The Everblades Thread

[nccanes]

Well thank goodness no one took my advice to catch the Blades in Charlotte this weekend...because they are in FLA!

Blades playing in Charlotte next Thurs/Sat. Oops.

Blades on a 4 game win streak and leading the Checkers today 5-2, so possibly a 5th.

[nccanes]

Well it's been awhile since my last Blades update. They've had an entirely average season, so I guess I got bored with them.

Anyway, I've been checking in on them as the season winds down and found a few interesting tidbits.

First off, in the drunk Blade on the airplane. He plead guilty to the charges yesterday.

Cornacchia was not immediately sentenced, but he could face prison time for the charge. He explained to the judge that he had taken two Ambien sleeping pills and had several drinks before boarding the Dec. 27 flight from Toronto to Dallas; of having stumbled to the back of the plane, demanding more drinks, Cornacchia said his memory is foggy.

Now. The Blades didn't suspend him for a minute, let alone a game. Now that the guy has plead guilty, you wonder if the league or the team does anything. I mean, it's not one of those "innocent until proven guilty" things any longer, he plead guilty. Anyway - the ECHL is the least of his worries. He could get jail time and/or have VISA issues. Apparently he won't get sentenced for up to 2 months.

The other story I mentioned in this thread was the play of Matthieu Melanson. The kid that semi-quit and then decided to give hockey another try, playing for Gerry Fleming (a former teammate of his Dad's). Well, the guy is the leading Blade scorer, top 20 in the ECHL in scoring, and a ECHL All Star......and they released him 3 games before the playoffs start, saying he wasn't good enough defensively. Okay. Sounds like he was a pain in the ass, but how odd. Anyway, he got picked up by PHX.

Finally, Nastiuk gets a shutout to secure the Blades have home ice advantage heading into the playoffs.

[Canesluver]

Found an update on David Cornacchia.

From Phil Janack's blog, up in Schenectady:

Rough Flight
Special thanks to loyal reader Scott Murphy, who found this item on defenseman David Cornacchia, a player called up to the Rats for the end of last season and the playoffs:

Canadian Press
Jul 28, 2008, 11:28 PM EDT
FORT MYERS, Fla. - The lawyer for a minor league hockey player says his client has been sentenced to one year and one day of prison for slapping a flight attendant, head-butting a passenger and exposing himself on an American Airlines flight from Toronto to Dallas.

David Cornacchia of Toronto plays for the minor league team Florida Everblades, based in Fort Myers, Fla. Michael Francis Hornung says the sentence also includes supervised release for three years, including substance abuse and anger management programs, plus a US$4,000 fine.

Hornung says Cornacchia already pleaded guilty to interfering with a flight crew.

He says he hoped for the sentence of probation without incarceration.

[puck_it]

wonder if they're going to do the treatment bell got... jail during the offseason... but i doubt it since he's an ECHLer.

I dont condone what he did, and he probably deserves jailtime, but considering he was man enough to own up to his crime... a year seems rough considering what other people get away with.

[nccanes]

I guess given the fact that they had to request emergency/priority landing and given how freakin' terrified the people on that plane probably were, and that it's a felony....

A drunk in a bar or restaurant is one thing, on a plane would kinda freak me out.

[SoCalcaniac]

Mr Socal had stumbled on that story as well, and I personally thought he got off 'easy'.

Like E said, this was on a friggin airplane. Given how sensitive anything related to disruption on an airplane is, when I initially read that story, I was sure he'd get thrown in the klink for awhile. Perhaps he had people intervene on his behalf, and I'm sure he's a nice guy and all,(cause most people are when they're not stinking drunk) but for me, this was a really serious matter- my gosh, people must have been freaking watching that unfold on the plane-- and I'm guessing the judge wanted to make that point in his sentencing. Most felony sentences aren't usually just one year- so I guess he can be thankful he's not taking up Federal Prison space for years.

[puck_it]

yeah, i had forgotten about the emergency landing part.

[livinthedream]

Figured this was the best place to post an update on Nate Hagemo, folks had asked about him after he came to rookie conditioning camp. He's now at training camp for the Everblades.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/...-/?partner=RSS

[nccanes]

Thanks LTD. I usually keep up with the Blades and this year I haven't visited their website or the Naples News or News Press sites at all.

I know they have a new coach and a lot of turnover (I think), but haven't been up on the latest. Good luck to Nate!

[livinthedream]

Well, Nate was the first player cut by the Blades, although it sounds as though the door remains open for him.

http://www.naplesnews.com/news/2008/...t/?partner=RSS

ROSTER CUTS: The Blades had to submit their opening day roster to the ECHL by 5 p.m. on Wednesday. But Cameron wasn't too worried about potential roster cuts.

