[Drury18]

This question keeps coming up in game threads and the Adirondack thread (usually for the same players) and instead of posting it all over the place, I figured I would just have a recap for all players in one thread. And then we can keep all the comments on players this year in one spot so people who may not come to the Back Burner often can find it all in one place.

EDIT: This is getting really long. I've put the write-ups behind spoiler tags so you can quickly search for a player and then find the write-up about them. That and the thread crashed tapatalk on my phone, so I didn't want that to happen to others.

Defencemen

#2 Brett Kulak

Spoiler!

Initially a victim of the numbers game that Adirondack had on defence, Kulak managed to make the best of a less than ideal situation when he was sent to the ECHL to be able to play more minutes than what the Flames could offer at the time. While in Colorado, he showed his offensive strength from the blueline getting 9G and 21 in 30GP with the Eagles. While Culkin's injury provided him with the call up back to the AHL, it would be hard to imagine him staying in the ECHL all year with his play. When called back up to Adirondack, he almost instantly gained the trust of Coach Huska who has praised him multiple times for being a steady presence on defence. Huska also slotted him regularly on defence, over guys like Sieloff and Stevenson, speaking to how much trust and confidence he had in Kulak's game. While not attaining the same numbers offensively as he did with the Eagles (3G, 4A in 21GP), Kulak has proven himself as a solid defensive prospect that with another year or two in the AHL, could be a middle pairing guy for the Flames.

#3 Ryan Culkin

Spoiler!

This will be a season of "What If's" for Culkin. A devastating (however by all accounts, non-career threatening) cut tendon injury shut down his season in early February. Prior to that, Culkin was playing like a veteran and it would be hard to find a glaring flaw in his game or signs that he was a rookie. Huska spoke at length about how Culkin played like a vet and was one of his most trusted defenceman despite being a rookie. He was strong on defence, not afraid to hit someone and also a huge asset on the power play. Culkin finished the season with 1G and 17A in 37GP, with 11 of those points coming on the powerplay. Culkin still sits tied for 4th in Rookie power play points despite not playing in 2 months. Ryan has begun physical therapy on the injured hand and was put on a lower body strengthening program to get him ready for next season. If he can come back and play like he did prior to the injury, there's no reason to think he won't see his first call up to the NHL Flames sometime in 2015-16 and probably take over as the #1D in Adirondack when Wotherspoon leaves for the NHL permanently.

#4 Sena Acolatse

Spoiler!

Still looking to find a team to make his NHL debut (yes, he's never played in the NHL), Acolaste signed with the Calgary Flames and was sent to Adirondack out of Flames camp. Often a healthy scratch to make room to play one of our numerous rookie defenceman, Acolaste was another defenceman for the Flames who wasn't afraid to use his heavy shot from the point to create chances. While the Flames forward went through a lull in February/March in terms of scoring, it was Acolaste and Cundari who stepped up and scored the majority of the goals and points for the Flames. He's not a great defenceman, but there are definitely worse options out there to have on a team and he provided a little bit of AHL leadership to the guys and kept our defence from being completely green. I still don't see him becoming an NHL regular but I would like to see him back on Stockton and helping our kids out next year.

#5 Tyler Wotherspoon

Spoiler!

Easily the #1 Flames defence prospect and there's really little question why he gets called up when they need a defenceman. Wotherspoon is a workhorse and iron man all in one. He plays long minutes every night and I can't recall him ever being a scratch this season, healthy or injured. He might not throw the big hits or score flashy goals, but he is a solid and reliable defenceman that rarely makes mistakes and unless you are really looking, you barely notice him doing his thing. Wotherspoon does seem to have found a recent offense streak (probably because he FINALLY figured out he has a massive point shot that people will get the heck out of the way for) prior to this last callup he lead the team in shots in January, lead the (18) team in assists in the month of February (6) and held the team lead for assists overall (22) at the end of March. If Wotherspoon does return to the AHL next season, his stay will be brief. I don't imagine we will be seeing him back in the AHL again though.

#6 Dustin Stevenson

Spoiler!

