April 2002

NHL Report - Sandy McCarthy Wins Award

For the second year in a row Sandy McCarthy was presented with the New York Rangers Steven McDonald "Extra Effort" award for "performance above and beyond the call of duty."  Although Sandy's roll is often deterring abuse of fellow teammates, his durability led him to put in 80 games this year, and give surprising input of 23 points (10 goals, 13 assists), a career high.  He was presented with the award on April 8 when the Rangers hosted Pittsburg.

Minor League Report - Anchorage Aces of the WCHL

Earlier this month we took a trip to Colorado Springs, CO to see the Anchorage Aces play the Colorado Gold Kings.  Anchorage recently picked up Jason Simon, whom we haven't seen in quite some time.  Jason has had a long professional career, playing for the Denver Grizzlies of the IHL, the Colorado Gold Kings, and has even had a couple of NHL tryouts.  He played a few pre-season games with the Winnipeg Jets before receiving a season-ending knee injury in 1995.

Upon being added to the Aces roster, Simon was immediately named Captain.  Although the Aces season is over, Simon's leadership was apparent on the ice and the team hopes to be able to keep him for next season.

Kimbi Daniels is also a member of the Aces.  Like Simon, Kimbi has had an extensive professional career, playing in the AHL, ECHL and now the WPHL.  Having heard Kimbi's name for many years, we had yet to see him play.  We were pleasantly surprised at the skill he posses, and the outstanding skating skills and hustle on the ice.  Although he played Right Wing the two games we watched, his backchecking efforts were excellent.  He also had some very quality offensive plays, although he was unable to get the puck in the net.  Overall, Kimbi is an excellent two way player.