2006-07 Fury training camp opens

Published on September 29, 2006 under International Hockey League 2 (IHL 2)
Muskegon Lumberjacks News Release


MUSKEGON, MI.---Set to launch their 15th campaign as members of the United Hockey League, minor pro hockey and the UHL's all-time top winning team, the Muskegon Fury, will commence their annual training camp to formally launch the 2006-07 season officially this MONDAY, OCTOBER 2ND at the Fury's long-standing home of Walker Arena, downtown Muskegon.

The start of the 2006-07 season signals not only the beginning of a new season but also the beginning of a new and exciting era in the rich, winning heritage of a Muskegon franchise which has captured more league championships than any team in the history of the UHL. First year Director of Hockey Operations / Head Coach Bruce Ramsay will formally greet approximately 23-25 prospective roster candidates for team meetings and medical examinations on Sunday, October 1st as the Fury organization undertakes its initial steps in the quest with zest of reclaiming the circuit's most prized jewel, the Colonial Cup crown. Achieving such lofty and lusty acclaim by virtue of an all-time UHL record four championships, the Fury will launch this new campaign with a healthy injection of new faces, young colts and a pronounced spirit of youth on their new roster.

Training camp sessions will be conducted daily with workouts scheduled once each day but of an approximate two-hour duration with a slight recess in-between. Coach Ramsay will lead his first Fury squadron on the ice MONDAY, OCTOBER 2ND and TUESDAY, OCTOBER 3RD at 9:45 AM. To complete the initial week of the training camp regimen, the Fury will be on the ice, Wednesday, October 4th and Friday, October 6th at 10:00 AM and, once again, Thursday, October 5th at 9:45 AM. As is tradition in Muskegon, all of the Fury training camp sessions are open free to the general public.

It is anticipated that the Fury training camp roster will be comprised at the outset of 3-GOALTENDERS; 7-DEFENSEMEN and 13-FORWARDS. Of the players presently listed on the Fury early roster, thus far, 20-players have been officially signed to standard UHL contracts.

At this current time, it does appear that Muskegon will have as many as 9-players returning from last season's club which attained the Fury's best-ever regular season record of 76(51-18-7) 109-points and .717 winning percentage and an overall close second-place finish in the standings; a mere two-points behind league titlist Kalamazoo. In addition, two more standouts are returning to Muskegon where they played major roles in previous Fury championships of several seasons ago.

Among the galaxy of Fury returning incumbents from the '05-06 team are goaltender CLAYTON POOL, who sports the best winning percentage in franchise annals; four defensemen are expected to be back; including two-time UHL All-Star and two-time winner of the Best Defenseman and Best Plus Player Awards, DAVE VAN DRUNEN. He will be joined by 2005 Colonial Cup IV MVP runner-up and best UHL playoffs plus player JON INSANA. Also returning is third-year pro TOM GALVIN and second-year teammate JOE POMARANSKI. Include Muskegon 2002 Colonial Cup II standout PHILIPPE PLANTE and the Fury's pre-season strong suit could well be on the blue line.

At the forward position, Muskegon's latest on-ice rendition will offer four more on the returning side. Most prominent of this quartet in good standing is the Fury's second all-time leading scorer, center TODD ROBINSON, who now becomes the club's longest tenured member in beginning his seventh season with the home team. Robinson is joined by Team Captain and six-year pro RUSTYN DOLYNY, who starts this season ranked fifth on the team's all-time goal list and one point shy of sixth all-time in career points. Robinson and Dolyny represent the last two active players from the last three Fury title timber teams. Playoff scoring hero, center BILLY COLLINS, a two-time Fury Colonial Cup victor and right wing BILL ZALBA have also come back with fleet left wing DAVE NOEL-BERNIER back in the Fury fold after a two-year absence following his Team Rookie of the Year honors earned in 2003-04, Muskegon's Colonial Cup III and that UHL record-breaking, history-making 11(11-0) sweep of the post-season. Noel-Bernier was named to the UHL All-Star game that season and ranked runner-up in league-wide rookie scoring.

Among the more prominent newcomers to the Fury nation is veteran left wing RYAN BARNES, the former second round draft pick of the Detroit Red Wings who played for more than three years in the AHL with Grand Rapids and last season was an enemy of the Fury when his since-defunct Danbury team ended his new team's two-year champion-ship reign in the playoffs' semi-finals. He will be re-united with older cousin SCOTT BARNES, a CHL sparkplug last season with Oklahoma City and Youngstown.

Also in the new Fury cast are such stellar rookies as defenseman JOSH CHASE, the former Bentley College Team Captain and Athlete of the Year from nearby Big Rapids; left wing EVAN KOTSOPOULOS, formerly of OHL Kingston and U. of Western Ontario, right wing MARK WALTER from the BCHL's Penticton Vees; slick center ELIAS GODOY, one of the top scoring virtuosos from U. Mass-Lowell of the Hockey East Conference and goaltender RYAN CYR, former standout of the WHL Saskatoon Blades.

Training camp additions for the Fury may still be anticipated; especially with the NHL and AHL regular seasons being inaugurated next week, a week prior to the ushering-in of the UHL's 16th year continuous operations.

The Muskegon franchise is instituting its 15th year under the Fury banner as both the all-time top winning team in UHL history with 592-victories as well as the best winning team in all of minor pro hockey with a winning percentage of a sterling .626. Moreover, the Fury are the lone team in UHL history to finish every season with an overall wining record and attaining a post-season playoff berth in each year of their existence. Four times in the last five years and five times through the past seven seasons, the Fury have amassed 10 or more points in the standings. For the last two years, they have collected over 50-victories and seven times in the past nine years and nine of the last 12-years they have registered over 40-victories.

In addition to their league record four Colonial Cup Championships, the Fury have reached the UHL Conference Finals in eight of the last nine seasons. In the process, they have recorded an all-time league-high of 86-lifetime playoff triumphs.

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International Hockey League 2 Stories from September 29, 2006


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