Adirondack Thunder Head Coach/Director of Hockey Operations continued shaking up the roster on Tuesday, while the team would also lose a defenseman to Utica. However, the Thunder did get Brendan Less back from the Syracuse Crunch and Jeremy Brodeur back from the Comets. Let’s take a deeper dive at what moves the Thunder made prior to their weekend home-and-home series vs Reading Royals.
Two Players Released
The Adirondack Thunder would place forward Mitch Wallinski and Stephen Calisti on waivers as they both had very short stints with the Thunder. Calisti, who began the season in the EIHL with the Guilford Flames, played four games with Adirondack after being signed on November 29th. The 25-year-old defensemen’s only point with the Thunder came when he lit the lamp for his first pro goal on December 7th vs Reading, as he would play in four games before being placed on waivers.
Walinski heading to waivers is a bit of a shock, seeing that Adirondack could certainly use some more experience, as the Lincoln, Rhode Island native had ten goals and five assists for 15 points with the Atlanta Gladiators before joining the Thunder on December 16th. In four games with Adirondack, Walinski was unable to find the scoreboard.
Jackson van de Leest Recalled to Utica
The 6’7 defenseman was recalled to the Utica Comets after playing in both games with the Thunder this past weekend. Van de Leest has played in 14 games this season, 12 with Adirondack, where he’s put up two assists in 12 games, and has played in two games with the Comets but has yet to find the scoresheet. This is a surprise, especially seeing that van de Leest didn’t look great in the weekend series. Now that van de Leest is in Worcester and the release of Calisti, I would expect James Marooney to see some more time in the Thunder lineup; if not, I would expect MacArthur to throw Ryan Wheeler on the backend.
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