:19 mark, it appeared as if Alex Roos had a goal. Christopolous appeared to have pulled the puck back after it had crossed the goal line, but the refs apparently didn't see this - or argued he was reaching for his stick, which he never grabbed. This lead to a small confrontation, as Charlie O'Connor and Garret Cockerill got offsetting delay of game minors. James Roll also got a roughing in the brawl, giving the Steel another small window of 5-on-3 play.
Again, they failed to capitalize, and the second period ended with Des Moines leading 3-0, looking to get their first road shutout since about 1927.
The third period didn't have much action one way or another. Some scoring chances on each end, but nothing too spectacular. With 1:05 left, Scott McConnell pulled Sak and sent out Joseph Widmar as his extra attacker. At about the 19:14 mark, a Des Moines shot at the empty net missed by no more than six inches, and lead to an icing call. The Steel tried to break the shutout, sending out Landon Smith, Jeff Kubiak, Patrick Polino, Charlie O'Connor, Tim Davison, and Jaccob Slavin for what would wind up being the final shift. They couldn't deliver, and Billy Christopolous got a shutout, making all 30 saves.
LINES:
Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos
Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor
Polino - Widmar - Dodero
Leblanc - (see below) - McNamara
Slavin - Benson
Davison - Neumann
Piazza - Wingels
PP Units: Roos - Ebbing - Pigozzi - Slavin - Wingels; Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor - Piazza - Benson; Polino - Kubiak - O'Connor - Davison - Benson
PK Units: Ebbing - O'Connor - Piazza - Benson; Ebbing - Pigozzi - Slavin - Piazza; Ebbing - O'Connor - Davison - Slavin; Smith - Pigozzi - Benson - Piazza
The fourth line center rotated, as the Steel only dressed 11 forwards. Polino, Smith, and Kubiak all saw time there. The defense started getting rolled when Neumann went down.
SUNDAY VS. YOUNGSTOWN
The Steel came out for about the first five minutes looking strong, dumping the puck and going to work on the forecheck, hoping to take advantage of what had to be assumed to be bus legs for Youngstown. However, things seemed to fall apart after this part for the Steel, as Youngstown started wanting the puck and win more.
6:22 into the first period, Sam Anas flipped a backhander high on Sak, who couldn't block it, with the scoring again opening for the visitors this weekend.
Around the 14:45 mark, Tim Davison found himself unable to corral a pass from inside the zone, which squirted all the way to the Steel's defensive end. Davison and Slavin found themselves caught out and seemingly a bit tired. Youngtown pressured, and Slavin eventually wound up taking a tripping call at the 14:13 mark. The Phantoms made the best of it, as Austin Cangelosi got in and got a shot off, which Sak made a great first save on, diving to his side. However, Sam Anas struck again, making the score 2-0 Youngstown at the 15:03 mark.
Again, some scoring chances back and forth, but nothing much, and the period ended with the Phantoms holding a 2-0 lead, and the Steel on a five-period run in which they'd been shut out, dating back to the third period of their win in Waterloo on December 1st.
The second period didn't start much better than the first. A Steel turnover on their first possession lead to the puck winding up on Cangelosi's stick, who fired a wrister glove side past Sak only thirteen seconds into the period, pushing the Phantom lead to 3-0.
At the 7:14 mark, Chicago's Danny McNamara slashed a Phantom to the point that their stick broke, and found his way to the box. After 1:20 of penalty killing, Sam Piazza joined McNamara in the box with a slashing call of his own, giving Youngstown forty seconds of 5-on-3 time, and then another 1:20 of 5-on-4. The Steel somehow managed to kill the penalty off, and clearly stole the momentum from Anthony Noreen's club.
Around the 14:15 mark, Youngstown turned over the puck on offense, which lead to a 3-on-1 rush by the Steel. Wingers Landon Smith and Charlie O'Connor made crisp passes, and their centerman Christian Heil scored, breaking the shutout, cutting the Phantom lead to 3-1.