Stevenson is not a prospect in the Flames system and is signed to Adirondack on an SPC contact. Dustin is a BIG body on defence and was the player you would commonly see laying out guys with big hits or going in to defend his teammates in fights. Stevenson was often a healthy scratch as well to make room for Flames prospects to play.

#7 John Ramage

Spoiler!

Another Flames defence prospect. Ramage managed to earn a semi-regular spot in the carousel of defenceman this season and much like Wotherspoon, wasn't a flashy player that you would notice on the ice. Outside of a couple games where he got into a fight, he usually was a rarely penalized player and played his game smart using his body to overtake a player rather than stickwork. He still has things to work on but he's improved since earlier this year and you can see there is some progression in his development. He also wasn't shy to get a puck on net as he recorded at least one (usually 3 or 4) shot on goal in 80% of the games he played in. Ramage could be a bit of a wild card both in prospect camp and main training camp. He was overshadowed by many others this season but never played poorly. Huska never spoke much about him and he managed to stay under the radar.

#8 Kenney Morrison

Spoiler!

VERY small sample size, but in his couple games Morrison has played good defensively and shown to have some offensive talent. Aside from a few mistakes expected from anyone making an AHL debut, Morrison has looked good on defence and could with a year in the AHL could probably polish up some of his defensive skills and transfer them to how the Flames play. He seems to have a knack for the back of the net and it will be interesting to see how he slots into the NHL Flames as it seems a few of our defence prospects, both current and upcoming, have more of an offensive minded game then defence. With good size and a right handed shot, he might be able to expedite his spot in the lineup but I would like to see more of his defensive game and what he could do that way.

#14 Mark Cundari

Spoiler!

Cundari did what was expected of him. To be a veteran presence on the blueline that was more green than blue. He was paired with almost every rookie we had and spent a good amount of the year alongside Wotherspoon as the #1 pairing. He plays a solid defensive game with very few mistakes. Cundari also chipped on offensively, leading the team in points and power play goals in February. After a dry spell in January, Cundari has managed to score at least a point in 16 of the Flames last 21 games. While Cundari will probably not crack the Calgary Flames lineup, especially with all the youth coming up, he is an asset to the Adirondack Flames/Stockton Heat and hopefully brought back to continue to work with our prospects.

#32 Patrick Sieloff

Spoiler!

Sieloff's year got off to a rough start as not only was he unable to get a spot in the rookie defence rotation, but he struggled again to stay healthy. Pegged as someone who should have had a regular spot, he ended up losing it to Culkin and Stevenson who out played him the first couple of months of the season. Then, he struggled with injuries and spent most of January injured again. Strangely enough, he didn't seem to start performing again until he was moved up to RW (something that Burke identified in training camp as potentially a good move for him) to fill a spot when the Flames went down to 11 forwards. Then we suddenly saw a hard hitting, fighting, big bodied game from Sieloff that hadn't been seen all year. A whole new player started showing up and he looked good! Obviously between the sickness last year and injures this year Sieloff is still behind in development, but if the Sieloff that's played the last 10 Flames games shows up to training camp and season next year and stays healthy, we may have something good here. He still isn't NHL ready and another year in the AHL playing bigger minutes will do wonders for him. And staying healthy. Please stay healthy.

#38 Nolan Yonkman

Spoiler!

The Flames brought him in for Leadership and to be a veteran on the blueline. And that's all he really does. By all accounts, Yonkman was a great guy in the dressing room and helped out the young kids adjusting to the pro life. Towards the latter part of the year, he became a bottom pairing guy and even scratched to play a rookie over him. He played a stay at home defence style and allowed the rookie kids to make some mistakes while learning the game and system. He probably won't be returning to Adirondack/Stockton next season as he's 35 years old and it seems like we gave him his swan song.

Goalies

#31 Joni Ortio

Spoiler!

