Walked in to an unexpected sight in one Bridgeport net: A goalie with what looked like Christopher Gibson’s pads at a first look, but a green helmet and green pants. Alan excitedly pointed out who was under that helmet: former Vermont and Fairfield Prep goalie (and current Bridgeport video coordinator) John Vazzano. The boys seemed to be enjoying having him out there. Ben Holmstrom in particular gave him a few encouraging whacks on the pads with a grin.
“Serviceable,” Brent Thompson said of his new goalie. “You could see why he was a college goalie. He does have the goalie mindset. He was out, he made some saves. It was fun to have him in there. He gave the guys, basically, a glorified Shooter Tutor.” He laughed. “But he was good. He’s a good kid. He’s obviously a team guy.”
Gibson sat out. “It was obviously a tough game last night, a couple of times he got ran. So just maintenance,” Thompson said. Chris Bourque also got a maintenance day off from what wasn’t a very long practice, what with the early game tomorrow and the time of year. Otto Koivula was on and off; the coach hadn’t gotten a report yet, hopeful it was just soreness. (He did say Koivula was a healthy scratch yesterday, “just a rest day.”) And Mike Sislo remained out.
Tomorrow’s lineup, then, to be determined. It looked like Oliver Wahlstrom might be in a game spot, but many things were jumbled and, considering who was out, could be re-jumbled in the next 21 hours. There is work to be done to secure home ice, even if a playoff spot is just two points away.
Thompson didn’t know Tyce had been named to the all-regional team. He was pretty excited. (I always wanted, but never got, to go watch him watch a UConn game when Tage was there. He says he’s usually pretty calm and analytical watching his sons play. I wanna see it.)
Elsewhere, was alerted to these Syracuse Crunch reunion pix that feature Mark Wotton. Captain looks good. Speaking of Syracuse, its current goaltending situation keeps getting more interesting. Edit: Since he doesn’t mind the hat tip on the Wotton link, hat tip: our ol’ buddy Jamie.
Minnesota signed Clarkson standout Niko Sturm. Today’s busy ATO day includes former RIT standout Erik Brown to the Marlies.
And RIP, Greg Booker.