The Newfoundland Growlers were one of the most productive teams in the ECHL this past season, their 240 combined goals seven fewer than the top-ranked offence in the league, the Allen, Tex. Americans.
Just like that, however, the Growlers lost 73 tallies this week, when three players left the pound to head overseas.
Call the bolting of Brady Ferguson, Zach O’Brien and Marcus Power from the Growlers’ pen another result of COVID-19, the effects of which will be felt for some time.
Who can blame the three players, whose goal-scoring prowess (O’Brien scored 25 goals, and both Ferguson and Power potted 24) accounted for nearly one-quarter of Newfoundland’s total.
Ferguson, the team’s MVP and leading scorer this year, signed to play with Rogle BK of the Swedish Elite league last weekend. Monday, O’Brien and Power both signed contracts with EV Landshut of the DEL2, the Tier II equivalent of the German Elite league.
Each were coming off American Hockey League/ECHL contracts with the Toronto Marlies and the Growlers.
It’s not unusual for North American minor pro players to eventually head overseas, where the money and the hockey are good, and the opportunity to visit many different countries is at their fingertips.
But things are a little different now, and we go back to the pandemic.
“Everything,” said Ferguson, the fifth-leading scorer in the ECHL this past season (63 points in 57 games), “is so uncertain next year.”
Uncertain, indeed, especially as it relates to the American league and ECHL, where ticket sales make up for pretty much 100 per cent of team revenues.
So who knows how much of an impact the lost season of 2019-20 will have on those teams starting next year.
“Having a (contract) guarantee is a good feeling,” Ferguson said. “Once I talked to them (Rogle), they made me feel pretty comfortable signing there and moving my family there.
"They showed a lot of confidence in me.”
It’s been quite a journey for Ferguson, born and raised in Lewisville, Tx., just north of Dallas.
“Being a kid from Texas. I never dreamed of being in this situation at 25. It’s crazy, really. I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.”
The Lone Star State isn't a place where hockey scouts are scouring for talent. Ferguson is a product of the popularity of the Dallas Stars. He was not quite five-years-old when the Stars won the 1999 Stanley Cup, but he was playing when hockey rinks started cropping up around the Dallas area.
"They're all named Dr. Pepper StarCentres, after the Dallas home rink," he said. "When I was growing up, there were a few. Now there are seven or eight around the Dallas area.
“The game is growing. I don't think it will ever get to the point where it is in Canada, but it's a growing game and it's really cool to see.”
Currently, there are three pro hockey teams in Texas — the Dallas Stars, along with the Texas Stars of the AHL, and the ECHL's Americans.
The North American Hockey League, a Tier II junior circuit, has teams in Amarillo, Corpus Christi, Odessa and North Richland Hills, outside Fort Worth.
Ferguson skated with the Amarillo Bulls, where he was scouted by Robert Morris University, a small NCAA school in Pittsburgh.
As he continued to impress in the North American league, he began to generate interest from other universities, but in the end opted for Robert Morris.
Ferguson played four years in Pittsburgh, averaged well over a point per game and was invited to the Penguins' development camp in the summer of 2017.
After winding up his college career, Ferguson signed an AHL contract with the Marlies.
“Being a kid from Texas,” he said, “I never dreamed of being in this situation at 25. It’s crazy, really. I’m extremely grateful for all the opportunities I’ve had.”
One of those is playing in the Toronto Maple Leafs’ system. Another is a couple of years skating for the Growlers, with whom he won a championship in 2019 and this past year set a new ECHL home-ice win-streak record with 19 straight victories at Mile One Centre.
“Definitely. No question. I’ve always said this … the Leafs are a phenomenal organization,” he said. “I mean, they do a great job developing not just the AHL players, but introducing (to the pro game) and developing the ECHL guys as well.
“The Growlers staff did an amazing job with each of us. You really can’t say a bad thing about them. It was blast playing in St. John’s.
“It sure would have been fun to make a nice playoff run (this past season) with this group of guys.”
Robin Short is The Telegram’s Sports Editor. He can be reached by email [email protected] Follow him on Twitter @TelyRobinShort
