ORLANDO, FLA – With season number eight quickly climbing over the horizon, the Orlando Solar Bears took time Monday night to get their fan base pumped up by premiering a new set of jerseys along with a renewed sense of purpose heading into the 2019-20 ECHL campaign.
Solar Bears players Chris LeBlanc, Mike Monfredo and Cody Donaghey (L to R) chat with PA announcer/radio host Bryan Sklover about the new uniforms (Photo courtesy of Latricia Meredith Ewen)
Just steps away from the City Beautiful’s Lake Eola and its iconic fountain, the Solar Bears rolled out three new sweaters as part of an overhaul of its on-ice look thanks to Athletic Knit,the league’s new jersey provider. Recently announced returning players Mike Monfredo, Cody Donaghey and Chris LeBlanc modeled the new uniforms. Head Coach and General Manager Drake Berehowsky was also on hand to talk about the off-season moves and what to expect for the season to come.
“I’m really excited. Anytime you can have a group [like] we have coming back – its a lot of our top guys coming back – we’re really excited,” Berehowsky said. “I feel very fortunate to have these kids coming back. They know what the expectation is, they understand what the culture is in Orlando and hopefully they’ll be able to pass it on to the new guys that we did recruit and we’ll get going right off the bat.”
In past years, Berehowsky chose to bring back a small core group of players to build around, filling in with new names and adding in players assigned to Orlando by affiliates. To this point thus far, the Solar Bears have named 14 players who will be in training camp with 11 being returners (both numbers were one higher but forward Tayler Thompson recently signed a contract with Pirati Chomutov in the Czech2 league).
Joining LeBlanc (20 goals and 40 assists in 121 games over two years with Orlando) along the forward lines are Dylan Fitze, Trevor Olson, Jackson Playfair and Mathieu Foget. Fitze (14 goals, 13 assists in 51 games) and Playfair (5 goals, 5 assists in 14 games) made solid contributions as rookies while Olson (16 goals, 16 assists in 51 games) and Foget (20 goals, 28 assists in 66 games) were each clutch in their first full seasons in the pros.
On defense, Monfredo, who was the Solar Bears captain last season, anchored the blue line with 27 points and a team leading 207 penalty minutes. Also back for another go are Alex Kuqali (8 points in 22 games) and Kevin Lohan (6 points in 40 games). Clint Windsor, who went 4-2-1 with a 2.48 goals against average in eight games in net in a backup role, is ready for his first full year in Orlando.
Defenseman Cody Donaghey shows off the new Solar Bears home jersey (Photo courtesy of Latricia Meredith Ewen)
The two other players who are back in the fold are defenseman Donaghey (15 goals, 28 assists in 64 games) and forward Alex Schoenborn (10 goals, 16 assists in 47 games). Both were in Solar Bears jerseys thanks to a secondary affiliation with the San Jose Sharks. When San Jose released both at the end of the season, Berehowsky jumped at the opportunity to bring them back.
“It’s think its a combination of a few things. They couldn’t get their AHL deals done. I think they trust me, they trust the organization that we want players to be called up. We want them to graduate to the next level,” Berehowsky said. “We’re here to help them. That’s my job, to get these guys to accomplish their dreams and I’ll do whatever I have to. I know some fans get impatient with that or they don ‘t understand that part of it. These boys play hard and their dream has always been to, I hope that dream has always been to lift the Stanley Cup one day. It’s my job to prepare them for that and get them ready for that.”
With a core of eleven (and there could be a couple more to add to that between now and training camp), Berehowsky thinks the Solar Bears could have something of an advantage when the season begins.
“Historically, you always think that a player will improve in his second year [with a team]. Kids in junior, they put up a certain amount of points and then their second year, there’s mathematical equations for it, but they get quite a few more points,” he said. “I look at some of our second year guys coming in. They had good numbers last year and my expectation is higher for them this year. They understand that, they want those kinds of pressures on them and hopefully they’ll be able to come in and do the job for us.”
Cody Donaghey (left) and Mike Monfredo model the new Solar Bears home and road uniforms that will hit the ice in October (Photo courtesy of Latricia Meredith Ewen)
One change that fans will notice right away will be behind the bench. Berehowsky will have a new assistant coach with him – Jared Staal. If the name sounds familiar, it should be. Jared is the younger brother of Marc, Eric and Jordan, all of whom are currently playing in the NHL. With a vast knowledge of the game and his proximity in age to many of the Solar Bears players, Berehowsky feels that Staal’s presence will be an important one.
“He’s a young kid. He’s very excited [about coming to Orlando]. He’s already called me a number of times. I want him to do more and more. He wants to get going, he wants to learn the business of coaching,” Berehowsky said. “He just left the game so he understands players too. We’re going to work together. I’ve always said it’s not me and an assistant, we’re a team. We share the workload because as you know in the ECHL there’s always a lot of work to do so we’ll share the workload. I’m excited about it, I’m excited about him [joining us] and hopefully he’ll come in and teach me some things as well.”
With expectations from the fan base high following a second consecutive visit to the South Division final, getting past the Florida Everblades into the Eastern Conference final is the priority of the general public. Berehowsky knows the expectation well but says that is not his main goal.
“I’m worried about making the best team I can possibly make with these players and helping them improve,” he said. “I think if they improve and they believe in themselves, hopefully that will be good enough to make it far in the playoffs, not just to beat Florida but to go a far way in the playoffs.”
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