2009-10: Looking ahead

I was going to sit here and vent about how the 2008-09 season went but I figured..... it's over leave it be. Although I do have many unanswered questions I will leave it up to each fan to have their own theories. So I have decided to look forward to 2009-10 and see if I can make heads or tails of what may transpire. As I am really not a great writer I will do a brief Hockey News-esque style piece about the team as a whole, the goaltending, the defence, the forwards, etc.

Gone:
Victor Bartley- graduated
Matt Robertson- graduated
Rudolf Cerveny- 2 hitter - 20 and and import - will not be back
Neal Prokop- traded to Tri-City for Jason Gardiner
Dale Derkatch- head coach, let go May 5
Terry Perkins- assistant coach, let go may 5

New faces:
Jason Gardiner (C 91)- acquired from Tri-City for Neal Prokop; all reports I have read is that he is fast like lightning and isn't afraid to throw his weight around
New import player- to be determined at the CHL Imprt Draft
New assistant coach[es]- to be determined at a later date

Old faces back again:
Curtis Hunt- re-hired as head coach May 25
Brayden Metz (C 90)- re-listed during the 2008-09 season, should come in and battle for a spot at centre, he may be the veteran presence that the Pats core group of forwards needs, or could just be PPL fodder

Players expected to compete for jobs :
(I know most are.... but these are the main "names")
Derek Tendler (G 92)- could have made the Pats as a 16 year old, was easily one of the top goalies in SMAAAHL the last 2 seasons
Dawson Guhle (G 92)- Don't know too much about him but he was the top goalie in the AMHL
Clarke Breitkreuz (LW 91)- I felt as though Clarke was under-utilized last year in his limited time with the Pats, with time I think he will be a very good player.
Andrew Rieder (C 92)- has decent size and speed and a lot of grit, played fairly well in his taste of WHL
Myles Bell (D 93)- In his limited duty on the Pats back end he played with the poise of a 18 year old veteran... will make the team
Brandon Davidson (D 91)- Listed player; I have only heard good things about him; was an AMHL All-Star so he should challenge for a spot
Travis Sparrow (D 91)- Played well in his limited action with the Pats, like his poise and his physicality (is that a word?)

There are a lot of other rookies/vets that I will bring up in various future posts breaking down by position. So this is just the tease.

KS