It’s supposed to be up and running by the end of the week. I’ve got my fingers crossed and I’m hoping that you guys will be able to comment and tell me what I waste of human flesh I am by the weekend.

Any who. ..

Mark Divver does a really good job covering the Providence Bruins for the Providence Journal. He's my new, close personal friend!

He has a Providence Bruins Blog on the website: http://blogs.providencejournal.com/sports/bruins/. You can follow him on Twitter @MarkDivver.

Mark projects that the following players will be sent down to the ECHL, which most likely means that they’ll be in South Carolina. However, you don’t know if any of these guys have been protected by Reading or another ECHL team.

Alden Hirschfeld, F; Ryan Button, D; Tyler Randell, RW; Justin Courtnall, LW and Adam Morrison, G

Assuming he is correct here’s a quick rundown on them:

Alden Hirschfeld, F (6-1, 205)

Played at Miami of Ohio and over this final two seasons had 50 points (23 goals, 27 assists) in 75 games.

Adam Hirschfeld

Ryan Button, D (6-0, 185)

3^rd round Draft Pick of the Boston Bruins in 2009.

Has played in Reading and Providence the last two seasons. Has 35 games with Providence with three assists.

Ryan Button

Tyler Randell, RW (6-1, 195)

A 6^th-round pick in 2009 by the Bruins. A rugged winger, who will drop the gloves. Had two goals in 30 games last year with Providence.

Justin Courtnall, LW

A 7^th-round pick in 2007 by Tampa Bay. He had seven goals and six assists his last two season with Boston University.

Justin Courtnall

Adam Morrison G

Depending on the health of Michael Hutchinson. Adam Morrison could be down Morrison is a 3^rd round pick of Philadelphia in 2009. He was 35-16-3 with a .901 save percentage and a 2.75 GAA for Vancouver in the WHL.

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Adam Morrison

There’s an outside shot that Kelsey Wilson, a veteran of five AHL seasons, could end up down here as well. He's a free agent at the AHL level and will have a tough time finding a team in the AHL because of his veteran status.

Could be more guys, but who knows with the NHL lockout and all.

Will continue to update all the latest Stingrays news on my Twitter account @APMILLER_PandC

See you at The Rink,

APM

When September rolled around and the Rays had about a half dozen signees, I started to worry about the 2012-13 team. I knew that head coach Spencer Carbery was going to revamp the team and that was going to mean a lot of new faces.

But I didn’t realize that the team would look so drastically different this season. Think about it, of the 20 players that took the ice Monday morning in the Rays first training camp practice at the Carolina Ice Palace, none were with the club in last year’s training camp.

Mike Hamilton, who joined the team after Christmas, was really the elder statesmen with 25 games in a Rays uniform.

This is an entirely new team. I don’t think there’s been this much turnover on the Rays roster in their 20-year history.

Why all the turnover?

1.      The retirement of key players like Matt Scherer, Pierre-Luc O’Brien, Johann Kroll and Trent Campbell

2.      The NHL Lockout. So players that would have been in AHL camps, now are in ECHL camps

3.      The new affiliation. All those Washington Capitals players are in Reading.

It’s been kind of a perfect storm of events that have conspired together for the Rays. It’s going to take time for them to gel as a team. This training camp will be crucial in that endeavor.

But getting back to my original point. I was concerned as I’m sure a lot of you were, that the Rays had not signed enough talent to compete in the ECHL, especially in this NHL lockout market.

However, today the Rays signed five players with AHL experience, including Daniel Koger, who played for the Rays last season. The Rays aslo signed forwards Shawn Weller, Hunter Bishop, Daniel Koger and Tyler McNeely and defenseman Kevin Quick.

Also, goalie Trevor Cann, who played last season in Lake Erie was on hand, but didn’t practice with the team.

Here’s a quick rundown on their resumes. …

Weller, 26, has played 291 AHL games six seasons with the Binghamton Senators, Abbotsford Heat, Manitoba Moose, St. John’s IceCaps and Texas Stars. 

Shawn Weller.

Bishop, 25, played in 34 games with the AHL’s Hamilton Bulldogs two seasons ago. He missed last season with a shoulder injury.

Quick, 24, helped the Florida Everblades (ECHL) capture their first Kelly Cup championship last season. Quick appeared in 173 games over three seasons with the AHL’s Norfolk Admirals.

Kevin Quick with Tampa Bay.

McNeely, 25, played in 66 games with the AHL’s Bridgeport Sound Tigers last season.

Tyler McNeeley.

Koger, 22, finished last season with the Stingrays.

Of the five players, Weller is expected to have the biggest impact.

