Finishing up his 8th pro season much like he did the previous one, Chad Costello(13) won the ECHL scoring title and league MVP with Allen Americans for his second straight year with slightly fewer overall totals at 24 goals, 79 assists for 103 points in 72 games but still bested the next higher player by over 20.
He was named captain for the campaign and helped guide the team to another outstanding regular season record as they head into another postseason to defend their 2015 Championship.
The small power forward with a nose for the net put another outstanding 229 shots on net, which easily helped pace his prolific presence on the score sheet.
Turning 30-years old in the off-season it will be interesting to see where the veteran skater from Johnston, Iowa goes next (or happily stays put).
Chad Costello(13) Allen Americans
4th year pro, undrafted forward Chad Costello(38) was lighting up the ECHL with Colorado Eagles before Springfield Falcons called him up to the AHL.
At the time of his promotion, he led the league in scoring with 16 goals and 32 assists in 30 games.
In four games, signed to a pto with the Falcons playing limited ice time, he failed to register any points before being released.
He wasted no time picking up where he left off in the lower league, as he exploded for a hat trick and added an assist in his first game back with the Eagles.
Despite missing a couple weeks of play, he still leads the ECHL in scoring by eight points.
He’s not exactly the biggest guy out there at 5’9″ 170 lbs but has worked hard and earned his way up through the ranks. He started as a rookie in the ill-fated IHL before moving on to a couple of seasons in the Central Hockey League and this season at age 25 to the ECHL for 2011/2012.
Original story: 1/13-12
Heading into his 8th season after finishing off an unreal first year with Allen Americans that saw him claim his first ECHL scoring title with a mind-boggling 125 points, including a fifth all-time 84 assists and tied for league second 41 goals with a +43 rating, he will stay put and look to win another title.
He was also named to the first team All-Star squad and won the 2015 Championship. He wound up scoring 9 goals and 19 assists in 25 postseason contests and fired an absolutely crazy 234 shots on net in a complete 72-game schedule.
This all came after an injury-plagued 2013/2014 that saw him play in only 14 games first for St. Charles Chill, then Ontario Reign.
He stayed on for two stints with Colorado Eagles but was recalled and signed by Bridgeport Sound Tigers for most of his second campaign only rejoining the team for its short playoff bid.
His totals of 3 tallies and 9 helpers in 21 AHL games showed he could compete in the higher level of hockey. He also got his first 4 assists on recall with Worcester Sharks in late 2011/2012.
At 28-years old he’s likely not going to be slowing down his scoring touch any time soon but it remains to be seen if he will score another recall considering his veteran status.
We could easily see him finishing out his career in a few years over in Europe and still putting up big numbers.