For those of you die hards that followed along yesterday to the craziness that ensued for the Calgary organizational lineup got a clear picture of just what the differences are between what we used to experience in the ECHL while we enjoyed the Thunder, and what we get to enjoy now with the Heat and the AHL.
Because of the injury to Jonas Hiller, Karri Ramo’s recall to Calgary caused a trickle down effect that impacted every team in the organization including the club’s ECHL affiliate, the Adirondack Thunder.
Regardless on how you may wish the minor leagues work (I know we’d all like to have a stacked AHL team or ECHL team to go after championships year after year) but when you are affiliated with a big club, the philosophy has to be development, and because of that philosophy you get to see a lot of movement up and down.
Certainly back in our ECHL days, and during my days while the team was affiliated with the New York Islanders and Bridgeport Sound Tigers, you saw that the Sound Tigers didn’t like to play short and there were times where they would call a player up just to have the insurance.
The reasons can be simple. What if a player gets sick? What if a freak injury happens during practice? You want to have more bodies to ensure you don’t play short, and when you’re an AHL club with no limits to roster size, what’s the problem about having an extra guy?
Other then upsetting fans…not an awful lot wrong with it. I’d always rather prepare for the worst just so that you’re ready for it. If you looked at my broadcast kit, I have backup cords to backups just in case a cord fails, breaks, or I forgot it at the last destination.
Now I remember reading Facebook comments the last few years, and even at times thinking to myself, that they didn’t need another body in the AHL and the thoughts of frustration sink in when the player gets called up doesn’t even play. But that was when we were in the ECHL. Now we’re the ones doing that. Let that sink in for a moment.
Of course we still have our fair share of drama as the “middle man” to the NHL. The goaltending situation in Calgary has been big news since the Flames waived Karri Ramo last week. I can vouch that in the limited time I spent with Ramo, he was an absolute professional. I loved having him here, but once you saw Bobby Ryan carom into Jonas Hiller in net and leave the game against Ottawa, you knew that if the injury was serious a major shuffle was going to happen.
It did yesterday with Ramo heading back to Calgary.
Ryan Lomberg was a player that wasn’t necessarily needed in terms of fielding a roster, but his hot start was noticed by the organization and he earns a call up back to the Stockton Heat. (PHOTO BY ANDY CAMP)
That of course shifted Kent Simpson back to the Heat from Adirondack, thus demonstrating just how the NHL impacted both the AHL and ECHL roster in one fell swoop.
Plus, T.J. Brodie returned to the Flames lineup against Ottawa giving the Flames too many defenseman, which then saw Jakub Nakladal shift back to Stockton bolstering our defenses with a player who’s still on a two-game point and assist streak in the AHL.
Now that wasn’t all though as Ryan Lomberg gets the call back to the Heat after five games with the Adirondack Thunder where he had 4 goals and 1 assist during his time there and left the team leading in shots with 21.
We aren’t short forwards. We aren’t even short bodies. However Lomberg had a hot start in the ECHL and has a chance to come back to the AHL and prove that he can do it here.
Simply put, he’s a player with a lot of upside, who had a great first few pro games and may now be given a chance to help the Heat here.
So basically we just did what our fans didn’t like for the last 10 years. An AHL team recalling a player making a big impact at the ECHL level while having enough bodies to fill a roster and then some.
Jakub Nakladal may not have gotten into a game during his first call-up to Calgary, but being around the top pros in the world should invigorate him and continue to motivate him to be the best he can with the Stockton Heat in hopes of getting another chance to prove his game to the Flames brass. (PHOTO BY ROB MCMORRIS)
However that’s not the right way to look at things. I know I preached this when we were an ECHL club, but I still maintain the philosophy that development is really key. If I’m a player, my goal is not to play in the AHL…it’s to make it to Calgary. Sure stops in Stockton and Adirondack happen en route to Calgary, but the dream as a kid is to suit up for the big club and play NHL hockey.
In fact we just had this argument this week in the office with a few WWE fans. Apparently there’s a wrestler named Finn Balor and he said that he doesn’t want to be called to the “main roster” for the WWE. Now Dustin Cowell and I didn’t like that answer because the dream is never to play in the minors. It’s to play in the pros. Whether it’s WWE, NHL, MLB, etc… I don’t buy that a single player doesn’t want to go to “the show”.
So as fans, why do we insist on getting upset when a guy makes it either a step closer to “the show” as in the last 10 years of Stockton hockey, or getting one step closer like Ryan Lomberg got recently.
Yes I know, ultimately fans want the Heat to be successful, as do I, but I love it when our organization is successful as a whole with quality players in the NHL, AHL and ECHL. Plus I like to vicariously live through these pro athletes and I genuinely get excited for them when good things happen.
Take Jakub Nakladal. When I learned he got called up, he was grinning ear to ear and when I say “hope to never see you again” it really means, I’m happy for you and I hope your dream of playing NHL hockey is everything you thought it’d be.
For Lomberg, whom I really liked since we got to see him in Penticton during the Young Stars Classic, I really liked him and thought he could be a great energy guy who brings a lot of speed and has a penchant for scoring to the table. To see him get to the AHL has been exciting and I hope that he’s able to make the most of his opportunity here and never return to Adirondack and like Garnet Hathaway before him, show that he’s worthy of one of those Calgary contracts.
So in summary, I think it’s a two-way street. Yes losing a good player is unfortunate, but seeing them get closer to, or actually achieve their goal, should be exciting for anyone to watch. You don’t even have to be a Flames fan to prove that. You just have to be human.
While losing Simpson and Lomberg should be tough for the 5-0 Thunder, I have faith that Head Coach Cail MacLean will have his boys ready to go today against the Wheeling Nailers.
I certainly know Coach Huska will have his troops ready for action tonight when the team takes on the San Diego Gulls.
I’m closing out all of my blog posts with a jersey or logo in the sports world. I love sports jerseys (I collect them) and I love logos and what goes into making a brand.
In honor of being in San Diego, lets feature the World Hockey Association’s San Diego Mariners who called the Valley View Casino Center (then called San Diego Sports Arena) home from 1974-1977.
Well this is a beauty isn’t it.
If that player’s mustache doesn’t scream 1970’s to you…I’m not sure what else could. How about the pipe in the players mouth….just a different era huh. Can you imagine if this logo would be rolled out in today’s time? The pipe itself would cause a huge fuss over the message it would send to fans.
They don’t make logos like they used to and this one might be one of the funniest retro logos that would absolutely NEVER fly in 2015 and one that I’d never really seen before.
So as a wise man once said…stay classy San Diego!
Brandon Kisker is the Heat’s Director of Broadcast & Media Relations and is entering his third season as a broadcaster in Stockton. Follow him on Twitter @kiskerbc or email him at bkisker@stocktonheat.com with comments or questions.