After struggling uncharacteristically, in the first month of the season posting 4.16 GAA and a .879 SV%, Ortio returned to Turkubot 2.0 form. We watched his GAA and SV% drop significantly in December and January and he continued to steal games for the Flames despite a rookie defence in front of him. The calm, cool, collected and reliable goalie we've come to known over the last year (and glimpses of the one the NHL Flames knew for 10 years) was back and playing some of the best hockey of his life. He even had a stint with the NHL Flames that seemed unbelievable. Everything was going his way. He was top 5 in the AHL in wins, saves and minutes played. He carried the AHL Flames, like he's done many times with the Heat. And then Bogdan Yakimov happened. He crashed into Ortio in late February, full speed and without any attempts to stop and took out Ortio's ankle taking him out of the lineup for 6-8 weeks. As time has gone on, that injury has proven to be devastating not only for the AHL Flames but now the NHL Flames. Between the contract change and his play, there's no reason to believe we will see Ortio in the AHL after this season. He is an NHL goalie.

#35 Doug Carr

Spoiler!

Carr started the season with the ECHL Colorado Eagles trading off the starting duties with Saunders. Carr did well with the Eagles going 10-10 with a 2.65 GAA (remember, the ECHL is a little more open hockey) and when Ortio was called up to the NHL and then went down with an injury, he was called up to the AHL Flames. He struggled in his first start with the AHL Flames, but faired far better in his two relief appearances following that. It looked like Carr might be a strong option in net and the first game was a fluke due to nerves. Unfortunately, it turns out the first game wasn't that fluky and Carr struggled in many of his starts trying to keep his GAA in games under 4. Carr could be a better option to backup whoever takes over the net in Stockton next year over Thiessen as he's younger and a little quicker. He does need some work with goalie coaches to clean up a few parts of his game, but he doesn't have any "massive" issues that can't be worked through. He's also a late entry/exit college guy so at 26, he only has experience like a 23/24 year old

.
#39 Brad Thiessen

Spoiler!

With our other goalie prospects a year (or two) away from joining the AHL, the Flames went the AHL veteran route when signing a backup goalie. It's probably unfair to say he was signed on the assumption Ortio wouldn't be giving him much time in net and he was more to be a mentor to Ortio, but it does seem that was how it was supposed to work out. Thiessen is an interesting goalie, either playing really well with the full support of the team in front of him, or being hung out to dry and looking lost. The majority of his games he either has a GAA under 1.80 or above 4.00. He really doesn't have a middle, it's one extreme or another. He seemed like an okay option earlier this year when he was only backing up occasionally, but watching him start consistently, he's not someone you want in that position and given the other options out there for backup AHL goalies, I would like to see the Flames move on from him next season. When Ortio leaves for the NHL, the AHL team is going to need a #1b goalie, presumably with Gillies or MacDonald coming into the goal. I don't think Thiessen can be that guy.

Right Wings

#9 Garnet Hathaway

Spoiler!

Hathaway started the year on an AHL contract and finished the season with a strong potential to get an NHL contract in the offseason. Actually, he almost started the season with an NHL contract after coming into camp the fittest prospect and being one of the Flames final cuts, while still on the AHL contract. It seems like his experience at Flames camp was a carrot for him to have a great season with the AHL Flames He went into places other players wouldn't touch, he dropped and blocked shots that no one wanted to touch and he made his name as a shot blocking special teams expert. Since the start of the season, he has had or shared the lead for team PPG. He's tied for the lead in Rookie AHL shorthanded goals and points. And this weekend, he cracked the Top 20 for AHL Rookie points with his 19G and 15A and is 4th on the team in shooting percentage. Oh, and he's done it all only missing 1 game this season because he was extremely banged up at the end of a 3 in 3 weekend. If the Flames don't offer Hathaway a contract soon, some other NHL team will. He could easily be next year's Josh Jooris.

#10 Devin Setoguchi

Spoiler!

Setoguchi was sent down to the Flames in late November and "disappeared" shortly afterwards. Turns out, he had a sports hernia which required surgery and he spent 2 months rehabbing the injury. His first few games with the Flames he looked good, he had points and jump in his skating. Then the offense dropped off completely. And it's never really come back. He's had maybe one good game since his return, but it's probably not going to turn any heads and restart his NHL career. Definitely not a player I can see the Flames keeping in the system and it will be interesting what offers he will get in the off season as this really wasn't a great season for him going into UFA.

