Johnstown Chiefs

On a rather sad note, today will mark the final game for the ECHL's Johnstown Chiefs in Johnstown, PA. The franchise, owned by former NHL GM Neil Smith, has been plagued by financial problems for years and will be moving to Greenville, SC next season. Johnstown was the Tampa Bay Lightning's ECHL affiliate for three years between 2004-2005 and 2006-2007. Three of the Lightning's prospects who played in Johnstown have since seen time in the NHL: Radek Smolenak, Jay Rosehill, and Andre Deveaux.

I can honestly say that, outside of Norfolk Admirals fans, I don't think there's been an affiliate's fan base that was more supportive of their club than the fans of the Johnstown Chiefs. I'm sure this is a major blow for a town that has had some challenges over the past few years. Bolt Prospects salutes the fans of the Johnstown Chiefs and we hope that Johnstown, PA gets another franchise soon.

First off, Bolt Prospects apologizes for being down last night. Unfortunately we had some technical difficulties with the ISP that our server runs on that took about 12 hours to remedy. The site is up and running again now and we don't foresee any related problems in the near future.

Second, stay tuned to Bolt Prospects over the next few weeks as we are expecting to get a glimpse at the preliminary roster for the Traverse City prospect tournament pretty soon.

With all of that out of the way, the flurry of free agent signings that came in the first three weeks of July seems to have subsided. The team now has 47 players under contract that will count against the 50-man roster limit, with Ryan Craig remaining to be signed who will be the 48th. For the most part the roster is set, which offers the opportunity to speculate on how the Lightning's organizational roster and lines will look at the NHL, AHL and ECHL level.

The Johnstown Chiefs announced today that Tampa Bay Lightning will no longer be involved in managing the hockey operations of the Chiefs. As part of the restructuring of the Chiefs, VP of Hockey Operations Ryan Belec, Head Coach Frank Anzalone, Trainer Rodney Bogart and Equipment Manager Casey Taylor will not be returning to Johnstown. All four are employees of the Tampa Bay Lightning.

As part of the continuing affiliaton between Tampa and Johnstown, the Chief may have Tampa prospects playing there next season. The search for a new head coach, trainer, and equipment manager begins immediately.

Despite word yesterday that Johnstown Chiefs coach Frank Anzalone may be out of a job this summer, a report in today's Johnstown Tribune-Democrat highlights a message from Tampa Bay General Manager Jay Feaster saying "Frank Anzalone is under contract with the Tampa Bay Lightning through the 2007-08 season, and we have no plans of making a coaching change in Johnstown.”

For the full article, see the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.

In today's Johnstown Tribune-Democrat, reporter Mike Mastovich states the future of Johnstown Chiefs coach Frank Anzalone, one of only four ECHL coaches with 300 wins (332), is in limbo.

“I’ve been in Tampa. The hockey operations situation is in the hands of (Lightning GM) Jay Feaster,” Anzalone told the newspaper. Anzalone attended the Tampa Bay Lightning’s playoff game against visiting New Jersey on Monday night after meeting with Feaster for his year-end evaluation. “I don’t know 100 percent what they are or are not doing. Obviously I will be affected by hockey operations systems, whether I like it or not.”

To read the full article, see the Johnstown Tribune-Democrat.