The Adirondack Thunder split their preseason home and home with the Reading Royals, and in every preseason and training camp, there are a few names that catch people’s eyes. This year is no different, as there were a few names and areas that caught my eye over the last week, one of those being a guy who came into to camp on an amateur tryout. Head Coach Pete MacArthur mentioned the two areas that needed addressing heading into this season were faceoffs and speed, and with the signings they made, I believe that those two issues have been addressed. Heading into the regular season, there is a huge sense of hope and belief in the Thunder locker room, and everyone seems to believe that this season is going to be a very strong year for the Thunder.
Goaltending:
Goaltending has been a hot topic in Adirondack, and on Thursday Night, Vinnie Purpura got the start and stopped all 15 shots he faced and made a few nice saves before being replaced by Matt Petezian, who was the one goaltender who was brought in on a PTO and last year spent the final five games of the regular season with the Thunder and saw 3:17 of action on April 14th vs Trois Rivieres. On Thursday, Petezian, who stopped 19 of 22 shots in a little under two periods of action and made 19 saves and then made two of three saves in the shootout to give the Thunder the win. Friday was no different as Jeremy Brodeur and Tyler Brennan held the Royals to two goals on 30 shots, “All four of them, Vinnie was unreal, Matty came in and had some 10-balers right away, and he couldn’t do anything about them, and I think Brodeur and Brennan saw the puck very well” said Head Coach Pete MacArthur.
Alex DiCarlo:
DiCarlo was one of the five players brought to training camp on a tryout, and in his first preseason game, he did not disappoint as he played on the top line with Travis Broughman and Grant Jozefek and DiCarlo showed that he belonged there. Broughman and DiCarlo both went to the Suny-Oswego, and that connection showed in the opening game of the preseason. DiCarlo picked up an assist on Broughman’s third goal and would get the game-winning goal in the shootout, which isn’t too shabby for a guy who came to camp on an ATO. “Ya, he’s a smart player. Broughman and Jozey have the chemistry from last year, and Broughsy and DiCarlosey had the chemistry from Suny Oswego, a beautiful shootout goal as well,” said MacArthur.
Travis Broughman:
It may just be the preseason, but Travis Broughman is in mid-season form after picking up a hat-trick during the Thunder’s preseason game in Reading. Broughman was a big factor for Adirondack last season, putting up 12 goals and 21 assists for 33 points in 48 games, but the bigger impact he had was that he was a big body up the middle, which was an issue for the Thunder last season. Heading into the regular season, there is no doubt that Broughman will be on the opening night roster, and it wouldn’t be a shock to see him centering the opening line come opening night.
Yanick Turcotte
Yanick Turcotte was a massive part of Adirondack last season before he went down with a season-ending injury on January 28th, and despite not having a strong game in Reading on Thursday, Turcotte bounced back on Friday dropping the gloves in the first with Spencer Kennedy and then finding the back of the net in the same period. Heading into the new season, Turcotte knows that he has the physicality and that’s well known but wants to improve on other aspects of his game, “The past couple seasons I’ve had a lot of injuries, I’ve had two or three surgeries in the last three years, the biggest thing this year when I talked to mac is I want to bring more offense, if I can help the team offensively it can not only be good for myself but for the team” said Turcotte after Friday’s game.
The Thunder will open up the season on October 21st vs Worcester Railers.
