Aces Finalize Roster, Open Tuesday In Fresno
October 19, 2007 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Aces have pared their 2007-08 season-opening roster down to 23 players, including 12 returnees from last year's National Conference finalists.
Anchorage native Barrett Heisten, a former first round pick of the Buffalo Sabres in 1999 and a member of Alaska's 2006 Kelly Cup champions, has been named captain of this year's team. Fellow '06 Cup winners Matt Shasby, who earns an 'A' for the second straight season, and Kimbi Daniels, who will be entering his eighth campaign with the Aces, will serve as assistant captains.
Matt Robinson, who led all ECHL rookies last year with 21 even-strength goals, joins a group of six forwards back from last year's team, which became only the third in league history to record back-to-back 100-point regular seasons. Gino Guyer and Vladimir Novak, who had been enjoying a career year with 18 goals and a +30 rating, both will be coming off season-ending knee injuries. Speaking of career years, Olivier Filion leads a trio of ECHL "veterans" (those with 260 or more pro games played) returning from last season. Filion led the team with 29 goals last season (18 more than his previous best), while Kimbi Daniels led the club in scoring for the second time in four years with 81 points, his highest total since his first season with the team in 2000-01. Barrett Heisten shrugged off numerous injuries and still managed 50 points on 17 goals and 33 assists.
Bo Cheesman and Eric Neilson, both of whom join the Aces after spending last season in Long Beach, are the only newcomers up front playing under ECHL contracts. Josh Soares and Tim Spencer both have been assigned by Alaska's American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria, while Ryan Reaves, Tomas Kana, and Francois-Pierre ("F.P.") Guenette are under NHL contracts with the St. Louis Blues.
Defensively, Shasby, a second-team all-ECHL performer and the league's plus/minus champion last year, and partner Peter Metcalf, named first-team all-ECHL last season, lead a group that includes Corbin Schmidt and Joey Hope returning from the 2006-07 squad. Felipe Larranaga and Lee Green both hail from Alaska and have ECHL experience in Fresno and Las Vegas, respectively, while ex-Trenton stand-out Bryan Miller will be playing under an AHL contract with Peoria.
The Aces will keep three goaltenders, including two starters from last year's team. Derek Gustafson lost just five of his last 35 starts while Chris Beckford-Tseu won all seven of his in an Alaska uniform. Kris Tebbs earned a spot with impressive shutout relief in Alaska's 4-3 pre-season win over Texas October 11 and went 37-18-3 as Gustafson's understudy between 2004-06 in Adirondack (UHL).
All regular season games will be broadcast live on Alaska's flagship station, AM 750 KFQD, beginning with next Tuesday's season opener in Fresno, with coverage beginning at 5:45 AST, 20 minutes prior to the scheduled face-off. The game against the Falcons marks the start of a four-games-in-five-nights stretch that wraps up October 27 in Stockton. The Aces return home Friday, November 2, at 7:15 p.m., against the Florida Everblades in a match-up of last year's conference finalists.
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