ESTERO, FL – Florida Everblades Head Coach Malcolm Cameron and President/General Manager Craig Brush hosted a press conference Tuesday afternoon. Attendance was excellent as they opened the meeting up to the press and the public.

Florida Everblades Head Coach Malcolm Cameron addresses fans and media at a recent press conference

"It’s hard to imagine that this time last year, on May 30^{th, I started with the Everblades", said Cameron. "It’s great to be here and see this crowd".}

Cameron was surprised to see the interest in hockey in July.

"Hockey isn’t always on the top of the mind this time of year". The crowd responded by letting him know that ECHL hockey is always on their minds.

Cameron announced the re-signing of the 2008-09 MVP (Most Valuable Player), Kevin Baker (right wing), captain of the Blades. He enters his sixth professional season, his second with Florida. He was the only player in the ECHL last season to score more than 100 (102) points.

Baker attended the conference and commented on his return.

"I’m ready to go. It’s a great honor to be a part of this team. It’s the top minor league team in the country. We need to build off the energy from last season. I just had the best year of my life. I’m going to try to beat it! I want to be a leader for the team again".

"We had a very enjoyable season. Our goal will always be to stay at the top of the league. Our playoff run ended much too early last season. Every game was close – many into overtime. The summer is the time to reflect on the mistakes we made as a team. We’ll be an even stronger team in the fall".

Baker was hailed by his coach and manager as a "leader on and off the ice".

The entire Everblades organization is committed to being involved in their community – and even farther away than that. Brush recently donated fifty Florida Everblades jersey’s to a children’s camp in Nairobi, Kenya.

Also re-signing with the Everblades was right winger and crowd favorite Ernie Hartlieb, as well as defensemen Peter Metcalf and Colin Nicholson.

Hartlieb flashed his bright smile at the crowd and said, "It’s an honor to wear this jersey. It’s my sixth year here. This is my home, my family. I’m excited to get back on the ice and win the cup this year. I just love playing here and try to get better each year. I will play in whatever role they ask of me".

Nicholson added, "The fans here are very passionate. It was such a disappointment to everyone that we couldn’t bring the cup home. We had the best team possible, but we will try even harder this season. The season left me with an empty feeling. Now I want to win that much more next time".

Baker and Nicholson played for Cameron several seasons ago when he was the head coach for the Texas Wildcatters. Metcalf has an impressive history on-ice and is a two-time Kelly Cup Champion, winning with Atlantic City in 2003 and Idaho in 2006.

Other members of next season’s Florida Everblades are returning defenseman, Brad Zanon and rookie (left winger) Jadran Beljo.

Concerns are on the table for the coming season. The economy has caused the season ticket holder list to dwindle. Another big concern is the cost of travel. Because of the new schedule there will be more northern travel. It is cost prohibitive to fly in most instances, but they will travel by air for a few long trips.

Players seated from left to right: Ernie Hartlieb, Kevin Baker, and Colin Nicholson

Brush said that their electric bill for Germain Arena was over a million dollars last season. He is going to hold the line on ticket prices this year to try and allow more people to enjoy the games.

On July 1st, the Blades extended qualifying offers to eight players: Milan Gijac, Ryan Lang, Steve McJannet, Patrick Bordeleau, Alex Parent, Brad Herauf, Dominic D’Amour and Michael Grenzy. Cameron was not at liberty to discuss the status of talks with these players.

"We’ll have a very nice number of guys returning from last years team. They’ll be a good mixture of the old and the new".

Three members of last year’s team will be playing in Europe next season: Dominic D’Amour, David Leggio and Tim Cook.

It appears as if the representative players, coach and manager are already gearing up for the October 2nd start of hockey camp at Germain Arena.

Cameron summed things up this way.

ECHL MVP Kevin Baker speaks with PHN correspondant Sharon Weatherhead after the press conference

"We are looking forward to an exciting schedule with different teams. Kalamazoo, Wheeling and others. We will not always be playing South Carolina, Charlotte and Gwinnett. We are looking for well attended games and new opponents".

And, of course, another solid run at the Kelly Cup.

(The Blades will play two pre-season games at Germain Arena on October 9th and 10th against the Gwinnett Gladiators).

Contact the author at: ^{sharon.weatherhead@prohockeynews.com}