Alaska Aces Opening Day Roster Announced

October 11, 2012 - ECHL (ECHL)
Alaska Aces News Release


The Alaska Aces officially announced their 2012-2013 opening-day roster on Thursday as the club was en route to Loveland, Colorado where they will open the ECHL regular season on Friday night. The Aces roster consists of 13 forwards, 9 defensemen, and two goaltenders, including three players on the reserve list and one player on 21-day IR, who are all considered inactive. The Aces open the season on the road this weekend when they visit the Colorado Eagles on Friday and Saturday night for the start of the regular season. They then return home to Sullivan Arena on October 19 and 20 to host the Utah Grizzlies. Tickets are currently on sale for both games. For more information, please contact the Aces office at 907.258.ACES, or visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/alaskaaceshockey.

11 players on the 24-man unit spent time with the Aces, not including star forward Matt Robinson, who played with the Aces from 2006-2008. With Robinson's inclusion, half of Alaska's opening night roster has previously played for the Aces. That does not include goaltender Gerald Coleman who is inactive at the start of the season due to recovery from an injury suffered last season. Coleman signed with the club in the off-season, but is not eligible to join the team or their roster until fully healed. The local ties are further evident with six players from Anchorage on the roster. The half-dozen are Nick Mazzolini, William Wrenn, Dustin Molle, and NHL forwards Brandon Dubinsky, Nate Thompson, and Joey Crabb. The latter three have played in over 800 NHL games between them.

Defenseman Sean Curry is the most senior man on the roster, both in terms of age and experience. The 30-year old Curry has played in a team-most 641 pro games entering this season. Curry is one of six veterans on the roster along with the aforementioned Dubinsky, Thompson, Crabb, and Robinson, as well as returning defenseman, Steve Ward. ECHL rules permit a maximum of four active veterans per team. Curry and Robinson are opening the season on the reserve list and are inactive. Players can come off the reserve list at any time this season with no minimum number of days required to have been spent on reserve. The only player on 21-day injured reserve is rookie defenseman Todd Orlando, who missed the Aces second exhibition game.

The Aces boast a lot of size this season with 20 of the 24 players on the roster standing six-feet or taller. The exceptions are 5'11" forwards Bobby Hughes and Zach Harrison, as well as 5'9" Garry Nunn and 5'8" Tim Hall. Nunn is the longest tenured player on the Aces roster, having joined the club as an amateur in 2010, and staying with the team since then. Nunn is one of five players with pro experience to have solely played for the Aces in their career. He is joined on that list by defenseman Kane Lafranchise, and forwards Jordan Kremyr, Zach Harrison, and Tim Hall. Hall returns after turning pro with Alaska in March as an amateur himself. He is one of just four rookies on the Alaska roster, along with Todd Orlando, William Wrenn, and Jarred Smith. Wrenn and Smith are the only players to have never played in a pro game prior to this season starting.

The entire Aces roster is as follows. The defensemen are: Danny Markowitz, Corey Syvret, Kane Lafranchise, Todd Orlando, Steve Ward, Sean Curry, Dustin Molle, Russ Sinkeiwich, and William Wrenn. Aces forwards are: Garry Nunn, Matt Robinson, Tommy Mele, Jordan Kremyr, Tim Hall, Bobby Hughes, Zach Harrison, Jarred Smith, Matt Ambroz, Nick Mazzolini, Nate Thompson, Joey Crabb, and Brandon Dubinsky. The two goaltenders are Mark Gugenberger and James Reid.

The Aces 2012-2013 season begins on the road on Friday night, and the club will return home on Friday, October 19 at Sullivan Arena. Come see Anchorage-born, NHL players skate for the Aces this year. For more information, please call the Aces at 907.258.ACES or visit them on Facebook at http://www.facebook.com/alaskaaceshockey.



ECHL Stories from October 11, 2012


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