Around the ECHL playoff rosters.

A couple notes from around the ECHL playoff rosters, which teams submitted to the league Monday:

• The Ducks just unloaded several stud players on the Bakersfield Condors for the playoffs: veteran NHL forward Kyle Calder, goaltender Jean-Philippe Levasseur, forward MacGregor Sharp and defenseman Stu Bickel. Calder, Sharp and Levasseur have spent time in the NHL, AHL and ECHL this season.

• If you’re looking for someone to root for, two former Reign players dot the league’s roster: Utah Grizzlies defenseman Brian Kilburg and Toledo Walleye forward Sal Peralta.

Reign trade Peralta to Toledo.

The Reign have traded forward Sal Peralta to the Toledo Walleye for future considerations.

The 26-year-old had no goals and one assist in six games this season for the Reign, who acquired him in a midseason trade with Kalamazoo for defenseman Jon Landry on Jan. 6.

Presuambly, the trade clears up salary-cap space for head coach Karl Taylor, who has been trying to acquire a player all week. More details after the game.

**Update: Taylor said that Peralta “wasn’t happy with his role, and so we both decided to find him a new home.” However, the trade won’t help out with the Reign’s salary-cap space.

Peralta arrives, practices.

Sal Peralta is in town and completed his first practice with the Reign today, skating on a line with Tony Voce and Jon Francisco. Check out tomorrow’s editions of the Sun and Daily Bulletin for the full scoop. 


Here are a few items that won’t make the paper …

On his reaction to being traded: “I was kind of thrown off a little bit. I found out about it on ECHL.com. then I went to the rink. I think a move was necessary for me at the time, anyways. For being close to home, to flying across the continent is a little different.”

On coming to the Reign: “It’s great. I have experience playing against Coach Taylor in CIS, and I know they have a good team, a good reputation here in Ontario, great fans, obviously beautiful weather. I can’t wait to get started.”

On playing for three teams halfway through his first pro season: “It’s tough, but it’s part of the game. it’s tough on yourself and your family, because you don’t know where you’re going to be. You can’t make plans.”

On any feelings of revenge toward league rival Bakersfield, which cut him in the preseason: “I’m just going to play hard. Bakersfield had its own issues. They didn’t cut me because they felt I wasn’t good enough to play there, they just had a lot of guys coming back [from Anaheim’s NHL training camp]. So it was a numbers game there. You always want to stick and show the other teams why they shouldn’t have let you go, but I don’t want to get too worked up in it. I just want to play my game, let that do the talking, and help Ontario win some games.”

The rest of the forward lines from Tuesday:

Greg Hogeboom-Tim Kraus-Peter Lenes
Todd Jackson-Mike Howe-James McEwan
Chris Curran-Michael Pelech-Rob Pearce

What didn’t make the notebook …

In tomorrow’s notebook you’ll find a breakdown of the team’s franchise-record, six-game losing streak. New forward acquisition Sal Peralta has arrived in town and I expect to be able to catch up with him tomorrow after practice.


In the meantime, to tide you over, here are some notes that didn’t make the notebook …

Continue reading “What didn’t make the notebook …” »

Reign get Peralta from Kalamazoo for Jon Landry. Updates.

The Reign have found a trade partner for Jon Landry, acquiring forward Sal Peralta from the Kalamazoo Wings on Saturday for the disgruntled defenseman.


Peralta, 26, played against Karl Taylor’s University of Waterloo squad in 2004-05 as a freshman at the University of Western Ontario, where he played from 2004-09. The 6-2, 200-pound forward  was the Mustangs’ leading scorer three out of his five years in college.

Peralta has split his first professional season between the IHL’s Quad City Mallards, and the expansion Wings, where he had four goals and 15 points in 19 games. Peralta was held scoreless in two games with Quad City.

He was in the Bakersfield Condors’ camp to begin the season but was squeezed out by the needs of the NHL-affiliate Ducks, who are without an AHL partner this season. Here’s the report in the Bakersfield Californian at the time of Peralta’s release:

The Condors released forward Sal Peralta Friday morning to open a roster spot for Dan Sexton. Sexton arrived in Bakersfield on Thursday evening and was officially assigned to the team by the Ducks on Friday. Sexton, who led Bowling Green in goals and points as a sophomore last season will make his pro debut tonight. 

“Sal is a top two line type of player,”  Condors coach Marty Raymond said, noting all of those roles were filled. “Circumstances are what they are.” 

Four players assigned by the Ducks are on the top two lines.