Binghamton Senators Ups and Downs: October

It's been a crazy season in upstate New York. The Elmira Jackals are the best team in the ECHL, and Binghamton is in a 4-way tie for 4th place in the East. The 4-3-1-1 Binghamton Senators start a three-game series this weekend on Friday against the Hamilton Bulldogs (currently in first place in the North with only one regulation loss) Saturday at home against the Adirondack Phantoms (currently in last in the East and signed former Binghamton captain Denis Hamel to a PTO) and at home again for Sunday afternoon against the Syracuse Crunch.

Biggest gains: Barry Brust
Barry Brust is the reason this team is 4-3-1-1. After going nearly 120 minutes without allowing a goal last week, Brust continued his strong play against the Charlotte Checkers. While the offense was able to give him support, unlike the previous week, the defense again left him to fend for himself. As the numbers would suggest (1-0-1-0, 2.90 GAA, .924 SV%), he did all he could to keep Binghamton in games. After starting 6 straight games, he's expected to sit on Friday, but could start on Saturday. Sunday's starter has yet to be announced.

Biggest losses: Eric Gryba
As I have stated many times, Gryba is a player very similar to Andy Sutton. He's a big guy who uses his body to put forwards on the floor and isn't afraid to do time in the box. But he hasn't really been living up to that this season. After being benched for David Hale, Gryba has played six games and has the second worst plus/minus on the team with a -4 (Roman Wick is a team-worst with a -5). Pared with also rookie and struggling Patrick Wiercioch on the third paring, he isn't playing physical hockey, and his poor play is leading to good scoring chances (and his plus/minus would be worse if not for Brust).

Goalies	Trend	Notes
Barry Brust		See "Biggest gains."
Mike Brodeur		Mike Brodeur will spend the weekend in Elmira on a conditioning assignment.
Robin Lehner		Robin Lehner has been reassigned to Binghamton, and is expected to start Friday.
Defensemen
Andre Benoit		Binghamton's second-highest scorer and he's done it without scoring a single goal.
Geoff Kinrade		Kinrade is a plus-three, and has two points. His defense has improved with more ice time, and it'll be interesting to see how good he will be if he sees more minutes on the powerplay.
Derek Smith		D. Smith is an improved player from last season. His skating is great, his shots are good (24 on goal so far), and effort on the power play is going to lead to some goals.
David Hale		Played five games, had a minus-three, and one assist. Not a bad job, but not a great one either. He's played the same way he did in Binghamton in Ottawa, just with more minutes.
Craig Schira		Haven't seen much of Schira, but for what it's worth, he has one more point than Roman Wick.
Patrick Wiercioch		As I previously mentioned with Eric Gryba, he's been struggling. After scoring a goal in the first game, he's been off. I know he's adjusting to the AHL after two seasons in the NCAA, but his play was been sloppy. Reducing his role by bumping him to the third pairing is probably the best move for him right now.
Eric Gryba		See "Biggest losses."
Forwards
Corey Locke		Binghamton's top scorer with ten points (3G/7A) is playing well on the top line with Bobby Butler.
Bobby Butler		Leads the team in goals with five including two goals in last two games, one of which was the overtime winner in Binghamton's last win.
Ryan Keller		He may not have 1,000 games, but Binghamton's captain is getting it done. Second on the team in goals, Keller has worked well on the powerplay, with 2 goals (tied with Butler and Locke).
Erik Condra		Who says Ottawa doesn't have depth at the Right Wing? Condra has been on fire with six points (3G/3A) in nine games, and isn't afraid to play physically, as his 10 PIMs demonstrate.
Jim O'Brien		After getting a quick start on the season and taking the team lead in goals with three, O'Brien has slowed down offensively, but his play on the ice has improved greatly.
Kaspars Daugavins		The Dog-man has slowed down after a huge first week. His only goal has come on the powerplay, and he has three assists, but his play on the ice has only been okay for the most part.
Colin Greening		Great puckhandling skills and hard hitting centre playing wing. He might have two points, but with his playmaking skills developing, expect that to change.
Mike Hoffman		With only two points, some would think Hoffman isn't doing well. But his play so far has surprised me. For a player his size, he sure can shoot hard and play the puck well. Expect big things from Hoffman in the future.
Cody Bass		Played four games, scored a lone goal on the powerplay, and has been injured since. Same old Cody Bass.
Corey Cowick		Played only one game in Binghamton before being assigned to the ECHL's Elmira Jackals.
Jason Bailey		I'd actually forgotten Bailey was on this team. With zero points and one four shots on goals, who can blame me?
Tim Spencer		So far, 21 PIMs in five games. He was sent down to Elmira, but quickly recalled.
David Dziurzynski		Six games, minus-one, and two lonely shots on goal.
Francis Lessard		Seven games and 34 PIMs. Anyone want to guess where the PIMs came from?
Roman Wick		0 points, played in all nine games, minus-five player. Is it too early to use the Ilya Zubov label?