Obermeyer First to Sign for 2011-12 Season
June 6, 2011 - Central Hockey League (CHL)
Evansville IceMen News Release
EVANSVILLE, IN.--- As the countdown commences for the 2011-12 pro hockey season and their exciting move into the brand-new Downtown Evansville Arena, the Evansville IceMen of the Central Hockey League are proceeding in their preparations both on and off the ice through their first player signing.
On this date, the IceMen General Manager / Head Coach Rich Kromm has announced that defenseman JAKE OBERMEYER has assented to terms and inked a new one-year pact with the club for the upcoming 2011-12 CHL season. Adhering to club policy, terms of the contract deal were not disclosed.
OBERMEYER, 26, will be embarking on his third pro season and his first full campaign wearing the IceMen code of arms. The lithe-like 6-0, 180lb right hand shooting rearguard was originally acquired by Evansville during the 2010-11 season in a trade deal with the Rio Grande Valley Killer Bees. The American-bred from Chanhassen, Minnesota arrived on the Evansville pro hockey landscape and promptly proceeded to solidify, stabilize and otherwise upgrade the IceMen blue line brigade with his exemplary competitive spirit and his overall ability to generate offense from the back line.
For the total season, he emerged prominently as the IceMen's second top scoring defenseman, engineering 24-points in 65-games on 4-goals, 20-assists with 78-PIM, 3-PPG and 6-PPA. After his acquisition by the Evansville club, in 28-games, he was 28(0-8-8) with 36-PIM. Only Mario Larocque registered more scoring points from the defense position than did Obermeyer.
GM/Coach Kromm expressed much praise for his returning defenseman. "We are really pleased to bring Jake back into the IceMen fold, especially as we get set to move into our new home of the downtown arena. He certainly proved to be an excellent acquisition for us as he truly improved our defense and our team as a whole. Upon his arrival here, he really showed us a great passion for the game and a strong competitive nature. Jake is a smart, puck moving defenseman who competes extremely hard every game. He plays and excels in all situations for us and possesses that special quality of being of strong character."
Obermeyer was originally acquired from Rio Grande Valley on January 17, 2011. As here in Evansville, he was also the Killer Bees second top scoring defenseman at the time of the deal. In his rookie campaign of 2009-10, Obermeyer saw action exclusively with the CHL Amarillo Gorillas where in 64-games, he collected 24-points on 7-goals, 17-assists along with 43-PIM and 1-GWG.
Prior to his pro career, the IceMen's first signee of the new year seasoned his craft in both the junior `A' ranks as well as at the collegiate level.
From 2006 to 2009, Obermeyer performed at Robert Morris U., following a three-year stint in the USHL with the Tri-City (Nebraska) Storm and in the WCHA at Michigan Tech.
His pro career numbers for his first two pro seasons read: 129-games; 11-goals; 37-assists; 48-points; 121-PIM.
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