After making the AHL playoffs for the first time in almost a decade in 2009-2010 under coach John MacLean, the Albany Devils took a big step back and were the worst team in the AHL last season. Beset by injuries at the NHL-level, the parent club was shuffling bodies back and forth from Albany to Newark. Talented players like Vladimir Zharkov and Mattias Tedenby that were rushed to the NHL hurt Albany’s depth at the onset of the season. This resulted in Albany making their own calls up from Trenton and giving a lot of ice-time to young players, especially on defense. Albany also had their own roster issues as they were missing goalie Jeff Frazee, forward Nathan Perkovitch, defenseman Tyler Eckford, and others for extended periods of time.  

Rookie coach Rich Kowalsky did a good job with what he had. It's encouraging that many of the opponents’ radio announcers commented that Albany always played hard and would battle to the end of games. It's often hard to find a silver lining in a bad season, but Kowalsky didn't have the tools to win.  After a mid-season trade which sent forwards Patrick Davis and Mike Swift to the Worcester Sharks for Steve Zalewski, the Albany club surged a bit, but couldn't keep the momentum and faded badly down the stretch finishing with a league low 70 points.

Despite last season’s disappointing finish,  Albany should have playoff aspirations this year. (It would certainly help the poor attendance. Albany averaged a league worst 3,014 people a game last year and all Albany AHL franchises have been in the bottom 25% of attendance for the past decade.) This year should be different though. With the trade for AHL all-star Maxim Noreau, additions of talented rookies Mike Hoeffel, Brandon Burlon, Mike Sislo, Keith Kinkaid, and Eric Gelinas, Albany will look to have a bouceback year. 

Who else is still on the team and what will the roster look like?  After the jump I will look at the depth chart for Albany and try to project their lineup.   I will also talk briefly about the AHL Development rule which impacts the configuration of each team's roster. 

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Thanks to Kevin for putting it up as a FanShot.  As reported by David Pollak at the San Jose Mercury News' hockey blog Working the Corners, the New Jersey Devils have made a trade today with the San Jose Sharks. They sent center Michael Swift and forward Patrick Davis to San Jose in exchange for defenseman Jay Leach and Steve Zalewski.  All four players were in the AHL at the time of the deal, and all four are on two-way contracts.  Follow along after the jump for a little bit of info on each of the players.

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I really enjoy focusing on the prospects in the New Jersey Devils organization, but ultimately I am left to watch these players on grainy AHL streams or trying to research video and information from sources that see them first-hand.  When the Devils announced that their minor league hockey affiliates would be playing a total of five games in Atlantic City at the Boardwalk Hall, it was literally a 'jackpot' for me.  Devils hockey?  Check.  Gambling?  Check.  Easy driving distance from my home?  Check.  

I went down to Atlantic City in an unofficial InLouWeTrust capacity to see the Albany Devils face the Adirondack Phantoms, a Philadelphia Flyers affiliate.  Luckily, I also have an affinity for gambling so I was able to acquire a complimentary room at the lovely Caesar's Casino right next to Boardwalk Hall.  As someone who used to (briefly) work in the minor league baseball world, I was psyched to get a chance to see minor league hockey for the first time.  More importantly it was an opportunity to see the Albany Devils in action, live.  After the jump I will give you my opinion on a few of the Devils prospects, the overall game experience and provide some photographs and videos that were taken at the game.   Spoiler alert, the Devils won 4-2. (Weird seeing Devils and win in the same sentence, isn't it?)

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The New Jersey Devils held a press conference in Atlantic City today to formally announce that the team's minor league affiliates will play some games at Atlantic City Boardwalk Hall in the coming season.  Per Tom Gulitti's post on the announcement (which has ticket information so go there now), here are the times, dates, and opponents for those games:

Albany Devils:

Sunday, December 5, 2010 @ 4 PM, vs. Adirondack Phantoms (Philadelphia affiliate)
Sunday, December 12, 2010 @ 4 PM, vs. Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins (Pittsburgh affiliate)
Friday, February 4, 2011 @ 7 PM, vs. Hershey Bears (Washington affiliate)
Sunday, February 27, 2011 @ 4 PM, vs. Norfolk Admirals (Tampa Bay affiliate)

Trenton Devils:

Sunday, January 23, 2011 @ 4 PM, vs. Wheeling Nailers (Pittsburgh, Wilkes-Barre/Scranton affiliate)

The press conference featured Devils owner Jeff Vanderbeek as well as New Jersey Lieutenant Governor Kim Guadagno, and Jeff made no mistake about the intentions with this move: to expand the Devils realm of influence. According to the news story at the team's official site, this quote says it all:

Truth be told, I like the decision to use the minor league teams.  The city has a history, albeit short, of minor league hockey; the arena is good for it; and given that the games are largely weekend afternoon games will give them a good chance to fill the place out and give the Devils faithful stuck in south Jersey something to see.  If the games do well, then the Devils have more of a reason to continue having more games in Atlantic City or do more, like have a preseason NHL game there.  If the games do not draw so well, then not too much is lost except for additional travel and the opportunity cost of those games being in Albany.  At the minimum, the parent club is doing something for south Jersey, which is more than what was done in the past as far as I know.

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