16:00 saw Josh Nendal get penalized for a high stick to the face of Tim Davison. The only thing of interest from this was a scrum 58 seconds into the powerplay, which lead to Thomas Ebbing and Eric Sweetman heading to the box with offsetting minor penalties. This would end any notable action in the second period, with the Phantoms up 3-1.
An early Josh Nendal slashing call (2:06) didn't lead to much, but not long after the powerplay was over, Ray Pigozzi flicked a shin-high rebound from an Alex Roos shot, bringing the Steel within one.
In a case in which we are reminded that the USHL is a developmental league for refs as well, the play was whistled dead 8:31 into the third, as it was presumed Sean Romeo had the puck. He didn't, and before everyone could react to the whistle being blown, the puck squirted out, and Alex Roos got the puck in the net. Since the play was whistled dead, it didn't count, and the Steel didn't tie the game.
14:36 saw Markus McCrea of Youngstown take a slashing call. Noreen took exception, and argued with the ref to the point of making a 5-on-4 into a 5-on-3 as he racked up an abuse of officials bench minor. The Steel found themselves without anything positive to show for this.
The dying seconds of that power play did include something that could wind up being a very big negative, however. Heil, the Steel's leading goal scorer (12 goals in 15 games, Roos is second with 10 goals in 21 games), took a nasty, uncalled slash to the wrist at about the 16:40 mark. Heil, coming off a six-game suspension, skated back to the bench doubled over, holding his wrist. The obvious hope is that it's just a contusion or possible bone bruise, but a broken wrist is a realistic possibility. Heil didn't return, and the Steel again found themselves down to 16skaters for the second time in two games.
The Steel killed a checking from behind penalty by Thomas Ebbing (15:09), and time was clearly running out on the team getting at least one point on the weekend. At the 19:22 mark, McConnell called for his time out, and sent out six skaters: Roos - Ebbing - O'Connor - Pigozzi - Slavin - Davison. Fifteen seconds after the puck was dropped after said timeout, Nendal got an empty net goal, pushing the game to a 4-2 Youngstown advantage with onl 25 seconds left. The lead held, and Sean Romeo somehow managed to win while playing his third game in three days.
Sak blocked 28/31 Sunday, which when combined with his 13/13 in 33:54 on Saturday, were good for a .932 SV% and a 1.92 GAA on the weekend.
LINES:
Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos
Smith - Kubiak - O'Connor
Dodero - Heil - Polino
McNamara - Widmar - Leblanc
The defense was rolled with no consistent pairings, and about midway through the second period, McConnell flipped Heil and Kubiak.
PP Units: Pigozzi - Ebbing - Roos - Slavin - Wingels; Polino - Kubiak - Heil - Benson - Davison
PK Units: Ebbing - O'Connor - Benson - Wingels; Smith - Pigozzi - Piazza - Davison; Ebbing - O'Connor - Wingels - Slavin; Heil - Pigozzi - Benson - Piazza; Smith - Pigozzi - Benson - Wingels
3-man PK: O'Connor - Wingels - Slavin
4v3: Pigozzi - Roos - Wingels - Slavin; Kubiak - Heil - Polino - Davison
WEEKEND GRADES
Grading explanations can be found here.
- Roster management: D-. The only thing saving this from an F is that Leblanc skated at wing, though he's supposed to be a defenseman. The Steel have a deep, and mostly local, affiliate list, and there's countless other players in major midget programs that could fill a depth role for a game or two. No reason to only dress 19 guys for two straight home games.
- Coaching: C+. For being short a defenseman and forward by game's end both days, the Steel managed to keep the goal deficit relatively close both games. Shorter shifts likely would have done wonders with this short bench.
- Forward performance: C. 63 shots in two games is somewhat okay, but not with this team's composition. There need to be more shots on goal, not passing and forechecking. Good things happen when pucks go to the net. There were also a couple of sloppy turnovers that lead to goals.
