On The Farm: Time To Drop The Puck

A floridapanthers.com exclusive, Panthers Assistant General Manager and San Antonio Rampage general manager Mike Santos will be sharing his thoughts with Panthers and Rampage fans throughout the year in his blog entitled On The Farm.

Enjoy.

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It is almost time to drop the puck.

After wrapping up training camp this past week, the San Antonio Rampage begin their 11th season in the American Hockey League on Saturday night when they host the Texas Stars, before playing the Houston Aeros on Sunday afternoon at the AT&T Center. After a couple of preseason games and two weeks of practice, I know that our coaching staff and players can’t wait for Saturday night.

Both Rampage and Panthers fans should be excited about our club as we have 14 returning players on our roster, including team captain Nolan Yonkman, defenseman Tyson Strachan, forwards Greg Rallo and James Wright, along with goaltenders Jacob Markstrom and Dov Grumet-Morris. Our team also has some great young talent including Panthers draft picks defenseman Alex Petrovic and forwards Quinton Howden, John McFarland and Drew Shore.

Additionally, we added some key free agents to the Rampage’s roster this year via trades and signings including forwards Casey Wellman, Andre Deveaux, and Jean-Francois Jacques. These are all experienced AHL players who will be tough to play against each night, but also have had the opportunity to play at the National Hockey League level.

In all, our opening night roster includes 26 players with a combined experience of 3,626 American Hockey League games and 468 National Hockey League games. We feel we have put together a roster of players with both experience and talent, along with solid goaltending who will compete hard every night and make our fans proud.

It promises once again to be an exciting season for the Rampage as they begin their journey to return to the Calder Cup playoffs.