Spiders get ready for the 2016–17 season

Oct. 27, 2016

The AHA 2016–17 winter season gets underway this week. But the Spiders’ 2016–17 season roster is now set, with a few changes since last season.

The Spiders now say farewell to:

• Dave Henke – Dave departs the Spiders after four seasons subbing with the C3 squad, and another with the now-B3 Spiders. Dave leaves tied for the record for most natural hat tricks on the team.
• Dave Lavigne – Dave joined the Spiders midway through the 2011–12 season in a for-draft-picks trade with the Ice Sages, came close to besting John Pellicci for the highest scoring-to-games-played ratio in team history. (Pellicci: 38 points in 43 games played; Lavigne: 37 points in 54 games played)
• Cory Vandenberghe – Cory joined the team in the 2008–09 championship season, and it’s been all downhill from there. Cory also plays with the B3 Spiders full-time, so he’s not really leaving the Spider family. With 90 games played on the D1/C3 squad, Cory has been instrumental in the team’s success and stability, including serving as alternate captain in 2011–12.
• And temporarily to Jason Freed, who is taking the season off on IR, and we wish him a speedy return.

So the Spiders now welcome:

• Rich Elling – Rich joins from the Wingmen, having skated with the summer Wing+Ders (Grape-Nuts) in the 2013 season.
• Derek Elling – Derek, Rich’s son, also joins from the Wingmen.
• Tim Bullock – Tim also joins from the, yes, Wingmen, also having skated with the summer Wing+Ders (Road Warriors) this past summer.
• Ryan Langseth – Ryan also joins from … the Wingmen. But at least this time it was from the D1 Wingmen! Ryan took off a few years from the AHA, and returns to hockey via Tim Bullock. Ryan was captain of the Wingmen in the 2008-09 and 2009-10 seasons, and departed after the 2010-11 season.

Notice a pattern? The Spiders apparently official new trading partner is … the Wingmen, much to the relief of Buck Stach.

Despite leading the team to its second consecutive losing season, the team captaincy remains unchanged following the usual unanimous vote: Jeremy Litton as captain, and Eric Grotbeck and Michael Schroeder as alternates.

The rest of the Spiders’ roster remains the same (albeit another year closer to the AARP league eligibility) and is ready to hit the ice this weekend to kick off the Spiders’ 13th season in the AHA (12th winter season; 13th including Beginner School), and will look to get back to the AHA post-season after two seasons of early golf.

Check out the full 2016–17 C3 Spiders roster.