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Post by montreal on Mar 28, 2006 14:38:48 GMT -5
Cory Urquart has increased his points total over last year by almost 50% and has nearly triple the penalty minutes he had last year. Has anyone seen him play more than occasionally this year? If so, does he look more involved than last year. I have seen him this year but not too much. I only pay the 6 bucks to watch Halak so when he was called up I stopped watching them. I can't say I paid too much attention to Urquhart or Bonneau since they were the only other prospects at the time. The one thing I like is that he's shooting the puck a lot more and to me it was on thing that I felt he needed to do more of. When you have a good wrist shot why not use it more? With the Rocket he seemed to look to pass to much especially when Lambert was on his wing. They seem to be doing really well together, I have listened to some of the games on the radio of late and coach Cameron has put them together again, after having them paired up last year when Lambert was sent down. There's talk around Long Beach that Halak will be sent down for the playoffs and somone said that Sanford could be going too since he qualifies to play in the playoffs for having played with Long Beach early in the season. I had hoped Benoit would have been sent down to get some more experience, even Lemieux would be a good addition but with the group of forwards they already have he's not as needed to the team as Benoit would be. Getting Sanford and Halak would be huge for them in the playoffs cause imo Michaud and Hewitt can't get it done. Both have not been that great this year from what I hear. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 10, 2006 23:19:49 GMT -5
Long Beach goes into their first round of the playoffs against Bakersfield on Tuesday the 11th. They finished 5 points behind Bakersfield after a bit of a lacklustre finish to the season.
Prospects to watch for the Habs are Urquhart who finished with 52 points for third on the team in points and tops for goals, Michaud in net, Bonneau the slugger, and Lambert the sniper. Ex-prospect Christian Larrivee finished as the team's top point getter and just returned from a short injury, so he will be needed as the team's #2 scorer was sent up to the AHL for a stint.
As Dan indicated, with the Bulldogs wrapping their season up this weekend, if the Ice Dogs can go any distance in the playoffs, then it would be good to see some of the younger Bulldogs sent down to bolster the ECHL team and to get them some more playoff experience.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 17, 2006 23:06:36 GMT -5
Halak and Sanford both reassigned to Long Beach now that Hamilton's season is over. Halak gets his first start back today and the Ice Dogs won 5-4 in OT. Urquhart and Lambert each had a goal in the win. Series is tied 2 games a piece right now.
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Post by Bob on Apr 18, 2006 9:00:00 GMT -5
Halak and Sanford both reassigned to Long Beach now that Hamilton's season is over. Halak gets his first start back today and the Ice Dogs won 5-4 in OT. Urquhart and Lambert each had a goal in the win. Series is tied 2 games a piece right now. Maybe Urquhart has turned the corner? Just hoping, that's all. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 18, 2006 22:07:13 GMT -5
Maybe Urquhart has turned the corner? Just hoping, that's all. Me too. That was a pretty valuable second round pick in a really solid draft with loads of talent still on the board. He finally found his offensive mark, has decent size, but just has a habit of not getting engaged in the physical stuff at all. I haven't seen any of his games this season, so hard to say how his overall game has been and whether he has improved that part of the game that seemed to be his downfall last season. He is still just 21, so by no means a write off given how some of our prospects have taken longer to adapt to pro hockey. The key will be whether he can finally stick in Hamilton next fall. Next season will be his final contract season so he has to do something to catch management's eye. |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 20, 2006 21:20:12 GMT -5
Baby Dogs on the verge of elimination after a 4-1 loss last night. The remaining two games are in Bakersfield starting tomorrow night. Time for some home wins to come back in this series being down 3-2.
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Apr 22, 2006 10:14:37 GMT -5
Ice Doggies win big with their backs against the wall, 6-2 on the road, to force Game 7 today. Urquhart had a goal, Sanford had three points, and Halak had a great game in net for the win. Keep it going boys!! www.icedogs.com/fullstory.php?id=359 |
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Post by NWTHabsFan on Jul 11, 2006 19:30:51 GMT -5
In some off season news about the ECHL affiliate Long Beach Ice Dogs, they have just ushered in a new ownership group who wasted no time in introducing a new head coach and general manager, Rick Adduono. He has been part of two Kelly Cup championship teams and won a Centennial Cup back in his home town of Thunder Bay. He has a good history of winning during his ECHL tenure and it should be interesting to see how he is able to help with whatever Hab prospects are sent his way. Over the last two seasons, prospects Christian Larrivee, Cory Urquhart, Olivier Michaud, James Sanford, Michael Lambert, Matt Shasby, Andrew Archer, Jimmy Bonneau, Jaroslav Halak all spent time in Long Beach. Even during his day, Michael Ryder did two stints in the ECHL. Hopefully the affiliation continues with this new group as it is a good place to send some of our less developed or experienced prospects who can then get some better ice time rather than riding the press box in the AHL. It has been really handy with the shared farm team in Hamilton the past few years as there has been no room at the inn for all our signed prospects, but it can still serve to help a few of the guys even with a full Habs roster in Hamilton next season. www.icedogs.com/fullstory.php?id=364 |
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