Give Spencer credit, he didn’t rush out there to sign a ton of guys that he knew might not make the team. He was patient and waited as contracts in the AHL began to dry up and players were looking for a home. Guys he had recruited all summer, we now calling him about roster spots.

The Rays still have guys in AHL camps, like Damon Kipp, Tyler Johnson, Brett Olsen and Art Bidlevskii And we haven’t even seen any of the players that Providence is going to send down. This camp could get very competitive, very quickly.

Don’t be surprised to see an NHL guy down here as well. It happened during the 2004-05 season.

Will continue to update all the latest Stingrays news on my Twitter account @APMILLER_PandC

See you at The Rink,

APM

The Stingrays announced the signing of four more players.: defensemen Ryan Turek, Ryan Lowery and Art Bidlevskii and forward Marcello Ranallo.

By my count, they have 12 forwards and four defensemen for a total of 16 skaters. After talking with Spencer today, that should be all the signings for the rest of the week. Spencer said he still has at least three of four more player signings left to get done, plus anyone that Providence sends down. Looking to have 20-to-22 skaters during preseason camp.

Sounds to me like Ryan Turek is the big name among the four signees today. He’s a former ECHL All-Star and an offensive-defenseman that Spencer hopes will quarterback the Rays power play. He was acquired this summer from Utah.

“Ryan Turek will be a key for our power play,” said Stingrays head coach Spencer Carbery. “He’s a guy that can rush the puck and quarterback a power play.”

Ryan Turek with Utah

Turek, 25, played in 42 games with the ECHL’s Utah Grizzlies last season scoring seven goals and adding 17 assists. His rights were acquired by the Stingrays from the Grizzlies this summer. In addition to Utah,  Turek played with the Alaska Aces and Victoria Salmon Kings over four seasons totaling 73 points (24 goals, 49 assists) in 190 games. Turek, a fourth-round pick of the St. Louis Blues in 2006, was a 2011 ECHL All-Star selection.

 Lowery, 24, split last season between the ECHL’s Stockton Thunder and the Oklahoma City Barons, of the American Hockey League. Lowery, who played at Colorado College, had a goal and six assists in both Stockton and Oklahoma City.

Ryan Lowery with Stockton.

“Ryan Lowery is a solid, two-way defenseman, Carbery said. “He has a pretty extensive look in the AHL and di well. He skates really, really well and he’s a smart player.”

Ranallo, 25, attended the University of Connecticut the last four seasons totaling 66 points (19 goals, 47 assists) in 148 games.


Marcello Ranallo with UConn.

“I think Marcello is an underappreciated offensive player because of the numbers he put up in college,” Carbery said. “He has a high hockey IQ and really understands the game. I think his skill set will translate pretty well to the pro level.”

Bidlevskii, 21, moves into his first full professional season after wrapping up a five-year junior career in the Western Hockey League with the Regina Pats and Prince George Cougars. He had 20 points (three goals, 17 assists) in 126 games over the last two seasons. In 2010-11, Bidlevskii appeared in 10 games with the Bridgeport Sound Tigers (AHL) registering one assist.

 “Art is a hardnosed, stay-at-home defenseman. He’s physical and hard to play against,” Carbery said. “He’s a great leader and he was the heart and soul of the Regina team last season. For a young guy he has tremendous leadership qualities.”

Bidlevskii takes a beating early, but recovers for a great finish.

Will continue to update all the latest Stingrays news on my Twitter account @APMILLER_PandC

See you at The Rink,

APM

South Carolina Stingrays coach Spencer Cabery has been a busy boy this weekend.

The Rays have announced signed forwards Matt Pistilli, Brett Olson and Kevin Petovello for the 2012-13 ECHL season. I was in a College of Charleston Board of Trustees meeting most of Friday and then covered a high school football, so that’s why the Pistilli think slipped through the cracks.

Pistilli appears to be the Matt Pope signing of the season. He’s a high end skill guy that has spent most of his career in the American Hockey League. He’s played in Florida, but to be honest, I don’t remember him.

Here are some stats on young Mr. Pistilli, who comes in at 6-2 and about 200 pounds. Pistilli, 23, spent the last three with the American Hockey League’s Albany River Rats and Charlotte Checkers (AHL). The Montreal, Quebec, native appeared in 73 games with the Checkers last season scoring 12 goals and adding 13 assists. In 164 career AHL appearances, Pistilli has 52 points (25 goals, 27 assists). In 38 games with the ECHL’s Flordia Everblades, he recorded 17 goals and 18 assists.

Matt Pistilli with the NHL's Carolina Hurricanes

“Matt is a high-end skill guy at the ECHL level,” said Stingrays head coach Spencer Carbery. “He’s a big guy that will go to the high traffic areas on the ice and get his nose dirty. He has good hands in tight around the net and he’s got a big body. We want to use him on the power play as much as we can, but he’s going to play in every situation.”