- Defensive performance: B. All things considered, the defense did well, being short all game. The loss of Neumann early Saturday put about an extra four minutes on each defenseman. That doesn't seem like much, but look at Duncan Keith at 25 minutes per game, and at 30 per.
- Goaltender performace: B+. Sak's weekend .932 SV% and 1.92 GAA bail out a rough start by Nell Saturday, who continues to struggle with rebound control. As we saw with Sak last season, I expect him to improve greatly as he continues to adjust from Wisconsin high school hockey to the USHL.
Post-Game Grading Explination
After every recap I write on here (at least for the time being), I'll post a series of grades. They will assess the team's roster management, coaching, forward performance, defenseman performance, and goalie performance. Some of these grades may wind up impacting another aspect's grade. A brief explanation of each grade:
I'll also link this with every recap.
- Roster management: Properly dressing the players needed to give the team the best chance to win. Also encompasses affiliate list moves and/or free agent signings.
- Coaching: Being able to do the most with what's out there. Like with roster management, you can't coach your way out of injury.
- Forward performance: How the forwards as a whole fared in all aspects.
- Defenseman performance: How the defensemen fared in doing their jobs.
- Goaltender performance: How the goalies fared in making saves that can be made, keeping themselves in position to make said saves, and preventing second-chance scoring.
I'll also link this with every recap.
Saturday, December 8, 2012
Chicago Steel Weekend Preview (12/8 & 12/9)
Coming home for the first time since November 24th, the Steel will play Saturday and Sunday. The Steel come into the weekend in fourth place (11-6-2) in the USHL's Eastern Conference, three points behind Green Bay - though the Steel have five fewer games played than the Gamblers.
Saturday, the Steel (4-4-1 at home) host the Western Conference's fourth place Des Moines Buccaneers (12-11-1), who have struggled mightily on the road, to the tune of a 3-7-1 record. The Bucs are coming off a brutal 9-0 loss to the Gamblers on Friday night in Green Bay. Among the low points in the game were Green Bay's six-goal second period, and Elgin, IL native Roman Uchyn posting a -3 rating with 14 penalty minutes in his first USHL game.
(Presumably) lining up for the Bucs will be three forwards who are former Steel property: Zach Saar, Ali Thomas, and Luke Voltin. For those of you unfamiliar with the Voltin saga (or possibly just forgot about it), here's what happened: Mid-season last year, Voltin is cut from the USNTDP. At the time, the Steel had the worst record in the USHL, and therefore top waiver claim priority. Voltin wanted to continue to play in the USHL, but refused to report to the Steel. After about a week, the Steel found a taker in Des Moines, who sent affiliate defenseman Eric Sade ('94) in exchange for Voltin. Saar and Thomas were acquired by the Bucs in one-for-one trades (Saar last season for Ray Pigozzi, Thomas in October for affiliate defenseman Peter Tischke).
Sunday afternoon, the Steel host the sixth-place Youngstown Phantoms (9-12-0 overall, 4-6-0 road). The Phantoms will be playing their third road game in three days on Sunday, having lost in Dubuque on Friday 5-1, and staying in Dubuque overnight for a rematch Saturday night.
Though the Steel have been rather mediocre at home thus far, this weekend should provide them a good chance to pick up four points. There's no way to know if Des Moines will be totally crushed by their blowout loss on Friday, or if they'll put it behind them and come out flying. Sunday will have Youngstown playing their third game in three days, which always tends to lead to some sloppy hockey.
Given Youngstown's three-in-three, I'd really like to see Chris Nell get the start Sunday afternoon. Nobody's going to argue that Sak isn't a workhorse, but Nell needs ice time to stay sharp. Why not get it against a team that shouldn't be generating many quality chances?
FINAL NOTES: The Steel are getting very close to having their full roster for the first time all year, with defenseman Joel Benson coming off suspension. Christian Heil returns Sunday. Mackenzie MacEachern's IR stint is hopefully coming to a close soon.
