Barons Sign Four For 2004-05 Season

September 21, 2004 - American Hockey League (AHL)
Cleveland Barons News Release


CLEVELAND — The Cleveland Barons today announced the signing of forwards Nick Bootland and Scott Dobben, and defensemen Chad Allan and Greg Labenski for the 2004-05 season. Wayne Thomas, General Manager of the Cleveland Barons and Assistant General Manager of the San Jose Sharks, made the announcement.

Nick Bootland, a six-year professional, has spent time with the Barons in each of their first three seasons in Cleveland. The 6'2", 215-pound left wing appeared in 25 regular season games with the Barons in 2003-04 registering nine points on four goals and five assists (5-4-9). The native of Etobicoke, Ontario appeared in all nine Barons playoff games in 2003-04 registering one goal, two assists (1-2-3) and 17 penalty minutes. Bootland also appeared with the Columbus Stars and the Kalamazoo K-Wings of the UHL playing a combined 51 games, scoring 27 goals and 26 assists for 53 points. In his three years with the Barons, the 26-year-old has recorded seven goals and seven assists (7-7-14) in 45 regular season games.

Scott Dobben will make his professional debut this season. The 6'1", 195-pound left wing split the last four seasons between the Erie Otters (2000-2002) and the Sault Ste. Marie Greyhounds (2002-04) of the Ontario Hockey League. A teammate of former Barons center Brad Boyes in 2001-02, Dobben was part of the OHL Champion Erie Otters. The native of Drayton, Ontario had a career season during the championship campaign recording 31 goals and 32 assists (31-32-63) in 68 regular season games. Dobben then recorded 15 points (4-11-15) in the playoffs that season. The 21-year-old is coming off his second career 30+ goal season as he scored 30 goals with Sault Ste. Marie in 63 games (30-28-58).

Chad Allan will make his North American comeback after spending the last three seasons in Europe. In five full seasons in the American Hockey League prior to his European play, the 6'1", 195-pound defenseman recorded 14 goals and 51 assists (14-51-65) in 355 games with Syracuse (1996-00) and St. John's (2000-01). The Davidson, Saskatchewan native was a third round pick (65th overall) of the Vancouver Canucks in the 1994 NHL Entry Draft.

Greg Labenski, a member of the Barons the last two seasons, will enter his eighth season as a professional. In two seasons with the Barons, the tough defenseman has six points (3-3-6) and 91 penalty minutes in 48 regular season games. All six points recorded with the Barons occurred in the 2003-04 season, in which the native of Welland, Ontario appeared in 38 regular season games. The 6'1", 200-pound Labenski registered one goal and one assist (1-1-2) in seven postseason games with the Barons in 2003-04.

Per club policy, terms of the deals were not disclosed.

The Barons are set to open the 2004-05 home schedule on Saturday, October 16th at Gund Arena at 7pm against the Manitoba Moose. Group tickets are available by calling the Barons Front Office at 216.420.0000. For Full Season and Partial Plan ticket information, Crash The Net at www.clevelandbarons.net.



American Hockey League Stories from September 21, 2004


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