From Hamiltonbulldogs.com:
Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey announced today that the club has acquired defenceman T.J. Kemp from the Pittsburgh Penguins in exchange for a conditional 7th round draft choice in the 2010 NHL Entry Draft. Kemp will be reassigned from the AHL’s Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins to the Hamilton Bulldogs while right wing J.T. Wyman has been reassigned from Hamilton to the Cincinnati Cyclones of the ECHL. Hamilton Bulldogs General Manager Julien BriseBois also announced today that the club has signed left wing Steve Gainey to a Professional Tryout (P.T.O.) contract while defenceman Frederic St-Denis has been reassigned to Cincinnati.
Kemp, 27, has played in 22 games for the Penguins this season accumulating nine points (one goal, eight assists) along with 22 penalty minutes. Last season, the native of Pickering, Ontario competed in 73 games with the Springfield Falcons, leading all Falcons’ defencemen in points with 46 (eight goals, 38 assists) while earning 44 penalty minutes. The 5-foot-11, 197-pound blueliner is scheduled to be available for Hamilton’s game versus the Philadelphia Phantoms tomorrow night.
Wyman, 22, has competed in 23 games with the ‘Dogs this season registering three points (one goal, two assists) along with six penalty minutes. The 6-foot-2, 205-pound right wing finished his fourth and final year at Dartmouth College last year, posting 30 points (15 goals, 15 assists) along with 18 penalty minutes before joining Hamilton and playing in eight games, recording one assist and five penalty minutes. The native of Wayzata, Minnesota was a 4th round, 100th overall selection of the Montreal Canadiens in the 2004 NHL Entry Draft.
Gainey, 29, has spent this season playing with the Idaho Steelheads of the ECHL where he has recorded 30 points (11 goals, 19 assists) along with 36 penalty minutes in 33 games. Prior to this season, the 6-foot, 180-pound left wing had not played professional hockey since the 2005-2006 season when he split the year between the San Antonio Rampage and the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. The native of Montreal, Quebec played in 56 games with the Rampage earning 56 points (10 goals, 20 assists) along with 85 penalty minutes and 20 games with the Coyotes where he posted one assist and 20 penalty minutes. Gainey is a former 3rd round, 77th overall selection of the Dallas Stars in the 1997 NHL Entry Draft and is the son of Montreal Canadiens General Manager Bob Gainey. He is scheduled to be available for the Bulldogs game tomorrow evening.
St-Denis, 22, has played in five games with the Bulldogs this season producing two points (one goal, one assist) along with two penalty minutes. The 5’11”, 190-pound defenceman has played in 15 games with the Cyclones in 2008-2009 posting 13 assists along with six penalty minutes. Last season, the native of Greenfield Park, Quebec competed with the University of Quebec Trois Rivieres where he posted 18 points (four goals, 14 assists) in 28 games.
Habster:
The addition of defenseman T.J. Kemp to the Bulldogs roster isn’t a total surprise as he will add another offensively gifted blueliner to the lineup. It is a bit puzzling in the sense that they just demoted Ryan O’Byrne and don’t have any major injury problems along the blueline that I’m aware of. Maybe they have a longer term plan for Yannick Weber at the NHL level but he’s been in the press box the last two games so…..????
The PTO for Bob Gainey’s son, Steve Gainey is another strange move but maybe this was the best opportunity for Gainey Jr to attempt an AHL comeback with Pacioretty and Chipchura on the NHL roster.
I know Steve Gainey has been training hard the last couple of months to try a comeback so I guess his dad has opened the door for him.
