Trenton Devils season preview

TRENTON, NJ – The 2009-2010 edition of the Trenton Devils look to build upon the successes of their prior season, in which they finished second place in the North Division of the ECHL’s American Conference. After getting off to a rough start the T-Devils compiled a final record of 40 wins, 25 regulation losses, 2 overtime losses, and 5 shootout losses for a total of 87 points on the season. They had tied the Cincinnati Cyclones who also had 87 points; however the Cyclones had one more win on the season, thus taking the tie-breaker. Although they made it to the postseason, they subsequently lost to the Elmira Jackals in seven games during the first round of the Kelly Cup playoffs.
 
One major challenge for teams in the ECHL is the high rate of turnover on the roster. Sometimes a team will have to deal with the call-up of players to either the American Hockey League or even the National Hockey League while the season is in full swing. Teams just have to grin and bear it, and should even take pride in the fact that they have affiliation agreements with clubs in higher leagues for the purpose of molding these young men into professional players.
 
The Trenton Devils were greatly affected by one major event during the 2008-2009 season. Martin Brodeur, goaltender for the New Jersey Devils went down with an injury which put him out for most of the season. The NHL Devils called up Scott Clemmensen from the Lowell Devils of the AHL, who in turn called up Jeff Frazee to protect the net for their squad. Down the Turnpike the Trenton Devils had to go out on the market and pick up more goaltenders to cover their needs, acquiring Gerald Coleman from the Phoenix Roadrunners and Charlie Effinger from the Gwinnett Gladiators.
 
During the 2009 off-season, the entire Devils system had a similar shift again. The NHL squad lost several star players to free agency; therefore they promoted players from the Lowell squad whom they felt were ready to make the jump to the NHL. Naturally when the Devils held training camp in Newark during the month of September, some former Trenton Devils proved that they were ready to play at the AHL level and are currently playing for the Lowell Devils.
 
This list includes the T-Devils leading point earner Eric Castonguay who put up 29 goals and 41 assists for 70 points last season. Graduating up to Lowell along with Castonguay were Brad Snetsinger, Matt Cohen, Kevin Cormier, Gerald Coleman, and Jeff Frazee. Nathan Perkovich also made the AHL squad, though he only played in 6 playoff games for Trenton after finishing his college hockey career last spring.
 
Also not returning to the T-Devils from last year’s squad are Ryan Gunderson, Jim Henkel, Matt Radoslovich, Chris Dyment, Dylan Quaile, and Thomas Harrison; all of whom either decided to sign as a free agent with another team or to retire from the sport.
 
The core players returning to the Trenton Devils squad includes forwards Jeremy Akeson, Scott Bartlett, Dan Eves, Trevor Kell, Chris Poli, Jeff Prough, Myles Stoesz, and Tony Zacanaro. Returning defensemen include Gord Burnett, Justin Coutu, David Leaderer, and Matt Torti. Dave Caruso is the only goalie to return to the squad, with Frazee and Coleman making the cut for the Lowell team. Caruso had spent the first part of last season in Trenton, and then was called up to Lowell to be the back-up to Jeff Frazee.
 
Chris Poli, Matt Torti, and Tony Zancanaro were actually injured for most of last season, however they have worked hard to come back and join the team for this year. Gord Burnett also returns under different circumstances, having been traded away to the Phoenix Roadrunners during the 2008-2009 season, however when that team folded this past off-season he felt that the Trenton Devils were a good organization, so he re-signed here over the summer.
 
There are nine newcomers to the T-Devils for this season; six rookies and three veterans. Rookies include:
 
Goaltender Nicholas Lareau joins the club on an amateur tryout agreement. Lareau has the most interesting story on the team so far, having driven approximately 40 hours across the United States after being released by a west coast team that had too many goaltenders in training camp, so that he could tryout for the Trenton Devils squad. He is a 21 year old native of Montreal, Quebec. Nicholas was drafted by the Gatineau Olympiques of the QMJHL in 2005. He also spent time with the Chicoutimi Sagueneens of the QMJHL before heading out west to play Junior-A hockey in the BCHL with the Cowichan Valley Capitals.
 
Tim Kunes of Huntington, NY and Kyle Kucharski of Saugus, MA both join the team having played together at Boston College. Kunes, a defenseman, was a draft pick of the Carolina Hurricanes in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft, having been taken in the 5^th round at #145 overall. Kucharski on the other hand is an un-drafted forward who signed with the club after finishing college. Both players bring “big game” experience to the team; having been members of the 2007-2008 Boston College squad with captured the NCAA national championship.
 
