#kyle follmer

[qcmallardshockey]

The Flock Welcomes Back...

Kyle Follmer

"Kyle plans to build off his first full pro year at defense, which was a position he hadn't played full time since college. I think when put in the right situations he has untapped potential on the blue line. The fact that he played both forward and defense during his first two seasons here in the Quad Cities and in Allen makes him a valuable asset." ~ Head Coach Phil Axtell

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The Quad City Mallards have signed defenseman Kyle Follmer for the 2017-18 season.

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[qcmallardshockey]

The Quad City Mallards have signed defenseman Kyle Follmer for the 2017-18 season.

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Mallards open 2016 training camp

MOLINE, IL - On Wednesday October 5, hockey will return to the iWireless Center. The only session that day will start at 10 AM, and only 20 players are on the roster currently. Of those 20, seven of them are at the Iowa Wild training camp. What that means for the team, I'm not sure. I don't expect all 20 of the faces we'll see on Wednesday to be the same 20 we'll see on Opening Night October 14, but we'll just focus on them for now.

The Mallards either have 12 forwards, six defensemen, and two goalies, or 11 forwards and seven defensemen after the late return of swing player Kyle Follmer after his attempt at a season in Europe. The roster is full of young talent, but that young talent has yet to be tested by a coach as skilled and experienced as Terry Ruskowski. The average age of the Mallards is 24.5 years old (not including Ruskowski or Axtell, of course). Eight of the players on the team are fresh out of the college or juniors ranks; only half of the forwards are experienced.

Why is the roster so thin? Shouldn't there be more players for Coach Ruskowski to cut? You're probably wondering. Not if there'll be lots of players assigned to the Mallards like Ruskowski had said. At the press conference on September 13, Ruskowski said that Iowa would be assigning between three and five forwards to the Mallards; he didn't mention being sent any defensemen, but that doesn't mean it won't happen.

Before the Traverse City 2016 Prospects Championship, I tweeted the names of the five forwards I expect to see in a Mallards sweater this season. I'm fairly confident in the names, but I could be wrong about it. Maybe my picks are the obvious ones and I don't have as good a hockey sense as I think I do. But I think before October 14 we'll see Adam Gilmour, Nick Saracino, Parker Bowles, Chase Lang, and Mario Lucia at the iWireless Center. I know, I know, Lang played 11 games in Iowa at the end of last season after finishing his juniors career. Well, Raphael Bussieres played the entirety of the 2013-2014 season with Iowa before being assigned to the Alaska Aces and then the Mallards. (Okay, maybe Bussieres isn't the best example.) But the other four were all sent to Iowa within the first seven days of camp, so they're still a possibility to be assigned to the Mallards. Since Lucia played nine games for Iowa after finishing at Notre Dame, Lang could still be assigned.

In a September 30 article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune, Michael Russo wrote that Alex Stalock will be Iowa's number one goalie, with Steve Michalek serving as his back-up. He then reported that Adam Vay will be assigned to the Mallards. This creates an odd-man out situation for the Mallards. Does Ruskowski keep rookie Tanner Milliron and let C.J. Motte go to develop Milliron as a franchise goalie rather than a Minnesota system goalie? Does Ruskowski keep Motte since he's currently at the Iowa camp? Will Derek Lalonde ask Ruskowski to keep Motte, the AHL-experienced goalie in the QC incase he needs to be called up as well? I don't know; I'm not privy to those two coaches' minds. While it would be nice to be able to use a spot on the reserve list to keep a third goalie, I doubt Ruskowski would do that. The only other option would be to have Milliron be in Peoria and called up whenever Vay is called up, but Peoria already has two goalies. While I'm sure Peoria has another goalie on speed-dial for when Shannon Szabados gets called to Team Canada practices and such-nots, I doubt it's Milliron.

Even though training camp starts in three days, only thirteen players are available as of this writing. Motte, Andrew Panzarella, Jace Coyle, Sam Warning, Jack Nevins, Chris Francis, and Michael Parks are all in Des Moines. I doubt Lalonde would call up any of the players who are on a Mallards contract before our camp has even begun; Minnesota has yet to finish camp and therefore isn't done assigning players to Iowa yet.

In related news, the Chicago Wolves opened their training camp today, and several familiar names appeared on the roster. Former Mallards forwards Joe Perry, Ryan Tesink, Collin Valcourt, and Zach Pochiro are in Hoffman Estates, as well as former Mallards defenseman Austin Coldwell. Goalie Niklas Lundstrom is also on the roster; he was cut from the Mallards roster before opening night after Iowa assigned Michalek and Brody Hoffman. Last month, I had predicted Coldwell receiving a letter if he returned; since the Missouri Mavericks are now affiliates of the St Louis Blues (the parent team of the Chicago Wolves), I don't see Coldwell returning.

