The first time I saw Brett Seney up close and live was during warm-ups before his home debut against the hated Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins last Saturday night at The Floyd. I knew he was on the smallish side, but when compared to a few Devils’ players by his side that are upwards towards 6’5”, it was rather alarming. But let’s go back to Friday first.
This is a recap of his first four games in the pros with two home games book-ended with two road games.
Friday
It was a tough opponent in his first game out in Rochester but the BDevils escaped with a 4-2 victory over the Amerks, a team that has a long history with Binghamton.
Seney centered the second line in-between John Quenneville and Blake Speers for the first two games and also saw some action on the power play where he registered his first professional point assisting on Nathan Bastian’s eighth goal of the season at 14:56 in the opening frame that tied the game at 1-1.
Saturday
It was the home debut for the 22 year-old as he surely had some butterfly's in front of a sell-out crowd against the Penguins and was whistled for two penalties in the opening twenty minutes with a look of bewilderment on each call while his walk to shame to the sin bin. Ya, they don’t call that in college. Welcome to the pros Brett.
Nonetheless, he started to show some signs on why he was drafted in the sixth round with his good speed and puck-handling skills as his passes were accurate, and quick.
Seney was whistled for two penalties in the opening twenty minutes, as he had a look of bewilderment on each while his walk to shame towards the sin bin. Ya, they don’t call that in college. Welcome to the pros Btett.
The contest started to get ugly with some chippiness and scrums followed after several stoppages as Seney did all he could do to hang in there during one as he got dragged along trying to hold off a Pens player.
At one point during the third, Seney’s shot was denied by goaltender Michael Leighton but the juicy rebound bounced in front and Seney stopped, cut to the puck for another scoring opportunity as he also had a couple of chances to win it in OT.
Seney participated in the Shootout in the 4th round that was eventually decided by the 8th round with the Pens on top.
Sunday
Coach Kowalsky had said prior to the weekend on his ice time, they would take it game by game as college schedule is drastically different, but he ended up penciled in on all three for the weekend as the Devils took on the Utica Comets.
Binghamton hosted Utica after the emotionally charged, energetic tilt with the Pens, the Devils didn’t find their legs until the third period and trailed by three goals. Seney looked more confident and poised, as he saw himself once again centering JQ and Nathan Bastian instead of Speers.
In that game, he was all over the ice showing off his skating abilities along with his on ice vision, which appears to be quite high displayed by his quick legs and playmaking skills.
Wednesday
Binghamton traveled up the I81 corridor on the opposite side of Wilkes-Barre/Scranton, north to Syracuse to take on the rival Crunch.
During the outcome, Seney recorded his second assist on a lone goal by defenseman Steven Santini in the second period in Syracuse that made it a 3-1 deficit, but the Crunch ended up with the 5-1 win as BDevils’ netminder Eddie Lack faltered in giving up five goals on 35 shots.
I’m concerned with his size as he is one check away from being injured, so he needs to put on some weight during the off season.
Very good vision and looks to be a natural playmaker, agile, quick to the puck with an even faster shot that appears out of nowhere. Looks to have a good future in Binghamton next season as one of the prospects to keep an eye on.
Coach Kowalsky also mentioned he would be inserted in for the majority, if not all, remaining eight games of the season to get that pro experience leading up to next season.