Mr. Nichols with the Palm Trees and Pucks blog in Pensacola contacted us with a great idea to exchange questions/answers about the IceGators and Pensacola Ice Flyers prior to the game on Saturday. View Palm Trees and Pucks and see our answers.
These are the answers he provided to our questions.
Frozen Chomp: Lorne Misita, Chris Rebernik, and Rob Campbell (all of whom were the three leading scorers last season for the Ice Flyers) are not in training camp. How big of a loss is it that they are not returning and are there players in camp that have the ability to fill these big holes?
Whenever you lose your top 3 forwards, it is a big deal. It's not just the number those three put up but Misita and Rebernik both wore letters on their chests and Campbell never stopped working while on the ice.
Matt Whitehead could be poised for a great year, he averaged a point per game in his 36 games last season and had 4 points in the 3 playoff games last season. Jason Hill put up 23 points in 24 SPHL games (HSV/PEN) last season and could play on one of the wings of the top line. I'm really interested to see how Cameron Sault does if he makes the team, last season he had 87 points in 48 AAHL games (Madison/West Michigan) and had 15 points in 9 playoff games, and see how AAHL success transfers to the SPHL.
Frozen Chomp: Last season the Ice Flyers won over 50% of their games and made the playoffs, but only four players are returning that spent the majority of the season in Pensacola. Do you think this is Coach Gordon’s way of saying we have to be even better?
Maybe but I think it is mainly a testament of Gordon's commitment to youth. Of the returning players, none are older than 27 with the oldest being goalie Ryan Scott.
Frozen Chomp: Last year the IceGators had a pair of twins, Mike and Matt Roberto. They are a package deal: where one plays, the other plays. I see that the IceFlyers have two players with the last name of Goodenough and two players with the last name of Huddick. Twins, brothers, cousins? Do they have a shot of making the team and if so, are they package deals as well?
The Goodenoughs are brothers and, from what I can find, they're not twins. They're both tough guys and haven't played competitive hockey in a while so I'm pretty sure they won't beat out Tyler Barr for the fighter spot. The Hudicks are twins and both have some skills but didn't play professionally last year (they both played in the AAHL in 08-09). However, they are both dealing with injuries right now (one an arm/shoulder and the other a leg issue) and might not make the team because of it.
Frozen Chomp: There are a lot of unknowns about the Ice Flyers roster from outsiders. Do you think Coach Gordon has done a good job assembling the roster? Any idea of where this team will finish at the end of the season?
I don't think we'll know the answer to that until about 10 or 15 games into the season. There are a lot of unknowns but when I watch the guys out on the ice, there's a ton of speed, grit, intensity, big hits (Gordon actually stopped play during today's scrimmage to give the players the "Play hard but don't kill you own teammate" speech), and skill. If the team, goalies included, play their game and play their game tough, they could be a top 4 team I think.
And I learned at this morning's session that both set of brothers have been cut. There were at least 8 cuts yesterday, not sure who the others are and there are some players in camp who aren't on the roster and I can't add them because no one I've talked to knows their name. We know a little bit about them but not their names.
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