Aces sign first goalie
Published on August 28, 2006 under ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release
ANCHORAGE, Alaska - The Alaska Aces have signed goalie Derek Gustafson to a one-year contract for the 2006-07 season.
The 27-year-old Gustafson posted a 22-7-4 record last year for Adirondack in the United Hockey League, earning a promotion to Providence (AHL) for the Calder Cup playoffs. He started the only two games the Bruins managed to win in their best-of-seven first round series loss to Portland (4-2) after going 5-3-2 with a 2.28 goals against average and a .916 save percentage down the stretch in the regular season.
Playing at the next level was nothing new for Gustafson, who grew up in Gresham, Oregon, before enrolling at St. Lawrence University in upstate New York in the fall of 1999. After winning 17 of 23 decisions to go along with a 2.07 GAA and a .935 save pct. as a freshman and leading the Saints to the ECAC regular season and tournament titles (the first ever St. Lawrence club to do so) and a trip to the NCAA Frozen Four, he turned pro and signed as a free agent with the Minnesota Wild. Gustafson went 1-3 with a 2.51 GAA in four NHL starts and 14-7-1 with the Wild's IHL (now defunct) affiliate in Cleveland during his rookie season of 2000-01. For most of the next two seasons, he played for Minnesota's AHL affiliate in Houston, going 37-27-8 for the Aeros and appearing in one more NHL game, a perfect 26 minutes of relief work during the 2001-02 campaign.
After leading Louisiana to the 2004 ECHL East Division title with a 28-14 record (2.09 GAA-2nd best in the league, .927 save pct.), the 5-11, 185-pound Gustafson signed as a free agent in Adirondack and led the Frostbite to the 2005 UHL Eastern Division title with a 32-18-6 record. Perhaps best known for piling up 72 saves in winning the longest game in NCAA tournament history, a 3-2 quadruple overtime victory over Boston University that put St. Lawrence in the Frozen Four, Gustafson will be bringing his wife Emily and their two children, Parker and Campbell, to Anchorage prior to training camp.
Alaska opens defense of its ECHL championship in Sullivan Arena Friday, October 20, at 7:15 p.m. against the Victoria Salmon Kings. Prior to the regular season opener, the Aces will play host to the Toledo Storm for a pair of pre-season games October 10-11 at 7:15 p.m. 2006-07 Aces season tickets are now on sale; for more information on tickets, sponsorships, and off-season signings, please visit www.alaskaaces.com or call 258-ACES.
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