Raleigh, N.C. – Three members of the Carolina Hurricanes playing in the Stanley Cup Finals have a kinship with some Avalanche prospects.
That’s because the Hurricanes and Avalanche supplied players this season to the Lowell (Mass.) Lock Monsters of the American Hockey League.
Hurricanes Andrew Ladd, Chad LaRose and Craig Adams spent significant parts of the season with the Lock Monsters.
Ladd, a left wing who was the fourth overall pick in the NHL’s 2005 draft, had 11 goals in 25 games for the Lock Monsters this season. He spent two stints with the Lock Monsters and was recalled for good on March 5.
“There wasn’t a separation, like with Colorado guys and Carolina guys,” said Ladd, 20. “It was just one group. We had fun down there.”
He said coaches Tom Rowe and Joe Sacco “did a good job of making sure that we became a team and came together.”
The Michigan-born LaRose, 24, was called up to Carolina in early December, after scoring 14 goals in the first 23 games for the Lock Monsters. He said he was a Lowell neighbor of Avalanche prospects Cody McCormick and Jeff Finger. “Those guys lived together, and I was at their apartment every day I was down there,” LaRose said. “Those are great guys and we’ll be friends forever.”
McCormick finished the season with the Avalanche, and Finger – a defenseman – was added to the Colorado playoff roster, but didn’t suit up.
“I’m hoping Jeff will get a chance in the NHL, because I think he can play up here,” LaRose said.
The Lock Monsters were 29-37-6-8 and didn’t make the playoffs. Other players under contract to the Colorado organization this season who spent time at Lowell included goalie Vitaly Kolesnik, center Brad Richardson (who finished the season with the Avalanche), defensemen Johnny Boychuk and Tomas Slovak, former Yale center Ryan Steeves, left wing Frantisek Skladany, and right wings Dan DaSilva and Paul Healey.
The Hurricanes and Avs again will share an AHL affiliate next season, but it will be with the Albany (N.Y.) River Rats. The New Jersey Devils purchased the Lock Monsters franchise, so the Hurricanes and Avs switched their affiliation to the Devils’ former farm club at Albany.
Carolina general manager Jim Rutherford said the Hurricanes- Avs partnership “worked out great this season. We’re fortunate we have Tom Rowe there. We pay him, but he’s fair. He plays the guys and he plays the players, regardless of what organization they’re with.”
Bettman speaks
At his pregame news conference Monday, NHL commissioner Gary Bettman again estimated the salary cap for next season would be about “$43 (million) or $44 million,” an increase over the $39 million of this season.
He also defended the cable deal with OLN, an arrangement that frustrated many fans this season because the network isn’t as widely available as ESPN, the league’s previous cable partner.
Bettman called the deal “a long-term relationship that will continue to grow.” He said the league “gave up some distribution in order to get better coverage. That’s a trade that I would make again if I had to, or had to make that choice again, because we love the way OLN is covering us.” He emphasized that even ESPN had limited viewership in its early years.