Saturday, the Steel (4-4-1 at home) host the Western Conference's fourth place Des Moines Buccaneers (12-11-1), who have struggled mightily on the road, to the tune of a 3-7-1 record. The Bucs are coming off a brutal 9-0 loss to the Gamblers on Friday night in Green Bay. Among the low points in the game were Green Bay's six-goal second period, and Elgin, IL native Roman Uchyn posting a -3 rating with 14 penalty minutes in his first USHL game.
(Presumably) lining up for the Bucs will be three forwards who are former Steel property: Zach Saar, Ali Thomas, and Luke Voltin. For those of you unfamiliar with the Voltin saga (or possibly just forgot about it), here's what happened: Mid-season last year, Voltin is cut from the USNTDP. At the time, the Steel had the worst record in the USHL, and therefore top waiver claim priority. Voltin wanted to continue to play in the USHL, but refused to report to the Steel. After about a week, the Steel found a taker in Des Moines, who sent affiliate defenseman Eric Sade ('94) in exchange for Voltin. Saar and Thomas were acquired by the Bucs in one-for-one trades (Saar last season for Ray Pigozzi, Thomas in October for affiliate defenseman Peter Tischke).
Sunday afternoon, the Steel host the sixth-place Youngstown Phantoms (9-12-0 overall, 4-6-0 road). The Phantoms will be playing their third road game in three days on Sunday, having lost in Dubuque on Friday 5-1, and staying in Dubuque overnight for a rematch Saturday night.
Though the Steel have been rather mediocre at home thus far, this weekend should provide them a good chance to pick up four points. There's no way to know if Des Moines will be totally crushed by their blowout loss on Friday, or if they'll put it behind them and come out flying. Sunday will have Youngstown playing their third game in three days, which always tends to lead to some sloppy hockey.
Given Youngstown's three-in-three, I'd really like to see Chris Nell get the start Sunday afternoon. Nobody's going to argue that Sak isn't a workhorse, but Nell needs ice time to stay sharp. Why not get it against a team that shouldn't be generating many quality chances?
FINAL NOTES: The Steel are getting very close to having their full roster for the first time all year, with defenseman Joel Benson coming off suspension. Christian Heil returns Sunday. Mackenzie MacEachern's IR stint is hopefully coming to a close soon.
Sunday, December 2, 2012
Presumed Steel Affiliate List
As I've stated in nearly every other one of my roster-oriented blogs, this is unofficial, and I'm working with the information I have. I'm assuming a 14-man affiliate list here.
94) F Dan Kucerovy - acquired in 2011 entry draft (3rd round, 31st overall)
94) D Sam Piazza: Trade with Sioux City, summer 2012
95) D Patrick Gazillo - acquired in 2012 entry draft (3rd round, 44th overall) (previously acquired as free agent, winter 2011)
95) F Jake Kaupilla - acquired in 2011 futures draft (2nd round, 29th overall)
95) D Jacob McNamara - acquired in 2011 futures draft (5th round, 59th overall)
95) F Andrew Burton - acquired in 2011 futures draft (6th round, 62nd overall)
95) G Kameron Limberg - acquired in 2011 futures draft (6th round, final pick)
96) F Christian Dvorak - acquired in 2012 futures draft (1st round, 6th overall)
96) D Luke Davison - acquired in 2012 futures draft (2nd round, 25th overall)
96) F Chase Phelps: acquired from Muskegon, 2/6/13 (was Musky's 2nd round futures pick)
96) F Max Kalter - acquired in 2012 futures draft (5th round)
96) F Willie Nylander - acquired in 2012 futures draft (6th round, 85th overall)
96) D Peter Tischke - acquired from Des Moines on 10/24/12 (was Des Moines' 2nd round, 28th overall pick in 2012 futures draft)
94) F Dan Kucerovy - acquired in 2011 entry draft (3rd round, 31st overall)
94) D Sam Piazza: Trade with Sioux City, summer 2012
95) D Patrick Gazillo - acquired in 2012 entry draft (3rd round, 44th overall) (previously acquired as free agent, winter 2011)
95) F Jake Kaupilla - acquired in 2011 futures draft (2nd round, 29th overall)
95) D Jacob McNamara - acquired in 2011 futures draft (5th round, 59th overall)
95) F Andrew Burton - acquired in 2011 futures draft (6th round, 62nd overall)
95) G Kameron Limberg - acquired in 2011 futures draft (6th round, final pick)
96) F Christian Dvorak - acquired in 2012 futures draft (1st round, 6th overall)
96) D Luke Davison - acquired in 2012 futures draft (2nd round, 25th overall)
96) F Chase Phelps: acquired from Muskegon, 2/6/13 (was Musky's 2nd round futures pick)
96) F Max Kalter - acquired in 2012 futures draft (5th round)
96) F Willie Nylander - acquired in 2012 futures draft (6th round, 85th overall)
96) D Peter Tischke - acquired from Des Moines on 10/24/12 (was Des Moines' 2nd round, 28th overall pick in 2012 futures draft)
Chicago Steel Player Acquisitions
The purpose of this will be to document - to the best of my ability - how the Chicago Steel acquired their rostered players for the 2012/13 season.
