In case you missed my story today on Pierre-Andre Bureau and Dusty Collins signing with the Reign, go check it out online here.
Here’s how the rest of my interview with Collins went:
Continue reading “More Dusty Collins.” »
The Reign announced the signing of two centers Friday — one of whom should be familiar to denizens of The Bank.
Dusty Collins, who played in 24 games for the Reign in 2008-09, has re-signed with the only ECHL team he’s ever played for. The former fifth-round NHL draft pick (Tampa Bay Lightning, 2004) played in 11 AHL games in 2006-07, then spent the entire 2007-08 season with the Central Hockey League’s Arizona Sundogs before signing with the expansion Reign.
Collins had six goals and 14 points in his brief stint in Ontario. He spent the rest of 2008-09 with the Manchester Monarchs (4+2=6 in 16 games) and the Manitoba Moose (7+1=8 in 34 games), who re-signed him to an AHL contract prior to last season.
Collins had two goals, four points and 93 penalty minutes in 70 games with the Moose in 2009-10. The 25-year-old also appeared in five AHL playoff games, scoring one goal.
He’ll compete in training camp for ice time with rookie Pierre-Andre Bureau.
The 26-year-old was a standout in the QMJHL before moving on to a five-year career with the University of Moncton — a French-language university in New Brunswick that competes in CIS. He’s coming off a nine-goal, 24-point season in 28 games. The 5-11, 183-pound center averaged more than a point per game (14+20=34 in ’08-09 and 14+19=33 in ’07-08) the previous two seasons in Moncton.
With the Prince Edward Island Rocket in the QMJHL, Bureau was a teammate of current Montreal Canadiens forward Maxim Lapierre, and an opponent of former Reign forward Geoff Walker.
The PEI Rocket retired Bureau’s #22 jersey in 2009. The St. Georges Beauce, Quebec native holds the QMJHL record for most games played with a single team (346) and played his rookie season under assistant coach Daniele Sauvageau, the first female coach in QMJHL history.
There were no surprises on the Reign’s protected list, announced Wednesday:
Kellen Briggs, Dusty Collins, Chris Curran, Curtis Darling, Mike
Egener, Jon Francisco, Shawn Germain, Greg Hogeboom, Todd Jackson, Dan Knapp, Tim
Kraus, Peter Lenes, Andrew Martens, James McEwan, Sean O’Connor, Robert Pearce,
Jon Rheault, Chad Starling, Jason Tejchma, Luis Tremblay, Tony Voce, David
Walker, Geoff Walker, Mike Zacharias.
Continue reading “Reign announce protected list.” »
Jon Rheault and the Abbotsford Heat will live to see another day.
The former Reign forward contributed a goal to the Heat’s 3-1 win over the Rochester Americans, staving off elimination in the best-of-seven Calder Cup playoff series. Rheault now has two goals and an assist in five games of the series, which the Amerks lead three games to two.
Former Reign center Dusty Collins also avoided elimination Friday, when his Manitoba Moose defeated the Hamilton Bulldogs 5-2. The Bulldogs lead the series three games to two. Collins posted his only point of the series by scoring a goal in Game 4 on Wednesday.
A brief update from the American Hockey League playoffs, where a pair of former Reign players are competing for two different teams:
Winger Jon Rheault, playing his first Calder Cup playoff game, assisted on the first goal by the Abbotsford Heat in a 3-2 victory over the Rochester Americans on Thursday.
Center Dusty Collins and the Manitoba Moose were shut out by the Hamilton Bulldogs, 2-0, in the first game of their best-of-seven series Thursday.
Several former Reign will make their AHL postseason debuts on Friday when the Manchester Monarchs visit the Portland Pirates. Jeff Zatkoff, Jordan Nolan, Patrick Mullen, Bud Holloway and Dwight King are all on the Monarchs’ playoff roster.