Gameday Preview: Stars v. San Antonio Rampage

Texas Stars
0-0-0-0, - pts
#- Western Conference
v.San Antonio Rampage
0-0-0-0, - pts
#- Western Conference
October 2nd at 7:00 PM
Cedar Park Center, Cedar Park, TX

It may be just preseason, but it's hockey. Real competitive hockey against another team. Not an intrasquad scrimmage. Not a skating drill. Real honest to goodness hockey. Feels good, doesn't it?

Texas starts the preseason as it would in any preseason, trying to figure out who stays and who goes. There are several players on the training camp roster who have a chance at surprising and staying at the AHL level. Many of them already have contracts in the ECHL with Idaho. Some don't.

A name to watch for in my opinion is Brandon Magee (muh-GEE). The forward is already on a contract to Idaho but could do a lot for his future with an impressive run at training camp. If he doesn't end up with a two-way contract, he could be an easy callup from Idaho.

Among the Dallas-contracted forwards, there is a battle brewing at the bottom of the roster. At the moment, it appears to be a battle between Taylor Peters, Gemel Smith and Cole Ully. Ully, who seemed ticketed to Boise or an overage year in the WHL, has impressed in camp and showed he might be able to hack it in the AHL this season. Peters fell out of favor last year with Derek Laxdal and finished the season in Idaho. Gemel Smith likely has the edge over both since he has never played in the ECHL.

Defensive pairing won't mean much to the long-term of the team tonight. In all likelihood, there will be a lot of ECHL contract guys in the lineup to see what they've got. Long term, Texas does have a similar logjam to Dallas with 8 defensemen likely to make the cut in Cedar Park: Lindell, Honka, Johns, Bystrom, Backman, Mangene, Blacker, and Evans. The last three are on AHL-only contracts.

On the other side, things will be a little different than prior years. Remember that San Antonio switched affiliates this summer and now hosts the Colorado Avalanche prospect pool. Colorado was previously affiliated with the Lake Erie Monsters.

Stars injury/call up report:
None.

Website: sarampage.com
Blog (unofficial): Rampage with Tony U.
Blog (unofficial): Runnin' With The Herd
Twitter: @SARampage
Twitter: @DanWeissPBP (play-by-play for SA)

Comments

  1. Can't wait to get started tonight. Hopefully will see you at the game.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I was wondering, when a team switches affiliations what does the staff situation look like in the transition? Does everyone but the maintence guy for the building get moved?

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Depends. The coaching staff, athletic trainers and equipment guys usually move. All the other folks like ticket staff, front office, etc. all stay.

      Delete

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