Even though the Mallards have a full roster right now, I think this training camp will see more roster moves than the average camp.

[qcmallardshockey]

19 February 2016

The Quad City Mallards handed the Cincinnati Cyclones a decisive and impressive 6-2 loss tonight. The first 40 minutes of the game the Mallards dominated play, outshooting the Cyclones 29-14 through the first two periods. The visiting team was held to only two shots on goal in the opening frame, while the Mallards scored twice within that period.

Kyle Follmer opened the scoring only 72 seconds after the opening face-off, Matt Neal assisting. This was Follmer’s fourth goal of the season, having scored twice in Tuesday’s game in Wichita. That day, he was the only Mallard to score.

Guillaume Gelinas took a shot on goal at 8:45 of the first period, Andy Iles making the save with his blocker. However, the puck bounced off the blocker and into the air before deflecting off the goalpost and into the net. Brady Brassart assisted on Gelinas’ goal before scoring his own before the halfway mark of the second period. Mike Monfredo and Sam Warning assisted on Brassart’s goal.

With just over four minutes left in the second period Warning extended the Mallards’ lead to 4-0 with help from Miles Koules. This would be the goal that prevented Iles returning to the net following the second intermission.

New Mallard Cody Beach was sent to the penalty box with 13 seconds remaining in the second period on a goalie interference call. It was during this Cyclones powerplay that Nick Huard put the Cyclones on the board at 1:23 of the final frame.

Follmer struck again with help from Neal and Darren McMillan to restore the Mallards’ four goal lead. Through no fault of his own, Follmer would sit two minutes in the penalty box after Beach earned five minutes for fighting, two minutes for roughing, and two minutes for unsportsmanlike conduct against Seth Ambroz. Follmer served the two minute unsportsmanlike penalty.

Branden Gracel gave the Cyclones a faint glimmer of hope when he found twine behind Brody Hoffman with less than four minutes remaining in the game, but that glimmer was quickly extinguished. Warning scored unassisted at 18:26, the puck just making its way behind the crossbar to touch netting before bouncing back out. Play continued for a second before the goal horn sounded and the players noticed the referee indicating the goal.

The Mallards team which played tonight was a far different team than had played two weeks ago. With the return of Zach Pochiro and the assignments of Beach and Jared Knight, the Mallards no longer appeared timid or averse to injury. The passes of the Mallards were crisp and found their targets. The players appeared to expect their teammates to be in position to receive the puck, often making quick passes between more than one player. The team showed on-ice chemistry that had not been seen in over a month.

The three stars of the game were

QC - 20 Follmer

QC - 14 Warning

QC - 24 Brassart

Hoffman made 24 saves, while Iles made 25 and Brandon Whitney made four in his relief effort.

Pochiro, in his return from long term Injured Reserve, played well enough and hard enough to merit a star, but having no points for the night did not earn one.

The Mallards will face off against the Cyclones again on Saturday at 7:05 for Chick-Fil-A Night. Fans who purchase tickets at the box office for that night’s game will receive a free Chick-Fil-A sandwich coupon. Fans will also have the chance to win Chick-Fil-A items and meet the Chick-Fil-A cow.

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16 February 2016

The Quad City Mallards defeated the Wichita Thunder 2-1 tonight in the shoot-out for the Illinois team’s second straight win.

Dean Chelios gave the home team the early lead at 6:10 of the first period, Donnie Harris assisting.

Raphael Bussieres and Dan Milan dropped the gloves at the 7:30 mark of the first period, the more skilled Milan winning the bout.

The Thunder lead lasted just over six minutes, until Kyle Follmer tied the game. Matt Neal and Vladimir Nikiforov were credited with setting up Follmer’s score.

The game was quiet for the rest of regulation, a few minor penalties being called and scoring chances being traded. Three-on-three overtime was not sufficient to decide the outcome. Four rounds of a shoot-out ensued.

Matt Carey and Andrew Huff, both the first shooters for their respective teams, were the only ones to score during the first three rounds. The fourth round was a sudden death decision. Follmer once again found twine behind Grant Rollheiser. This was the winning goal after Brody Hoffman made the final save against Chelios.

The three stars of the game were

WIC - 37 Rollheiser

QC - 30 Hoffman

QC - 20 Follmer

Hoffman made 33 saves while Rollheiser made 41.

The Mallards return home to face the Cincinnati Cyclones on Friday and Saturday. Puck drop for both games is schedules for 7 PM CST. Friday also brings the return of $1 Beer/ Hot Dog Night presented by 97X. It is also College Night; Augustana students can ride the Metro bus for free with just a flash of their student ID.