The Springfield Falcons affiliation with the Columbus Blue Jackets came to an end on Sunday, April 19, when the Portland Pirates stormed back to defeat the Worcester Sharks 5-4, passing the Falcons for the final play-off spot in the AHL’s Eastern Conference. Springfield finished the season at 38-28-8-2, good for third in the Northeast Division, but unfortunately one point short of qualifying for the play-offs.
It’s since been confirmed that the Jackets will be switching AHL allegiances to a closer market, the Lake Erie Monsters, but we’re here to look at the final season of the team in Springfield.
I reached out to Katharine McCarthy, a 16 year Springfield season ticket holder, to get some more in-depth answers on the team’s performance, and her opinions on the affiliation between the Jackets and Springfield. Her answers will appear as the article progresses.
CBJ SIMILARITIES
Not a squad known for their scoring prowess, Springfield relied on team depth as the key to success. The team’s top point scorer, rookie TJ Tynan, finished just 45th in the entire AHL in scoring, and the team as a whole were 26th in the league in goals, with just 192 over 76 games (2.52 goals per game).
There are some similarities between the Falcons and the Blue Jackets season, not the least of which is style of play. Coach Jared Bednar molds his team based on the similar hard forechecking style of the parent club, most likely as an organizational strategy to prepare the squad’s younger players for their potential future with the big team.
The Falcons had both a long winning streak (11 games from November 14 to December 6) and a long losing streak (seven games, from January 14 to February 3), plus smaller six and five game losing streaks. The winning streak occurred in a time where nearly the entire team was intact health-wise – save for Michael Chaput (who was with Columbus) and Kerby Rychel (who had a four game stint with CBJ during the streak) – something which did not happen too often throughout the year.
Alas, much like the Jackets, Springfield was marred by injuries to key players during the season. When paired with the parade of call-ups to the big club, this resulted in the team playing horribly undermanned for large swaths of the year, most importantly during the final stretch run. The arguable team MVP Anton Forsberg missed the final 18 games of the season, the team’s fifth leading scorer Kerby Rychel missed the final 20, and the team’s best defenseman Austin Madaisky missed the final 23.
TOP PERFORMERS
The aforementioned Anton Forsberg had himself a phenomenal rookie season, posting a 20-8-1 record and 92.7% save rate over 30 games. Put another way: the team was just 18-20-9 when Forsberg was not in net, and were just 6-8-4 in those final 18 games that Forsberg missed due to injury. “Forsberg struggled to begin the season,” McCarthy tells me. “The adjustment the North American rink seemed to take a month or so for him.” McCarthy credits Forsberg’s brief stint with Columbus at the end of October as a catalyst for his improved play in Springfield. “Forsberg worked on his angles while in Columbus,” she says, “and came back a much better goaltender who carried the Falcons until his injury.” Had Forsberg avoided injury, it’s fairly safe to assume that the team makes the play-offs.
Defenseman Austin Madaisky played 53 games for the Falcons before breaking his ankle in late February. To say that Madaisky’s arrival was unexpected would be an understatement. He had never shown much offensive prowess in his career, only ever surpassing the 12 goals and 35 points he put up in 2014/15 once, in his overage year for Kamloops in the WHL (13g, 37a in 70gp). “Madaisky’s career has been filled with injuries so far,” McCarthy says. “This season he began to use his shot and offensive skills, which showcased that he has a chance at an NHL career.” The rise of Madaisky from non-prospect to Springfield’s top blueliner seemingly out of nowhere is perhaps the Falcons’ story of the year. It will be very interesting to see if the 23 year old can keep up this level of play in 2015/16 and turn himself into an honest-to-goodness prospect.
Rookie TJ Tynan burst from obscurity to lead the Falcons in points. The undersized 23 year old signed with Columbus after completing his four-year stint with Notre Dame, and put up 13 goals and 48 points in 75 games for the Falcons. Tynan played in all but one game for Springy, and primarily served in a secondary scoring role, rather than being leaned on as the offense-generating juggernaut. Tynan isn’t a big offensive threat, but is a good skater and has enough instincts to stick in that second or third line spot on the team. It would take a lot to see Tynan move up to the Blue Jackets at any point, but if he continues to develop, then it’s a definite possibility down the road.