#20 Brant Harris

Spoiler!

Signed to a PTO on 3/14 to replace McGrattan. Too small of a sample size to say much about him. He's played eight games mostly on the 4th line and managed 1G and 1A. Before joining the Flames, he was playing with the Florida Everglades where he had 16G, 27A in 57GP. With his size and being a righty RW, he might be a good option to be signed to an AHL contract next season for the AHL Flames (Heat) and see what he can do.

#21 Emile Poirier

Spoiler!

Well, he came highly touted and he really didn't fail to live up to that. Poirier has been an exciting player to watch this season and outside of a few rookie growing pains and a little cold streak mid-season (which he's a rookie, this is expected if not necessary in the learning process), he's been one of the best players on Adirondack. Any worries about his shoulder post-surgery can pretty much be written off, he's fine. He's currently 16th amongst rookies in scoring and 5th in Rookie Shooting percentage. He's sat in various spots in the Top 5 for Rookie Shooting % all year. Up until a few weeks ago, he also lead the Flames in Shooting %. He's also lead the team in goals, assists, points, PPG, PPA in a months as well as overall. I think the only stat he couldn't wrestle away from someone else was SOG. He's found chemistry with a number of linemates, although none better then Bill Arnold. Poirier also can have a little mean streak in him, which we've seen over the last few games where he's throwing big hits and going after guys. He hasn't fought, but he can certainly play like he has a vendetta. Oh and then there was that whole All-Star Game thing he was invited to as well where he placed 2nd in the Fastest Skater and had 1G and 2A in the game. It's been a great rookie season for Poirier and I don't expect him to spend much time in Stockton next year.

#22 Brian McGrattan

Spoiler!

You know what messes with your mind? Seeing Brian McGrattan play a shift where both his linemates are laying out guys with big hits and he touches no one and breaks in alone on the net. That's one of those things where you need to pause the game and just process what the heck just happened. McGrattan was expected to do less fighting and contribute more to plays and scoring when he arrived in Adirondack and I have to say that's what he did. He did get one fight in (and then after that, he only had 2 PIM's in the next 12 games), but you started seeing a different McGrattan that was breaking in on 3 on 1's and standing in front of the net waiting for chances and making passes and trying to keep plays alive successfully. In his 16 games with Adirondack, he had 1G, 5A and 25PIM (17 coming in one game for a fighting, unsportsmanlike and misconduct for continuing the altercation). For a guy this late in his career, he took the demotion like a pro and went there helping out the rookies like Wolf and Stevenson with their physical game and much like how the NHL Flames teammates spoke of him, so did the AHL Flames. McGrattan left the team in early March to be with his wife in Calgary who is expecting their first child any day now. It's unlikely he will return to the team this season and it looks like Big Ern is ready to hang them up.

#23 Brett Cameron

Spoiler!

Another Flames PTO signing. Another rather large (6'3, 215) right shooting RW. He's played 2 games for Adirondack and had 1 assist. He just finished 5 years with the University of Anchorage. That's pretty much the extent of what I can talk about him and his season with Adirondack.

#28 Ben Hanowski

Spoiler!

Hanowski has been another interesting player for the Flames. He goes between ice cold streaks, to racking up points like crazy. He was on fire in November, cold in December, heated up again in January, cold in February, found the net multiple times in March and cold again in April so far. He had a fantastic November where he lead the team in Goals, Points, PPG and SOG. He actually held or co-held the team lead for goals until January when Poirier finally knocked him off and in the Top 3 for SOG for most of the year.. Hanowski recorded his first AHL hattrick in November and went on to have 3 multi goal games this year. He's one of the least penalized players on the team this year with only 21 PIM. Huska put an "A" on him stating he stepped up into a leadership role and was one of the main voices in the locker room for most of the season. Definitely a far more positive year for Hanowski over last season and I would think worthy of another contract extension by the NHL Flames just to see where this improvement leads him next season. Don't be surprised that if he does spend significant time in the AHL, that he ends up wearing the "C". He is that kind of guy.

