It was a busy day for the Adirondack Thunder as they continued to fill some holes left by injuries, call-ups, and suspensions. As I mentioned yesterday, the Thunder signed Cameron Cook from the SPHL; Cook was one of two signings from the SPHL this week. Along with the two new faces to the Thunder lineup, Adirondack has two familiar faces returning as Erik Middendorf returns from Utica, where he had a goal and an assist during the four-game stint up in the AHL; Middendorf has 17 goals and 12 assists for 29 points in 34 games this season. Jack Jeffers, who was with Adirondack earlier in the year before being put on waivers and claimed by the Cincinnati Cyclones, is back after playing 13 games in Cincinnati and failing to find the scoresheet. Jeffers had two goals and six assists for eight points in 16 games during his first stint with the Thunder this season.
The biggest news of the day has to be that Patrick Grasso was placed on IR retroactive to January 27th, which means Adirondack’s captain will miss this weekend’s series vs Reading Royals and next week’s series vs Florida Everblades. Grasso is currently leading the Thunder with 21 goals and 12 assists for 31 points in 39 games; Shane Harper is tied for Grasso for the team lead in points. Losing Grasso is obviously a loss for the Thunder, but they have found ways to win games all season, and hopefully, they can do the same during their next six games and extend their 14-game point streak.
Bray Crowder and Tyler Brennan were both put on reserve. This isn’t a shock, and like last weekend, I would expect all three goaltenders to get a start this weekend in the three-in-three vs. Reading.
