The Binghamton Senators shored up their roster by sending goaltender Chris Driedger, forward Jakub Culek and defenseman Troy Rutkowski to their ECHL affiliate in Evansville, Indiana on Thursday as they prepare for their Season Opener on Saturday. The team has announced the line-up which consists of the following posted on their website;
Forwards: Matt Puempel, Buddy Robinson, Cole Schneider, Shane Prince, David Dziurzynski, Darren Kramer, Derek Grant, Ryan Dzingel, Carter Camper, Alex Guptill, Max McCormick, Brad Mills, Jean-Gabriel Pageau and Garrett Thompson.
Defensemen: Fred Claesson, Michael Sdao, Chris Wideman, Daniel New, Alex Grant, Pat Mullen and Aaron Johnson.
Goaltenders: Andrew Hammond and Scott Greenham.
Forward Brad Mills and defenseman Danny New make the cut as both are signed to a PTO. Missing are forward’s Danny Hobbs and Brandon Wong, along with defensemen Guillaume Lepine and Ty Wishart, as they have been released from their tryouts but will all play in the IceMen preseason contest’s this weekend according to their website.
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The trio of Driedger, Culek and Rutkowski will make the 840 mile trek as Evansville is the new ECHL affiliate for Binghamton having replaced Elmira over the summer in what was once a 58 mile distance. That forces the coaching staff to make some hard and accurate decisions through player transactions that was once considered a ‘luxury’. The three will suit up for the IceMen when their season officially begins on Oct 18th.
A couple of fun facts that caught my eye while scanning the IceMen website. Former Adirondack Phantom goaltender Cal Heeter will compete with Driedger as Heeter was effective playing against the Senators over the last couple of seasons. Also, Dwight Mullins was named head coach of Evansville over the summer. His previous team that he coached for? You guessed it, the Elmira Jackals covering the last two season’s.
The Senators open up their season this Saturday against the Worcester Sharks at the Floyd L. Maines Veterans Memorial Arena. Puck drop is 7:05 PM.