Former University Of Nebraska-Omaha Mavericks‘ senior captain, defenseman Joel Messner(49) decides to leave the ship for other waters for his 4th season.
He will skate in Austria’s IceHL for a seemingly favored by Americans’ club, HC Innsbruck.
The solid 6’2″ 200 lbs. d-man was mostly under deals with Providence Bruins, originally scouted by Boston Bruins and in their system for 48 AHL games, but was in a uniform mostly with affiliate Atlanta Gladiators.
In 86 ECHL games, he did alright with 14 goals and 41 assists.
He played 4 more games in the league for Jacksonville Icemen to start 2020/2021 and got a goal and 2 assists.
We think the 27-year old Winnipeg native will like it in his new hockey home but if he does really well will move up.
He played for HKM Zvolen of Slovak Extraliga last season, putting up 4 goals and 9 assists in 50 games with a +7 rating, then added another 6 points in 17 playoff matchups.
For 2023/2024, he will head back to Austria, where he had very good luck and agrees to terms with Pustertal/Val Pusteria.
He grabs some decent points, but the -18 is a problem, then performs really well in 13 playoff games to get a want from rivals, Fehervar AV19 for 2024/2025.