1) Alex Sakellaropolous: 2011 pre-season trade with Sioux Falls for G Charlie Lindgren and F Patrick Moore, was Sioux Falls' 6th round futures pick in 2010 (88th overall)
4) Christian Neumann: 2011 entry draft (19th round, final player taken in draft)
5) Johnny Wingels: 2011 entry draft (5th round, 66th overall)
7) Jaccob Slavin: Free agent, winter 2010
9) Nolan Valleau: Trade with Des Moines, 1/19/13
10) Thomas Ebbing: 2012 entry draft (3rd round, 39th overall)
12) Landon Smith: Trade with Cedar Rapids for Phil Maranaccio, 11/21/12
15) Tyler Hill: acquired from Muskegon on 10/24/12 for unknown compensation
16) Tim Davison: Acquired from Youngtown for D Mike Gunn, summer 2011 (was 1st round, 13th overall futures pick of Youngstown, 2010 futures draft)
17) Patrick Polino: 2011 futures draft (1st round, 4th overall)
18) Drew Smolcynski: Acquired from Indiana, 2/6/13
19) Mackenzie MacEachern: 2012 entry draft (1st round, 4th overall)
20) Woody Hudson: Acquired from Indiana on 1/12/13
21) Charlie O'Connor: unknown (was 2009 futures pick of Sioux Falls, 3rd round, 33rd overall)
22) Biagio Lerario: acquired in 2011 futures draft (3rd round, 32nd overall)
23) Ray Pigozzi: Trade with Des Moines on 1/2/12 for F Zach Saar
24) Bill Eiserman: Trade with Tri-City on 12/17/12 for conditional entry draft pick
25) Chris Dodero: 2012 futures draft (3rd round, 36th overall pick, 24th selected due to picks lost to tenders)
26) Danny Fetzer: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp) (previously drafted by Steel in 18th round of 2011 entry draft)
27) Tyler Heinonen: Acquired from Muskegon, 2/6/13
28) Alex Roos: Free agent (possible waiver claim?), winter 2011 (was 2010 futures pick of Cedar Rapids, 2nd round, 16th overall)
31) Chris Nell: 2012 entry draft (1st round, 6th overall)
2) Tobias Ruelykke: Free agent, summer 2012, released 1/12/13
3) Joel Benson: 2010 entry draft (1st round, 4th overall), retired 1/4/13
8) Joseph Widmar: 2012 entry draft (2nd round, 19th overall)
ACTIVE PLAYERS
1) Alex Sakellaropolous: 2011 pre-season trade with Sioux Falls for G Charlie Lindgren and F Patrick Moore, was Sioux Falls' 6th round futures pick in 2010 (88th overall)
4) Christian Neumann: 2011 entry draft (19th round, final player taken in draft)
5) Johnny Wingels: 2011 entry draft (5th round, 66th overall)
7) Jaccob Slavin: Free agent, winter 2010
9) Nolan Valleau: Trade with Des Moines, 1/19/13
10) Thomas Ebbing: 2012 entry draft (3rd round, 39th overall)
12) Landon Smith: Trade with Cedar Rapids for Phil Maranaccio, 11/21/12
15) Tyler Hill: acquired from Muskegon on 10/24/12 for unknown compensation
16) Tim Davison: Acquired from Youngtown for D Mike Gunn, summer 2011 (was 1st round, 13th overall futures pick of Youngstown, 2010 futures draft)
17) Patrick Polino: 2011 futures draft (1st round, 4th overall)