Justin Pender, a defenseman from St. John’s, Newfoundland, played four seasons with the Halifax Mooseheads of the QMJHL where he had a career total 16 goals and 53 assists for a total of 69 points.
 
Jon Howse, a forward from Cornerbrook, Newfoundland, took a slightly different path to the ECHL. Howse spent five seasons, from 199 to 2004, with the Peterborough Petes of the OHL where he was captain of the team which included current NHL stars Eric Staal and Patrick Kaleta. While in the OHL he had a career total of 55 goals and 57 assists for 112 points in 308 games. Not being drafted by any NHL clubs, Jon went on to play a partial season for the San Angelo Saints of the Central Hockey League, and then he went on board with the St. Mary’s University, which plays in the Atlantic University conference in Canada, from 2005 to 2008.
 
Matt Vokes, a forward from Auburn, MA, joins the Trenton Devils after playing in 115 games for Brown University where he had a career total 28 goals and 36 assists for 64 points. Prior to college Vokes played in the USHL with the Cedar Rapids Roughriders where over the course of two seasons he contributed 44 goals and 46 assists for 90 career points, and was a member of the squad which won took the USHL championship during the 2004-2005 season.
 
Veterans joining the T-Devils include:
 
Chris Murray, a defenseman from Dover, MA, spent the 2008-2009 season in the New York Ranger’s farm system, playing 13 games with the Hartford Wolf Pack and 53 games with the Charlotte Checkers where he led the team with 124 penalty minutes. In the season prior, Chris played 53 games with the Phoenix Roadrunners along with having short call-ups to the AHL to play with the Peoria Rivermen, Lake Erie Monsters, Springfield Falcons, and Albany River Rats.
 
Andy Thomas, a defenseman from Bow, NH, played in his first professional season last year splitting his time between the Bakersfield Condors of the ECHL and the Iowa Chops of the AHL. With the Condors Andy played in 24 games and has 14 assists. With the Iowa Chops Andy played in 25 games and had 4 assists on the year. Andy was drafted by the Washington Capitals in the 2005 NHL Entry Draft during the 4^th round at #109 overall. He played his college hockey at the University of Denver where he had 6 goals and 20 assists over the course of 159 college career games.
 
Mike Harder is the most experienced of the veterans joining the Trenton Devils. The oldest player on the squad by 8 years, Mike has been playing professional hockey since the 1996-1997 season when he played a combined 9 games for the Milwaukee Admirals of the old IHL and the Hamilton Bulldogs of the AHL shortly after finishing his college hockey career with Colgate University where he was a Second Team All-American in the NCAA and a Top-10 Finalist for the Hobey Baker Award. In the 1998-1999 season Harder joined the Rochester Americans where he was 3^rd in points on the team with 31 goals and 48 assists for 79 points on the year. That year the Americans made it to the Calder Cup finals where they lost the series 4-1 to the Providence Bruins.
 
The following year Mike got back to the Calder Cup finals as a member of the Hartford Wolf Pack, a team which he was the assistant captain of. This time around, however, Harder was able to hoist the Calder Cup, ironically defeating his former team, the Rochester Americans in the finals. Since then Mike had put in some time with the Louisville Panthers and Springfield Falcons of the AHL, and the Charlotte Checkers of the ECHL before spending several seasons over in Europe playing for clubs in Germany and Italy. In 2004 Harder added a DEL championship to his resume. His signing also works out well for Mike and his family, as they reside close-by in Erwinna, PA.
 
Coach Rick Kowalsky returns to the team for his forth season as head coach. Last season he guided the team to a personal best 40 wins and a 1^st round playoff appearance. Kowalsky stated, during the team’s recent media day, that he feels that the Trenton Devils have a good, hard-nose team in place. Though the team won both of their preseason games, however there is room for improvement he cautions. Due to the contraction of four teams from the ECHL the depth of talent on all teams around the league should improve.
 
The Trenton Devils season opener is this coming Saturday night on October 17^th at the Sovereign Bank Arena in Trenton, NJ where they will face-off against the ECHL expansion team, the Kalamazoo Wings at 7:00 PM. Then the following night they will face the K-Wings for a second game at 4:00 PM on Sunday October 18^th.
Contact michael.meier@prohockeynews.com