Aces complete swap with Bakersfield, Florida
August 3, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
The Alaska Aces have acquired the rights to homegrown forward Chris Heisten and defenseman Jon Insana in a three-team deal that sends forward Bret DeCecco to Bakersfield.
Heisten now calls the state of Washington home but grew up in Anchorage and attended Dimond High School before heading to the USHL in 1997 to play for the Lincoln Stars. That season in juniors helped prepare the six-foot, 195-pounder for the rigors of NCAA Division I power house Maine. The 25-year-old Heisten scored 35 goals and 47 assists in 128 games for the Black Bears, including a 31-point campaign (15g-16a) in his senior season of 2002-03. He was part of two teams that reached the Frozen Four, including the 2001-02 squad that lost 4-3 in overtime to Minnesota in the national championship game.
Insana also played for a Division I powerhouse in college, having spent four years at Michigan State University in East Lansing before turning pro in 2002. A six-foot, 185-pound defenseman, Insana played on two Spartan teams that advanced to the Frozen Four while contributing seven goals and nine assists in 164 career games. 81 of his 104 games at the pro level came in a Florida jersey, although he does have three AHL games to his credit. Insana, who will turn 24 September 2, did not join the Everblades on their run to the 2004 Kelly Cup Finals because of a broken leg suffered late in the regular season.
DeCecco scored three goals and assisted on three others during his 13-game regular season stint with Alaska before notching the eventual game-winner in a 4-2 victory over San Diego in Game One of the 2004 Kelly Cup playoffs. Officially, he was traded to Bakersfield in exchange for Tom Reimann, who was a college teammate of Heistens for four years at the University of Maine and was selected to the ECHL all-star team last year in his first pro campaign, representing the now-defunct Greensboro Generals. Reimann, in turn, was sent to Florida by Alaska in exchange for Heisten and Insana.
The Aces meet the Greenville Grrrowl in a two-game preseason series at Sullivan Arena October 13-14, with both games slated for a 7:15 p.m. start. Alaska opens up its regular season the following weekend in Boise against the Idaho Steelheads. The Aces open a three-game set with San Diego at Sullivan October 29 to kick off their home schedule. KFQD 750 AM will broadcast all Alaska Aces games, with the live feed also available at www.alaskaaces.com. For season ticket information, please call 258-ACES.
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ECHL Stories from August 3, 2004
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