Aces-Killer Added to Roster, Fast & Tuzzolino Return
Published on September 28, 2009 under ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Aces have signed defenseman Nick Tuzzolino and winger John Lammers to one-year ECHL contracts for 2009-10, while defenseman T.J. Fast has been re-assigned to Alaska by its American Hockey League affiliate in Peoria.
Tuzzolino, who spent last week in camp with the Providence Bruins (AHL) and Fast return from last year's National Conference champions. The 23-year-old Tuzzolino, who lives in Buffalo during the offseason, scored six goals and assisted on 21 others in 61 games for the Aces last season while finishing +2 and racking up 134 minutes in penalties. He originally was selected in the seventh round of the 2005 NHL Draft by the New York Islanders.
Fast, who turned 22 three weeks ago, remains under contract with Alaska's NHL affiliate in St. Louis. He played 55 regular season games last year, all but nine with the Peoria Rivermen (AHL), for whom he scored his first professional goal against Lammers and the Houston Aeros January 23. A second-round pick (60th overall) of the Los Angeles Kings in 2005, Fast appeared in 18 games for the Aces during their run to the Kelly Cup Finals, assisting on five goals and finishing +2. After spending a year and a half at the University of Denver, he ranked fourth among Western Hockey League defensemen with 17 goals and 54 points in 2007-08, his final year in juniors.
In 10 regular season games against the Aces while playing for the Idaho Steelheads in the 2006-07 and 2007-08 seasons, the 23-year-old Lammers scored nine goals, six of which came in a series at Sullivan Arena in February 2008, including his first career hat trick against the Aces Feb. 8, 2008. He also lined up against Alaska in two playoff series, beating the Aces in the 2007 conference finals on his way to the Kelly Cup that year and losing in a four-game sweep the next year.
In eight career postseason contests against Alaska, Lammers scored one goal and assisted on seven others. After spending last year in Houston (AHL) and last week in camp with Peoria, he will play under an ECHL contract with the Aces this season. In 73 ECHL games (regular season and playoffs), Lammers boasts totals of 36 goals, 33 assists, and a +20 rating.
The Aces, winners of four division and two conference titles in the last five years, open the regular season in Anchorage against Victoria October 16, 17 and 19 (all three games will start at 7:15 p.m.). The third annual "Paint the Rink Pink" pre-season games at Sullivan Arena will be played against Kalamazoo Oct. 7 and 8 at 7:15 p.m. A portion of the proceeds from those games will be donated to Breast Cancer Focus, Inc., and the American Cancer Society, with all money raised staying in the state of Alaska.
ECHL Stories from September 28, 2009
- Aces-Killer Added to Roster, Fast & Tuzzolino Return - Alaska Aces
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