18) Drew Smolcynski: Acquired from Indiana, 2/6/13
19) Mackenzie MacEachern: 2012 entry draft (1st round, 4th overall)
20) Woody Hudson: Acquired from Indiana on 1/12/13
21) Charlie O'Connor: unknown (was 2009 futures pick of Sioux Falls, 3rd round, 33rd overall)
22) Biagio Lerario: acquired in 2011 futures draft (3rd round, 32nd overall)
23) Ray Pigozzi: Trade with Des Moines on 1/2/12 for F Zach Saar
24) Bill Eiserman: Trade with Tri-City on 12/17/12 for conditional entry draft pick
25) Chris Dodero: 2012 futures draft (3rd round, 36th overall pick, 24th selected due to picks lost to tenders)
26) Danny Fetzer: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp) (previously drafted by Steel in 18th round of 2011 entry draft)
27) Tyler Heinonen: Acquired from Muskegon, 2/6/13
28) Alex Roos: Free agent (possible waiver claim?), winter 2011 (was 2010 futures pick of Cedar Rapids, 2nd round, 16th overall)
31) Chris Nell: 2012 entry draft (1st round, 6th overall)
TRADED/RELEASED PLAYERS
2) Tobias Ruelykke: Free agent, summer 2012, released 1/12/13
3) Joel Benson: 2010 entry draft (1st round, 4th overall), retired 1/4/13
8) Joseph Widmar: 2012 entry draft (2nd round, 19th overall)
9) Philip Maranaccio: Free agent, summer 2011 (non-veteran camp)
11) Christian Heil: unknown, traded to Muskegon 2/6/13
14) Brian Leblanc: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp), traded to Wichita (NAHL), 1/9/13
11) Christian Heil: unknown, traded to Muskegon 2/6/13
14) Brian Leblanc: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp), traded to Wichita (NAHL), 1/9/13
15) Ali Thomas: 2011 entry draft (6th round, 76th overall)
18) Jeff Kubiak: 2011 entry draft (2nd phase, 181st overall), traded to Muskegon, 2/6/13
22) John Schilling: 2012 entry draft (7th round of 2nd phase)
27) Danny McNamara: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp), released 1/19/13
35) Alec Derks: Free agent, fall 2012 (2012 open camp, was on green team, made it to vet camp)
18) Jeff Kubiak: 2011 entry draft (2nd phase, 181st overall), traded to Muskegon, 2/6/13
22) John Schilling: 2012 entry draft (7th round of 2nd phase)
27) Danny McNamara: Free agent, summer 2012 (veteran camp), released 1/19/13
35) Alec Derks: Free agent, fall 2012 (2012 open camp, was on green team, made it to vet camp)
Chicago Steel Transaction List (2012/13 season)
Two quick notes before I begin this: As this is an unoffical blog, I can only run off the information I can find from various sites, mainly Poinstreak's transaction page. These are done to the best of my ability and with the strong confidence I'm correct. I make no guarantees on these, though. Also, for players being added and removed from the roster in an affiliate-style move, I list the addition date as a day before the first game they appeared on the roster, and the removal date as a day after they last appeared.