FUTURE JACKETS
Springfield was the first step for many potential future Jackets this season, including a handful of the team’s top prospects. All three of the 2013 CBJ first rounders suited up for the team at some points, with mixed results. It’s been speculated that Marko Dano had some conditioning issues upon his arrival to the team from the KHL last season, something which McCarthy echoes. “His conditioning appeared to be better than last season, where he was very winded after a normal shift.” Dano acclimated quickly to the North American game in his initial assignment to Springfield this season, rounding out his game defensively and showing more of that feisty nature that he brought with him to Columbus during the last section of the NHL season. McCarthy agreed. “Dano is a pest. He will hit, chirp and score on the same shift.”
Kerby Rychel put up 12 goals and 33 points in 51 games for the Falcons this season. He started slowly, McCarthy writes, noting that “Rychel was overmatched at the beginning of the season, going from being ‘the man’ to a ‘boy amongst men’.” McCarthy compliments Rychel’s passing skill – something which he may not have a reputation for – but says that he needs work on his finishing before he can transition into the NHL.
Alexander Wennberg’s six game stint with the Falcons is probably best forgotten. “The only time I was noticing him was when he would hang out by the blueline,” says McCarthy. Obviously Wennberg solved those issues during his second stint in Columbus. One wonders if perhaps the assignment to Springfield wasn’t a “wake-up call” for the young Swede.
Other notable youngsters suiting up for the Falcons this season included 2014 first round pick Sonny Milano, who joined the team after his OHL team in Plymouth finished their season, and trade deadline acquisition and ex-ANA 2nd round pick William Karlsson, who played 14 games for the Falcons.
Plenty of depth prospects made their pro debuts or entered their AHL rookie years this season. The aforementioned Tynan (CBJ 3rd 2011) and Forsberg (CBJ 7th 2011), plus Josh Anderson (CBJ 4th 2012), Dillon Heatherington (CBJ 2nd 2013), Seth Ambroz (CBJ 5th 2011), Joonas Korpisalo (CBJ 3rd 2012), and Oscar Dansk (CBJ 2nd 2012) among them. The majority of these players should make the move to the Jackets’ new affiliate in Lake Erie next season, and could potentially be joined by other youngsters like Oliver Bjorkstrand, Peter Quenneville, and Nick Moutrey.
It’s hard to imagine any of this current crop of players graduating to the NHL next season, but Katharine does have high hopes for a few who are on the cusp. “Austin Madaisky, Sean Collins and Will Weber all impressed enough to warrant looks in training camp.” She continues, “Injuries took major parts of both Weber and Madaisky’s seasons away, but when healthy they were two of the best defensemen that Columbus has given the Falcons.” While a few of the other young guys like Karlsson, Milano, Rychel, and Anderson will likely get long looks through training camp, the Jackets forward group is already 14 or 15 deep, so it will be tough to crack the roster.
END OF AN ERA
It’s been five years of affiliation between Columbus and Springfield, one which McCarthy sees as a mutually beneficial partnership. “Going into the affiliation, Falcons fans were warned that Columbus was not a great parent team by fans in the previous market, Syracuse. As the first season played out, I realized that the Jackets were looking to turn things around both here and in Columbus.”
Though the team did not conclude their partnership with a play-off berth, it was a prosperous five seasons for the Springfield Falcons and the Columbus Blue Jackets. After a couple of somewhat disappointing early seasons, Springfield ended a nine year play-off drought in 2012/13, and won their first round series against Manchester. They followed that up by setting franchise records in wins and points in 2013/14.
Many current Blue Jackets have plied their trade with the team, including some of their current top stars: Ryan Johansen (33pts in 40gp), David Savard (96pts in 176gp), Cam Atkinson (87pts in 89gp), Matt Calvert (82pts in 128gp), Cody Goloubef (70pts in 201gp), Dalton Prout (25pts in 117gp), Boone Jenner (5pts in 10gp), and Curtis McElhinney (29-16-3, 92.3sv% in 49gp). The affiliation provided a real place to grow for many of the Blue Jackets’ brightest prospects. “Springfield found a parent club who cared about fielding a competitive team,” McCarthy says, “and Columbus was able to grow players within their (coaching) system, which is also played here.”
“It has been a pleasure to watch the Jackets prospects wear the Falcons uniform.”
You can follow Katharine McCarthy on twitter, @KatyLovesHockey.
– Jeremy
Follow me on twitter, @307x.
Featured image via David Molnar, of www.masslive.com.
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