So far, he has cut just one player: Defenseman Nate Hagemo, who had been out of the sport for two years due to drug addiction and injuries. Cameron said he'd offered Hagemo a contract, but told the 22-year-old he wouldn't be guaranteed playing time.

Hagemo opted to explore his options with other ECHL teams, but Cameron said that if the former second-round draft pick doesn't get picked up by another team, he could end up back with the Blades playing a limited role.

[nccanes]

I've been a good Blades fan over the years but this year have had 0 time to even check in with them, though I was under the impression they've had a good season under their new coach.

Since I had a spare moment this morning, I chose to take a look.

The Blades have the most wins in the League and are the first team to have clinched a Kelly Cup playoff spot.

http://echl.leaguestat.com/stats/sta...type=standings

In taking a peek at their roster, I don't see any names that appear to be our prospects, I guess what was left down there might be up in Albany after the bus crash.

http://www.floridaeverblades.com/team/roster/

The name AJ Thelen caught my eye, but in reading his BIO, I guess it's because he was drafted here in '04 in the first round, rather than because he's Hurricane property (his BIO said he has an Everblades contract)?

[SoCalcaniac]

Originally Posted by nccanes

Albany after the bus crash.

The name AJ Thelen caught my eye, but in reading his BIO, I guess it's because he was drafted here in '04 in the first round, rather than because he's Hurricane property (his BIO said he has an Everblades contract)?

So this is where he's surfaced. Oh, how the mighty have fallen. E, you might remember Thelen more- he was a top college prospect, drafted by the Wild (he's a MN native) signed with Michigan State, and got his butt in all kinds of trouble and was kicked off the team. (lots of rumors, drugs, drinking etc.) I had read he was going to go play in Sweden or Europe after the Wild decided not to sign him, but apparently he had just a lot of issues. Hopefully he has learned alot from all that and is trying to make his way up.

Does anyone know what ever happened to Nate Hagemo? I've not seen or heard anything since he got that a shot with the Blades after he left our conditioning camp?

[nccanes]

I queried the Naples News and see he was cut in October.

So far, he has cut just one player: Defenseman Nate Hagemo, who had been out of the sport for two years due to drug addiction and injuries. Cameron said he'd offered Hagemo a contract, but told the 22-year-old he wouldn't be guaranteed playing time.

Hagemo opted to explore his options with other ECHL teams, but Cameron said that if the former second-round draft pick doesn't get picked up by another team, he could end up back with the Blades playing a limited role.

edit:

According to this he played for the Elmira Jackals (ECHL) and the Amarillo Gorillas, whatever that is, thus far this season, but only 14 games between the 2 teams.

http://www.hockeydb.com/ihdb/stats/p....php?pid=83093

edit 2:
So I google the Amarillo Gorillas and he's not on the roster. But a Austin Sutter from Red Deer AB is, lol....along with a Ftorek kid.

[nccanes]

And finally, found this on a MN Hockey site

Nate Hagemo had two goals and two assists in 10 games with the Amarillo Gorillas and was considered one of their top defensemen when he was checked awkwardly into the end boards by Mississippi’s Brad Bonello during a game on December 20th. Hagemo reportedly was on the ice for some time before being assisted to the locker room. Hagemo suffered neck and back injuries, including a herniated lumbar disc. He was cleared to play by Amarillo's doctors in mid-January and placed on waivers and immediately claimed by the Tulsa Oilers but failed their physical so the transaction was canceled and he has been sent back to Amarillo until he can be cleared to play. He has been attempting a comeback this season following trouble with substance abuse and multiple arrests. Hagemo was told he may not recover from a previous shoulder injury but this new injury does not involve the shoulder. He is contributing to every off-ice event for the Gorillas, visiting schools and hospitals and helping in the team offices, while working on his rehabilitation hoping to avoid surgery.

[Canesluver]

Poor guy. He's somebody I really want to pull for -- but it seems like his bank of bad karma is just too deep for him to get out of.

It's nice to see the team is open to whatever contribution he wants to make off-the-ice.

[nccanes]

Wow. The Blades cruised thru the regular season and advanced out of the first round, but lost in OT of Game 6 of the 2nd round last night. They came back from TWO DOWN with 2 minutes left just to get to OT, but lost 9 minutes into OT.

ESTERO, FL – The Florida Everblades season came to a sudden end in Game 6 of the South Division Finals when South Carolina Stingrays defenseman Zach Tarkir’s shot from the left point clanked off the right post and dropped into then net nine minutes into overtime on Tuesday night at Germain Arena.

Tarkir’s fourth goal of the playoffs at 9:04 of overtime spoiled an incredible come-back effort by the Everblades and sent the Stingrays on to the American Conference Finals for the second consecutive season, winning the South Division Finals 4-games-to-2.