Centres

#13 Turner Elson

Spoiler!

Elson had a break out year in the AHL this year, which unfortunately was cut short by a head injury due to a fight (note: Do not look up the fight. It’s stomach turning). Elson found his offense after struggling last year in Abbotsford and ultimately finding himself on a flight to the ECHL and Alaska where he was part of the Kelly Cup winning Alaska Aces and faired a little better in the offense department. While he took a little while to get the offense going, once it did, it exploded. He had a mini streak in November where he was putting all sorts of pucks to the net and a couple went it and followed that up with a solid December where he started racking up the assists while centring Reinhart and Van Brabant and just setting them up for some easy goals. The full out explosion didn’t hit until February when he lead the Flames in goals, points and SOG. In the absence of Arnold and Knight and the team really struggling losing top players to callups and Ortio going down with injury, Elson stepped into the role of the utility centre and while he had MASSIVE shoes to fill, he managed to do a respectable job considering the circumstance. During his hot streak in February, Huska started pairing him with anyone who was struggling because he was a little spark plug and seemed to be able to get any teammate out of a slump and going again. His offence numbers dropped off once Arnold returned and he was given a lesser role, but he still managed to try to create chances for himself and work hard. His injury also came as a result of wanting to do something to fire up his teammates and change the course of the game. That’s really just the player Elson is, he’s a true team player. Elson is on the final year of his ELC and I can’t see any reason why the Flames wouldn’t extend him at least another year as reward for his season this year.

#16 Mathieu Tousignant

Spoiler!

Tousignant, or Tousi as he’s known, is signed to an SPC and he is sort of the heart of the team and the glue that holds them together. He’s not a gifted goal scorer (4G, 12A in 64GP) and he probably isn’t destined to make the NHL (undersized and better with his fists then hands), but you bring him into a locker room to create that brotherhood atmosphere. I don’t think you could find a guy in the locker room to say a bad thing about him, he was a big brother to almost all of them. His teammate first attitude was never more obvious then when the injury to Elson happened and his reaction to it was taking blame for not warning Elson in time that he was going up against a lefty and pushing people out of his way to check on Elson before he left the ice. Literally pushing and going over people. You can’t teach that kind of heart to a player. Off the ice, he was one of the biggest faces of the AHL Flames in the community and it seemed anytime you heard of a charity outing, there is Tousi’s toothless grin in the middle of a pile of kids looking like he’s having the time of his life. Then the next night, if you messed with one of his boys on the ice, he would gladly rearrange your face for you. He became the unofficial bodyguard for Poirier and well, you really didn’t want to mess with Poirier if you enjoyed solid foods. And judging by his 125 PIM’s, a few guys enjoyed the milkshake diet. Tousignant is a player that I would love to see brought back in Stockton because we will once again have a large contingent of rookies and he is a guy you want out there protecting them as well as in the room creating that positive atmosphere.

#25 Max Reinhart

Spoiler!

