Alumni: Smith named AHL's top rookie

By John Lachmann
Kypostsports@yahoo.com

   Texas forward Reilly Smith was named the American Hockey League’s rookie of the month for December.

   In 14 games with the Stars, Smith recorded eight goals and six assists, and he scored seven goals in a six-game span Dec. 8-22.

   Smith is currently second on his team in points with 21.

   AHL: Portland forward Andy Miele had a four-game goal streak snapped on Dec. 29.

   Miele notched game-winning goals back-to-back nights during that stretch, netting the lone goal in a 1-0 win at Connecticut on Dec. 15 just 13 minutes into the game, and he broke a tie six minutes into the third period with the go-ahead goal in a 3-2 win at Worcester.

   ECHL: Ontario defensemen Vincent LoVerde rolled up three goals and eight assists in Decemeber, finishing the month with a three-game points streak (1-3-4).

   LoVerde notched two helpers in a 6-5 win at Utah on Dec. 29, including the primary assist on the power-play game-winner by Chris Huxley 1:21 into overtime.

   CHL: Tulsa forward Gary Steffes notched five goals and seven assists in December, including four multi-point games in a six-game stretch.

   Coming off a facial injury he suffered in Finland, defenseman Alec Martinez remained stateside and recently joined the Allen Americans.

   Allen played his first game on Dec. 31, and he went plus-1 on Jan. 4 in a 6-2 win over Steffes’ Tulsa Oilers.

   Europe: Cortina forward Derek Edwardson scored five goals in a six-game span Dec. 6-22.

   Edwardson recorded a goal and an assist in a 4-1 win vs. Fassa on Dec. 20, scoring late in the second period to make it 3-1 and picking up a primary assist on the clincher in the third period.
  
   Munich forward Mike Kompon scored two goals 45 seconds apart, including the game winner, in a 6-2 win over Augsburger on Dec. 26.

   Kompon tied the score at two with 2:38 left in the second period after Munich had fallen behind, 2-0, and with 1:53 remaining in the middle stanza, he gave the Red Bull the lead for good.

   Here is a look at former Miamians player hockey around the world:

AHL
F Andy Miele, POR, 32 GP, 10-15—25 
F Reilly Smith, TEX, 32 GP, 10-10—20
F Carter Camper, PRO, 22 GP, 3-11—14 
F Pat Cannone, BNG, 29 GP, 5-5—10
F Jarod Palmer, HOU, 17 GP, 2-6—8
D Cameron Schilling, HER, 31 GP, 3-4—7
F Alden Hirschfeld, PRO, 14 GP, 2-2—4
F Justin Vaive, SA, 30 GP, 1-2—3
D Vincent LoVerde, MNC, 11 GP, 0-1—1*
D Chris Wideman, BNG, 16 GP, 0-1—1
D Will Weber, SPR, 12 GP, 0-0—0
G Jeff Zatkoff, MNC, 21 GP, 11-10, 2.18, .915
G Connor Knapp, RCH, 6 GP, 1-5, 3.37, .897
ECHL
D Vincent LoVerde, ONT, 24 GP, 7-10—17
F Trent Vogelhuber, EVA, 23 GP, 5-7—12
F Alden Hirschfeld, S.C., 16 GP, 4-4—8*
D Chris Wideman, ELM, 5 GP, 0-5—5*
D Will Weber, EVA, 8 GP, 0-0—0*
G Cody Reichard, STO, 15 GP, 8-6, 2.47, .900
G Charlie Effinger, FW, 15 GP, 7-8, 3.62, .891
CHL
F Gary Steffes, TUL, 32 GP, 17-14—31
F Nino Musitelli, ALL, 20 GP, 2-3—5
D Alec Martinez, ALL, 1 GP, 0-0—0
OHL
F Tyler Biggs, Oshawa, 34 GP, 15-18—33
Europe
F Derek Edwardson, Cortina (Serie A-Italy), 31 GP, 15-20—35
F Randy Robitaille, Novokuznetsk (KHL-Russia), 38 GP, 9-23—32
F Pat Leahy, Linz, EBEL (Austria), 27 GP, 14-13—27
F Mike Kompon, Munich (DEL-Germany), 33 GP, 11-5—16 
F/D Matt Tomassoni, Iserlohn (DEL-Germany), 30 GP, 4-8—12
F Dustin Whitecotton, Straubing (DEL-Germany), 20 GP, 0-4—4
F Justin Mercier, Wolfsburg (DEL-Germany), 16 GP, 1-1—2
D Alec Martinez, Turku (SM Liiga-Finland), 11 GP, 1-1—2*
*-not currently with team