“Pirates Periodical” is a weekly feature at The Sunshine Skate to keep you in touch with your favorite future Panthers.
Welcome to the first installment of the “Pirates Periodical”, this year’s equivalent to the “Rampage Roundup” – proving that here at the Sunshine Skate, we value alliteration over basically everything else. The column’s title is the creative genius of Kris, who, unlike me, was not distracted by multiple attempts to make booty puns (those will come when I discuss defensive plays, have no doubt). For those of you not familiar, the Panthers ended their affiliation with the San Antonio Rampage at the end of the 2014–2015 season and partnered with the Portland Pirates. A switch from the Western Conference to the Eastern also means becoming more familiar with a whole new set of teams as well as breaking the habit of looking at the Rampage roster, only to be confused when I don’t recognize anyone.
As the NHL season gears up, the Pirates training camp is winding down this week, ending today with practice and the team’s annual media day. The Pirates played two preseason games last week, facing the Providence Bruins on Wednesday, September 30th and the University of New Brunswick the following night, splitting the wins, with a 4–2 victory against the Bruins and a 3–5 loss to UNB. Chase Balisy, Brad Richard and Rob Flick, who scored twice, all got on the board for the Pirates on Wednesday night. More notable were the night’s healthy scratches, which included Corban Knight, Brett Olson, Sam Brittain, and Logan Shaw. The lineup also gave Kyle Rau the opportunity to play on the first line, where he remained for the UNB game.
The following night’s exhibition match against UNB featured a lineup more familiar to Panthers fans – including MacKenzie Weegar, Michael Matheson and the previous game’s scratches. Knight picked up a goal and an assist while Matheson scored on the power play, assisted by Weegar. The third goal came from Wayne Simpson, who is with the Pirates on a tryout contract. Despite the loss, the teams also played a five minute 3-on-3 overtime, in which Matheson scored again, assisted once more by Weegar. I’m feeling a defensive pair in the making, despite being initially paired with Josh Brown and Jonathan Racine, respectively.
The two games gave coach Tom Rowe the opportunity to better evaluate the players on tryout contracts, which resulted in Tony Turegon, Darik Angeli, and Matt Leitner all being released on October 5th with the opportunity to make the ECHL Manchester Monarchs team. Also released was defenseman Brad Richard while goalie Colin Stevens was assigned to the Monarchs. Roster cuts by the Panthers have additionally affected the Pirates, with Garrett Wilson and Dylan Olsen both clearing waivers on Tuesday. Due to his ankle injury, whether Rocco Grimaldi remains with the Panthers and on IR (a more likely scenario) or joins the Pirates is still yet to be determined. For the time being, Connor Brickley and Quinton Howden, who both played with the Rampage last year, remain with Florida, completing the Panthers’ fourth line.
Though the roster will continue to be tweaked over the course of the next week, most of the positions are set – featuring familiar players and new faces, which I’ll be discussing in more detail in the coming weeks. The regular season starts for the Pirates on October 11th, with a visit to Providence, Rhode Island. The home opener with be on the 17th against the Hershey Bears, followed by a rematch the next night in Pennsylvania.
I’m excited for both the AHL and NHL seasons to finally kick off and a big part of that is #CatsForACause – in which TSS is working all year to raise money for RAINN. As a female hockey fan and someone acutely aware of the off-ice controversies surrounding multiple players and teams just this past year, being able to help victims of rape and domestic abuse through our little community is incredibly important to me. As a result, I’ve pledged to contribute for the duration of the Florida Panthers’ season and I hope you’ll join all of us at TSS in doing so. You can learn more about the project here. If you’d like to reach out – whether it’s to discuss #CatsForACause, the Pirates, or my amazing dog Ruth, you can find me on twitter at @natgajic.
Natalija can be reached for contact on Twitter.
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