Thunder GM Joel Lomurno wants the team to show more toughness down the stretch, and coach Brent Bilodeau is bringing in two new players who might add that element: forward Devin Guy and veteran defenseman Rob Stanfield. Both could be in the lineup for this weekend’s games.
Guy, a 6-foot, 200-pound rookie, had 17 points and 116 penalty minutes in 31 games for the Hudson Valley Bears of the Eastern Professional Hockey League earlier in the year.
Stanfield (6-3, 210) has spent the bulk of his pro career in the East Coast Hockey League. In 1999-2000 and 2000-01 combined, he piled up 275 penalty minutes, along with 15 points. He has played for one other CHL team, the Laredo Bucks in 2002-03, scoring 12 points with 75 penalty minutes.
This season, he played 28 games for the Huntsville Havoc of the Southern Professional Hockey League. He had three points and 56 penalty minutes in 28 games.
The Thunder has signed goaltender John Daigneau to replace Tim Boron, who is out for the season with an injury. The 6-foot-4 Daigneau was 1-4 with a 4.76 goals-against and a .876 saves percentage with Pensacola of the East Coast Hockey League this season. He was a backup on the Idaho Steelheads ECHL championship team in 2007 under former Thunder coach Derek Laxdal. He played four years at Harvard, where he ranks in the program’s top 10 in many categories.
Lots of Thunder news breaking today, most of it bad.
They’re out: It’s finally official: No. 1 goaltender Tim Boron, out with an injury, won’t return. Defenseman Greg Cassista is out for the rest of the season with a knee injury. Another D man, Curtiss Patrick, has left the team to attend to family matters.
They’re in: Defenseman Bobby Rapoza, who played with the Thunder in 2002-03 and with Corpus Christi earlier this season, is joining the team. So is a goalie named
Pascal Keiser. He is coming in for a look, but won’t have VISA approval for this weekend if Bildoeau likes him.
The following is a message from Thunder GM Joel Lomurno:
I would like to apologize on behalf of the Thunder organization for the effort the fans witnessed on Saturday. It was totally unacceptable. Anyone with a ticket stub from Saturday’s game (February 14) can turn it in for a free ticket to the next Thunder home game on Wednesday, February 25 vs. Tulsa. Season ticketholders can redeem tickets from Saturday for any of the next five home Thunder games (Friday, March 20 excluded).
Season ticketholders will also be able to get 20% off all Thunder merchandise at the final Thunder home game of the season on Friday, March 20.
We want the fans to know that Thunder hockey is not Thunder hockey without their support. If it means sacrificing a few dollars to make them happy then that is what we are willing to do!
The CHL trade deadline came and went with no deals by the Thunder.
Quite a weekend at the Kansas Coliseum. Some odds and ends:
I didn’t have room to emphasize it in the story, but coach Brent Bilodeau’s comments on No. 1 goalie Tim Boron should be of great concern to Thunder fans. Bildoeau has never even hinted that Boron might be out for the season, but last night he mentioned that surgery could be a possibility. Boron has been practicing but Bilodeau said he “isn’t able to do a lot of full movement.”
I can’t remember seeing a game this season where the Thunder passed better than it did in the upset of Odessa on Saturday. Typically, the other teams score the “pretty” goals. Not so last night. “We were more in tune tonight, I guess, more mentally ready,” Bilodeau said.
Recently acquired Mike Zbriger has rather quietly scored in five straight games. He has points in six of eight games with the Thunder. Brad Thompson has four points in two games since returning from injury.
Chris Tarkir had gone 17 straight games without a goal before scoring on Saturday night. I’ll have more on this in my Thunder report in the paper on Wednesday, but it was clear from Bildoeau’s comments after the game that he is a believer in the rookie’s potential.
With an assist on Saturday, veteran Jason Duda moved into third place in CHL history with 528.
Rocky Mountain coach Tracy Egeland got into a shouting match with fans and a sheriff’s officer during Friday’s blowout victory over the Thunder. I had a fairly lengthy post-game interview with him, and he was still angry. He ripped the hecklers who sit behind the bench; the sheriff’s officers; and the Thunder front office. His main complaint: The fans take things too far, and the officers and the Thunder don’t do enough crowd control. I’ll have a lot more on this in my report on Wednesday too.
The trade deadline is Monday.
Some big pre-game news prior to the Thunder’s game against visiting Odessa.
Scott Rozendal, the Thunder’s third-leading scorer with 28 points, suffered a collapsed lung after colliding with a goal post during practice this morning, according to GM Joel Lomurno. He will be hospitalized overnight. The team placed him on the 14-day injured reserve list.
And Stan Yanchishyn has also been placed on 14-day IR. His eye was swollen shot after he took an accidental stick from teammate Curtiss Patrick during Friday’s loss.
Newcomer Ben Boudreau is in the lineup. No. 1 goalie Tim Boron, out with an injury, is on the bench again.
Newly acquired Ben Boudreau practiced with the team on Thursday morning and will likely play when the Thunder hosts Rocky Mountain on Friday night. Boudreau is apparently a bit of a project. Thunder coach Brent Bilodeau said that Boudreau is “learning the game” but has potential to make plays.
The other new player, Marc Belanger, was expected in town late Thursday afternoon. He will probably make his Thunder debut on Saturday night. Belanger had 16 points in 43 games with the Texas Brahmas. Bilodeau thinks he’ll get more of an opportunity to put up numbers in Wichita.
Injury news: I’d love to give a substantive update on the status of injured goaltender Tim Boron. All coach Brent Bildoeau would say publicly is that Boron was examined today, and he remains “day to day.”
Brad Thompson is likely to return from injury tonight. Connor MacDonald is likely out tonight. Jonathan Bernier tried to resume skating but suffered a setback. He is at least two weeks from playing.
I’m still here: Bildoeau said he was trying to trade me for another newspaper guy before the Monday deadline, but I haven’t been informed of any deal yet. However, Corpus Christi beat writer Greg Rajan said he would come to Wichita for an unlimited Old Chicago gift card.
I asked coach Brent Bilodeau about the upcoming trade deadline on Monday and got an unexpected answer.
“I’m trying to trade for a new newspaper guy, but nobody wants you,” he said. “I even offered to throw in a few pucks.”
Bilodeau was joking. I think. Anyway, no way I’m leaving Wichita. I just got a riding lawnmower.
Bilodeau went on to say, as you would expect, that he’ll make a deal if it will make the team better. “We’ve got a lot of good young players, and I’m not going to give up those kids and hurt our future,” he said. “We’ll see what happens. Obviously, I’d like to make the team better.”
Injury updates: Goaltender Tim Boron is on the road trip. Bilodeau said he won’t know Boron’s status until the team returns home and the goalie can be examined.
Defenseman Bryan Nathe is expected to play tonight at the Mississippi Riverkings. Brad Thompson will likely be ready to play when the team plays host to Rocky Mountain on Friday. Jonathan Bernier is ready to resume skating.