With big expectations to repeat after last season’s franchise record setting performance, Reinhart’s season prior to March was a flop. There’s struggling and then there’s whatever Reinhart was going through when you go a few steps past struggling probably into considering bribery to finally get a point. Even a call up to the NHL Flames in November didn’t seem to be enough change to snap the luck he had. The worst part of the struggle wasn’t that he was being lazy or given up, it was that he was trying harder and harder and he wouldn’t get rewarded. He didn’t just throw in the towel when things went wrong, he pushed even harder and still couldn’t catch a break it seemed. When asked about it, Huska couldn’t even come up with an explanation saying he’s never seen a player work so hard and try so hard for so long and not even get a pity reward from it. Reinhart lead the Flames in SOG in 3 of the 6 months and was only bumped out of the overall top spot briefly by Hanowski. You’d see games with Reinhart getting 5, 6, 7, 8 SOG and nothing. Not even an assist. He’d hit plenty of posts though. Most games he would lead both teams in SOG and that’s the only place you’d see his name on the scoresheet. At one point, Huska had him down on the 4th line because after trying numerous pairings to try to find him chemistry to break out, he ran out of options. It wasn’t until Huska put Reinhart and Hathaway together in February that Max FINALLY starting seeing bounces go his way. He was scoring goals with a little more ease and you could see the confident “Max Power” from Abbotsford starting to return. Then hit March and it seemed like any struggles from the past 5 months were gone. Wolf-Reinhart-Hathway became one of the more dangerous lines in Adirondack all year and scored at will. Huska even put him on the 4th line with Sieloff playing RW and Gillies on his left and he even managed to score and help Gillies get his first goal in a couple of years. Right now, Reinhart is rolling along and now 4th on the team in points (35) with his 14G and 21A in 62GP. On March 1st, he was 12th on the team in points with only 8G and 7A in 46GP. Max is in his final year of his ELC and will likely be re-signed to a new deal in the off season. He still needs some time in the AHL and not quite NHL ready, but he’s not a lost cause yet.

#26 Markus Granlund

Spoiler!

Granlund didn’t spent much time in Adirondack this season, nor was he expected to, but he added a good amount of offense to the team while he was here and his presence seemed to be missed by Reinhart who he had great chemistry with in Abbotsford. He only managed 21GP in the AHL but in those games he had 9G, 8A and 66SOG. It wasn’t uncommon for him to have 5-8 SOG a night while he was in the AHL. He is an NHL’er now though and this is probably the last time I will be mentioning him and the AHL in the same sentence.

#34 Taylor Vause

Spoiler!

Vause was a standout at the AHL Flames camp, but because they had so many rookies coming in from the NHL Flames camp, he just wasn’t able to get a spot on opening day. He was sent down to the ECHL to play with the Colorado Eagles where Huska regularly kept tabs on his game. While in Colorado, Vause posted 13 points in 10 games and so when Elson was injured in November, there was no hesitation to bring him up and sign him to a PTO and get a look at him in the AHL. Vause had previous experience in the AHL, including winning the Calder Cup last season in Texas, and he became an instant fit in Adirondack with 1G and 3A in his first 4GP and being utilized on the PP and PK by Huska immediately. Vause did so well, the AHL Flames signed him to an SPC on December 24th and officially made him part of the team. Vause was sent back to Colorado briefly in January and February, not due to his play but due to players being returned and shuffled around Adirondack and just too many players and not enough playing time and Huska wanted him playing consistent minutes. Once that situation settled itself out, Vause was recalled in late February and has stuck with the team since. Vause is another utility centre type who does quite well in the face-off circle. He was another guy who tried to fill in for Arnold while he was injured and Knight was traded and between Elson and him, they were the go-to Centre’s for Huska in most special teams situations. I’m curious to see what happens with Vause after this season as while he is liked by Huska and staff, Centre is not a position we are lacking in. If we opt to keep guys like Elson and Tousignant and have Reinhart and Arnold returning to Stockton, and potentially Mark Jankowski making the jump to the AHL and Markus Granlund still being waiver exempt, I’m not sure where Vause fits in.

#46 Bill Arnold

Spoiler!

Arnold is a wizard in the face off circle. While the AHL doesn’t keep official stats, he’s easily the best centre on the Flames and from games I’ve seen, probably up there in the league. That’s why his injury in January, the same night we traded away Knight (who became expendable because of Arnold), left them with a huge hold down the middle. Nevermind the fact that Arnold seemed to click with fellow rookie Emile Poirier and the loss of Arnold also saw Poirier struggle a little bit as well. Arnold had a slow start to his AHL career taking 7 games before getting his first point and 13 before finally finding the back of the net. Although much like the story for many of his teammates this season, once the offense started, it just kept going. Arnold played extremely well in November notching 5G and 5A in 12 games and tying for the team lead in assists as well as PPG. And like most college guys, he seemed to hit his wall in early December and struggled for a couple of weeks before Huska moved him to play alongside Poirier and that line found the back of the net regularly. Just prior to his shoulder injury, he had 4G, 5A in 12GP. And then it happened. Mere minutes after (I believe something ridiculous like 5 minutes) it became known that Knight was traded away to the San Antonio Rampage, down went Arnold. I mean the look on Huska’s face said it all. You knew Arnold wasn’t okay and Knight was still packing up his stuff in the Flames dressing room moving out. Thankfully, Arnold’s rehab went well and he was able to return in March with what looks like no ill effects from the injury. He’s still our top face-off guy and he picked up where he left off playing with Poirier and I believe Agostino/Wolf depending on the night and creating all sorts of chances and opportunities. Even with the injury and missing almost two months, Arnold is just outside the Top 20 in AHL Rookie scoring and 7th on the team in scoring.

