Falcons general manager Bruce Landon says it's too early to tell what will happen to the AHL team's roster.
Sprinfield Falcons general manager Bruce Landon is waiting on a possible NHL lockout.With Springfield Falcons training camp scheduled to start Sept. 27, their fans have to wonder how the impending NHL lockout might affect the roster.
Unfortunately, it’s too early to tell.
In 2004-05, when the entire NHL season was lost to a work stoppage, many outstanding young players who might have made it to the NHL wound up doing a full season in the American Hockey League. Some 350 of the more seasoned players joined European pro teams.
Will that happen again? No answer at this time, because the NHL office has yet to spell out what restrictions might be imposed regarding players who can be assigned to hockey’s top minor league.
“A lot of it is tied into what kind of contract a player might have. All we can say right now is that the NHL is working on it and we will know more on Sept. 15 (when the current labor agreement expires),” Falcons president and general manager Bruce Landon said.
As for the lockout itself, negotiations between NHL owners and the Players Association have gone slowly. If no agreement can be reached by Friday, the work stoppage would go into effect.
There is speculation around the league that any such work stoppage could be resolved by December, which would be time enough to save the season.
“I only know what everybody else knows about the lockout, but with the deadline so close, it doesn’t look good,” Landon said. “On the other hand, labor negotiations can be unpredictable, and an 11th-hour settlement is possible. But right now it doesn’t look promising.”
For the Falcons, the only sure thing is that their players will report Sept. 27, and start training camp at the MassMutual Center the next day.
The team will play three preseason games – Oct. 3 against Providence at the New England Sports Center in Marlborough; and Oct. 5 at home against Worcester and Oct. 6 at home against Providence.
The Falcons return to practice Oct. 8 in preparation for the opening of the AHL’s 77th season Oct. 13.
The Falcons will start with a home game against the St. John’s IceCaps. They’ll also be home on Sunday, Oct. 14, against the Adirondack Phantoms.
The Falcons will be under the direction of Brad Larsen, who served the last two seasons here as an assistant to head coach Rob Riley. Springfield’s parent club, the Columbus Blue Jackets, fired Riley at the end of last season and replaced him with Larsen.
ICE CHIPS: Single-game tickets for the Falcons’ 38 regular season home games will go on sale Sept. 29 at 10 a.m. at the MassMutual Center Box Office, which will remain open that day until 5 p.m., and online through Ticketmaster.com ... All Falcons night games will start at 7 p.m. Their Sunday games will start at 3, except for two against Norfolk, which will have 5 p.m. starts ... Tickets for the two preseason games are on sale ... Jared Bednar will be an assistant to Larsen, along with Nolan Pratt, a returnee from last season ... Bednar spent the last two seasons as coach of the AHL’s Peoria Rivermen.