Central Hockey League | CollegeHockeyPlayers

27Apr

Tom Mele(10) Alaska Aces

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Undrafted rookie right wing Tom Mele(10) skated his first season with Fort Wayne Komets of the Central Hockey League and now his team is looking at a best of 7 finals to claim the Ray Miron President’s Cup trophy.

He also appeared with them in two postseason games last season.

In 12 playoff games he has a pair of goals and an assist.

The 6′ 188 lbs. 25-year old recorded 7 goals and 11 assists in 51 regular season games with a +11 plus/minus.

Before joining the Komets he signed an AHL training camp tryout with Springfield Falcons scoring a goal and making it through their preseason schedule before being released.

His hometown is listed as Bronx, NY, which isn’t exactly a hotbed of hockey talent.

8/31-12 update: For his sophomore season, the forward signs a one-year deal with Alaska Aces, jumping up a notch to the ECHL.

His former team, the Komets are also making the league switch.

27Dec

Jack Combs(11) Colorado Eagles

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In his 3rd pro season, undrafted wing Jack Combs(11) has been tearing up the scoring sheet pretty much regardless of what AA league he’s playing in.

At the time of his call up to the AHL by Worcester Sharks he lead the ECHL in scoring (17 goals 20 assists in 23 games) with Colorado Eagles.

He scored on his first shift with the team and has struck for 3 goals and 3 assists in 5 games.

No doubt, if he continues on this pace, he will remain with the team for the foreseeable future.

In 6 previous AHL games over the last couple of years, he never tallied a goal and only had one assist.

He finished 2nd in scoring and first in goals with 40 for Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League in 2010/2011 and 10th overall in the league.

9/19-12: Maybe in a bit of a surprising move, the 24-year old re-signs to start 2012/2013 with Colorado Eagles of the ECHL.

He completed last season under contract with the AHL Sharks scoring 16 goals and 14 assists in 50 games.

The one downside was a poor -9 plus/minus.

21Oct

Nathan Moon(34) Worcester Sharks

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Rookie center Nathan Moon(34) was originally drafted by Pittsburgh Penguins in the 4th round of the 2008 draft (#120 overall) but never signed with them.

After his junior career concluded last year, he went on to join Bossier-Shreveport Mudbugs (r.i.p.) of the Central Hockey League and won the Ray Miron President’s Cup with the team in its last season of existence. Nice way to go out.

In the San Jose system, he signed an AHL contract to play with their affiliate, Worcester Sharks for his first season. In two games he’s got an assist. It was first reported that he would play in the ECHL with Cincinnati Cyclones but training camp was so good he got bumped up.

17Sep

Mike Vernace(7) Tampa Bay Lightning / Norfolk Admirals

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I love stories like this one. 6th year pro, defenseman Mike Vernace(7) was a San Jose Sharks 7th round draft pick in 2004 (#201 overall) but never signed with the team. He eventually signed a one-year two-way deal with Colorado Avalanche and started his rookie season with Central Hockey League‘s Arizona Sundogs before moving up to the AHL with Albany River Rats.

He spent another couple of seasons in the Avalanche system and even got his first 12 NHL games under his belt in 2008-2009.

He wasn’t resigned for at the end of 2009 and signed with Atlanta Thrashers but didn’t appear in the NHL, although he played for two different AHL teams, first Chicago Wolves, then Hamilton Bulldogs, where he got his first playoff experience

Last year he signed a free agent deal with Tampa Bay Lightning, played 10 more games in the NHL and got an assist, his first point in the show.

In 2011/2012 he’ll be back for his second season in the Lightning system.

12Sep

Joel Martin(49) Herlev Hornets

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9th year pro goalie Joel Martin(49) has bounced around many different North American leagues and teams in his career but for the first time he’s looking elsewhere, overseas to continue.

For the 2011/2012 season he signed with Herlev Hornets of AL-Bank Ligaen (Danish Pro Hockey League).

Last season, the 28-year old netminder appeared in a career high AHL games (18 with Bridgeport Sound Tigers).

He also played in 29 games with Odessa Jackalopes of the Central Hockey League and was called-up as an emergency back-up for one game with New York Islanders.

27Aug

Rob Hisey(26) Liwest Black Wings Linz / Bridgeport Sound Tigers

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7th year, undrafted center Rob Hisey(26) has played most of his career in Europe until the last couple of seasons when he returned to North America and skated with Tulsa Oilers of the Central Hockey League and Springfield Falcons in ’09/’10 and last year he was the 2nd leading scorer on Bridgeport Sound Tigers.

Well, time’s up again for pro hockey here, as he’s signed with Liwest Black Wings Linz of Austria’s Erst Bank Eishockey Liga (Austrian Hockey League with sponsorship).

The league is already almost finished with their preseason and the regular season starts the second week of September.

26Aug

Pier-Oliver Pelletier(31) Evansville IceMen / Connecticut Whale

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For a third straight season 2005 Phoenix Coyotes 2nd round pick (#59 overall), Pier-Oliver Pelletier(31) signed to tend net in the Central Hockey League. He’s under contract for 2011/2012 with Evansville IceMen soon after having his signing rights traded to them by Laredo Bucks, the team he’d spent his rookie and 2nd year with.

He played in one game in ’10/’11 with Connecticut Whale on call-up but didn’t fair too well. He still may get more AAA looks next season.

13Aug

Garrett Klotz(12) Adirondack Phantoms

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Big, tough guy (6’5″ 235lb) Garrett Klotz(12) recently re-signed an AHL contract with Adirondack Phantoms after being dismissed to the Central Hockey League Bloomington Prairie Thunder last season.

Something must’ve registered in his head in a good way though, because for the first time in three pro seasons he found a bit of a goal scoring touch and ended up with 24 points (9 goals, 15 assists) in 49 games.

He’s never had much more than 5 points in any year.

We’ll see if he continues to contribute points along with the penalty minutes he racks up each season.

07Aug

Sean Sullivan(37) San Jose / Worcester Sharks

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Fan favorite and all around good guy, veteran defenseman Sean Sullivan(37) signed another one-year, two-way contract with San Jose.

In his four years since turning pro in 2007 with Phoenix Coyotes, he has yet to see any NHL action. He was the leading scorer with Worcester last season. Hopefully he gets a shot this year but he’s probably low on their depth chart and is seen as a leader for the guys in the AHL.