Silvertips Alumni Update: June 11
A pair of former Silvertips (who missed being teammates by only one season) are battling for all the marbles in the 2013 AHL Calder Cup Finals! Elsewhere, offseason player movement continues in Europe as summertime sets in around the hockey world. Don’t forget about this year’s second annual Silvertips Alumni Weekend: CLICK HERE for details and a list of some of the players slated to attend. Florida Panthers forward Peter Mueller (with the Silvertips from 2005-07) is the latest former ‘Tips star to commit!
Without further ado, here is a rundown of some notable former Silvertips making news in the hockey world for the week of Tuesday, June 11:
American Hockey League
– Forward Landon Ferraro (2010-11) scored one goal and set up another as the Eastern Conference Champion Grand Rapids Griffins took a 2-0 series lead in the Calder Cup Finals with a 6-4 victory over the Syracuse Crunch in Game 2. Ferraro was scoreless in Game 1 as Grand Rapids opened the series with a 3-1 win. He ranks fifth on the team with 13 points (5g/8a) in 20 playoff contests. The series will now shift to Grand Rapids for Games 3 and 4 on Wednesday and Friday. The Griffins are making their debut in the Calder Cup Finals after winning a tough seven-game series against the Oklahoma City Barons in the Western Conference Finals.
– The Eastern Conference Champion Syracuse Crunch were without the services of former Silvertips defenseman Radko Gudas (2009-10) in the first two games of the Calder Cup Finals when the hard-hitting D-man was scratched with an undisclosed injury. After rolling through the Eastern Conference playoffs with an 11-1 record and topping the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins in the conference final, now the Crunch find themselves facing a 0-2 series deficit as the league finals head to Grand Rapids. Gudas, who won an AHL title last year alongside many of the same teammates with the Norfolk Admirals, has two goals, three points and 30 penalty minutes in 11 playoff appearances since re-joining Syracuse after the Tampa Bay Lightning missed the NHL playoffs.
Overseas
– Another nod to “The MacBeth Report” on Greg Drinnan’s blog for this next item, which finds former Silvertips Captain Jonathan Harty (2004-08) leaving Les Ducs D’Angers in France to play in Sweden next season. Harty has signed to skate for Mora IK in the Allsvenskan, the Swedish second league. Former Silvertip Alex Leavitt (2004-05) has also signed to play in the Allsvenskan next year with Oskarshamn.
– This spring just keeps getting better for former Silvertips defenseman Shaun Heshka (2003-06), who already won a Finnish league Championship with Ässät Pori and signed a new contract in the KHL for next year. Heskha was recently named this year’s SM-Liiga Best Defenseman and a league All-Star, beating out (among others) former Norris Trophy winner Eric Karlsson of the Ottawa Senators – who played in the Finnish league during the NHL lockout.
That concludes this week’s alumni feature, but check back for more updates on more former ‘Tips through the remainder of the 2013 playoffs and offseason movement around the hockey world. To keep up on all the latest Silvertips news, Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
