MAITLAND, FLA – When Drake Berehowsky was brought back in to coach the Orlando Solar Bears last November, no one really knew how the players would respond to the early season change. After all, it was a roster built to the design of then-head coach Anthony Noreen. The Solar Bears responded with inspired play that got them to within one game of going to the second round of the 2017 ECHL Kelly Cup playoffs.
So with training camp for the 2017-18 season about to begin, how does a hard-nosed, high expectation bench boss like Berehowsky put his team in a position to take the next step?
He tears down the roster and rebuilds it in his own image.
With a nod to the past and a keen look into the future, Orlando will begin its sixth year in the ECHL with day one of camp Monday morning at the RDV Sportsden Iceplex, the team on the ice will have a much different look than the one that nearly took out the Florida Everblades in the first round of last season’s postseason. The season may have changed but the expectations are still the same.
“We’re looking forward to having another good team and a successful season again. We want to keep making the playoffs,” Berehowsky said during the summer player recruitment period. “We want to grow and build and go further in the playoffs and that’s what we’re building towards.”
How different will the roster look? Many of the faces that the fans cheered on and grew to love a year ago are no longer going to be lacing up the skates in the City Beautiful. Long time defenseman and “face of the franchise” Eric Baier retired and got married. Eric Faille, Justin Buzzeo and Milos Bubela all signed to play in Europe. Now as camp time closes in, goalie Ryan Massa – one of the key cogs in the team’s near success in the playoffs – is not in the picture.
Berehowsky and assistant coach John Snowden took all of it into consideration as they set out to create their “wish list” of players to recruit. The pair immediately identified one point of focus that they felt needed to be addressed: size.
“We have to get a little bit bigger,” Berehowsky said. “That’s the one thing when you look at the other teams that went further [in the playoffs] – they were pretty big. We want to get a little bit more size.”
Another point was the expectation that the defensive corps, with nor Baier or Trevor Ludwig to mentor them, would be young and to an extent inexperienced. Berehowsky and Snowden took care of all of that and then some.
At 6-6 and 194 pounds, 27-year old defender Adam Phillips fits the bill quite well. The fourth year pro from Farmington Hills, Michigan, has 168 ECHL gamesto his credit with stops in Stockton, Kalamazoo, Norfolk and Indy. Between the Admirals and Fuel last year, Phillips had three goals and 16 assists in 49 games.
Veteran blueliner Mike Monfredo (6-4, 209) comes to Orlando with 339 pro games played along with 144 points (31 goals, 113 assists) and a hefty 509 career penalty minutes. Then there’s 6-1, 181 pound third year player Nolan Valleau who comes to Orlando after two seasons with the AHL’s Rockford IceHogs (four goals and 16 assists in 108 games).
Two other new Solar Bears on defense – Sam Jardine and Sean Zimmerman – bring size, experience and championship rings. The pair, along with teammate Darryl Bootland, skated for theKelly Cup champion Colorado Eagles last season. Zimmerman, who is entering his 11th full season professionally, has played 622 games across three different leagues (AHL, ECHL and CHL) with 90 points and 973 penalty minutes. At 6-2 and 201 pounds, he and the 6-2, 209 Jardine form an imposing duo who have plenty of AHL and title experience to pass along to their new teammates.
Speaking of Bootland, he is set to go for his 16th professional season. In 896 career games, he has amassed 493 points (235 goals, 258 assists)Â and an astonishing 3,423 minutes in the penalty box. Along the way saw the bright lights of the NHL with Detroit and the New York Islanders, posting one goal and two assists and 85 penalty minutes up there.
Another high profile veteran added to the offense is Mike Vaskivuo. Born in Helsinki, Finland, the 31-year old Vaskivuo spent most of his formative years in Palm Beach county, Florida. He won a Ray Miron Cup title with Fort Wayne in the CHL and has 412 pro games under his belt including stints in Denmark, Italy and Switzerland where he averaged more than a point per game every season.
Bootland and Vaskivuo join two returning players from last year’s Orlando roster up front. Crane, who came over from Allen in a trade orchestrated by Berehowsky, hit the score sheet for 15 goals and 20 assists in the regular season as well as nine more points (two goals and seven assists) in the playoffs. The other returner, Joe Perry, had himself a career year a season ago, with career highs in goals (35), assists (19) and points (54) in 70 games. The 35 tallies broke the Solar Bears ECHL record for goals in a season set by Mickey Lang in 2013-14.
As for the goaltending situation, Berehowsky had a plan to not wait on Toronto and find a quality backup for Massa. He put out a call and reeled in 27-year old Matt Hackett, the nephew of former NHL netminder Jeff Hackett. The younger Hackett has seen a few games of his own in the bigs, playing in 26 contests between the Minnesota Wild who drafted him and the Buffalo Sabres. His last port of call was the Anaheim Ducks organization where he played for its affiliate, the San Diego Gulls.
Like seasons past, the other part of the netminding puzzle will end up being answered by the Solar Bears affiliates in Toronto. The Maple Leafs and Marlies have yet to make any decisions on who that goalie will be or which and how many skaters will be sent down. Whatever is decided, Berehowsky has confidence in Leafs assistant general manager Kyle Dubas to make the right choices for everyone.
“We’re going to work together like we always do to build the franchise and that the franchise is built properly from the ground up and that every team under the umbrella is well stocked and prepared,” Berehowsky said.
For now, a stable of young talent will be looking to make an impression on the Solar Bears staff. Rookies such as Troy Crema (Dartmouth), Chris LeBlanc (Merrimack), Todd Skirving (RIT), Jeremy Olinyk (Adrian College), MacKenzie Braid (Wilfrid Laurier Univ.),Donny Flynn (EHL junior hockey), Brandon Platt (Salem State) and Mike Chen (Salem State) all have something to prove. So do rookie Michael Turner, who played four games with Orlando last season and third year pro Kenton Helgesen. Even former University of Alaska-Fairbanks goalie Jesse Jenks has nothing to lose and everything to gain as he tries to turn a try-out deal into something more.
The Solar Bears will skate in two sessions every day this week except Thursday when they hold their first ever “Purple vs. Orange” scrimmage at the Ice Den before this weekend’s two preseason games against the Everblades on Saturday and Sunday in Estero. Then a week from Saturday, October 14th, Orlando will travel to Jacksonville to welcome the ECHL’s newest franchise to the league. The Solar Bears home opener is set for Saturday, October 28th against Atlanta. All practices at the Ice Den are open to the public.
Until then, Berehowsky will continue to fine tune the roster and the players in order to give the franchise’s fans what he and they hope will be a championship team.
“We play in the best city in the ECHL,” Berehowsky said. “We just want to keep improving and keep winning.”
Contact the author at don.money@prohockeynews.com
Follow the author on Twitter @phnsingleaedit or @prohockeynews
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