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ECHL Atlanta Gladiators

Coyotes Assign Experienced Forward to Gwinnett

October 11, 2013 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlanta Gladiators News Release


DULUTH, Ga. - The Gwinnett Gladiators had a thirteenth forward added to their preseason roster on Friday, as the Phoenix Coyotes assigned forward Keven Veilleux from the Portland Pirates of the American Hockey League. Veilleux will be available for the Gladiators preseason opener Friday at 7:00 p.m in South Carolina.

Veilleux (pronounced VAY-oo), 23, is the seventh player to be assigned to Gwinnett from the Coyotes, as he joins forwards Josh Currie, Philippe Halley, and Brenden Walker, defenseman Justin Weller, and goaltenders Louis Domingue and Chris Rawlings. Veilleux was acquired by the Coyotes on September 10th after spending the last four seasons in the Pittsburgh Penguins system.

The Saint-René, Quebec native was drafted 51st overall, in the second round of the 2007 NHL Entry Draft by Pittsburgh. Last season, Veilleux had his first taste of ECHL hockey, scoring nine goals to go along with 13 assists and 74 penalty minutes in 31 games for the Wheeling Nailers. From 2009 to 2012, Veilleux played 79 games in the AHL for the Wilkes-Barre/Scranton Penguins, registering 14 goals, 25 assists, and 141 penalty minutes.

Veilleux was integral in the 2010-11 season when Wilkes-Barre/Scranton finished with a league best 58-21-0-1 record. He was sixth on the team in regular season assists and plus/minus, and second in penalty minutes. In the playoffs, he played in all 12 of the Penguins games, scoring twice and getting two assists.

Prior to his professional career, Veilleux was drafted 35th overall by the Victoriaville Tigres in the 2005 Quebec Major Junior Hockey League Entry Draft. He would split his four year eligibility window between Victoriaville and the Rimouski Oceanic, averaging nearly a point per regular season game (54 goals, 128 assists over 193 games), and even more in the playoffs (11 goals, 22 assists in 33 postseason games).

Veilleux, Currie, Halley, Walker, Kurtis Bartliff, Alex Belzile, Evan Bloodoff, Brian Elser, Joey Haddad, C.J. Lee, Jeremie Malouin, Stefan Schneider, and Dirk Southern currently comprise the Gladiators 13 forwards, while Weller, Devon Krogh, Martin Lefebvre, Nathan Martine, Jonathan Narbonne, Brad Nunn, Daniel Spivak, and Kirill Tulupov comprise the eight man defensive corps, and Domingue and Rawlings are the goaltenders.

The Gladiators are members of the ECHL, the nation's premier "AA" hockey league and are affiliated with the Phoenix Coyotes of the NHL. All home games are played at the 11,355-seat Arena at Gwinnett Center, located just off I-85 on Sugarloaf Parkway in Duluth.

Atlanta's only professional hockey franchise opens their 11th season on October 18th against division rival Greenville. For all the latest team news, contests, and more visit GwinnettGladiators.com, or "like" the Gladiators on Facebook, and follow the team on Twitter.

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