10/7: D Joel Benson suspened one game (facemasking vs. Green Bay on 10/6)
10/12: D Luke Davison (96) and F Biagio Lerario (95) recalled from affiliate list
10/13: D Joel Benson activated from suspension
10/14: D Luke Davison and F Biagio Lerario returned to affiliate list
10/19: D Jacob McNamara (95) recalled from affiliate list
10/21: D Jacob McNamara returned to affiliate list
10/24: Acquired affiliate D Peter Tischke (96) and Muskegon's 5th round entry draft pick in the 2012 draft for F Ali Thomas and Lincoln's 3rd round entry pick in the 2012 draft. The Steel also acquire F Tyler Hill from Muskegon for unknown compensation. Tischke and Hill sent to the affiliate list.
10/25: F Christian Dvorak (96) recalled from affiliate list, F Daniel Kucerovy (94) dropped (presumably) to affiliate list
10/26: F Mackenzie MacEachern placed on 25-day IR (move made on 11/15 retroactive to 10/26)
10/27: F Jeff Kubiak suspended 3 games (check from behind vs. Fargo on 10/26)
11/2: D Peter Tischke recalled from affiliate list
11/5: D Peter Tischke returned to affiliate list
11/10: F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list
11/12: F Biagio Lerario and F Christian Dvorak returned to affiliate list, F Jeff Kubiak activated from suspension
11/15: D Tobias Ruelykke (92) added to roster, team captains named: D Joel Benson (92), D Jaccob Slavin (94) captains; F Charlie O'Connor (93), F Ray Pigozzi (94) alternates. G Alec Derks (96) added to roster.
11/17: F Tyler Hill added to roster
11/18: G Alec Derks removed from roster
11/20: D Joel Benson placed on 5 game suspension, F Christian Heil placed on 6 game suspension, F Tyler Hill placed on 2 game suspension (brawl vs USA on 11/17)
11/21: F Philip Maranaccio (93) traded to Cedar Rapids for F Landon Smith (93). F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list, F John Schilling (95) added to roster.
11/22: F Biagio Lerario returned to affiliate list
11/25: F John Schilling removed from roster
12/8: D Christian Neumann placed on 25-day IR
12/14: F Mackenzie MacEachern activated from 25-day IR
12/13: F Christian Dvorak recalled from affiliate list
12/17: D Bill Eiserman (92) acquired from Tri-City for conditional draft pick
12/18: D Joel Benson, D Sam Piazza, F Charlie O'Connor and F Thomas Ebbing all placed on 2-game suspension (12/15 brawls vs. Dubuque)
12/20: F Christian Dvorak returned to affiliate list, F Biagio Lerario and D Jacob McNamara recalled from affiliate list
12/31: F Biagio Lerario and D Jacob McNamara returned to affiliate list
OCTOBER
10/7: D Joel Benson suspened one game (facemasking vs. Green Bay on 10/6)
10/12: D Luke Davison (96) and F Biagio Lerario (95) recalled from affiliate list
10/13: D Joel Benson activated from suspension
10/14: D Luke Davison and F Biagio Lerario returned to affiliate list
10/19: D Jacob McNamara (95) recalled from affiliate list
10/21: D Jacob McNamara returned to affiliate list
10/24: Acquired affiliate D Peter Tischke (96) and Muskegon's 5th round entry draft pick in the 2012 draft for F Ali Thomas and Lincoln's 3rd round entry pick in the 2012 draft. The Steel also acquire F Tyler Hill from Muskegon for unknown compensation. Tischke and Hill sent to the affiliate list.
10/25: F Christian Dvorak (96) recalled from affiliate list, F Daniel Kucerovy (94) dropped (presumably) to affiliate list
10/26: F Mackenzie MacEachern placed on 25-day IR (move made on 11/15 retroactive to 10/26)
10/27: F Jeff Kubiak suspended 3 games (check from behind vs. Fargo on 10/26)
NOVEMBER
11/2: D Peter Tischke recalled from affiliate list
11/5: D Peter Tischke returned to affiliate list
11/10: F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list
11/12: F Biagio Lerario and F Christian Dvorak returned to affiliate list, F Jeff Kubiak activated from suspension
11/15: D Tobias Ruelykke (92) added to roster, team captains named: D Joel Benson (92), D Jaccob Slavin (94) captains; F Charlie O'Connor (93), F Ray Pigozzi (94) alternates. G Alec Derks (96) added to roster.
