Bullies bites

Published on June 18, 2004 under ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


Hello all and welcome to the first edition of "Bullies Bytes," the weekly summer beat report that I will release every Friday to keep people informed about what's going on with the Bullies and the rest of the ECHL. I know, like everyone, that the summer months leave a huge void without hockey, so hopefully this column fills that craving you may have and October gets here a little quicker. I will welcome comments, suggestions, and MOST IMPORTANTLY any questions you may have about the Bullies or the ECHL. In fact, I plan to devote much of this space to emails sent by the fans with their questions. You can send your emails directly to dan.weiss@boardwalkbullies.com, and I will answer every single one whether they appear in this space or not.

NOW ON TO THE BULLIES...

The early months of the hockey off-season tend to be slow without much news about player moves, etc, but for the Bullies, May and June could so far hardly be classified as the "dog days of summer." First of course there was the big announcement that everyone was anticipating (and relieved about!) that the Bullies would remain in Atlantic City for the 2004-05 season, followed by, nearly a month to the day, the promotion of Matt Thomas as the next Head Coach of the Bullies. I personally was thrilled to see Matt get the job! Watching him in practice and behind the bench during games, one can tell that he's an excellent teacher of the game and has a good knack for communicating with his players. No one can deny based on his track record as both a player and an assistant coach that he's got a winning mentality instilled in him. Once you're a winner, it's a feeling that you'll do just about anything to repeat, and I see that in Matt on a daily basis. Having worked with the M! aine Black Bears Hockey program (which by the way graduated all three Kariyas – Paul, Steve, and Marty), he's got a great pipeline into the college ranks when it comes to "potential" Bullies and if you haven't noticed, college hockey is slowly but surely becoming on par with the major junior leagues in Canada. Just take a look at how many first round draft picks in the NHL draft in 2003 came from college as opposed to five years ago! Hiring Matt also figures to be a big key to retaining much of last year's record-setting team and so far on the player front, it's been a great first week for him. The Bullies have already re-signed Scott Horvath, Chad Dameworth, and Jake Moreland for next season. For those who may be wondering, Chad is doing great after the freakish accident he suffered in Toledo last season and will be completely recovered by the time he steps back onto the ice in October. Expect to see some more familiar names come the early part of next week!

FROM THE "WHERE ARE THEY NOW" FILES...

Congratulations to former Boardwalk Bullies forward Kevin Colley who last week signed a one-year agreement with the New York Islanders. Five years of hard work in the ECHL and a solid full season in the AHL with Bridgeport last year has finally paid off. Must be nice when head honcho Mike Milbury says this about you:

"Kevin earned this contract by giving his all night after night last season with the Sound Tigers," said Islanders General Manager Mike Milbury. "He gives the level of effort coaches dream of having from all of their players. He's a candidate to play for the Islanders next season."

It's still amazing to think even after five seasons, he's still only 25. Best of luck Kevin! We'll be rooting for you hard up there!

AROUND THE ECHL...

Some quick musings from around the league: To continue to reflect its national presence, the ECHL has realigned overall conferences and divisions once again, putting 16 teams in the newly-formed National Conference and 14 teams in the newly-formed American Conference. For the Bullies, the impact will be minimal as Dayton, Peoria, Trenton, Reading, Johnstown, Wheeling, and Toledo will still all be in the division with Atlantic City and the playoff format for the first two rounds will be within the division. However, should the Bullies make it to the National Conference Finals, they will face a team from the West Division, which comprises the former teams of the Pacific Division and Victoria, in what will now be a best-of-seven series. I like the conference finals now being a best of seven (I think all series should be best-of-seven but I understand that cost is involved), but you must agree with me that it's a bit strange to see the North Division and the West Division in! the same conference!

The league has also adopted some new rule changes, including the elimination of the 10-minute misconduct penalty for the "instigator" to which I stand up and applaud. The "instigator", which more often than not is a judgment call, will now only receive a 2-minute minor penalty and a 5-minute major for fighting. I give the league their share of kudos for making the change!

Summer means coaching changes and we've already seen a slew of them in a short period of time. Steve Martinson, who led the Gulls to the Brabham Cup in their first season in the league, is out in San Diego and in is assistant Martin St. Amour. Martinson, by the way, resurfaced yesterday in the United Hockey League taking over as Head Coach of the Rockford Ice Hogs. Kevin Kaminski is out in Long Beach, replaced by former Cincinnati Cyclones boss Malcolm Cameron. Cameron's Cyclones of course came within one game of pulling off the biggest comeback in ECHL playoff history by forcing a Game 7 against the Bullies in the 2003 Conference Finals after going down in the series 3-0. Todd Gordon is also gone in Pensacola with a replacement yet to be named. Meanwhile, Greg Spenrath (Fresno) and Nick Vitucci (Toledo) each received a vote of confidence from management after taking over their respective teams in midseason. Oh yes...there is a new coach in Trenton as well!

AND FINALLY....

A good piece worth reading concerning the impending NHL Labor Situation

http://www.eagletribune.com/news/stories/20040613/SP_002.htm

AND FINALLY (PART II)...

Don't forget that the Bullies Blackjack Ticket Special concludes on June 21. If you purchase your full season tickets by June 21, you get a $21 discount off each seat. Make sure you call your Bullies Sales Representative on Monday (609-348-7825) to take advantage of this great discount!

That's all for the inaugural edition of "Bullies Bytes". Make sure you send those emails and questions along (dan.weiss@boardwalkbullies.com) and I'll be sure to tackle them next week. Have a great weekend! 126 DAYS TILL OPENING NIGHT!!!!


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ECHL Stories from June 18, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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