Chiefs Announce Qualifying Offers

Published on July 3, 2008 under ECHL (ECHL)
Johnstown Chiefs News Release


Johnstown, PA - The Johnstown Chiefs, the ECHL affiliate of the National Hockey League's Colorado Avalanche and Boston Bruins and the American Hockey League's Lake Erie Monsters and Providence Bruins, announced its qualified offers for the 2008-09 season. Each team was entitled to reserve Rights to a maximum of eight Qualified Players. Of these eight Qualified Players, no more than four of the Qualified Players shall be Veterans.

Players will have until August 1 to accept a qualifying offer. Players on open Qualifying Offers can not be traded. Teams were not required to protect players who signed a Standard Players Contract prior to July 1. Teams are not allowed to sign more than 24 players to contracts during the summer. Players that were not signed by July 1 or extended a qualifying offer by July 1 become unrestricted free agents.

A Member extending a valid Qualifying Offer to a Veteran retains the Rights to that Veteran until August 1. After August 1, if the Veteran is not signed to a Standard Player Contract by the Member, the Veteran shall be deemed a Restricted Free Agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other Members. Restricted Free Agents may not be traded.

When a Restricted Free Agent receives an offer to sign a Standard Player Contract from an Offering Member other than the Member with Rights and the Restricted Free Agent desires to accept the Offer, the Restricted Free Agent and the Offering Member must, within 24 hours, deliver a completed Offer Sheet to the Member with Rights, the League Office and the PHPA. The Member with Rights shall then have seven (7) days after the date it receives the Offer Sheet to exercise its Right to Match. The Right to Match shall expire seven (7) days from the date the Offer Sheet was received but not counting the day of receipt.

If a Restricted Free Agent is not signed to either an Offer Sheet or a Standard Player Contract by a Member by August 31, he shall be deemed an Unrestricted Free Agent.

The Chiefs' Qualified Players include: defenseman Vincent Zaore, defenseman Greg Gallagher, center Ryan Garlock, defenseman Michael Knight, forward Alexandre Imbeault, defenseman Andrew Martens, defenseman Brian Deeth, and defenseman Justin Coutu.

Center Ryan Garlock played in 51 games last season, scored 26 goals, and had 35 assists. His point total was third on the team. The native of Iroquois Falls, Ontario closed out the regular season with a team-high 17-game point streak. He represented the Chiefs at the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game in Stockton, Calif., and earned one assist in the game. Garlock played three games with Binghamton, six with Springfield, and five with Hershey of the AHL and earned one assist with each team. He also scored his first professional hat trick on November 16, 2007 against Dayton. He led the team with two shorthanded goals. In the playoffs he played in six games, scored four goals, and had four assists.

Forward Alexander Imbeault has played in 56 games, scored 26 goals, and had 36 assists. He finished second on the team in scoring in his rookie season. He was selected to play in the 2008 ECHL All-Star Game, but couldn't participate because he was recalled to Providence in the AHL. He recorded three goals and four assists in 12 games while with the Bruins. Imbeault led the Chiefs with 20 multiple-point games and was named ECHL Player of the Week for the week of February 25-March 2, 2008. In four games that week Imbeault scored three goals, two of which were game- winners, and had five assists.As a rookie, defenseman Vincent Zaore played in 61 games, scored six goals, and had seven assists. He scored his first pro goal December 28 against Wheeling. The goal ended up as the game-winner. He also showed versatility by playing both forward and defense in 2007-08. He totaled 72 penalty minutes which was eighth most on the team. He also played in two playoff games.

Defenseman Greg Gallagher played in 45 games, had two goals, and seven assists. In the playoffs, Gallagher played in six games and had two assists. Gallagher signed with Johnstown on December 27, 2007 after being placed on waivers by Pensacola. He had a plus-14 rating in 45 games with the Chiefs.

Defenseman Michael Knight played in 55 games, scored nine goals, and had 25 assists. In the playoffs, he played in six games and had one assist. The Toronto, Ontario native was the second-highest scoring defenseman on last year's squad with 34 points, and a plus/minus rating of 14 tied him with Gallagher for highest among defensemen. He spent four games with Binghamton in the AHL, and two with Rockford, but didn't register a point. Knight was ranked second on the team with 137 penalty minutes. He led Chiefs defensemen with five power play goals.

Defenseman Andrew Martens has played in a total of 142 games in the last two seasons with Johnstown, and scored a combined total of 15 goals, and 53 assists in that time. In the 2008 playoffs, he played a total of eight games and notched one assist. He led Chiefs defensemen in scoring with 39 points during the regular season. He was also the only Chief to play in all 72 regular season and eight playoff games last season, and finished fourth on the squad with 30 assists.

Defenseman Brian Deeth played in 69 games with the Chiefs in 2007-08, and scored six goals to go with 25 assists. He scored his first pro, and game-winning, goal on November 23 against Wheeling. He was also the third-highest scoring defenseman on the team.

Defenseman Justin Coutu has played in 30 games, scored one goal and six assists. He was acquired via trade with the Augusta Lynx on December 6, 2007.



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