11/17: F Tyler Hill added to roster
11/18: G Alec Derks removed from roster
11/20: D Joel Benson placed on 5 game suspension, F Christian Heil placed on 6 game suspension, F Tyler Hill placed on 2 game suspension (brawl vs USA on 11/17)
11/21: F Philip Maranaccio (93) traded to Cedar Rapids for F Landon Smith (93). F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list, F John Schilling (95) added to roster.
11/22: F Biagio Lerario returned to affiliate list
11/25: F John Schilling removed from roster
DECEMBER
12/8: D Christian Neumann placed on 25-day IR
12/14: F Mackenzie MacEachern activated from 25-day IR
12/13: F Christian Dvorak recalled from affiliate list
12/17: D Bill Eiserman (92) acquired from Tri-City for conditional draft pick
12/18: D Joel Benson, D Sam Piazza, F Charlie O'Connor and F Thomas Ebbing all placed on 2-game suspension (12/15 brawls vs. Dubuque)
12/20: F Christian Dvorak returned to affiliate list, F Biagio Lerario and D Jacob McNamara recalled from affiliate list
12/31: F Biagio Lerario and D Jacob McNamara returned to affiliate list
JANUARY
1/3: D Christian Neumann activated from IR, D Joel Benson retired
1/9: D/F Brian Leblanc traded to Wichita (NAHL)
1/11: F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list
1/12: F Joseph Widmar, 1st round entry draft pick, and 1st round futures draft pick traded to Indiana for F Woody Hudson, 3rd round entry draft pick and 4th round futures pick; D Tobias Ruelykke released
1/19: D Nolan Valleau acquired from Des Moines for 3rd round futures draft pick; F Danny McNamara released
1/27: F Biagio Lerario added to roster full-time (played 10th game of season)
1/9: D/F Brian Leblanc traded to Wichita (NAHL)
1/11: F Biagio Lerario recalled from affiliate list
1/12: F Joseph Widmar, 1st round entry draft pick, and 1st round futures draft pick traded to Indiana for F Woody Hudson, 3rd round entry draft pick and 4th round futures pick; D Tobias Ruelykke released
1/19: D Nolan Valleau acquired from Des Moines for 3rd round futures draft pick; F Danny McNamara released
1/27: F Biagio Lerario added to roster full-time (played 10th game of season)
FEBRUARY
2/6: F Drew Smolycnski acquired from Indiana for F Roman Gaudet, D Jacob McNamara, and a 2nd round futures pick; F Tyler Heinonen and F Chase Phelps acquired from Muskegon for F Christian Heil and F Jeff Kubiak, D Sam Piazza placed on affiliate list
An Introduction
Hello there. You probably know me as The One Timer over on Finish Your Check. After much personal deliberation, I've decided to open a blog regarding my following of the Chicago Steel. The four main things I hope to include here in a fashion which allows me to organize these things in a way I can't on FYC are as follows:
Beyond this, I probably won't post much. I'll run other blogs and such under this account, so you'll be welcome to check those out if you so choose.
Steel transaction list, Steel player acquisitions, Presumed Steel affiliate list
Thanks for checking this out,
The One TImer
- Extremely in-depth game recaps. I'll shorten the ones on FYC. I'll finally start including special teams units, and try to get timers on time outs, and the like.
- A full Steel transaction list. This includes players being recalled and sent down from the affiliate list, free agent additions, ect.
- Full acquisition notes on every player on the Steel roster, to the best of my ability.
- A presumed affiliate list. I have no actual notes or knowledge of this, but it's a solid set of guesses. I'll also include acquisition notes on these players.
Beyond this, I probably won't post much. I'll run other blogs and such under this account, so you'll be welcome to check those out if you so choose.
Steel transaction list, Steel player acquisitions, Presumed Steel affiliate list
Thanks for checking this out,
The One TImer
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)