Berube back, Aneloski in: Tuesday notes

Bryce Aneloski joined the group, up from Missouri wearing No. 55, as did Calder Cup-winning goalie Jean-Francois Berube… again, back from the injury he suffered in Albany on Nov. 25. He’ll play tomorrow, here to play a lot as long as they leave him here. That could be to the all-star break, if they wanted. He’s on a conditioning assignment, which meant they needed a roster spot; they put Adam Pelech on injured reserve.

Eight defensemen, then, on the ice. Thompson said Matt Carkner is a little banged up, lower body, so they wanted insurance, especially since the Islanders are back to six with Pelech out. Aneloski was on the left with Loic Leduc today; Carkner was with Jesse Graham. Thompson said they’ll make lineup decisions tomorrow, though he is expecting Alan Quine to play.

Aneloski is the first No. 55 since Pascal Morency in 2009-10. (Got a text from someone marveling that 55 hadn’t been retired. I replied that maybe the fans will be in an uproar, like when the Mets tried to give Kelvin Torve No. 24.)

The IceCaps come in one more time tomorrow, featuring, in fact, NHL All-Star John Scott: The league said today he will participate. Cool. As for tomorrow… Bridgeport this year doesn’t have the type of guy you’d think of to counter him. Brent Thompson isn’t concerned. “For us, it’s about what we need to do. … We’ve got to keep the same mindset. We don’t need to worry about who the other guys have.”

(The question partly came to mind because it was announced very late last night that Missouri has acquired veteran Eric Neilson from Manchester. Tough, good in the room and a fan favorite everywhere.)

Got to tell Thompson that his son Tage is ranked 24th among North American skaters in the Central Scouting midterm rankings. Ridgefield’s Chad Krys is 30th, New Canaan’s Patrick Harper is 146th, Ridgefield’s Adam Karashik is 162nd, Matt Gosiewski of Wilton is 184th, and I typically miss at least one local. (Though it was almost Gosiewski.)

If you watch the New York stations — or maybe others, too, for all I know — you may’ve run across a New York tourism ad featuring Mike Richter’s voiceover. Comets Army tweeted a link last night. Early on, it features a Utica Comets goal against the Sound Tigers: A little forensics determine it’s the first goal of Bridgeport’s visit there on Nov. 21. You can see Ryan Pulock, Ryan Strome and Sebastian Collberg as Carter Bancks scores short-handed on Stephon Williams.

(After that game, Bridgeport was 13-4-1-0. It’s 6-15-1-1 since. Maybe the ad stole the mojo or something.)

(Actually, when Berube got hurt, the Sound Tigers were 13-6-1-0. They’re 6-13-1-1 since. Maybe that‘s the curse.)

(Or maybe there are actual on-ice causes and stuff… Nah.)

Quick edit: Sacred Heart’s Justin Danforth was Atlantic Hockey player of the week.

RIP, Glenn Frey (If I remember correctly, the mid-’80s Nighthawks used to come out to start periods to “The Heat Is On”) and Juan Rodriguez. And RIP, Johnny Bach, Man of Fordham. His old boss, Phil Jackson, tweeted this this morning.

Michael Fornabaio