Before Tarkir could be a hero, the Everblades erased a two goal deficit with a pair of goals in the game’s final 90 seconds to force the overtime period.

Trailing 3-1 with two minutes remaining in regulation, the Everblades took their timeout and pulled goalie David Leggio. After gaining control of an offensive left face-off, Everblades defenseman Peter Metcalf fed a pass from the left point across to Doug O’Brien at the right side. O’Brien let a slap shot fly that sailed through traffic and into the upper left corner of the net at 18:31 to trim South Carolina’s lead to one.

Off the ensuing face-off, once the Everblades gained control, Leggio again raced to the bench for the extra attacker. Soon after, the Stingrays iced the puck giving Florida the offensive face-off. The Everblades gained control of the face-off and Milan Gajic worked the puck from behind the South Carolina net, sending a pass out to the blue line. Metcalf and O’Brien again teamed up with Metcalf’s shot kicking off the right pad of Stingrays net-minder Jonathan Boutin and directly to Gajic at the right side of the crease where he stoked home his second goal of the night with 19 seconds remaining in regulation to even the score at three.

Overall Game 6 saw the Everblades dominate the puck possession and control the play, but the Stingrays capitalized on their chances despite being out-shot 52-14 by Florida.

That musta been some bizarro game!

[nccanes]

Guess no one gave a rip about the Everblades last season...

Anyway - saw the tweet from the Blades that the Lightning has signed an affiliation with the Everblades, so the Canes and Bolts will share them as an ECHL affiliation.

[Captain Slack]

Is that going to be the case? Cause this article from the Lightning's website doesn't say anything about sharing the affilation.

[nccanes]

Originally Posted by Captain Slack

Is that going to be the case? Cause this article from the Lightning's website doesn't say anything about sharing the affilation.

Yes, we are still sharing.

The blades press release:

“We are very happy to welcome the Florida Everblades to the Lightning organization today,” Yzerman said. “The Everblades and their management have demonstrated a strong commitment to success by guiding their team to the playoffs in each of their 12 seasons in existence. That is exactly the type of winning environment we feel our players should develop in. Couple that with their proximity to Tampa and there really isn’t a better option for us. We look forward to our prospects and contracted players helping to bring the Kelly Cup to Southwest Florida.”

In addition to the new affiliation with the Lightning, the Everblades will also be continuing its long-standing affiliation with the NHL’s Carolina Hurricanes and its AHL affiliate, the Charlotte Checkers.

To be honest, I'm not sure we've had that many players down there the last few years, but that's a depth issue rather than contractual.

[caniac97]

Originally Posted by nccanes

Yes, we are still sharing.

The blades press release:



To be honest, I'm not sure we've had that many players down there the last few years, but that's a depth issue rather than contractual.

Rosey use to play for the Blades, worked his way up from there.

[nccanes]

Originally Posted by caniac97

Rosey use to play for the Blades, worked his way up from there.

Yes. LaRose last played for the Blades in 2004. I wasn't counting that as "the last few years".


edit: We've had some goalies down there, that's the only players I can think of that are still hanging around (Peters is mentioned in the first post of this thread, from the fall of 2007). I'm not saying we haven't assigned the odd player down there, but my guess would be that they were ECHL/AHL contracts, rather than NHL/AHL contracts.

[caniac97]

I think Rosey had an "alcohol infraction" while down there. Remember some hoopla about it.

[nccanes]

Originally Posted by caniac97

I think Rosey had an "alcohol infraction" while down there. Remember some hoopla about it.

I'm sure he's got fond memories of car surfing with his teammates (I believe he was driving).

But after the other kid got arrested after causing a plane to divert because he was drunk and arguing with the flight attendants (and my recollection was that he mooned them?), I think Rosey doesn't have to worry about being "the story".

BUT - they did share the same lawyer.

He (the lawyer) even has his own blog at the Naples News:
http://blogs.naplesnews.com/behindtheglass/

[Canesluver]

OMG! I'm so GLAD you posted, NCC!

I've been worrying, and worrying for over a year about the 'Blades!!! I'm so relieved to have the update. Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!!

I can breathe a sigh of relief now!! My summer is now complete!

[nccanes]

hahahahahahaha



And here's another little tidbit for you CL. With the whole Rats --> Checkers switcheroo, the Checkers fans have to get used to the idea that they will be "on the same team" as the Blades. In the ECHL, the Blades and Checkers had a number of playoff series (I even went to a few of those games in Cricket arena...and actually ran into the Toast family...tho we didn't realize it until later...just a little trivia on top of trivia..) and was a pretty bitter rival. Now the fans have to embrace the idea of "their" players going to/fro the Everblades.

I suspect that it'll be easier for the Checker's fans - but the Blades fans might have a little bit of a inferiority complex.

I have now completed my Everblades posting for the 2010-2011 season.