Tonight the Philadelphia Wings travel north of the border for their final rehearsal before the start of the regular season.
The Philadelphia Wings will play their third and final pre-season contest tonight when they visit the Toronto Rock at 7pm ET at the Toronto Rock Athletic Centre in Oakville, Ontario.
Just five days ago final rosters where handed in as teams had to be down to 20 active and 4 practice squad. But that’s not to say changes can be made. AJ Masson originally drafted twelfth by the Wings, will now suit up for the Rock for a tryout after being released earlier in the week.
This will be the first test to see how the offense gels. Kevin Crowley, Jordan Hall, Kevin Ross return from last season, while Tracey Kelusky, Ryan Ward, Pat Saunders, Kyle Buchanan and rookie Garrett Thul all new additions to the offense look to improve on the season low of 176 goals scored last year.
Prior to the draft the Wings traded Drew Westervelt to Colorado and the 32nd for the 12th (AJ Masson) 18th (James Delaney), Ryan Hotaling and a number 1 in 2015. The Wings then ship the first round in 2015 and pair it with a number 1 in 2017 for goalie Evan Kirk. Out of all that, only thing the Wings are left with is Evan Kirk. Delaney, Hotaling were both released, and Masson was signed by the Rock after his release.
Evan Kirk and Don Alton will probably get the playing time. With a week to go before the start of the season, this is the chance for Alton that he can be the back-up to Kirk. A bad showing could have the coaching staff looking to see who is available to sign between the pipes, and can also force their hand into signing Miller as the fans will not go for another season like 2013 with having one solid goalie and a sub par back-up. The Rock will have Nick Rose and Zach Boychuk as their 1-2 punch.
Philadelphia opens the regular season next week, December 28th when they travel to face the Buffalo Bandits. The Rock start there season on January 3rd when the Calgary Roughnecks come to town.
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