Eight Is Indeed Enough

July 1, 2004 - ECHL (ECHL)
Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies News Release


ATLANTIC CITY, N.J. - The Atlantic City Boardwalk Bullies of the ECHL have announced that defenseman Marc St. Jean has agreed to terms on a contract for the 2004-05 season. With the signing of St. Jean and the retirement of Stefan Rivard, the Bullies today tendered qualifying offers to the eight remaining unsigned players from their end-of-season roster released on June 11, thus placing those players on their final protected list.

St. Jean, 26, notched 6 goals and 26 points over 69 games in 2003-04 between Charlotte and Atlantic City. The Ottawa, ON native was acquired from Augusta on March 11 in exchange for future considerations, after originally being dealt to the Lynx from Charlotte on March 8. He tallied 4 assists in 12 games with the Bullies over the final three weeks of the regular season. The second-year professional played his three previous seasons at Division 1 Wayne State University.

Headlining the Bullies protected list is veteran forward Luke Curtin and second-year professional Jon Cullen. Curtin enjoyed a sensational year in 2003-04 by posting career highs in goals (33), assists (45), and points (78) to lead the Bullies in scoring. For his efforts, he was selected to the 2003-04 All-ECHL First Team along with goaltender Scott Stirling. Cullen erupted for 29 goals and 77 points in his rookie season to capture the ECHL rookie scoring title. He was named to the 2003-04 ECHL All-Rookie Team along with defenseman Brian Fahey and finished runner-up to Gwinnett's Kevin Doell for the CCM ECHL Rookie of the Year Award.

Joining Curtin and Cullen on the Bullies protected list are forwards Jim Henkel, Preston Mizzi, and Paul Falco, defensemen Kirk Furey and Fahey, who yesterday signed a contract with Worcester of the American Hockey League, and goaltender Bujar Amidovski.

New Bullies Head Coach Matt Thomas now has seven players under contract for 2004-05 that includes forwards Scott Horvath and Josh Prudden, defensemen Ian Walterson, Chad Dameworth, Dave Reid, and St. Jean, and goaltender Jake Moreland.

Each team was entitled to reserve the rights to a maximum of eight qualified players. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four could be veterans (288 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the upcoming 2004-05 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded.

The qualifying offer must remain open for acceptance until August 1 at which time the qualifying offer becomes null and void and the team may sign the qualified player to any salary or may elect to take no further action. Teams that extend a valid qualifying offer to a non-veteran player shall retain the rights to that qualified player for one playing season.

A team that extends a valid qualifying offer to a veteran player will retain the rights to that veteran until August 1. After August 1, if the veteran player is not signed to a contract by the team, the veteran shall be deemed a restricted free agent and shall be entitled to seek and secure offers of employment from other ECHL teams. Restricted free agents may not be traded. When a restricted free agent receives a contract offer from a team other than the team with the player's rights and the restricted free agent wishes to accept the contract offer, the restricted free agent and the offering member must, within 24 hours, notify the ECHL, the team with the player's rights and the Professional Hockey Players' Association. The member with the player's rights shall have seven days after the date it is notified to exercise its right to match the contract offer.

If a restricted free agent is not signed to either an offer sheet or a contract by an ECHL team by August 31, the player shall be deemed an unrestricted free agent.

Players who had already signed a contract by July 1 did not need to receive qualifying offers.

The Bullies Sales Department is currently accepting orders for season tickets and 12-ticket FLEX plans, and deposits for all group ticket orders beginning with Opening Night 2004 on October 29 against Trenton. Call (609) 348-7825 to speak with a Bullies Customer Service Representative.

Operation: 1,700 is now underway. The Bullies have set a goal to secure 1,700 season tickets between now and Opening Night 2004. IT'S TIME FOR ACTION! Season tickets start as low as $324 and are on sale now by calling (609) 348-PUCK.

For more information on the Bullies latest transactions, contact Dan Weiss at (609) 348-7809. For more information on South Jersey's only professional hockey team, visit www.boardwalkbullies.com.

ATLANTIC CITY BOARDWALK BULLIES FINAL PROTECTED LIST

1) Luke Curtin, F (Veteran)
2) Jon Cullen, F
3) Jim Henkel, F
4) Preston Mizzi, F
5) Paul Falco, F
6) Kirk Furey, D
7) Brian Fahey, D
8) Bujar Amidovski, G



ECHL Stories from July 1, 2004


The opinions expressed in this release are those of the organization issuing it, and do not necessarily reflect the thoughts or opinions of OurSports Central or its staff.

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