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Player scarcity a real issue

Minor-league teams scramble to fill rosters with healthy bodies.

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By Debbie Juniewicz, Contributing Writer Updated 4:03 AM Saturday, March 28, 2009

Teams haven't resorted to placing classified ads — not yet anyway.

The Dayton Bombers are just one of many ECHL teams trying to fill the gaps on ever-thinning rosters. Dayton recently traded defenseman Dominic D'Amour to Florida for forwards Matt Auffrey and Andrew Fournier.

"We couldn't continue to play with seven or eight forwards," coach Bill McDonald said. "We had to give up something to get something we really needed."

Three forwards have been called up to the AHL this season. Left wing Mike McLean is playing with the Lake Erie (Cleveland) Monsters. Tomas Zaborsky is playing for Hartford and, after two stints with the Monsters, Justin Bowers is now in Quad City.

It is a trickle-down effect as many AHL teams, like the Monsters, have been hard hit by injuries and NHL call-ups this season.

"When we started this season, we felt like we had put together a nice roster," Monsters General Manager David Oliver said. "We opened the season 3-1-1 and two weeks later we lost three players to the Colorado Avalanche.

"Before we knew it, we had five guys in Colorado and 11 on the IR."

In all, the Monsters have had 46 players on their roster this season.

"We feel bad because we basically take the best players we can find from whatever team they are on," Oliver said. "And we feel for the ECHL coaches because there's not many places for them to draw from, especially this time of year."

One opportunity can lead to other opportunities, like the NHL. The number of players who have made NHL rosters after playing in the ECHL stands at 396. During the past two seasons, the ECHL has supplied more than 500 players to the AHL.

McDonald is happy to help, but it doesn't make the player scavenger hunt any easier. "Everybody is looking for players right now," he said. "There have been too many injuries this season."

The Monsters know that only too well. The Cleveland team still has eight players on injured reserve and knows that four won't return from the Avalanche.

Ice chips

The Bombers open a six-game road trip today, Feb. 27, in Wheeling. Dayton will wrap up the weekend with a pair of games in Reading on Saturday and Sunday. The Bombers then play three games in Elmira, March 4, 6-7. ... The team is encouraging fans who support the proposed multipurpose downtown hockey facility to visit downtowndaytonarena.com and sign the arena petition that will be presented to Montgomery County leaders.

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