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ECHL Utah Grizzlies

Grizzlies announce season ending roster

June 16, 2008 - ECHL (ECHL)
Utah Grizzlies News Release


West Valley City, Utah - Utah Grizzlies Head Coach and Director of Hockey Operations Jason Christie today released his season-ending roster. Players who signed contracts prior to this past season with either the New York Islanders or their AHL affiliate in Bridgeport are not eligible for this list. The Grizzlies can issue eight 2008-2009 qualifying offers no later than July 1 to any of the players on the season-ending roster.

Goaltenders Nathan Lawson

Forwards Scott Burt Ryan Cruthers Justin Johnson Ryan Kinasewich Evan Kotsopoulos Travis Rycroft

Defensemen Ian Forbes Sean Offers James Sanford Andy Sertich

Season-ending rosters may include up to 20 players. Season-ending rosters cannot include any players who did not sign an ECHL contract in 2007-08 (i.e. players who were under contract to teams in either the National Hockey League or the American Hockey League).

Each team is entitled to reserve rights to a maximum of eight players from the list by extending a qualifying offer no later than July 1. Of the eight qualified players, no more than four can be veterans (260 regular season professional hockey games played as of the start of the 2008-09 season). Players on open qualifying offers cannot be traded. Teams are not required to extend a qualifying offer to players who sign a contract prior to July 1.

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.

The Grizzlies open the 2008-2009 season Saturday, October 18 at Idaho. The home opening weekend for Utah is Friday and Saturday, October 24 and 25 versus Alaska at the E-Center.

The ECHL will have 24 teams in 16 states and British Columbia playing 864 games from Oct. 17, 2008 to Apr. 4, 2009. Nineteen of the 24 teams have played at least five years in their current city.

The third-longest tenured professional hockey league behind only the National Hockey League and the American Hockey League, the ECHL averaged 4,174 per game last season, marking the fourth year in row and the 16th time in the last 18 years that the league has averaged over 4,000 fans. The league has drawn over four million fans each of the last five years and 11 times in the past 12 seasons.

Check out the Utah Grizzlies Statistics



ECHL Stories from June 16, 2008


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