The Flyers made two minor league trades this weekend. It really doesn’t effect you unless you follow the Phantoms and Reading Royals, which I do. Late last night the Flyers traded AHL starting goalie Jean-Francois Berube to cross division rival, and uniform design MVP; New York Rangers. Berube was drafted in the 4th round by the Los Angeles Kings in 2009 and has been a minor league journeymen ever since. He has appeared in games for the Islanders, Blackhawks, and Cleveland River Monsters. During his time in Leigh Valley he went 12-11-4 for a 2.56 GAA and .906 S%. He will no doubt be the starter in Hartford. With the recent success of Alexander Georgiev and Igor Shesterkin, one has to wonder if this is a move that stacks up their goalie situation. Looks to me like Lundqvist is heading out of NYC.
What came back to the Flyers though. The Phantoms broke the news this morning that another minor league trade has been made, more then likely the “future considerations” for Berube. The Flyers have acquired goalie Tom McCollum and Forward Lewis Zerter from the Hartford Wolf Pack. Both of which have been reassigned to the Reading Royals, which also means that Branded Sports favorite Kirill Ustimenko has been called up to the Phantoms to split time with Alex Lyon.
Tom McCollum was drafted by the Red Wings 30th overall in the 2008 draft. He as a laundry list of teams, and what I hope is an impressive jersey collection from a long minor league career. Most notably he played a bunch of games for the Grand Rapids Griffins. Recently he has split time for the Rangers AHL and ECHL teams. With the Wolf Pack he has played 7 games for a 2.37 GAA and a .906 S%. He has also played games for the Maine Mariners and Florida Everblades of the ECHL.
Lewis Zerter-Gossage, what a name, is a undrafted ECAC forward. He played 4 seasons for a University you may have heard of in Harvard, Mass. In 128 games for Harvard he put up 85 points, where he was the Captain in his final year. This year he has also split time between the Wolf Pack and the Mariners for a combined 9 points in 38 games between the two leagues.
Just some easy minor league hockey news for you!
-Branded Mitch
Featured Image- Springfield Falcons
Tom McCollum- Florida Everglades