Left Wings

#15 Kenny Agostino

Spoiler!

What a turnaround we saw from Agostino over the last couple of months. He went from struggling to essentially invisible to being benched because he hit the college wall so hard he couldn't tell which way was up to suddenly becoming one of the best player on the Flames and leading the team in assists. The first 5 months of the season he had 4G, 8A. The final two months he's had 8G and 16A...and counting. He co-lead the team in points in March with Reinhart as well as with Kulak in PP assists. He's currently tied with Wolf and Poirier in overall points, leads all active players on the team in assists and is 17th in AHL Rookie Scoring. Kenny also is tied for 1st amongst AHL Rookies in shorthanded goals and shorthanded points. I wish I could say I knew what caused the turnaround for Agostino, but I'm still trying to figure that out. It's been one of the most pleasant surprises on the season and came at a great time as many of the other Flames regulars were struggling and Agostino, along with Reinhart, were helping carry the offense of the team during that time. As I mentioned before, Agostino is the perfect example of why you need patience with guys coming out of college and why Coach Ward always preached patience with them. They can hit a wall and struggle, but with some help and patience, they can overcome it and have a complete turnaround. Hopefully he can bring the momentum he's having at the end of this season into next season and continue on this development path. If he can, there's no reason to believe he won't earn a callup from the Flames sometime during the 2015-16 season. Actually, if the Flames weren't restricted to only 4 non-emergency callups and Agostino didn't get hot just at the trade deadline, I think we may have seen a glimpse of Agostino in the NHL this season to reward his play.

#19 Michael Ferland

Spoiler!

Ferland’s year in Adirondack starting out very promising. In October, he lead the team in goals, assists and points and was playing at a point per game average (4G, 5A in 9GP) which earned him a call up to the NHL Flames in late October. While up with the NHL Flames, Ferland suffered a concussion and it seems to have thrown his season off. When returned to Adirondack in December, Ferland only managed 3G and 3A in 25 GP, with 14 games between his 4th and 5th goal and 8 games between his 5th and 6th goal. Many nights with Adirondack, he looked to be off his game and not involved in the plays. If you were not looking for him, you wouldn’t see him on the ice. He seemed to shy away from his big, physical game and the player that he is with the Calgary Flames is not the one he was with in Adirondack. Ferland is obviously a guy doing all the right things off the ice to impress the coaching staff on both Flames teams as his play really didn't dictate another NHL callup. Ferland is an RFA at the end of the season and based on a number of Hartley’s comments about how much he likes him, it’s possible Ferland is re-upped for a couple of years.

#24 Trevor Gillies

Spoiler!

Aside from ramming a guy's head into the ice in his first appearance this season and netting himself a 12 game suspension as well as giving the organization another media nightmare to start the season (RIP Scorch), we haven't seen much from Gillies and his role with the team was mostly off ice and instructing our enforcer type players in how to fight and protect themselves. He's only appeared in 20 games, most of those when we only had 12 forwards and were required to play him or when we were playing a team with a heavyweight fighter and we didn't want to send a Wolf or Tousignant after them. Gillies really is a one dimensional player and unlike McGrattan who you could see had playing talent outside of fighting and even starting showing offense and playmaking skills, Gillies didn't really have that. He managed to get his first goal in 2 years, but that was his only point on the season and his 4th SOG (which actually gives him a team leading 25.0% shooting percentage). While his on ice play rarely benefited the team, he was another guy who really was an off-ice guy and well liked in the locker room as well as by the Glen Falls community. You could find a number of stories on Facebook or photo's by his teammates saying how he was a older brother to them or how he made a kid's day by talking to them at practice. He seems to have that Jekyll and Hyde thing going where he's a madman on the ice and then the complete opposite off the ice. At 36 years old and his art becoming extinct, I wouldn't be surprised to see Gillies retire at the season's end.

