2011 AHL Clear Day and Andrew Kozek

Andrew Kozek photo courtesy of chicagowolves.com

Now that the Clear Day rosters have been released, tell us what you think. You can see the full list of teams and their rosters on the AHL’s website.

The Bears have submitted the following roster:

Braden Holtby (G)
Nolan Schaefer (G)
Keith Aucoin
Francois Bouchard
Sean Collins
David de Kastrozza
Brian Fahey
Andrew Gordon
Kyle Greentree
Andrew Joudrey
Boyd Kane
Andrew Kozek
Dmitri Kugryshev
Maxime Lacroix
Patrick McNeill
Zach Miskovic
Mathieu Perreault
Steve Pinizzotto
Ashton Rome
Sheldon Souray
Patrick Wellar
Brian Willsie

Some important notes about the Clear Day rosters:

From the AHL:

Only those players listed on a team’s Clear Day roster are eligible to compete in the remainder of the AHL regular season and in the 2011 Calder Cup Playoffs, unless emergency conditions arise as a result of recall, injury or suspension. Teams may also add signed junior players or players on amateur tryout contracts, but only once their respective junior or college seasons are complete.

In the case of the Bears, Braden Holtby is currently on recall to the Washington Capitals.  He is still eligible to be on the clear day roster due to time spent in the league thus far and he was on the Bears roaster as of the NHL trade deadline.  Jay Beagle is not on the roster, nor can he play for the Bears for the remainder of the year.  He was on the Capitals roster at the time of the NHL trade deadline and is no longer in an entry level contract.  Some have also wondered why Dmitry Orlov is not on the roster.  He can play under the provision of the Amateur Tryout Contract (ATC).  Leaving him off the roster kept a spot available for another player.  We would also expect to see Cody Eakin added to the roster once his junior season has concluded.

Doug Yingst is a master when it comes to the AHL Clear Day.  This year before the deadline he added Nolan Schaefer (G) and Andrew Kozek (LW) to the team.  Schaefer is on loan from Boston.  Kathryn has the low down on Schaefer.  As far as Kozek goes, he is on loan to the Bears from the Chicago Wolves.  This isn’t the first time Yingst has made a deal with the Wolves before Clear Day.  Last year he added Grant Lewis on loan from the Atlanta Thrashers (Chicago Wolves).  In 2008 Yingst pulled off a deal to send Joe Motzko to Chicago in exchange for Alexandre Giroux just before Clear Day.  Kozek comes to the Bears this year from the Wolves as a second round selection in the 2005 entry draft by the Atlanta Thrashers.  He has played in 57 games for the Wolves this season tallying 7 goals and 5 assists.  In exchange, Josh Godfrey was loaned to Chicago.

You will also note that there are a number of injured players on the roster.  Because they are injured, substitutions can be made for them until they are declared healthy again.  One injured player that did not make the list was Lawrance Nycholat.  If Nycholat heals up before one of the other inured players he could still get in the lineup (I think).  Tim Leone of the Patriot News talked to Yingst about the omission.  Yingst stated that injury as well as veteran status were factors in Nycholat’s not being on the roster.  For those unfamiliar with the veteran rule:

Of the 18 skaters (not counting two goaltenders) that teams may dress for a regular-season game, at least 13 must be qualified as “development players.” Of those 13, 12 must have played in 260 or fewer professional games (including AHL, NHL, IHL and European elite leagues), and one must have played in 320 or fewer professional games. All calculations for development status are based on regular-season totals as of the start of the season.

So there you have the roster that will take this team to the playoffs.  What do you think?  What changes would you make?  Would you have made different deals before Clear Day to get other players in Hershey?  We want to know!  This is your chance to play General Manager.