Unice invited to Traverse City tourney by Thrashers

From the Windsor Star:

If the Holland, Ohio native was looking for a confidence boost with camp opening Wednesday he got it Tuesday night when the Atlanta Thrashers invited him to attend their rookie camp in Traverse City.

Unice is a goaltender perhaps best known for his play for Team USA. He is an unsigned draft pick of the Chicago Blackhawks.

Teams don't usually have three on the roster, so that says there's likely something amiss with Carrozzi or Pasquale. Unice isn't exactly a white knight though. Here's his profile.

Gladiators to affiliate with Blue Jackets as well

From the Columbus Dispatch:

The Blue Jackets will have a new ECHL affiliation this season, the Dispatch has learned. The franchise will send two or three players to the Gwinnette [sic] Gladiators of the American Conference's South Division.

They are the second team to pull out of Johnstown this summer. Colorado was the other. More evidence that Johnstown is on shaky ground. Financial stability is mentioned in the article too. I wonder if they will even start the season.

The Blue Jackets don't have a lot of guys turning pro this year, which you can tell by how much of their Traverse City tournament roster is invitees. So I don't think you'll see a lot of players sent to Gwinnett. But it will help Gwinnett's roster, there's no doubt about that.

The Blue Jackets' AHL club is the Syracuse Crunch.

(Join me on Twitter: http://twitter.com/HollyGunning)
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Dudley discovered Mitch Korn back in the day

This summer I worked on a long feature on the very successful goaltending coach Mitch Korn, who has worked in the NHL for 18 seasons. Interestingly, it was Rick Dudley who first gave Korn his big break into the NHL. If there's something Dudley can do, it's spot talent.

In 1990, Korn was breaking down some video at a camp held at the Buffalo Sabres practice facility. Rick Dudley, then the head coach of the Sabres, walked into the classroom and took in a lesson. A year later, the Sabres called up Korn and wanted to interview him to be their goaltending coach

This chance encounter that led to his big break has become one lesson Korn stresses with young goaltenders: "You never know who is watching."

Korn also talked about completely redoing former Thrasher Steve Shields' game when he turned pro. It's rare that he's done that, but with Shields it was necessary.
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Alabama-Huntsville hockey on shaky ground after CCHA snub

The closest college hockey to Atlanta, University of Alabama-Huntsville, was looking to join a new conference this summer due to the demise of College Hockey America. They applied for entrance to the CCHA, but were denied, in what was a surprise to most watchers.

This raises the specter that UAH could shut down its hockey program altogether. Yes, the team can play as an independent, but for how long? It's hard to get opponents to fill your home dates.

The Fairbanks Athletic Director give insight into what the issues were, and Mike Eidelbes of Inside College Hockey speculates that maybe they will get together at a later time.

There's a Save UAH Hockey Facebook page if you want to keep up with events and show your support.
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