Now, like everything else in hockey (and the world to be honest) there are loopholes. I have no idea what they are but Tim Leone says they are related to injuries and recalls.
My guess, maybe someone reading this can confirm or deny my thoughts, would be that players listed as in-house (see the list below) would be eligible to step in and play if a player on the clear day list is recalled to Washington or is out with an injury.
Players would have had to be 'on the roster' last Monday to be included on the lists. That means that Jay Beagle is not eligible, which was stressed by Walton and Leone last week.
Here is a link to the clear day rosters to see Hershey's and to look at other teams.
Here are the players shown on the in-house roster that would be able to step in:
G Dany Sabourin
G Todd Ford
D Lawrence Nycholat
D Johann Kroll
D Dylan Yeo
D Phil Oreskovic
LW Joel Rechlicz
C Trevor Bruess
C Andrew Carroll
Here are my thoughts on both lists and the players not mentioned on either...
1. Players like Orlov (pro tryout contract) or any junior eligible player (Cody Eakin, Stan Galiev) do not have to appear on either list to be eligible to play. So an extra space can be used for someone else.
2. Nycholat, Sabourin, Bruess, and the other 'regulars' on the above list means that Yingst and Co. are not convinced they will be back for the regular season and/or the playoffs. We all know there will be injuries and/or recalls to Washington so some of these guys are likely to play.
3. Gordon being shown on the clear day list is not necessarily a sign that he is close to returning. While that is possible it is also possible that they just didn't want to risk not having him. If (by some miracle) there are no injuries or recalls then the players shown on the in-house roster would not be eligible to play so Gordon could conceivably be left out of the playoffs. And that would not be good.
Other than that there really weren't any surprises. I think Schaefer's strong performances this past weekend made the decision to leave Sabourin off the clear day list a lot easier.
One name on the clear day list that we will have to get to know is Andrew Kozek. Yesterday the Caps/Bears loaned Josh Godfrey to Chicago/Atlanta in exchange for LW Kozek. Both players will remain the property of their original teams (Godfrey-Wash, Kozek, Atl) but will play for their new teams for the remainder of the season.
Obviously we will have to wait to pass final judgement on Kozek but more than likely he was brought in for depth more than anything else.
He has only 7 goals and 5 assists in 57 games this season so he isn't being brought in to provide a lot of offense. Now some of that could be because of the logjam at forward in Chicago but last year he scored only 12 goals and 11 assists so it wasn't much more.
Hockeysfuture.com had this to say last June about Kozek:
Kozek has some talent, but his game is very uneven. He has good velocity on his shot, but doesn’t protect the puck well and isn’t fast. Of the three second rounders the Thrashers had in 2005 (including Pavelec and Denny), Kozek is the furthest behind in development. His skating is suspect at the pro level and he doesn't produce scoring opportunities as consistently as his raw skills suggest he should.We will just wait and see.
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Tonight marks the first of 5 games over the next 7 days...in 5 different cities.
The Bears visit Portland tonight for what is a very tough game. The Pirates are the #2 team in winning percentage, #4 in points, and are the best home team in the league winning 78.3% of their home games.
Needless to say...this will not be an easy task.
First...the good news. It might be the right time to get them though. 3 of the Pirates top 7 scorers are on recall to Buffalo with the Sabres playing the Pittsburgh Penguins tonight.
Mike Mancari, team leader in goals, assists, and points (2nd in AHL in goals, 3rd in points); Luke Adam, third on the team in goals and points; and Mark Parrish, tied for third on the team in points. Those players (as of now, 12:20pm) will not be in the lineup tonight for Portland.
Now for the bad news. Braden Holtby remains in Washington, Steve Pinizzotto didn't make the trip, neither did Keith Aucoin or Andrew Gordon.
So Hershey is without 4 of their top 7 scorers (Nycholat being the 4th) for tonight's game and likely the weeks games.
But that's okay. It was enough to beat Norfolk on Saturday night and it will be enough to win tonight!
LET'S GO BEARS!!!!
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