3 games in 3 days this weekend for Birmingham.

Presented by Bham Now

For the first five games of November, the Birmingham Bulls were well on their way to establishing themselves in the upper portion of the SPHL.  During that five game stretch, the Bulls earned seven out of a possible ten points only losing once in regulation.  It looked as if they had turned a corner and were well on their way to establishing themselves as a team poised to make a run.  But the last five games in November sent the Bulls in the opposite direction losing five games while scoring just nine goals in those games.

With only four home games in December, reversing that late November swoon won’t be easy.  From December 6 though the 26th the Bulls will be on the road.  They also must somehow get it done without leading scorer and team leader Filimon Ledziankou.  At the time of this article, he was still on the 14-day IR. 

Ledziankou’s MRI results were still being read by the doctors’.  His arm injury could turn into a much longer stay than 14 days.  Danny Weight and Kyren Gronick, also on the IR, are eligible now to come off the IR.  There hasn’t been anything released as to whether they will return to the active roster.  Birmingham must find a way to overcome those injuries by putting together a string of wins. 

The Bulls did make a move on Monday acquiring RW Tim Kent from Fayetteville for LW Shane Murphy.  Kent was Fayetteville’s leading scorer with 5 goals, 8 assists for 13 points.  Murphy leaves the Bulls with 3 goals and 2 assists for 5 points.

“Kent is a good hockey player, this trade will boost our offensive production as soon as he and his linemates find some chemistry,” Head Coach Criag Simchuk said.  “Murphy is good too, but we need offense right now and you can’t get a good hockey player unless you give up something good.  So we made the deal”.  Simchuk went on to say, “Kent has proven he can succeed at this level in production.  We need that right now”.

Weight and Gronick have been on the IR since November 17.  With their possible return and the addition of Kent, the Bulls will have some offensive punch in the lineup.

Two of the Bulls four December home games are Thursday night against Pensacola and Friday night against the Huntsville Havoc at the Pelham Civic Complex with 7:05 face-offs.