Thursday, March 19, 2009

Duffy to Rochester

The Panthers' fourth-round pick from 2005, Matt Duffy, who was a fixture on the Maine Black Bears' blueline for four years, has finished his college career after a loss to Boston University last weekend.

But, that doesn't mean his season is over.

This is the point in the hockey season where those graduating seniors start to sign amateur tryouts in the American Hockey League, and Duffy has done just that.

Duffy, who will turn 23 on Saturday, is set to join the Rochester Americans this week, along with Brett Parnham, an undrafted center from the OHL's Oshawa Generals.

Parnham played in 65 games with Oshawa this season and scored 50 goals while tallying 26 assists. The 20 year-old center improved his numbers with each season, and although he's only 5'9", Kevin Oklobzija says that he apparently has great hands. So good luck to him, there.

As for Duffy, the 6'2" native of Windham, Maine, made sure the last year of his college career was a good one, setting a career high in goals (7) and assists (10), and by extension, points (17). Overall, Duffy played in 135 games with Maine. His defense was solid, and as one of only four seniors on a young squad, provided the freshmen and sophomores with experience and leadership.

Duffy is expected to practice with the team on Thursday and play in Friday night's game against Syracuse. As Rochester's season winds down, there's also the chance that the defenseman is sent to play with the Florida Everblades as they head in to the ECHL playoffs.

No matter what, Duffy is still set to graduate in May.

Here are two quick news releases that I found from local stations in Maine:

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