#46 David Wolf

Spoiler!

When Wolf was signed by the Flames he was quick to give the media a rundown on who he was. He told them "I'm a power forward. I think I can score goals. I'm pretty good in front of the net with deflections and rebounds and greasy goals. I make plays too. I like to hit and have one on one battles in the corner to get to the net". Not one word of what he told us in May 2014 was an exaggeration or a lie. In Germany he was near the top of the scoring standings and PIM's for his team. He's the same in Adirondack. While he had some conditioning issues early on and made some adjustments to his game as he was given training and tools he didn't have access to in Germany, Wolf's debut with the Flames pretty much told the story of how his year would go. He was a hard working, hard hitting, go to the net guy who if he couldn't create room to make a play around a guy he would just go through him. Away from the puck, he was laying out people with huge, clean hits and trying to create room for his teammates. When he did fight, he didn't often lose. While his 152 PIM's (which is good for 2nd among all rookies in PIM's and in the company of guys who rarely score and just punch people) easily could put him into "goon" category, he's not. He's a big body who knows how to use it to clear the way to the net so he can score goals and set up teammates. Throughout the year he's played anywhere from the top line to the 4th line and made the most of his opportunities. He plays the PP, PK and there have been a couple OT games where he barely got off the ice during OT. Statistically, Wolf is Adirondack's best rookie, even over Emile Poirier, as well as their best overall player. He's also been one of the most consistent players on the Flames, although he is an older rookie and some of it can be attributed to that. Wolf leads the Flames with 19G and 17A. He leads the team in goals, he leads the team in plus/minus he leads the team in shooting percentage among players with more than a single goal and he leads the team in PIM. More than that, he's currently 15th among AHL Rookies in scoring, tied for 4th in AHL Rookie Goals, 2nd in AHL Rookie PIM, 2nd in AHL Rookie MInor Penalties and 2nd in AHL Rookie Shooting Percentage. Wolf can be a 4th line NHL player next year. He does still require a little conditioning refining to get up to NHL standards (nothing a summer with Gelinas won't fix) and looks to still be adjusting his skates and stride to smooth out that chug up the ice he has (which is effective, so you really can't say that much bad about it) but I think we will see him on the NHL Flames 4th line next season regularly if he can get himself up to NHL conditioning. This is his first experience with the North American training style and system (he played his entire youth in Germany where they didn't have access to nutrition people, various coaches and even some of the equipment that guys going through the CHL and NCAA do here) so he had a lot to learn and take in and adjust. Wolf becomes an RFA at the end of the season and the Flames would be crazy not to resign him.

#48 Bryce Van Brabant

Spoiler!

Van Brabant seemed to struggle all year with injuries in Adirondack. He had a nice little streak in late October/early November where he had 4G and 3A in 6GP and after that his offense completely fizzled out. It took him another 10 games to show up on the scoresheet again and fell into a pattern of long stretches of games between points. Van Brabant's season was also cut short due to injury as he suffered a shoulder injury in mid-March and underwent surgery shortly after. It wasn't a great year for him, and I don't think reflective of his game. The little we did see of him, he's another LW who plays a big game and likes to throw big, hard hits and not afraid to fight. He's a large, physical winger who obviously has the ability to contribute offensively when healthy. Van Brabant will be an RFA at the end of the season and I'm not sure what the Flames may do with him. His large playing style might be enough to get him a one year extension and see what he does in a healthy season, however with Ferland and Wolf both playing that style and having offense to compliment it, I don't know if Van Brabant has a spot waiting for him on the NHL Flames anymore.