Chirps from Center Ice

(In case you missed it from this morning: Philippe Dupuis has himself a new home)

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Welcome to the offseason Thursday blog update. Our neighbors to the south have been very active these past couple of weeks. They have:

1) A new coach in Mike Haviland. But you knew about this last week.

2) Jeff Taffe returning. You knew about this a few weeks ago too.

3) Joel Rechlicz will be back next year as well. Let’s hope we see more of this with he and Steve MacIntyre next season.

4) Dane Byers will also return. Byers was a trade deadline acquisition from Oklahoma City last season. He will be joined by Kelly Cup Champion T.J. Syner as well.

5) Not returning is Dany Sabourin. The veteran Bears goaltender is eyeing Finland as his next destination. Since The Great Sabou is so beloved in the Wyoming Valley, something worth keeping an eye on, as well as who the Bears will select to backup Philipp Grubauer next season.

6) Also not returning for the Bears will be assistant coach Troy Mann, who took a coaching job with the ECHL’s Bakersfield Condors.

Elsewhere….

The Broome County Veterans Memorial Arena will look different from the inside in the Fall.

Wilkes-Barre has been pretty quiet. Other than the Alex Grant news earlier this week and the six guaranteed dates that were announced last week. That’s all that has come out of Coal Street in the past week. On the six dates, we are probably opening on the road with the home opener on October 12 and are definitely playing on my birthday in December.

Here are the season ending SendToNews Highlights of the Year.

The NHL Draft is this Sunday. I am no expert in this venue. I’ll probably drop a blurb Sunday night or Monday on the haul that Pittsburgh got. I’ll continue to keep my eye on the Europe wire for anyone who bolts overseas and keep my eyes peeled for any big East Division trades or news.

Free agency opens July 5. Planning something big for coverage that day. Just haven’t ironed out the details yet. Stay tuned.