Olson, 24, begins his professional career after playing four seasons Michigan Tech, where he collected 42 goals and 51 assists in 127 games. He had double-digit goals in every season in college except his junior year when he only played in 18 games.

Brett Olson at Michigan Tech

“We were very fortunate to sign Brett,” Carbery said. “There were a lot of teams after him and in a non-lockout season, we might have gotten him to come to South Carolina. He’s a very solid two-way centerman and that’s so valuable at this level.”

Petovello, 26, enters his second professional season after spending his rookie campaign with the Arizona Sun Dogs of the Central Hockey League, recording 13 goals and 15 assists for 28 points in 44 games.

“Kevin injured his knee and wasn’t ready to get back on the ice until January last season,” Carbery said. “He was a guy we had interest in when Cail (McLean) was still here as the head coach. I like the fact that he’s already got a season of pro hockey under his belt. I think his upside is going to be huge.”

Here's a video of Kevin fighting last sason in Arizona.

I asked Carbs why he had some many players from the CHL on his roster this season. Carbs, played for Tulsa in the CHL, said it was just a coincidence. Dylan Clarke and Mike Ullrich just became available.

“People think the CHL is a notch below the ECHL and I’d probably agree, but the biggest difference is depth,” Carbery said. “The CHL’s high-end skill guys are very good players. When guys like Dylan and Mike become available, you just jump at them.”

The Rays currently have 11 forwards and only one D-man (Damon Kipp) signed to the roster. Carberry assured me some defensemen were on the way. But think about this. … Derek Keller and Zach Tarkir as playing in Europe. Johann Kroll retired. Phil Oreskovic, Brett Fleming and Dustin Stevenson are all still associated with Washington and Hershey. Carbs is having to build his defensive corps from scratch.

Carbs said he’ll have four more player signings later in the week or early next week. Hopefully there will be a D-man in the mix.

Will continue to update all the latest Stingrays news on my Twitter account @APMILLER_PandC

See you at The Rink,

APM

OK, seriously, the main reason I have been posting is because you guys cannot comment and tell what an idiot I am and what’s the fun in that.

After an exhausting investigation, I finally found out why you guys can’t post. We switched to a new computer software at the paper in May. It’s called Saxotech. We have other names for it, but I can’t write them in this family format.

Because we’ve switched to Saxotech, our blog formats on the website have remained under the former system. As a result you guys cannot comment on any of the blogs, not just Rays the Roof. The powers that be have been efforting to correct this problem for the last two months.

They’ve finally discovered a solution and we’re going to use another format, which is being installed as I type. They are hoping the new system will be in place in the next week or so.

When this momentous occasion occurs, I’ll pass it along and you can go back to calling me names.

In the meantime, the news coming out of Stingrays camp today was the signing of forward Andrew Chernichawn, which I think was a very good pick up for the Rays.

He was a guy who played with an edge and proved he could score and chip in on special teams during the playoffs.

Cherniwchan, 23, joined the Stingrays for five regular-season (three goals) and eight postseason (two goals, one assist) contests last season after finishing a four-year collegiate career at Northern Michigan University.

“I had a good experience at the end of last year,” said Cherniwchan. “I got along well with the staff and really enjoyed the environment. Spencer sounded like he was excited to have me back and to come in and be hard working and more of a role player. I want to bring anything I can to the team.”

With the NHL lockout looking like it’s not going to end anytime soon, the Stingrays could see several Boston Bruins prospects, including a goalie. But as soon as the lockout is over, those guys will head back. My understanding is that the Rays will get 3 or 4 prospects from the Bruins and that includes a goalie. So, maybe the Rays get two or three skaters. Not very many considering what they’ve gotten in the past from Hershey and the Washington Capitals.

Rays head coach Spencer Carberry is discovering life without the Bears and Caps won’t be so easy. Sure they take their players at the most inopportune moments and keep them in Hershey for extended stays, but the Rays were getting an average of 7 to 9 skaters per season. Won’t be the case this years. It’s always been my opinion to have two affiliations. It wouldn’t surprise me to see the Rays get another affiliation in the near future.

The other big impact is with the salary cap. A player under a dual contract only costs $525 against the salary cap. When half your team is AHL contracted players, the salary cap doesn’t’ become a huge issue. Spencer has had to hit the recruiting trail pretty hard this summer and free agents aren’t going to be cheap.

I’ll be very interested to see what kind of high-end free agents Spencer can lure to the Lowcountry.

Will continue to update all the latest Stingrays news on my Twitter account @APMILLER_PandC

See you at The Rink,

APM