May 23, 2013
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Storm make affiliate players eligible for final weekend of regular season

April 13, 2012 - United States Hockey League (USHL) Tri-City Storm

WATERLOO, Iowa - With only two games left in the regular season and a playoff berth already clinched, the Tri-City Storm close out the 2011-12 regular season on the road this weekend in Waterloo Friday and Sioux Falls Saturday.

Tri-City (25-32-1, 51 pts - 6th in Western Conference), whose first-round playoff opponent could still be any of the top four teams in the Western Conference, will have six players eligible to play this weekend off the Tri-City affiliate list.

In addition to affiliate players, G Christian Frey is likely to make his debut for Tri-City this weekend. Frey (3-6-1) was acquired on Feb. 6 in a multiple-player trade deal with Des Moines. His last game played was on Feb. 3 in Lincoln. His last start was on Jan. 28 against Omaha, as Des Moines lost the game 4-0 despite his 24 saves on 27 shots. Overall, Frey has a 3.15 goals-against average and .892 save percentage this season.

Set to make their Storm debuts at some point this weekend will be forwards Chase Rey, Chase Berger and Joel L'Esperance. Defensemen Eli May, Nolan Gluchowski and RW Connor Hutchins will also be eligible to play for the Storm once again this season.

Berger, who was drafted by the Storm in the 2011 USHL Entry Draft (13th rd. - 182nd overall), was teammates this season with Rey on the St. Louis Amateur Blues U18 team. This season, Berger had 38 points (19g, 19a) in 40 games for his hometown program in St. Louis.

Rey was acquired by the Storm in early February from the Des Moines Buccaneers in a packaged deal with L'Esperance. The St. Peters, Mo. native had 43 points (21g, 22a) in 36 games this season with the Blues U18 team. Rey was called up by the Buccaneers earlier this season and scored one goal in two USHL games.

L'Esperance, who is committed to Michigan Tech University, had 19 points (13g, 6a) in 26 games playing for Compuware's U18 midget major team this season. Last season, the 6-foot-2, 195-pound forward from Brighton, Mich. had 18 goals and 18 assists in 36 games playing on Compuware U16 midget minor team.

D J.D. Peterson, who recently made his commitment to the University of Alaska-Fairbanks, will likely be out this weekend due to injury. Peterson joins D Dylan Maller, D Josh McArdle and RW Andrew Dorantes, who will all miss the rest of the regular season. The four injured players could miss the early rounds of the playoffs depending how far the Storm journey in the 2012 Clark Cup Playoffs.

Classic Hits 98.9 FM will air the final two regular season games in Waterloo and Sioux Falls with the Viaero Wireless Pre-Game Show starting at 6:45 p.m. each night. Also, all playoff games will air on Classic Hits beginning Monday, April 16th. More details to opponent and times will come Sunday afternoon.

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United States Hockey League Stories from April 13, 2012


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